Chapter 9
The words finally escaped my lips.
“I, Nicole Woolridge, reject you, Jackson Byrd, as my mate.”
The wind that day was relentless. It tangled my hair, stung my cheeks, and blurred my view of his face. Maybe that was for the best.
For the first time, I couldn’t read him. Sadness, regret, determination, perhaps even sorrow–I couldn’t tell. But my wolf felt it.
A rejection wasn’t just words to a werewolf. It was a severing of something primal, something written into our very bones. Our wolves howled in protest, but mine was silent, still. She had made her choice long
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ago.
After a long, drawn–out silence, Jackson’s eyes darkened to the deep red hue of a wolf on the edge of shifting. Yet, somehow, he smiled.
“Are you with him now?” he asked suddenly.
I froze, caught off guard, and didn’t answer. My wolf stirred, uneasy.
He seemed to understand anyway, nodding as if something had finally clicked into place.
“I, Jackson Byrd, accept your rejection.” he said quietly, his voice heavy. His claws pricked at his fingertips, barely restrained. “Nicole, I won’t marry her.”
A muscle in his jaw ticked. Whatever else he said after that was lost to the wind. I could
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only make out his lips forming the words, Be happy.
At that moment, the last invisible thread tying us together snapped. My chest ached, but it wasn’t pain. It was relief. Finality.
From that moment on, I truly let go of him. No more ties to Alpha Jackson, no more whispers about his life. His name became nothing more than an echo in my past.
I didn’t feel sad. Perhaps because I had already mourned this loss long ago.
Life returned to its steady rhythm, simple and uneventful. Work, home, and–oh, right, Zachary.
Alpha Jackson’s words weren’t entirely baseless.
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Six months after the rejection, I had grown used to Zachary being my neighbor. He had lived next door for that long, and when he finally confessed his feelings, I was genuinely taken aback.
It turned out he was the Alpha of the Shadow Crown Pack, a notorious pack known for its warriors and strategic prowess. He had taken a job as a police officer in Silver Claw Pack territory, running from his family’s relentless attempts to marry him off.
I asked him one day why he liked me what it was he saw in me.
He just smiled, that easy, almost teasing smile of his.
“Do you need a reason to like someone?”
I nodded, waiting.
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With a small, exasperated sigh, he gave in.
“If I had to give a reason… maybe it was the way you thanked me the first time we met. Or maybe it was the moment you realized he didn’t love you and chose to walk away with your head held high.”
His amber eyes held a warmth that made my wolf stir.
“To me, you’ve always been special.”
His words left me thoughtful but unmoved. I didn’t say yes.
I wasn’t ready to dive headfirst into another relationship, not after barely climbing out of the wreckage of the last one.
Thankfully, he didn’t seem disappointed or
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disheartened. Instead, he showed up at my place even more frequently.
Honestly, he was terrible at playing it cool.
“Nicole!” His voice came with its usual knock on my door.
Sighing, I opened it to find Zachary standing there. His expression shifted quickly from awkwardness to faux seriousness.
“I, uh… ran out of salt.”
I raised an eyebrow, suppressing a laugh.
“Zachary, that was your excuse yesterday.”
He scratched his nose, leaning casually against the doorframe. “Ah… well, I must’ve meant soy sauce then.”
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I crossed my arms, giving him a pointed look. “You borrowed soy sauce three days ago.”
“Oh, uh..”
Before he could stumble through another excuse, I cut him off.
“Zachary, who lives somewhere for nearly a year and still hasn’t stocked up on basic seasonings?”
Caught red–handed, he finally dropped the act, grinning mischievously as he leaned in closer.
“Wow, you’re really not cutting me any slack, huh?”
I smirked, folding my arms tighter. “Nope. Not even a little.”
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Behind my sharp words, my wolf let out a soft, amused growl. Perhaps, just perhaps, my heart wasn’t as closed off as I thought.
A few more months passed, and life had settled into a new rhythm. My workplace had changed–now located in the heart of Shadow Crown Pack territory. I’d secured a new job here and was even promoted to regional head. It was a fresh start, free from the whispers of the past and the weight of old wounds.
That was, until the past walked right through my office door.
I was reviewing a report when my boss knocked lightly on my desk.
“Nicole, there’s a new hire you’ll be mentoring. He just transferred here.”
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Chapter
I barely glanced up, still scribbling a note. “Got it. Send him in.”
The moment his scent hit me, my wolf stirred in surprise.
The scent of pine and warm musk–the unmistakable scent of Alpha Jackson Byrd.
I looked up, my expression betraying nothing, but internally, my wolf bristled. His eyes locked onto mine, and for the briefest moment, something unspoken passed between us. The last time we stood this
close, I had rejected him. Severed the bond. And yet…
He was here. In my new pack’s territory. As my subordinate.
I kept my face neutral.
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“Welcome to the team, Jackson.”
His jaw tensed. “Thank you, Miss Nicole.”
Miss Nicole? Interesting.
It turned out that after I sent Yvonne to prison, her parents had allied with Jackson’s father’s illegitimate son, conspiring to strip him of his Alpha position in the Silver Claw Pack. Jackson had lost everything–his title, his land, his pack.
But none of that concerned me anymore.
When the workday ended, I gathered my things and slung my bag over my shoulder, already heading for the door. But his voice stopped me.
“Do you have time later?”
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I turned, arching a brow.
He hesitated before correcting himself. “Miss Nicole, I’d like to take you to dinner.”
A flicker of something–desperation, regret? -flashed across his features. For a brief second, my wolf stirred again, as if it, too, remembered what had once existed between us. But I shook the feeling away.
Without missing a beat, I lifted my phone and gave it a little shake. “Sorry, I already have plans.”
I didn’t wait for his response.
As I stepped outside, the warm summer breeze tousled my hair. I instinctively smoothed it down and scanned the street. A familiar car was parked nearby, its driver
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leaning casually against the side, arms crossed over his chest.
Zachary.
His sharp blue eyes flicked over me as I approached, and without a word, he reached into the car and pulled out a jacket.
“Nicole, are you cold?”
I stopped short, blinking at him before laughing. “Zachary, it’s summer.”
He didn’t even flinch, as if he had planned to get caught in his ridiculous excuse. His fingers twitched toward his pocket, where I knew he kept his cigarettes. But after a beat, he dropped his hand with a sigh.
“Nicole,” he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. “You’ve gotta give me a chance.”
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I tilted my head, watching him. “A chance for what?”
His jaw tensed, then relaxed as a slow, playful smirk crossed his face. “A chance to get closer to you.”
It was amusing, really, seeing the usually cool and collected Alpha Zachary behave like a restless pup over something as simple as love. My wolf, who had been indifferent to most of our interactions, actually wagged its tail in mild approval.
I crossed my arms. “And if I don’t?”
He let out an exaggerated sigh, clicking his tongue. “Then I’ll wait.”
“For how long?”
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He chuckled, stepping closer, his voice dipping into something softer. “As long as it takes.”
His eyes held mine, unwavering, steady. Unlike Jackson, there was no desperation in them. No lingering regret, no unfinished business. Only quiet certainty.
And for the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel the need to run.
“However long it takes.
The End.
Book 3: Breaking Up with My Mate: The Alpha King’s Daughter
Growing up in a Werewolf orphanage, I had always wondered about my origins. Then one day, the truth was revealed–I discovered
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the identity of my birth parents. The news shook me to my core, filling me with
excitement and a desperate need to share it with the one person who mattered most to me–Kaelen Vorn, my mate of three years.
But fate had other plans.
The moment I arrived, eager to tell him everything, I saw him locked in a passionate kiss with my best friend. Their embrace wasn’t just a mistake–it was deep, full of the kind of intimacy that spoke of something far more than a fleeting lapse in judgment.
In that instant, my world shattered.
Betrayal, anger, and heartbreak surged through me like an unstoppable wave. I couldn’t bear it. Without a second thought, I ended it. I tore myself away from him, severing the bond between us with a finality
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that allowed for no second chances.
With nothing but pain in my heart, I walked away from the wreckage of our love and into a new life.
A life where I was no longer just an abandoned orphan. I was the heir to my father’s legacy–the Alpha King’s power and vast empire. Taking control of the pack’s business, I built a world of my own, one where I answered to no one. It was during this transformation that I crossed paths with Alexander Frost–the mate I was always destined to be with.
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