The Discarded Omega: An Alpha's Cherish

Kira's pov "Are you certain this is what you want, child?" Council Elder Matthias studied me from behind his ancient oak desk, his weathered hands folded atop a stack of dissolution papers. I met his gaze without flinching. "Yes, Elder. I want to sever the mate bond with Alpha Damon Thornwood." "You understand the consequences." He coughed a little, "A wolf without a mate bond, without a pack... the pain alone—" "I understand." He sighed, "The law requires a three-day waiting period. If you still wish to proceed after that time, return to me and we will complete the severance." He paused, leaning forward. "But I must ask, is there truly no room for reconciliation?" A bitter smile touched my lips. "Three days ago, I thought there might be." THREE DAYS EARLIER I never imagined I'd stumble upon them like this. The auction box door stood slightly ajar, and through the gap I could see everything. My mate had his arms wrapped tightly around Selena Langley as she sat on his lap, her designer dress disheveled and bunched around her waist. His hands gripped her bare thighs as she kissed his neck, her golden hair cascading down her back. My mate was with another woman while I'd been looking for him everywhere, desperately and heartbroken. I could barely breathe, my heart feeling like it’s been crushed. I couldn’t believe the man kissing another woman so fiercely was my mate—the same man who once swore to the Moon Goddess that he would take care of me. All day long, ever since I got the news from the Alliance that my parents' remains were finally being repatriated, I’ve been trying to reach him. Three years. After three years, the Alliance finally found their bodies in the battlefield. They were bringing my mother and father home from the borderlands—the very place where they fell. I needed someone to be here with me. My wolf won’t stop calling for Damon. Damon, please. I need to talk to you. I'd tried our mindlink over and over. Nothing. Just empty silence. He'd blocked me. I'd called his phone and texted. Nothing. Finally, I'd reached his beta, Philipe. "Where is he? I need him. It's about my parents—" "Alpha Thornwood is very busy today," Philipe had said smoothly. "He's handling important pack business and cannot be disturbed." Important pack business. Through the gap in the door, I saw them locked in a kiss. His hands roamed her waist, pulling her even closer. This was his "important business."? Then Damon reached for something on the table beside them, a velvet box. He lifted out a ruby necklace, the deep crimson stone surrounded by diamonds that sparkled under the lights. No. No, that couldn't be— "It's perfect," Serena breathed as Damon fastened it around her neck. His fingers lingered there, tracing the line of the rubies, dipping lower toward her chest. She arched into his touch as they kissed again. I collapsed to the floor, my claws extending uncontrollably, digging deep into the door. Pain and rage burned through my chest, and somehow, tears were already streaming down my face. It was my mother's necklace. The one I'd been frantically bidding on downstairs just twenty minutes ago. The one I'd lost when the price climbed beyond what I could afford. Someone had outbid me at twenty million. I'd been devastated, it was my mother's only keepsake, the last piece of her I could hold. After the auction ended, I'd tried to find the buyer, to plead with them to resell it to me. I'd offer anything, everything I had. The auction staff had told me the buyer was in Box 7. And now I understand. Damon had been the one bidding against me. He had bought my mother's necklace to give to his mistress. I'd told him about that necklace a dozen times. It holds all my memories of my mother. He knew what it meant to me and he'd bought it anyway. For Serena. Rage boiled through my veins, and Mira roared in my chest, “Tear her apart!” Unwilling to let them dishonor my mother's memory any further, I shoved the door open. They sprang apart. Serena scrambled off his lap while Damon rose to his feet, his expression shifting from surprise to cold annoyance. "Kira." He said icily, "What are you doing here?" "That necklace." I pointed at Serena's throat where the rubies gleamed. "That's my mother's. Give it back to me." Damon's jaw tightened. He adjusted his bow tie indifferently as his Alpha aura slowly spread. The unfamiliar pressure made Mira restless. Then he said matter-of-factly, "Serena just made history as the only female captain among the newly promoted pilots in the Werewolf Alliance. This necklace is more than worthy of honoring that achievement." It felt like I had never truly known the man before me. His cold, decisive Alpha side had never been shown to me—until now, all for Serena… I stared at him. "You know what the necklace meant to me! You bought so many things at that auction. Paintings, sculptures, wine. Why did it have to be this necklace specifically?" Serena smiled, her fingers caressing the rubies against her skin. "Because Damon said the red complements my skin tone best." Excuse me? "Kira, stop being unreasonable," Damon said sharply. "It's just a necklace and Serena is the youngest female captain in the Werewolf Alliance’s history. She deserves this recognition." Just a necklace. His words cut me like a knife. I stared at the mate I had married, had trusted, had loved and bitter irony flooded through me. He didn't know and had never bothered to learn. My mother had been the Alliance's Chief Healer before her death. She'd traded this necklace, her most precious possession for medical supplies that saved fifty orphaned pups during the border wars. Fifty lives, preserved because of her sacrifice. And now it hung around the neck of a woman whose greatest achievement was learning to fly a plane. "If it means that much to you," Damon said dismissively, "I'll buy you a replacement next time. Something equally nice." He wrapped his arm around Serena's waist, pulling her protectively against his side as he moved toward the door. "Now if you'll excuse us, we'd like some privacy." He pushed past me, guiding Serena out with him, my mother's necklace glinting heartbreakingly at her throat. At that moment, it felt like everything Damon and I had built over the past three years was crumbling, and our mate bond was nothing but a cruel joke.