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Lahat ng Kabanata ng I Ditched My Alpha at Our Mating Ceremony : Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 10

10 Kabanata

Chapter 1

Our bonding ceremony was set for 11:19 am, right on the day of the new moon.At 10:30 am, Kyle Stanton was nowhere to be found.I tried repeatedly to reach him through the mind-link but got no response.His Beta, Phillip Donovan, called him seven times, but he didn't answer any of them.Kyle's mother, Eloise Powell, sat in the elders' row, her silver hair perfectly coiffed. She forced a smile to reassure the pack. "It's the New Moon Festival, so the town is packed. Border checkpoints always have long lines. Kyle is a man of his word. He won't miss this."I smiled right along with her.The stylist helping me get ready had ice-cold fingers. As her hand brushed against the moonstone necklace around my neck, she whispered, "Ms. Crane, should we swap this out? It doesn't quite match the dress.""No need."My mother, Maddison Hunter, gave this to me before she passed.She always told me that on my ceremony day, doing what makes me happy was all that mattered.This necklace used to

Chapter 2

I hung up the phone, cleared my throat, and began to speak to the crowd.The elder, assuming there was good news, quickly handed me the microphone."I'm sorry for making everyone waste a trip today," I said.Silence gradually fell over the hall.Eloise gripped the armrests of her chair tightly."Kyle has something more important to attend to today. He won't be coming. Therefore, the bonding ceremony is canceled."The room erupted into chaos.Phillip rushed onto the stage to stop me. "Ms. Crane, please calm down. We can handle this behind closed doors. Don't—"I stepped away from his reaching hand. "I am completely calm. From start to finish today, I'm the only one who was made a fool of."The setup on the big screen was still frozen on that final frame with the caption.I sighed and signaled the crew to cut the feed."Thank you all for coming. I'll reimburse the travel expenses for anyone who came from out of town. The banquet is already set, so please stay and eat if you'd

Chapter 3

"You didn't arrive until 4:00 pm. What were you waiting for during those four hours in between?" I asked.Kyle started explaining, "Naomi was holding onto my wrist and wouldn't let go. Every time I tried to pull away, she started shaking. The healer said her separation anxiety is so severe she might self-harm, so I was worried—""So you chose to stay."It wasn't because Naomi forced him.It wasn't because the healers stopped him.He made the choice to stay all on his own.His voice finally softened, dropping into that pleading tone he always used whenever he knew he was in the wrong."We can reschedule the bonding ceremony, and I'll cover all the expenses this time. You like that dress, right? I'll have them make you an even better one. Please, stop being mad at me, okay?"I looked up at the moon, wiping away the tears that had slipped out without me noticing. "Kyle, once you miss a moment, it's gone. That day has passed, and you can't ever get it back."Kyle and I had known e

Chapter 4

The top floor of this six-story building served as the quarters for the Alphas and Betas.Kyle's room was on the east side, fitted with heavy blackout curtains.I had personally picked them out for him back then because he was a light sleeper, easily awakened by the slightest glint of light.The furniture was entirely done in the cold gray tones he preferred.There wasn't a single plant in the hallway, as he was allergic to pollen.It was only when I finished packing that I realized, after living here for three years, all of my belongings fit into just two suitcases—one for clothes and one for the old belongings Mom had left behind.When Kyle rushed back, I was just loading the bags into my car."Where are you going?" he asked."Back to my own place.""We just had a little argument. Is it really necessary to move out?"Kyle looked like he hadn't slept well lately. His eye sockets were sunken, and his gaze was filled with exhaustion.In the past, seeing him like this would ha

Chapter 5

A week later, Naomi asked to meet me at a coffee shop on the central plaza.The scars on her wrist were still raw, and her eyes welled with tears the moment she sat down. "Serafina, I'm so sorry. I didn't know Kyle would miss the bonding ceremony because of me."I looked at her. "Did you know that day was our ceremony?"She stopped crying, remaining quiet for a second. "Yes.""Then why didn't you call a healer, contact the pack's emergency response team, or reach out to the neighbors living nearby?"Her face went pale. "I was just so weak at the time. I couldn't think straight—""Yet you remembered to call him."She opened her mouth but couldn't squeeze out a single word of explanation.After a short silence, she spoke up again in a low voice."Serafina, you're luckier than I am. You carry the bloodline of the Alpha King. You have rights to a council seat, and you have so many people willing to take your side. Meanwhile, I have nothing at all."In the past, I dreaded hearing

Chapter 6

A month later, our bond was officially dissolved. I returned to the territory to hand over my recent work files and retrieve the moonstone necklace Mom had left me.However, after searching through all my luggage, I couldn't find it anywhere.My subordinate sent me a message informing me that Kyle was at the central plaza. Having heard about my return, he claimed he was going to hold the ceremony again and would wait there until I showed up.Most importantly, he had the moonstone necklace I was looking for right in his hand.I went over and stood at the very back of the crowd, watching him speak to the people around him.He had set up the venue to look exactly like that day—the candlesticks, the drapes, and even that ring displayed in the center.Kyle was standing on stage in the ceremonial suit he hadn't managed to wear back then.Someone asked him, "Do you think she'll come?"His face was full of devotion. "I will keep waiting until she comes."The pack members were instantl

Chapter 7

Three days later, I set off to head back to the North once again.Kyle hadn't stopped just because of that single failure.For his second try, he bought out the giant display screen right across from my temporary residence, running apology messages on a loop all night long.For the seventh, he rented the hall at the Pack Academy, playing the photograph of him kissing the back of my hand on repeat.For the 33rd, he gathered everyone who had attended the original ceremony and offered a public apology.For the 50th, he waited by the cliffs of the North Sea for ten whole hours.Every single attempt was recorded and shared throughout the pack.Discussions rippled through the pack as the topic slowly shifted from "an Alpha's quest to win back his mate" to "how impossible is Serafina to satisfy?"Some claimed I was playing hard to get, some urged me to let it go now that Kyle knew he was wrong, and others calculated how much of his fortune he had drained just to pursue me. Some went a

Chapter 8

Mom was also someone who was very good at waiting.On the day of her bonding ceremony with Dad, he was three hours late.My maternal grandmother was on the brink of death, yet Dad turned off his phone and cut the mind-link for the sake of pack business, remaining completely unreachable for three whole days.Many people advised Mom to stop waiting, but she refused to listen.She stood there in her gown, waiting for three full hours.When Dad finally arrived and offered soft-spoken apologies, she slapped him across the face and then went ahead with the bonding ceremony anyway.When I was little, I thought their story was romantic.Dad often brought up how good Mom was, praising her for always seeing the bigger picture and handling things with grace.He said those three hours were a debt he would owe her for the rest of his life.Yet the waiting he put Mom through extended far beyond those three hours.When Mom gave birth to me, he was in a meeting.When she was at the healing

Chapter 9

For his 99th attempt, Kyle booked out a small, quiet theater in the North.I wasn't surprised, as he had been making frequent trips here ever since I relocated here.However, I chose not to see him every time before this.He sent me an address.He didn't force me to show up, but this time, I chose to go.There were certain things that needed to be said clearly once and for all.Only a single spotlight was lit inside the theater.Kyle sat in the very front row.Perhaps it was the weariness from his frequent trips to the North, but he looked like he had lost a noticeable amount of weight.When he saw me, a flicker of surprised joy crossed his eyes as he stood up immediately, only to freeze in place. "Thank you for coming.""I only have half an hour," I said coldly."That's enough."He handed me a folder.Inside was an itemized sheet detailing all the reimbursements for the failed bonding ceremony. Every single cent was paid out of his own pocket.Accompanying it was a prope

Chapter 10

Over the next few years, Kyle never bothered me again.I spent three years completing my assignment with distinction before being transferred back home.When I arrived, I caught sight of a familiar figure standing in the distance.It was Kyle.He was waiting outside my doorstep, holding a thick stack of letters in his hands.When he saw me walk over, a moment of visible awkwardness washed over him. "Welcome back."I gave a short nod."How have you been these past few years?" he asked."Good."A heavy silence fell over us. After a long moment, he thrust the stack of letters into my hands. "Whenever I missed you, I wrote one. But I didn't want to bother you, so I never mailed them. I didn't realize I'd ended up with so many."I looked down at the letters in my grip, momentarily lost for words.If this had happened in the past, I couldn't even imagine how overjoyed I would have been.But now, I felt nothing.He waved his hands in a frantic hurry. "You don't need to feel press

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