Chapter 3
The knock on my cottage door came at sunset, three days after my father's visit. I knew it was Joaquin before I opened it—his scent reached me through the wood, that familiar blend of pine and leather that once brought comfort but now made my stomach churn with dread.
He stood on my doorstep looking haggard, his usual immaculate appearance disheveled. Dark circles shadowed his green eyes, and his hair stuck up at odd angles as if he'd been running his hands through it compulsively.
"We need to talk," he said, pushing past me into the cottage without invitation.
I closed the door slowly, steeling myself for whatever fresh manipulation he'd brought to my doorstep. "About the pack council's generous offer to buy me off?"
He winced at my bitter tone but pressed on. "I didn't know they were coming here. I would have stopped them if I'd known." His voice carried that practiced sincerity that had fooled me for seven years. "You don't need to take their money, Alani. This situation with June—it's temporary. Once her emotional state stabilizes, once the pregnancy hormones level out, things will go back to normal."
Normal. As if there was anything normal about being replaced by his childhood sweetheart while carrying his child.
"And when exactly will that be?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. "After she gives birth? After the child starts school? When, Joaquin?"
He stepped closer, and that's when I caught it—June's scent clinging to his skin like a brand. Not just the casual scent of someone you'd passed in the hallway, but something deeper, more intimate. The floral notes were embedded in his very pores, mixed with the musk of recent intimacy.
My wolf recoiled as if slapped. "You've been sleeping with her."
It wasn't a question. The evidence was written in every molecule of air between us.
His jaw tightened, but he couldn't meet my eyes. "It's complicated—"
"No, it's really not." The words came out deadly calm despite the hurricane of rage building in my chest. "You asked me to leave our home so she could 'stabilize,' and now you're sharing her bed while promising me we'll have our marking ceremony."
"The pregnancy makes her emotional, vulnerable. She needs comfort—"
"Get out." My voice cracked like a whip. "Get out of my house before I do something we'll both regret."
He opened his mouth to argue, but something in my expression must have warned him off. After he left, I sat on my couch and stared at the compensation documents until the words blurred together.
---
Vivienne arrived the next morning with coffee and the kind of grim determination that meant she was about to deliver hard truths whether I wanted to hear them or not.
"You look like hell," she said, settling beside me on the couch.
"Thank you. That's exactly what every woman wants to hear."
She studied my face with those sharp brown eyes that missed nothing. "He was here last night. I could smell him from the road."
I said nothing, but my silence was answer enough.
"Alani, honey, you have to see what's happening here. What he's doing to you." Her voice gentled, but her words hit like hammer blows. "The entire pack knows about June's pregnancy. They're taking bets on when he'll officially announce her as Luna."
My coffee cup trembled in my hands. "He said it was temporary."
"He's been seen marking territory around the pack house with her, Alani. Scent-marking. The kind of territorial behavior true mates do." Vivienne's voice broke slightly. "I'm sorry, but I can't watch him destroy you anymore. He's not coming back to you. He's already chosen her."
The cup slipped from my numb fingers, shattering on the hardwood floor. Coffee spread in a dark stain that looked disturbingly like blood.
"Seven years," I whispered. "I gave him seven years of my life."
"And he's thrown them away for someone who fits better into his political plans." Vivienne knelt to clean up the broken ceramic, her movements sharp with anger. "You deserve better than being someone's convenient backup plan."
As she swept up the pieces, I realized she was right. I'd been collecting fragments of promises and half-truths for so long that I'd forgotten what it felt like to be whole.
---
Two days later, I saw them together at Romano's, the upscale restaurant where Joaquin had taken me for our first official date seven years ago. They sat at our usual table, June's hand resting possessively on her rounded belly while Joaquin leaned in close, whispering something that made her laugh.
I stood frozen in the doorway, watching the man I'd loved play out a twisted parody of our relationship with the woman who'd stolen my childhood. Other diners had noticed them too—whispered conversations and knowing glances that made my cheeks burn with humiliation.
When Joaquin looked up and saw me, his face went white. He said something to June, who turned to follow his gaze. Her smile was pure venom.
I walked to their table on unsteady legs, my wolf snarling with barely contained fury. "Enjoying dinner?"
Joaquin stood quickly. "Alani, this isn't what it looks like—"
"Really? Because it looks like you're on a date with your pregnant girlfriend while your mate lives in exile." My voice carried across the restaurant, drawing more stares.
"You're making a scene," he hissed, reaching for my arm.
I jerked away from his touch. "Good. Maybe it's time everyone saw the real Alpha Joaquin Morgan."
June's eyes glittered with malicious delight. "Perhaps you should go home, Alani. You look... unwell."
Something inside me snapped. Seven years of swallowing my pride, of making excuses for his behavior, of believing his lies—it all crystallized into a moment of perfect, burning clarity.
I picked up his water glass and threw the contents directly in his face.
The restaurant fell silent. Ice cubes scattered across the white tablecloth as water dripped from Joaquin's shocked features. Every eye in the room was on us, pack members and humans alike witnessing the spectacular destruction of what they'd thought was an unbreakable bond.
"I, Alani Grant," my voice rang clear and strong in the sudden silence, "reject you, Joaquin Morgan, Alpha of the Shadowpine Pack, as my mate."
The formal rejection hit him like a physical blow. He staggered backward, his hand flying to his chest as the mate bond began to fracture. The connection that had defined my existence for seven years started to dissolve, leaving behind a hollow ache that was somehow cleaner than the constant pain of loving someone who didn't love me back.
"Alani, no—" he gasped, but it was too late.
The bond was breaking, and for the first time in years, I could breathe.
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