REJECTION!

Selene’s POV

They were right at it. Right in front of me.

I leaned against the doorway, stunned, every part of me heavy with disbelief, anger, hurt—the whole flood of emotions you’d expect when you walk in on your husband in bed with another woman. And not just any woman. Evelyn. The same Evelyn whose name he’d “accidentally” called out in bed more times than I could count. The Evelyn who was supposed to be long gone from our lives. The Evelyn I had all but sacrificed my pride to help him move on from.

I was supposed to be on vacation, taking a break from all the quiet, aching tension Callum and I had fallen into lately. I’d even suggested he join me, just so we could have some time together—really together—away from the pack, from the responsibilities, from the endless line of things that seemed to keep pulling him away from me. But he’d said no, something about work, about “business he couldn’t leave behind.”

Business. I let out a hollow laugh. So this was his business? With his my sister? They hadn’t even closed the door, hadn’t even noticed when I’d walked in and greeted them with a voice that was breaking apart even as I spoke. And they just…kept going. Callum never even flinched. It was as if I were invisible.

A laugh bubbled up inside me, bitter and trembling. I choked it down, feeling tears burn at the corners of my eyes. My fingers curled around the strap of my bag, and I turned on my heel, numb as I walked back out of the house, out of the life we’d built together, or at least the one I thought we’d built. I couldn’t do it anymore, couldn’t keep forcing myself to believe that he cared when every little thing he did screamed otherwise.

I didn’t even make it to my car before I pulled out my phone and called my lawyer.

“Get the papers ready,” I told him, my voice thick . “I want a divorce.” I’d had enough of it, the way he had this whole other world going on in his head where I didn’t even seem to exist. I was done. Done with giving, with sacrificing, with hoping he’d somehow see me if I tried hard enough.

All I wanted now was to be free.

The next morning, I returned to the pack mansion with my head held high. It was the day of the pack event—a day when the important members and elders of the pack gather together in the pack house. I didn’t want to have to do this today but I couldn’t stay another moment in Callum’s house, today marks the end of whatever fractured loyalty I had left for Callum.

I spotted him across the room, standing tall, his confident, composed presence drawing people to him as it always did. Callum had that way about him, that magnetism that people fell over themselves to get close to. For years, I had been one of those people. I’d been captivated, had loved him so completely that I’d almost lost myself in him. And yet, here I was, about to tear it all apart.

I pushed through the crowd, making a beeline for him, clutching the envelope with the divorce papers inside. When I reached him, his expression shifted slightly, as if he were surprised to see me.

“Selene,” he greeted, that usual calm, calculated smile on his face. He looked so casual, so unbothered, and it only added fuel to the anger roaring inside me.

I held the envelope out to him. “Here,” I said, my voice loud enough to catch the attention of those closest to us. “Divorce papers. I want out of whatever this is.”

The crowd around us quieted, a shocked hush falling over the room as his expression darkened, the calm slipping away. He reached for the envelope, flipping it open, his jaw clenching as he skimmed the pages. “What exactly are you doing, Selene?” he asked, a biting edge to his voice.

“I’m freeing myself from you, Callum.” I didn’t hold back, didn’t care who heard me. “From the lies, the cheating, the way you’ve shut me out for so long. I saw you last night, with her.” I choked out the words, my anger and heartbreak bubbling over. “Evelyn. You couldn’t even bother to keep the door closed.”

For a split second, I thought I saw something flicker in his eyes. Guilt? Shame? I couldn’t be sure. But whatever it was, it vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

I took a breath, struggling to steady myself as I forced the next words out. “Do you know what it’s been like? Loving you? Sacrificing everything, only for you to keep throwing it back in my face? I stood by you when she left, when you couldn’t even eat or look at another person. I was there for you. And yet, you chose her. Again. Always her.” My voice broke, “I can’t keep doing this.”

Callum looked at me, his face hardening. “I never asked you to do any of that, Selene,” he said coldly. “You chose to. You think serving me divorce papers is some grand statement? We were never even married, not legally. It was a formality, nothing more. I kept waiting for you to see that.”

The words hit me like a physical blow, knocking the air from my lungs. My heart twisted painfully as I tried to process what he was saying. The quiet gasps from the crowd around us barely registered. “What…what are you saying?” I managed, my voice barely above a whisper.

“You’ve always acted like you’re some martyr, staying by my side,” he continued, his voice low and cutting. “But I never needed you to. I knew one day you’d figure out your own worth, that you’d finally get tired and leave. And now that day’s here.”

I stood there, feeling the weight of his rejection settle over me like a shroud. All the years I’d devoted to him, every bit of love and loyalty I’d poured into our relationship, suddenly felt like a lie.

And that was it. In his world, I was nothing more than a temporary relief, something he’d been enduring out of some twisted sense of obligation. My hands trembled, my vision blurred with tears that I refused to let fall in front of him, in front of everyone.

Then his voice, cold and commanding, rang out across the hall, freezing me in place.

“Let this day be the day that I, Callum Blake, reject you, Selene Blake, as my mate,” he declared, his words echoing like a final, unforgiving sentence.