The Mate He Hates

Amanda’s POV

For the past hours, I have been in my room, consumed by my thoughts. I couldn’t explain why I suddenly felt uncomfortable with Alpha Edward letting go of me. Why was he suddenly giving up on me so easily?

A knock came on my door, and when I asked the person in, I realized it was Alpha Edward. Our gazes interlocked, and I swallowed nervously, trying to compose myself.

“I’m about to leave for the battlefield. I just finished saying my goodbyes to Liam, so I thought of coming to say my goodbyes to you…” he paused while I swallowed in pain, holding myself back from tearing up.

“You don’t have to worry about your safety or that of Liam. I have arranged everything, and…”

“What about you?” I cut him off and saw his brow furrow. “What about your safety? Have you thought about it?” I asked, taking a step closer to him. “Must you fight this war? You are the Alpha and can decide to stay back! Why don’t you stay back?” I pleaded, but the look on Alpha Edward’s face showed that I was asking for the impossible.

“Amanda, I’m the Alpha of this pack, and my duty is to protect everyone in this pack…”

“What if something happens to you? Matthew told me this fight is so dangerous. Why don’t you stay back?” I pleaded, taking his hand into mine and interlocking gazes with him. Fear gripped my entire being. The thought of not seeing him again was driving me crazy.

“Amanda, I have to go,” he stated firmly, and I knew no amount of pleading would change his heart. A sudden rush of tears fell down my cheeks, and no matter how hard I wanted to hold them back and hide them from him, I couldn’t; they kept flowing uncomfortably.

“Amanda,” Alpha Edward called gently before pulling me into his embrace. Being in his embrace felt like the safest place in the world, and I would rather not leave it yet. For a moment, I had forgotten all he had done to me, and all I wanted was for him to stay back. I wanted him alive, not dead.

“Amanda, please stop crying. It breaks my heart to see you cry,” he pleaded while gently stroking my hair. But I didn’t stop; instead, I continued crying, soaking his shirt with my tears.

We remained in that position for a long time until I got a grip on myself and pulled away. Sniffing deeply, I looked up at Alpha Edward, whose eyes were surprisingly red, and it seemed he was on the brink of shedding tears himself.

“I have to go, Amanda,” he whispered, his voice breaking, but I shook my head.

“You don’t have to. Please stay,” I said selfishly. Alpha Edward held my gaze for a moment before placing a kiss on my forehead and then leaning toward my left ear. “I love you,” he whispered, and a knot formed in my stomach.

Pulling away, he flashed me a weak smile and turned to leave, but I stopped him. “About your wolf…” I paused and saw him turn look my way. “Have you been fighting in your wolf form?” I asked, and he nodded. “I mostly fight in my human form. My wolf isn’t that strong because we don’t speak to each other…”

“Then you can mark me,” I blurted out without rethinking it. “If you mark me, your wolf will reach its full potential, and you can fight better, right?” I said with unease and saw his brow furrow.

“You want me to mark you?” He found it difficult to believe.

“Yes, let’s mark each other. It will help you a lot in the war.” I paused, feeling nervous but determined to convince him. Alpha Edward stared at me for a long moment, his expression unreadable. Finally, he spoke, his voice barely above a whisper, “Amanda, I thought you never wanted this.”

I nodded, swallowing hard. “I know. But if it helps you in the war, if it keeps you safe, then I want to do it.”

He sighed deeply, his gaze searching mine as if trying to read my soul. “You are doing this because you are worried about me, right?” He questioned, but I couldn’t respond.

“My perfect woman.” A smile appeared on his face, and then he moved closer to me and swiftly sealed my lips with a kiss. Without hesitation, I kissed him back. The kiss was short as he pulled away and smiled weakly at me. “I can’t mark you,” he declared, and a lump formed in my throat.

I don’t deserve you, Amanda. You deserve someone else, and instead of marking you, I am going to reject you,” he declared, and my eyes widened as I took a step backward away from him.

“Reject me? You want to reject me? Why?” I blurted out in pain.Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

“Because this is the right thing to do, Amanda. Rejecting you will give you a chance to get a second-chance mate, a man who is ten times better than me. And if I unfortunately die in the war, you won’t feel as much pain because our bond has been broken. So, Amanda, this is the right thing to do,” he said, and my frown deepened as I flared up.

“You have no right, Alpha Edward. You have no right to make this decision,” I stated firmly. “If you don’t want to mark me, then fine, but I won’t let you reject me!” I yelled before storming out of the room.

Tears fell down my cheeks as I descended the stairs to the living room. When I arrived at the sitting room, I met some warriors waiting for Alpha Edward, including my brother, Beta Matthew.

“Leave us,” Beta Matthew commanded the warriors, and they obeyed.

“Amanda…” Matthew pulled me into a hug while I sobbed in his arms. “It’s okay.” He tried comforting me while I kept on crying until I felt Alpha Edward’s presence and had to sniffle my tears.

“Amanda,” Edward’s voice was soft behind me, filled with concern. I turned, tears still streaming down my cheeks, unable to mask the pain and confusion in my eyes.

“I can’t let you go like this,” I managed to say, my voice trembling with a mixture of hurt and anger. “You can’t just decide for me, Edward. We’ve been through so much together.”

He approached cautiously, his eyes pleading with me to understand. “Amanda, please try to see it from my perspective. This war, it’s not just about me. It’s about our pack, about everyone’s safety.”

“Then mark me,” I choked out the words, desperation clawing at my throat. “Mark me and get your full potential.”

“I can’t, Amanda. What if anything happens to me in that war? Do you know the amount of pain you will go through? You will literally feel the same amount of my pain, and I won’t let the woman I love go through such!” he declared firmly and turned to Matthew. I noticed they stared at each other, and without being told, I knew they were communicating through the mind link.

Alpha Edward turned to look at me, and our gazes interlocked for a moment. “I have to go.”

With those words hanging heavily in the air, Alpha Edward turned away, leaving me standing there, broken and helpless.