Selene’s POV

“Why?”

The word slipped out before I could stop it—raw, trembling, threaded with everything I’d been holding back for years. My eyes locked on Damian, and the tension between us thrummed like a bowstring stretched too tight.

He froze where he stood, knuckles dripping blood, chest heaving like a storm howling through him. For the first time since I’d met him, he didn’t look untouchable. He looked… fractured.

His hazel eyes flickered between fury and something else I couldn’t name. My wolf whimpered at the connection, aching against my chest. But I bit down that whimper, forcing the words sharper this time.

“Why did you do it? Why torment me? Why humiliate me every single day? When you knew…” My throat thickened, but I pushed it out. “…you knew we were mates.”

The words cracked the silence like thunder.

His jaw tightened. His fists clenched again, blood dripping onto the concrete floor. For a second—just a second—I thought I saw regret flicker in his eyes.

Then it was gone.

And when he spoke, his voice was a blade.

“Because you don’t deserve me.”

The air left my lungs.

“I won’t sugarcoat it,” Damian continued, his words cold and deliberate. “You’re an Omega, Selene. Weak. Pathetic. You’ve always been nothing. Accepting you as my mate would have destroyed me, destroyed my reputation, destroyed everything I was born to be.” He spat the words like venom. “I’d rather tear the bond out with my bare hands than let it shackle me to you.”

My chest burned, but I refused to cry. Refused to give him that satisfaction.

“Do you even hear yourself?” My voice rose, shaking but fierce. “You think being Alpha is about bruises and status? You think it’s about crushing people weaker than you?!”

His jaw ticked, his eyes blazing. “It’s about power. It’s about survival. Do you even realize what this curse is doing to me? I feel you, every second, in my head—dragging me down. You are poison to me, Selene.”

My wolf whimpered, curling in pain at his words. I clutched my stomach, nails digging into my palm, forcing myself to stay upright even as my body screamed to give in.

No. Not this time.

“You don’t get to call me poison,” I snapped, my voice breaking but pushing through. “Not you. Not after what you’ve done. If anyone’s poison here, Damian, it’s you.”

The silence that followed was suffocating. Our bond burned between us, raw and violent, choking me with every heartbeat.

He turned his head away, as if looking at me was a punishment he wouldn’t give himself. His next words were barely a whisper, but they sliced deep.

“Stay away from me.”

My chest felt hollow. My knees trembled. A part of me wanted to beg, like I used to. But that part was dead.

I swallowed the ache clawing at my throat, lifted my chin, and whispered back, “Gladly.”

And for the first time in years, I turned my back on him.

The night air was sharp as I stepped outside, each breath scraping my lungs raw. But it wasn’t just the words tearing me apart. It was the bond.

With every step I took away from him, my chest constricted, the thread tugging violently between us as if it were punishing me for leaving him. I pressed a hand against my ribs, gasping quietly, tears spilling because I couldn’t hold them anymore.

“Selene.”

The voice made me freeze. Low. Smooth. Familiar.

Alexander.

He leaned against the shadows near the gate, his arms crossed, his lips curved into a faint smile. His eyes glowed faintly red in the dark, sharp and knowing.

“What do you want?” My voice cracked, pathetic.

He lifted a brow. “I think the better question is: what do you want?”

“I—” My throat closed. The truth screamed inside me but wouldn’t come out.

Alexander stepped closer, each stride unhurried, deliberate. His gaze never left mine, dissecting, prying, pulling at secrets I didn’t want him to know.

“You want to be strong. To never bleed like this again. To look him in the eye and make him regret every word he just threw at you.” He paused. “And I can give you that.”

“No,” I whispered immediately, shaking my head. My wolf bristled with panic. “You can’t—”

“I can,” Alexander cut in smoothly. His voice dipped low, coaxing. “Because you’re not just an Omega, Selene. You were never meant to be weak. You were meant for more. You’ve felt it, haven’t you? In your dreams. In your veins.”

My breath stuttered. He knew. He knew about the dreams.

“I… I don’t—”

He tilted his head, smiling faintly. “You do. And when you’re ready, I’ll show you how to use that power. How to stop being his victim. How to stop being theirs.”

I tried to speak, to tell him to leave me alone—but his words had already wedged themselves under my skin.

For the first time, I wasn’t just afraid of Alexander. I was afraid of myself. Afraid of how much I wanted what he offered.

As he turned to leave, he stopped, glancing back once. The moonlight caught the crimson rings in his eyes, burning crimson into my memory.

“When the bond rips you apart, Selene… you’ll come find me.”

And then he disappeared into the shadows, leaving me trembling, my heart fractured, my wolf whispering her mournful cry.

“Mate…”

But my mind screamed something else entirely:

Maybe the Moon Goddess had made me for ruin after all.

Selene collapses to her knees in the dark, torn between the agony of Damian’s rejection and the dangerous allure of Alexander’s promise—realizing, at last, that fate isn’t giving her a choice.