Chapter 77: Mates

In her small, dark room, Sofia fell to her knees. The heat in her body had turned into a burning fire. It felt as though her bones were breaking and knitting back together. Suddenly, a voice spoke in her mind—not her own, but one stronger and wilder.

​”Mate,” the voice whispered.

​Sofia gasped, her eyes flying open. They weren’t blue anymore; they were a bright, glowing silver.

​”Mate! He is close! Our Alpha is here!” her wolf screamed with joy.

​Sofia’s heart hammered against her ribs. She knew that scent. Even through the pain of her first shift, she recognized the smell of pine forests and expensive rain. It was Damien.

​The door to her room didn’t just open; it exploded off its hinges. Damien stood there, his chest heaving, his eyes glowing a lethal gold. The air in the tiny room became thick with power as their two souls finally recognized each other.

​”Mate,” Sofia’s wolf howled with relief.

​But Sofia didn’t feel relief. She felt a cold splash of reality. Two years ago, she would have cried with happiness. She would have run into his arms. But now? After the beatings, the insults, and the way he looked at her like she was trash?

​Damien didn’t move. He didn’t look happy. He looked like he was in pain. He looked at her curvy body, now trembling from the shift, and his face twisted into a frown.

​”We are mates?” he whispered, his voice sounding broken. “Why? Out of everyone in the world… why does it have to be you?”

​The words hit Sofia harder than any physical blow. Her wolf whined inside her, feeling the rejection in his voice. The bond was supposed to be a gift, but to Damien, it was a curse.

​Sofia forced herself to stand up, clutching her torn dress to her chest. She wiped a tear from her cheek and looked him in the eye.

​”You hate me, Damien,” she said, her voice surprisingly steady. “You think I’m a murderer. You think I don’t deserve you. So, let’s just end this. Let’s reject each other right now. You don’t want this bond, and I don’t want to be tied to a man who hates me.”

​Damien froze. He felt a sharp jab of anger in his gut. Why was she saying it so easily? Why was she so ready to throw him away?

​He remembered three years ago, when they were teenagers sitting by the lake. Sofia had turned seventeen, and she had joked, “I hope the Moon Goddess makes us mates.” He had smiled, pulled her into his arms, and whispered, “I hope so too.”

​But now, she was standing there telling him to break the bond. A dark, jealous thought crossed his mind. Was she rejecting him because of Alexander? Did she want him instead?

​The thought of another man touching his mate made his wolf go insane. The “possessive beast” inside him took over. He didn’t want to love her, but he couldn’t let anyone else have her.

​In two large steps, he crossed the room and grabbed her by the waist, pulling her voluptuous frame hard against his chest. Before she could protest, he crashed his lips onto hers in a rough, desperate kiss.

​It wasn’t a sweet kiss. It was an Alpha claiming what was his.

​He pulled back just an inch, his breath hot against her lips. His eyes were dark and wild.

​”I am not rejecting you, Sofia,” he growled. “You are mine. You have always been mine.”

​Sofia felt a sharp, stabbing pain in her heart. Being mated to him should have been the greatest moment of her life, but after two years of hell, it felt like a cruel joke from the Goddess.

​”You don’t want me, Damien,” she sobbed, her heavy breasts heaving as she tried to push him away. “You don’t love me! You’ve spent every day telling me how much you hate the sight of me. You’ve treated me like a criminal and a slave. I won’t live like this!”

​She looked up at him, her silver wolf-eyes shimmering with tears. She had loved this boy since she was a little girl, but the man standing in front of her had broken her spirit. She realized that if she didn’t end this now, the bond would only give him more power to hurt her.

​”I, Sofia Stephen,” she began, her voice trembling but determined, “reject this bond. I reject you as my mate and my Alpha!”

​The moment the words left her lips, a physical shockwave went through the room. A dull ache spread through Sofia’s chest, making her gasp for air. She expected to feel a sense of relief, a sense of freedom. Instead, she felt a hollow emptiness that made her want to scream.

​Damien’s face contorted into a mask of pure, unadulterated rage. His wolf was clawing at his insides, howling in agony at the thought of being cast aside. The air around him began to vibrate with his Alpha command.

​”Never,” he whispered, his voice low and ragged. He stepped forward, his massive hands reaching out to cup her face, forcing her to look into his glowing gold eyes.

​”I don’t care what you want, Sofia. I don’t care about your rejection,” he growled, his thumb brushing harshly over her full lips.

​He pulled her closer, his nose dipping into the crook of her neck, inhaling her scent—sunshine and honey.

​”I, Alpha Damien, reject your rejection,” he spat, his voice echoing with the power of his rank. “The bond stays. You are mine whether you want it or not.”

​Sofia let out a broken whimper. By rejecting her rejection, he had effectively locked them both in a cage.

​”Why?” she whispered against his chest. “Why keep me if you hate me?”

​”Because,” Damien rasped, his grip on her curvy waist tightening until it was almost painful. “You are mine.”

​Sofia looked up at him, her silver eyes searching his gold ones, trying to find a shred of the boy she used to love beneath the mask of the cruel Alpha.

​”Then what, Damien?” she whispered, her voice trembling. “What happens now? Will you stand before the pack and announce that the ’murderer’ you’ve spent weeks punishing is actually your fated mate?”

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