Rejecting My Alpha Mate

Chapter 19

MAXWELL’S POV

I couldn't stop the anger from burning inside my chest. The day I found her in that forest, I immediately smelled her as my mate. I brought her back to our palace so I could give her everything she needed just to recover. I immediately felt the pain she was experiencing.

I was the one who got the medicinal herb she needed even though the place where it usually grew was dangerous. I did everything just so her wolf could recover. I waited for her to realize it, to recognize me and smell me as her mate, but that wasn't going to happen because she didn't have a wolf yet.

She was shocked by what I told her. I had waited so long to find her, but it turned out she had been here in the Shadowfang Pack all along. When I saw her at her secret training ground, I didn't recognize her right away. I couldn't smell her as my mate, but after seeing her unconscious in the forest, that was when I finally realized that she was the one the Moon Goddess had given me to be my mate and the future Luna of the Silvermoon Pack.

"Are you serious about what you're saying?" She let out a dry laugh, as if she couldn't believe that I was her mate. I didn't know whether she was happy or angry because I was the one destined for her.

"Are you joking? If you're joking, it's not funny. You're the future alpha of the Silvermoon Pack. Who would believe me that two future alphas are destined to be my mates?" My brows furrowed. What did she mean? Two future alphas were destined to be her mates?

"What do you mean?" I asked in confusion. How could she have two mates? Was that why she couldn't smell me because she already had another mate? I hadn't smelled another male's mark on her yet.

She fell silent and stared straight into my eyes. It was as if she was trying to sense something.

"What the hell is going on?" she muttered softly before taking a small step backward.

"What?" I asked again, still confused. I didn't know if she had already smelled me as her mate as well. She looked away from me, but I grabbed both of her arms and forced her to look into my eyes.

"Answer me, Selina. What do you mean by two future alphas being your mates? You didn't recognize or smell me right away because you already have another mate? Answer me." I spoke firmly, tightening my grip on her arms.

She gathered the courage to look into my eyes. Even she seemed confused about what was happening.

"I already had a mate, but I rejected our mate bond because of the way he treated me. Adrian, the future alpha of our pack, was the first one the Moon Goddess gave me as my mate, but on the day we both found out that we were destined for each other, he immediately had s*x with another woman. He repeatedly made me feel the pain of him sleeping with someone else. I felt it every day, every night. Even on my 18th birthday, he didn't spare me, but that same night, I rejected him as my mate." My jaw tightened. I clenched my fists. I could feel the heat spreading through my body because of what I had just learned.

‘She’s our mate. Claim her now,’ Apollo, my wolf, ordered. I could feel his excitement over finally finding our mate.

‘I can’t,’ I answered him. I could feel his anger because of my response. This wasn't the right time for me to accept her as my mate.

‘Damn you! We waited for her for so long and you still won't accept her? What the hell are you angry about? That bastard Adrian didn't even mark her,’ Apollo snarled, but I didn't answer him.

The Moon Goddess gave me a mate who had already been someone else's mate? How did she know Adrian was her mate when she didn't even have a wolf yet?

"If you want to reject me, I'll accept it with all my heart because I never asked for a mate in the first place. I've already been hurt once, but how am I supposed to accept the pain a second time if you end up sleeping with someone else too? You can reject our mate bond now, Maxwell."

‘NO! Don't you dare do that,’ Apollo snarled angrily at me. I ground my teeth together. Apollo was so furious that I could almost feel him trying to force his way out of my body.

"Just focus on the Mooncrest Trial. You need to fight, you need to survive because if you really don't have a wolf, how will you be able to handle them?"

‘Are you stupid? Didn't you see how good she was at fighting earlier? I can feel that she's not an ordinary wolf. She's exceptionally skilled, she's fast, and her instincts are incredible,’ Apollo said.

He's right, who really is Selina? If the Moon Goddess gave her a mate, then that means she's a wolf.

"I'll understand if you reject me. Just do it now so you won't hurt me again. All I want is to have a quiet and peaceful life." I could feel the pain she was carrying. What did that bastard Adrian do to her? Why didn't he accept Selina as his mate and Luna?

Didn't he see how beautiful Selina was? Or did he refuse to accept Selina because she was wolfless?

‘And don't you dare become like that i***t,’ Apollo said again.

‘Shut up,’ I said irritably to my wolf.

‘She's beautiful. You already admitted that yourself. Why don't you mark her now? It's easy, all you have to do is bite her neck.’

‘I said, shut up for now,’ I snapped angrily at my wolf, but he only rolled his eyes at me.

Selina was still looking at me. She was afraid of being hurt again because of her mate. The overwhelming pain caused by having s*x with another person while the mate bond was still active could kill us.

"Tell me, was it Adrian who tried to kill you?" I asked her.

"It doesn't matter who they were anymore. If you don't plan to reject me yet, I'm leaving. That's all I'm asking from you, don't sleep with anyone else while our mate bond is still active," she said before turning her back on me. I could only watch her walk away.

‘She's hurt. If I see that bastard Adrian, I'm going to kill him. How dare he hurt our mate? Our future Luna? What are you still standing there for? Follow her and mark her!’ Apollo shouted angrily.

"This is not the right time," I answered him before returning to the arena.

‘And when will the right time be, according to you? She thinks we're a fucker. We're not like that, so you should prove to her that you won't become the man she thinks you are.’

I didn't answer him.

"Hey, where have you been? I've been looking for you," Damien asked when he sat down beside me. I didn't answer him. I stared seriously at the arena below where the students were fighting.

I didn't know why I was angry, was it because she hadn't recognized me right away, or because she had already had another mate?

I looked toward the spot where that bastard Adrian usually stayed. I clenched my fists as I stared at him. If he never intended to make Selina his Luna, why didn't he just reject her and then sleep with the woman he wanted?

You bastard, Adrian.