Chapter 3

Lucas' POV

Did this woman just... reject me?

Is she trying to get my attention by angering me? Apparently sometimes women do that. But Leah doesn't come across as needy as Josephine. She has never ever bothered me up till now.

So, what's that all about?

I was bewildered.

To be honest, I had never really paid attention to this woman in the past five years of our marriage.

Our marriage was nothing but a simple piece of contract, on which everything was arranged -

As my mate, Leah will basically do whatever I ask her to do, including giving blood donations to Josephine on a regular basis. The thing is, Jo was diagnosed with an unknown blood disease five years ago and she needs a specific type of blood to sustain her life. Fortunately, Leah's blood is the right match.

In return for donating her blood to Jo, Leah will get my gratitude and thanks, which is realized by a substantial amount of allowance every month. At the same time, since the Luna position has to be filled by my mate, we will have a wedding to announce our marriage to the world and she will stay in our pack as my Luna in name.

That's pretty much all about the contract. Apart from the contract, well, we consummated once on our wedding day to finalize our bond and I had never touched her ever since that.

Well, to be more precise, I had seldom seen her in my life, let alone talked to her.

But for my justification, I didn't mean to ignore her. Being the Alpha of a wolf pack is a trade that I've been traind for all my life. It means responsibilities and obligations.

What can I say? I am a busy man, traveling around our Kingdom, having audiences with the Lycan King, dealing with domestic finance, and, from time to time, defending our pack's territory.

I simply don't have time for staying with irrelevant people.

It's very torturing for a werewolf not to be able to have sex with their mate, but I ask the warlock for a special kind of potion to bring relief to our ailments. So, I'm sure she's well taken care of in that area.

In the past five years, everything went well. Nothing explained. Nothing complained.

But Jo's condition seemed to deteriorate these days. So her physician, Doctor Jafar, suggested increasing the volume of blood donations.

Apparently, Leah was unhappy because of the amendment of the contract. I understand her frustration because of the impact of blood loss on her health, but she could have negotiated with me on terms and numbers instead of rejecting me.

I felt so confused.

"Leah, tell me what this is really about. Do you need more money?" I asked.

Shivering like a little fox, Leah clenched her little fists. I could see tears circling in her eyes.

"Accept my rejection now." She said in an authoritative, commanding voice.

I couldn't remember what her voice used to be like, but it certainly didn't sound like this.

She crossed the line.

Mate or not, she was just an omega and she wasn't supposed to talk to her Alpha in this kind of voice.

"What's the matter with you? Stop talking to me in that voice." I said.

She stepped forward and grabbed my arm. Her eyes were gleaming with resolution and determination.

"Do you accept my rejection, Lucas?"

Her grip was firm and powerful. It didn't match her physical size and it certainly didn't match her status in a pack. An omega was supposed to be weak. There was no way for an omega to have the guts to grab me like this and grilled me with this kind of pressing question.

Plus, she got me suspicious when the wound on her forehead magically healed by itself with my own witness. When I got into the room, her wound was still bleeding badly. But as soon as she looked up at me a few moments later, the wound magically disappeared.

At that very moment, I realized that I literally didn't know anything about this girl to whom I had been married for the past five years.

Who is she?

Leah's POV

"Do you accept my rejection, Lucas?" I asked.

Lucas stared at me with confusion.

As the first stray of afternoon sunlight emerged, the orange light pierced the tranquility in the garden and filtered in through the window, illuminating my mate's beautiful, chiseled face.

That sight was both heartbreaking and pitiful.

My wolf warned me about this.

"He will never fall in love with you." She whispered in my mind before Lucas took away my virginity.

For so long, I had been blind to the truth. I had believed in the fairy tale of love, the idea that once two people were joined together by the Moon Goddess, they would stay together forever against all odds.

But when I looked into Lucas' eyes, I saw nothing but my own reflections floating like ghosts above a bleak tundra.

My wolf was right. In the past five years, no matter how hard I tried to please him, he still had no feelings for me.

When the harsh reality of my situation had come crashing down on me, I stood there with my mind flooded with remorse. I racked my brains, trying to look for drops of memories of happier times, moments of tenderness and affection that, despite being so scarce, still indicated that my husband acknowledged my love and devotion to him.

I found nothing.

Not a single trace of evidence could be misinterpreted into love.

Where it has all gone wrong? Is there anything that I could do to reverse the relationship between us?

But even as I pondered these questions, I knew that the answers didn't matter.

What mattered was the fact that my heart was broken, that the man, to whom I had given the most precious five years of my life, had never ever cared for me in the same way.

Lucas' eyes widened as he stared in disbelief at me. His mouth hung open, but no words escaped his lips. It was as if his voice had been silenced by the sheer shock of what he had heard.

As soon as the confusion in his eyes was replaced by the usual look of indifference.

He threw my hands away and said, "You must be delusional. You don't know what you're doing right now."

"I know exactly what I am doing. I am rejecting you." I said as collected as I could.