Chapter 2: Reject you as my mate.

I stay outside the hospital room for two more hours, waiting for Coren to come back out but he doesn't.

Instead, pack elders, respected pack members, and most of the men who fought with Coren in the war all flit by, each of them ignoring me in a complete rush to get into the reception room and see the Alpha's heir.

Despite what I feel about this whole situation I stop a passing nurse and ask calmly, "Why are so many people going into the delivery room right now?

Aren't the mother and child meant to be given time to rest and bond after delivery?"

It was one of my main projects as the Luna to make sure that every expectant female werewolf in the pack would be given enough support and prioritized, from pregnancy to delivery, and even down to the first few days after, when the new mother would really need her rest but might be ignored by her mate because of the excitement of a new pup.

The response the nurse gives me throws my mind into pause for a moment, "According to pack policies, the doctor recommended some rest for the mother and child, Luna, but Miss Tracy says she's still strong after the delivery so she doesn't need to rest.

She wanted the good news to be shared with her close friends and family immediately, and a small party in honor of her successful delivery.

She's changed into a new dress and the Alpha has given her leave to invite whoever she wants."

A soft huff of disbelief leaves my lips because, I... I don't understand.

For a moment, I just stand there dazed, blinking as I try to get my mind wrapped around the response I just received.

No woman gives birth one second and is throwing a party in the delivery room the next. The excitement of a new pup making family ignore the needs of the mother is something I spent months trying to correct in this pack... but it seems Tracy is determined to be an exception.

The nurse bows slightly and quietly excuses herself.

I walk over to the door of the reception room, peeking in through the crack slightly so I can see what's inside. The sight I meet only confirms the nurse's words.

Tracy is wearing a pretty baby blue dress, a diamond necklace glimmering on her neck and her hair stylishly done. Her face is glowing with soft makeup, but regardless of that I can still see the tiredness she's trying to hide under those cosmetics.

Coren and the other people in the room surround the bed, each of them chatting and laughing as they peer at the tiny little being swathed in a silver blanket. Coren’s friends pat him boisterously on the shoulder. He’s smiling… proudly. 

Coren smiles so proudly as he stares at the baby in the crook of Tracy’s arms. He looks like a father now, such a proud father. That’s the thing I couldn’t make him these past two years.

I blink back my tears and turn back on the whole celebration as I walk away with a broken heart. 

No matter how hard it is, or how painful, I have to turn my back against all of this.

The house feels empty when I get back and despite the chaos of my emotions, I wait up for Coren. It's a habit I haven't been able to break ever since he came back from the war.

Sitting in the living room, I wait until the clock strikes midnight, and usually this would be the time he would walk in through the door, his tie still tight around his thick neck and his jacket hanging off his shoulder as he holds his briefcase in his other hand.

Tonight there's nothing like that.

I stay up into the late hours of the night before finally climbing the stairs and falling asleep in my bed. Alone.

When I wake up, Coren's warm body is on mine.

His hips are positioned firmly between my splayed legs, his lips planting heated kisses on my neck while a large callused palm is caressing my thigh. Coren is gradually kissing a path down towards my breasts and right as that urge to give in to him totally grabs my will, I snap fully awake and push him off me, rolling off to the other side of the bed.

"Stop that, Coren."

I don't have to say anything else to him, only tug my night robe tighter around me and sit with my back facing him so I can hide how flushed I am.

My body wants him so bad but I can't give in to him now, not so easily.

Coren's voice is rough and gravelly, heavy with lust as he speaks, "I want you, Destiny.

It's been months since we've been intimate with each other, and I'm running mad with want for you."

My wolf grows and paces angrily in my mind at those words. The mate bond…. this cruel mate bond between us eats at us to feel our mate's touch. A touch I’ve fought so hard to resist since I learnt of his betrayal.

My shoulders tense, my body stiffens, and my stomach cramps as i continue, refusing to let my wolfish nature control me. Coren’s scent is swirling around me right now, sending flashes of the times when we’d spend hours entangled on this same bed, his lips between my legs and a moan slipping from my lips. Dear gods.

At last, I hear a sigh and his scent retreats as he walks out of the room.

Like clockwork, I go about my morning routine and head downstairs to make breakfast the same way I always do. When I get into the living room, there's a bouquet of flowers on the dining table. My expression falls.

He's trying to apologize. But what is he apologizing for?

I move the bouquet to the window and cast it out of my mind as I set the stage, since that's what the dining table will be this morning. A stage.

With the breakfast set and tablecloths firmly in place, I wait.

Coren comes down the stairs, his scent invading my space again and my eyes drawing in to notice every handsome feature of his face.

Coren knows I'm staring at him so a small smirk appears at the corner of his mouth. He's probably about to say something cocky but I beat him to it.

"I want to reject you as my mate." 

I don’t speak loudly, but my words are firm and clear to let anyone in the room hear the determination in my voice.

Coren's smirk freezes as he stares blankly at me. The satisfaction formerly glimmering in his eyes dies out as the seconds tick by. I only plow on bravely,

"Your child has the right to grow up in his father’s house and his mother deserves to be with him too.

You can bring Tracy and your new baby into the Alpha mansion, but for you to do that, I need to reject you so you can be with them without any worries.

We can’t be mates anymore, Coren.”