Mated to the bad alpha I hate

While I Was Bleeding Out, He Lit Lanterns For Her

Katie Oettgen

As I lay on the floor of our manor, bleeding out from a ruptured ectopic pregnancy, I used my last ounce of strength to call my husband, Cole. I begged him for help, my vision blurring. But the only thing I heard was the clinking of champagne glasses and his mistress's giggle in the background. "Stop the drama, June," Cole snapped, his voice cold. "We're about to go on stage. Don't call again." He hung up, leaving me to die alone on the Persian rug while he accepted an award with another woman on his arm. I woke up in the hospital days later. My baby was gone. They had removed my fallopian tube. Cole finally arrived, smelling of expensive scotch and his mistress's perfume. He didn't hug me. He didn't cry. Instead, he leaned over my hospital bed, pressing his knee into the mattress until my fresh stitches tore open and bled. "You embarrassed me by calling an ambulance," he hissed. "My mistress, Alycia, says you're faking it. Clean yourself up." He left me bleeding again to go announce a $10 million donation to Alycia's "groundbreaking" medical research. I stared at the TV screen, numb. The research Alycia was taking credit for? It was mine. I wrote that patent years ago under a pseudonym. They thought I was just a poor, orphan housewife who needed Cole's money to survive. They had no idea I was actually a billionaire scientist hiding my identity. I pulled the IV needle out of my arm. A drop of blood fell onto the divorce papers I had been hiding. I didn't wipe it off. I signed my name right over it. Then I walked into the bank, reactivated my dormant account with $128 million, and bought the penthouse directly overlooking Cole's house. The mourning widow is dead. The avenger is born.

Romance Crime Revenge Pregnancy Enemies to Lovers Pregnancy Personal Growth

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Astrid's POV.

"I, ALPHA HALFDAN, REJECT YOU, ASTRID, AS MY MATE AND LUNA. I CAN'T HAVE A WEAK-LOOKING OMEGA AS MY MATE WHEN I CAN HAVE CAMILLA BY MY SIDE ALWAYS!"

What? Camilla, my cousin? What was Alpha Halfdan, whom I have loved all these years, been humiliated for, saying? Was he rejecting me because of my own cousin? I questioned inwardly, my heart racing rapidly as my eyes bulged out in shock and disbelief.

Alpha Halfdan's declaration instantly made me feel like knives with sharp edges were piercing through my skin. Tears clouded my eyes, and I couldn't help but clutch my chest in pain and regret.

"What?" I finally struggled to emit, my lips trembling in fear and shock at the sight before me.

"You heard me loud and clear, Astrid! How can I have a Luna like you when I can have my dear Camilla by my side?" A mischievous sneer curled on his lips as I saw his arms wrapped around Camilla's waist, pulling her closer to him.

He turned to look at her and then kissed her right on the lips, disregarding the fact that I was standing right before them, ignoring the bond we once shared as mates.

If there was anything I had expected on my 24th birthday, it definitely wasn't the sight of my own mate, whom I had sacrificed so much for, cheating on me or rejecting me because of my cousin.

At the thought of my sacrifices, my heart grew heavy, and it felt as though the world had collapsed on me.

The first time I set my eyes on Alpha Halfdan was during the gathering of Alphas from other packs. I attended the meeting, and all I wished for was to be his mate.

I was so glad when it was finally known that we were bound to be together. I loved him wholeheartedly, but my father always felt displeased.

He didn't like Alpha Halfdan and asked me to end things with him, my mate, but I refused. This provoked my father, Alpha Safiya, so much that he couldn't help but disown me.

I would have begged him, but guess what? I left without hesitation, all because I loved Halfdan. I didn't regret it because I was doing it for Halfdan. Being disowned as an Alpha's daughter was a big taboo but I didn't mind. I endured all the humiliation it brought all for love.

I was and will always be the reason Halfdan's pack was ranked number one among the eastern packs. But what was I getting now? Rejection from the man I laid my life down for, even giving up my position as an Alpha's daughter.

I found myself sprawling to the ground, still in tears, my hand clutching my chest in pain and regret.

"I can't believe you wanted to spend the rest of your life with this weak bitch!" Camilla snarled as she disengaged from kissing Alpha Halfdan.

"Spend my life with her? Why would I do that?" Halfdan sneered, rolling his eyes at me.

"After everything I've done for you, Halfdan! After sacrificing so much just to-" I was going to say, but then Camilla walked over to where I was kneeling and slapped me right on my face, my hair sticking to the tears.

"Shut that trap of yours, bitch! If you don't know what to say, then leave! You can't just walk in here and expect my mate to have you as his Luna, can you?" she spat, making me snap my gaze to Halfdan, who just wouldn't stop smiling viciously.

"What? Are you shocked to hear she's my mate?" Alpha Halfdan walked closer to where I was kneeling, and with a grin on his lips, he crouched down to my level, making my heart race at what I had just heard.

"Listen up, Astrid... All I ever wanted was the pack, but guess what? You were disowned by your father, and I couldn't keep kissing those disgusting lips of yours when I knew the pack wouldn't be mine! I'm sorry, Astrid, but you were just so foolish to have thought I'd love you!" he declared, his words piercing my heart even more before he stood up.

He turned around and was about to meet Camilla, but then my words made him halt right in his tracks.

"But... but the mate bond! I felt the bond! You are my mate!" I cried as I tried to understand the situation. It was so heartbreaking to see what was happening before me.

"The mate bond?" He turned back to look at me. "There was no mate bond, Astrid... You were just enchanted by the witches' powers and your silly love for me!" he asserted, and immediately, Camilla handed him a file, which he received with a frown on his face.

"Let's end this once and for all, Astrid..." He took out a paper from the file and, after staring at it briefly, tossed it onto the ground in front of me. "Sign the paper now!"

I looked down at the papers before me, and to my disbelief, the documents he asked me to sign were none other than divorce papers.

The tears that rolled down my eyes soaked part of the papers. I wasn't just being rejected; I was about to sign the divorce papers with the one Alpha I always had a crush on, with the one Alpha I thought was my mate, with the one Alpha I sacrificed everything for.

"No! No! I can't sign this! Something must be wrong!" I lifted my eyes to meet Alpha Halfdan's, and with urgency, I rushed to grab his legs.

"Please don't do this to me... please! I can't... I can't let go of-" I was going to keep begging him to take me back and reverse his rejection, but then Camilla stepped in and kicked me right in the stomach, making me tumble backward.

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