The Billionaire’s Rejected Mate

The ballroom smelled like money. And lies. Mostly lies. Roses that were too perfect. Champagne that cost more than my salary for 3 months. Perfume so strong it made my head hurt. Five hundred people. Five hundred wolves. Alphas in suits that probably cost 2 million naira. Lunas with diamonds around their necks like dog collars. And reporters. God, the reporters. Their cameras were everywhere. They were all waiting for one thing. To watch me get destroyed. My name is Selene Carter. I’m 21. I serve food at a buka in Yaba during the day. Jollof, plantain, stew. I’m an omega. No family. No money. No pack. Nobody. But the Moon Goddess had a twisted sense of humor. Because she marked me. As the mate of Damian Vex. Damian Vex. If you live in Lagos you know the name. If you don’t, you’ve seen it on billboards. 28 years old. Alpha of North Ridge Pack. CEO of Vex Corp. They say he’s worth 14 billion dollars. They say he bought an island last year. They say he doesn’t smile. They say he ruins men for breakfast. And for the last 3 years... He was mine. In secret. We met during a rainstorm. I was 18 and bleeding behind my buka because some boys tried to rob me. He found me. Carried me to his black SUV. Didn’t say a word, just gave me his jacket. After that, it was late night calls. Hotel rooms. His penthouse on the 40th floor. "You're mine, little one," he’d whisper against my neck. "No one touches you." Three years of that. Three years of hiding. Tonight was supposed to change everything. Tonight was the Moonlight Gala. The biggest event of the year. Tonight, in front of the entire pack, Alpha Damian Vex was supposed to claim me. "Breathe, Sel." Mira squeezed my hand so hard it hurt. She’s my best friend since secondary school. The only person who knew about me and Damian. "I can’t breathe," I whispered back. "My chest. It hurts." My red gown was too much. Too bright. Too bold. I looked like I was pretending to be someone I wasn’t. But the mark on my collarbone was burning. Silver and hot. Proof that the Moon Goddess didn’t make a mistake. Right? The music stopped. The big doors opened. Silence. He walked in. Damian. Black suit. White shirt. No tie. Hair messy like he’d been running his hands through it all day. He didn’t look at anyone. Not the Elders. Not the Lunas throwing themselves at him. His eyes found me. For half a second, I saw it. Something soft. Something that looked like "I’ve got you". Then it was gone. His face went blank. Like stone. Alpha Elder Grant walked to the podium. His voice boomed through the speakers. "We gather here tonight under the full moon to witness a sacred bond. The claiming of Alpha Damian Vex’s chosen mate." My heart was pounding so loud I was sure everyone could hear it. This was it. All the secret meetings. All the times I lied to Mira about where I was going. All the nights I cried after he dropped me off and drove away without looking back. It was all leading to this. "Selene Carter," Damian said. My name in his mouth sounded like a death sentence. "Step forward." Click. Click. Click. My heels on the marble floor. So loud. I could feel everyone staring. Judging. The nobody omega. The buka girl. What was she doing here? I stopped in front of him. Close enough to smell him. Cedar and smoke and something that was just Damian. Close enough to remember his hands on me last night. Close enough to remember him saying "I love you" in the dark. Or did I imagine that? I looked up at him. "Damian," I breathed. "I—" He cut me off. "I, Alpha Damian Vex," he said. And his voice was loud. So loud. So the cameras in the back could get it. So the whole world could hear. "I reject Selene Carter as my mate." The world tilted. Someone gasped. A glass shattered somewhere. Mira made a sound like she’d been shot. Reject. The word echoed in my head. Bounced off the walls. Then the pain hit. The mating bond between us snapped. It felt like claws ripped through my chest. Like someone poured acid in my veins. I doubled over. Tasted copper in my mouth. I was going to be sick. I was going to die right here. A hand grabbed my arm. His hand. But not to comfort me. To hold me up so I wouldn’t fall and embarrass him on his stage. He leaned down. His mouth was right by my ear. Only I could hear him. "You’re a liability, Selene," he murmured. Cold. No emotion. "Vex Corp is going public next month. The board will never accept a Luna with no family. With no power. Don’t come near me again. Don’t ever contact me." Then he let go. And walked away. Just like that. Three years. Gone. The room exploded. "Did you see that?" "An omega? What did she expect?" "She probably seduced him." I couldn’t breathe. The mark on my collarbone went from fire to ice to nothing. Empty. Hollow. Mira was pulling at me. "Sel, come on. We have to go. Now." I ran. Past the guards. Past the cameras. Past my own mother who looked away when I ran by her. I didn’t stop until I was in my tokunbo Corolla, speeding down the express with tears blurring everything. Six hours later I was out of Lagos. In a cheap motel in Ibadan with flickering lights and a smell I didn’t want to think about. I locked the bathroom door. Stared at myself in the cracked mirror. Eyes red. Makeup ruined. Gown wrinkled. And my hand... My hand was on my stomach. Two months. Two months since the last time he touched me. Two months since I bought three pregnancy tests from the chemist and they all said the same thing. Positive. I was pregnant. With Alpha Damian Vex’s heir. And he just rejected me in front of five hundred people. My phone buzzed in my bag. Unknown number. `DAMIAN: Where are you? We need to talk.` I laughed. It sounded broken. I blocked the number. Deleted it. He made his choice. Now I’ll make mine. I will disappear. I will raise this baby alone. And I will make sure Damian Vex never finds out he has a child. Because the only thing worse than being rejected by your mate... ...is letting him reject your child too. Outside, the full moon was high. Mocking me.