The Woman He Mocked Is An Alpha Heiress

chapter 3

HAILEY

His hand shoots forward, and his eyes widen like he is only just realizing what I am about to do.

“Hailey, stop.”

Behind him, his mother’s voice rises sharply.

“What are you doing, you bastard?”

The room breaks into murmurs.

“How dare she?”

“Is she insane?”

“Does she even understand what this means?”

“A fated mate's rejection will weaken him and the pack.”

“Is she that heartless?”

The voices come from everywhere, but they feel far away, like they are happening in another room.

Because I am not listening anymore.

His fingers brush against my wrist as he tries to stop me.

“Hailey,” he says again, his voice lower now, almost urgent. “Don’t do this.”

Don’t do this.

I look at him, and for a moment, I see everything clearly.

The man I loved, and the man I chose, and the man who never truly chose me back.

And something inside me settles.

Not painfully or violently.

Just… finally.

“I, Hailey Merrick,” I say again, more clearly this time while he holds my wrist, “reject you, Dominic Cross, Alpha of the Wolfborne pack, as my mate and Alpha.”

For a second, nothing happens.

But inside me, there's a sharp deep pull like something that has always been tied to me is being forced apart.

My breath catches and then the pain comes.

Stronger than before but not just in my chest but everywhere.

Like my body is being reminded of everything it is losing at once.

The bond.

The child.

The life I thought I had.

Dominic doesn’t let go of my wrist.

His grip tightens instead, and I can feel the slight tremor in his hand as his Adam’s apple bobs.

“I will give you one chance to take it back,” he says, his voice lower now, strained in a way I have never heard before.

Take it back.

Like this is something small.

Like this is something I can undo.

I say nothing as I just look at him and wait.

Because if this is ending—

It will end completely.

“Hailey—”

“Leave the bastard orphan,” his mother snaps from behind him. “Don’t try to… to pity her by holding onto the bond. She has nowhere to go anyway.”

Her words cut through the room, but they don’t reach me the way they used to because I am already too far gone.

“See?” she continues, turning to me now. “My son won’t accept you back when you leave and come crawling back.”

“Shut up,” I say quietly.

Then, my voice steadies as I shift my attention back to him.

“Say it.”

There is a pause.

A long one.

And for a second, I think—Maybe he won’t. Maybe he can’t.

But then—

His hand drops from my wrist.

And just like that, I know.

“I, Dominic Cross,” he says, his voice firm now, like he is forcing it to be, “reject you, Hailey Merrick, as my mate.”

The words fall and the bond breaks completely.

The pain that follows is nothing like before.

It’s worse.

Because this time, it doesn’t just tear.

It empties like something inside me has been ripped out, leaving nothing behind.

My knees almost give, but I force myself to stay standing.

I will not fall here.

Not in front of them.

Not in front of him.

A sharp gasp sounds from somewhere behind him.

His mother.

I don’t need to look to know her expression.

I hear it in her voice.

“You b***h,” she says, her tone laced with shock and anger, like she didn’t think it would actually happen. “Get out of here. Get out!”

I don’t wait.

I turn before the words even finish leaving her mouth, because if I stay one second longer, I might break in a way I won’t be able to hide.

My steps are steady even though my chest feels like it’s collapsing.

Even though my vision blurs.

Even though every breath hurts.

I keep walking.

I reach the door and only when I step outside, only when the cold air hits my face, do the tears finally fall.

Goddess.

This is too much pain for one day.

And I don’t move for a moment.

I just stand there outside the door, with the cold air on my skin and the noise from inside still faint behind me, and I let it hit me fully.

Everything.

The bond.

The words.

The child. Our child.

My chest tightens again, and this time I don’t try to hold it in.

A broken sound leaves my lips, soft and uneven, and I press my hand against my mouth like that will somehow stop it.

It doesn’t.

The tears come harder instead, hot and uncontrolled.

I bend slightly, my other hand going to my stomach again without thinking, like I am trying to hold onto something that is no longer there.

The bond breaking doesn't hurt me as much as me losing my child.

“Goddess…” I whisper, my voice shaking now.

Because I don’t understand how one person can lose this much in one day and still be standing.

Behind me, I can still hear them.

The soft music and their lives going on like I didn’t just lose everything. Like I didn’t just walk out of a life I gave three years to.

I swallow hard and force myself to straighten.

You can’t stay here.

The thought comes quietly but firmly.

So I start walking.

Slow at first then steadier.

Each step taking me further away from the door, from the house, from everything that used to be his that I thought was mine too.

I didn’t take anything.

No bag.

No clothes.

No memories.

I didn't even get the chance to see the room I'd decorated for my baby.

Nothing.

Just myself.

And even that feels like too much right now.

The gravel crunches softly under my slippers as I make my way toward the same car that'd dropped me and my vision blurs again, but I don’t stop.

If I stop, I will fall.

And I can’t afford that.

“Ma’am…”

Lila’s voice comes from behind me, hesitant, almost breaking.

I know what she wants to say.

I can hear it in the way she says my name.

In the way her steps slow behind me.

She almost asks.

Almost.

“Should I go back and get your things?” she finally says, her voice small. “Or… or call someone?”

I shake my head immediately as I continue walking.

“No.”

“Ma'am, I… where are you going? Do you need anything? I can come with you and continue to serve you.”

I don’t turn to look at her.

Because if I do, I might cry harder.

“No, Lila. Go back to your Alpha. I don’t need anything,” I add, quieter this time.

And it’s the truth.

Because everything I thought I needed with being a hopeless romantic—

I already lost.

I reach the car and stop beside it, my hand resting against the door for a second longer than necessary.

My reflection stares back at me from the window.

Pale and tired and broken in a way I can’t hide.

Goddess. I barely recognize myself.

Mommy would be so broken if she sees me like this.

A shaky breath leaves me.

And then—

I turn, my head scanning the whole place in search of Krish, the driver. But he's nowhere to be found.

Lila is still standing a few feet from me, refusing to leave, a pitiful look on her face which I hate so much but I say nothing about it.

“Did he give you the keys?” I ask softly.

She nods, reaching into my bag and passing it to me.

I inhale shakily as I take it from her, and for a second our fingers touch, and she doesn’t let go immediately.

“Ma’am…” she says softly with pleading eyes. “Please… let me come with you.”

I close my eyes briefly.

“Lila—”

“I was assigned to you,” she cuts in, her voice trembling now. “If you leave, then… then I have no place here. They’ll send me back to the village. I won’t have work. I won’t have anything.”

I open my eyes and look at her.

Really look at her this time.

At the fear she is trying to hide.

At the loyalty she didn’t have to show.

And for a moment, I don’t know what to say because I am barely holding myself together and now I have someone else looking at me like I am the only thing she has.

A soft breath leaves me.

“Get in,” I say quietly.

Relief floods her face so quickly it almost hurts to see.

“Thank you, Ma’am.”

I don’t respond.

I just turn and slide into the driver’s seat, my hands gripping the wheel before I even realize it.

I haven’t driven in a while.

Not like this.

Not when my chest feels like it’s being squeezed with every breath.

But I can’t stay here either.

I won’t.

Lila gets in beside me, careful and quiet, like she is afraid any sound might break me and make me send her away.

The car smells like me and I start the engine.

The sound fills the space, grounding me just enough to move.

My hands tremble slightly on the wheel, but I tighten my grip until they steady.

You can do this.

You have to.

I glance up.

And that’s when I see it.

My reflection in the rearview mirror right there in the middle.

My eyes meet mine.

They are red and swollen and empty in a way that makes my chest tighten all over again.

Then my gaze drops to the silver chain around my neck, the green pendant resting against my skin.

And my mind flashes back to when Dominic would try to make me take it off and I would lie it belongs to my late grandmother and that it's the only thing of hers which I have.

He never questioned it.

He never cared enough to.

Because if he had—

He would have known it was never just a necklace.

My fingers twitch slightly, and for a second, I almost reach for it.

Almost.

Because a part of me now wants it off.

But I stop.

Not yet.

I swallow and look away.

I will take it off when I cross the pack’s borders.

I ignite the engine and my foot presses against the pedal, and slowly, the car begins to move.

Past the driveway and the gates and everything that once felt like my life..

I don’t look back.

I can’t.

Because if I do—

I might yank off the pendant and show him just what a bitter broken neglected and mocked ex-mate can do.