Darkness.
That was all I knew.
Days, weeks—maybe even months had passed, but I had lost track of time. The small, windowless room they had locked me in became my new home, the walls closing in on me more with each passing second.
Jesse had forgotten me.
Left me to rot while he doted on her—Juliana, the woman he had always loved. And now, she had given him what I lost.
A child.
I pressed a shaking hand to my stomach, the dull ache a constant reminder of what I had lost. My baby was gone, and Jesse hadn't even cared.
He hadn't believed me.
A hollow laugh escaped my lips, dry and cracked from thirst.
The first few days, the guards had brought food and water. Enough to keep me alive. But then, as the weeks dragged on, the visits became less frequent, until they stopped altogether.
I was truly alone.
The first thing I noticed when the door finally creaked open was the blinding light. I flinched, my weak body collapsing under its weight.
Boots clicked against the floor, but I couldn't lift my head to see who it was.
A sharp gasp filled the air.
"She's still alive?"
Fingers gripped my arm, yanking me upright. A wave of dizziness crashed over me, my head lolling forward as I struggled to stay conscious.
"She stinks," someone muttered in disgust.
Of course, I did. I had been left in my own filth, no access to water, no way to clean myself.
A familiar voice scoffed. "Alpha Jesse won't be pleased if she dies on his watch."
Jesse.
His name sent a jolt of bitter fury through me.
Not because he had come to check on me—he hadn't.
He didn't care if I lived or died.
But he *had* kept me alive. Why?
I should have been grateful for the small mercy of being released, but there was no relief.
There was nothing left of me to save.
I screamed until my voice was raw. Cried until I had no more tears. Starved until my body no longer craved food.
I was broken and no one had come for me.
Not even my mate.
As they dragged me out, my body limp and unresisting, I barely had the strength to open my eyes. But when I did, I wished I hadn't.
The pack was alive.
Laughter, music, celebration.
For a moment, I thought maybe I had been locked away for so long that I had lost my mind.
But then, through my blurry vision, I saw them.
Jesse.
Juliana.
And their child.
She was in his arms, her head resting against his chest, their newborn son cradled between them.
He looked at her the way he had never looked at me.
Like she was his world.
Pain splintered through my chest, but I didn't cry. I couldn't. There was nothing left inside me to give.
Juliana's eyes flickered toward me, widening slightly before she quickly looked away.
Jesse didn't even glance in my direction.
I was nothing to him.
The guards dumped me onto the cold floor, their grip releasing me like I was nothing more than discarded trash.
"Alpha," one of them said. "She's still alive."
Jesse turned slightly, his golden eyes scanning me with indifference. "Hmm."
That was it.
No relief. No guilt. Not even anger.
Just a cold, detached acknowledgment that I still existed.
I forced myself to sit up, my fingers digging into the wooden floor. Every movement sent sharp pains through my frail body, but I refused to collapse again.
I wouldn't let him see me as weak.
With whatever strength I had left, I met his gaze. "Why?" My voice was barely above a whisper, but I knew he heard me.
He raised a brow. "Why what?"
"Why keep me alive?" My nails dug into my palms, blood seeping from the half-healed wounds. "You could have just let me die."
Jesse exhaled, bored. "I told you before, Athena. You love acting like the victim ."
Acting like the victim.
That word again.
Like everything I had suffered was just an overreaction.
I clenched my jaw, my shattered heart hardening into something unrecognizable.
I has spent my entire life hoping—praying—that Jesse would love me. That one day, he would see me.
But now, I finally understood.
He never would.
He didn't want me.
And I was done wanting him.
Something inside me snapped, the final thread of my love for him unraveling into nothingness.
Slowly, I stood. My legs trembled beneath me, but I stood.
Jesse watched, unimpressed.
"I will never forgive you," I whispered, my voice steadier than I expected.
Something flickered in his golden eyes, but it was gone in an instant.
"I don't need your forgiveness," he said.
I smiled then—a small, broken thing.
"No," I agreed. "You don't."
Because forgiveness was for people who mattered.
And to me, Jesse was nothing.
For the first time in my life, I felt something other than pain when I looked at him.
I felt nothing at all.
And that was the most freeing thing of all.
I waited a bit more.
For a flicker of regret. A moment of hesitation.
Anything.
But Jesse stood there, arms still wrapped around Juliana, his face impassive, as if I were just another nuisance in his day.
As if I hadn't been his—his mate, his wife, the woman he was destined to be with.
As if I hadn't just crawled out of a living nightmare, covered in bruises and barely able to stand.
"You needed to be taught a lesson," Jesse said flatly, his golden eyes locking onto mine. "You brought this on yourself."
My stomach twisted, but I refused to let the pain show. I refused to give him that satisfaction.
He truly felt no remorse.
None at all.
I could almost laugh at my own foolishness.
Even after everything he had done—everything he had allowed—I had still hoped.
Hoped that there was some sliver of guilt beneath that cold exterior.
That maybe, maybe, he would realize what he had done to me.
But there was nothing.
I took a slow, deep breath, the weight of my decision settling over me.
I was done.
For the first time in my life, I didn't want Jesse to love me. I didn't want him to change.
I just wanted to be free.
A small, humorless smile curled my lips. "You're right, Jesse," I murmured. "I did learn my lesson."
Something in my voice must have caught his attention because his brows furrowed slightly.
"I finally learned that you're not worth it."
Silence.
A few of the pack members turned to look at us, their whispers blending into the background noise of the celebration.
Juliana glanced at Jesse uneasily, sensing the shift in the air.
But Jesse?
His face remained emotionless.
Unmoved.
Like my words meant nothing to him.
Good.
I wanted him to feel nothing. Just like I did.
I squared my shoulders, despite the unbearable pain coursing through my body. "I, Athena, reject you, Jesse, as my mate and my Alpha."
A hush fell over the room.
The bond—our bond—tugged violently at my heart, as if trying to resist the inevitable.
I felt the pain, the tearing of something unseen, something sacred.
It burned, stealing the breath from my lungs, but I embraced it.
Because it meant I was finally free.
Jesse's expression darkened, but he said nothing.
He didn't try to stop me.
Didn't call my name.
Didn't even blink.
And that was all the confirmation I needed.
Without another word, I turned on my heel and walked away.
I didn't care that I was weak, that every step sent white-hot agony through my body.
I didn't care that I had nowhere to go.
All I knew was that I would never stay here.
Never look back.
I didn't see Jesse one last time before I left the pack lands.
But I knew, deep down, that even if I had turned around…
He wouldn't have been watching.
After I left Jesse's pack, I had nowhere to go. No home, no allies, no plan.
Just my rage.
Just my grief.
Just me.
For weeks, I wandered rogue territories, my body battered, my mind shattered. I barely slept, barely ate. Every shadow, every rustling leaf, felt like another nightmare waiting to pounce.
And yet, I survived.
Until, finally, fate led me to the Silvermoon Pack.
At first, they wanted nothing to do with me—a broken, abandoned she-wolf with no pack, no family, no strength to offer.
But I refused to be cast aside again.
I trained harder than anyone else. I fought, bled, and endured.
I showed them that I was not weak.
That I was worth something.
And soon enough, they saw it too.
Within a year, I had risen through the ranks.
Within two, I was named Beta.
The second-in-command of one of the most powerful packs in the region.
I stood beside Alpha Joel—strong, ruthless, and unwavering. He saw something in me that Jesse never did. He respected me.
Not because of some bond.
Not because of some destiny written in the stars.
But because I had earned it.
And that was worth more than any mate bond could ever be.
Three Years Later
I stood at the edge of the Silvermoon's Pack's training grounds, watching the young warriors spar under the blazing sun.
My arms were crossed over my chest, my stance firm, every bit the Beta I had become.
I was no longer the weak, lovesick girl Jesse had discarded.
No longer the woman who had begged for love from a mate who never wanted her.
I was feared.
Respected.
I had built myself from the ashes of my past, and I would not be burned again.
"Beta Athena."
I turned to see one of our scouts, his face tense.
"A group of wolves from the Blood Moon Pack have been spotted near our borders."
My heart stilled.
Blood Moon.
Jesse's pack.
For a moment, the name sent a ripple through my chest—a ghost of old pain, of memories I had long since buried.
But I pushed it down.
I wasn't that woman anymore.
"Are they a threat?" I asked, my voice even.
"We're not sure," the scout admitted. "But they're not traveling in battle formation."
I narrowed my eyes.
That meant one thing.
They weren't here for war.
They were here to negotiate.
I exhaled slowly, my grip tightening around the hilt of my dagger.
I didn't need to ask who was leading them.
I already knew.
Jesse.
It had been three years since I'd last seen him.
Three years since I had walked away from him, broken and bleeding.
I had thought about him often, but never with longing.
Only with hate.
And now, he was coming here.
To me.
I smiled coldly.
Let him come.