Alpha’s Second Chance Mate (Sidonie & Carlyle)

Ready to end it all.

Sidonie’s POV

I stepped out of the cab, feeling like crap. But at the very least, I didn’t look like one. Mom had dressed me in a new outfit, a blue skater dress that she had claimed looked amazing on me.

I couldn’t care less.

I walked into the Cafe where I was to meet my betrothed. It was a cutesy place, with the most amazing baked goods on display. I made a mental note to buy them when this date was done. Stuffing my face with pastries sounded like a very good way to fill the vacuum in my heart.

I sighed, glancing around the cafe. Why couldn’t we just FaceTime or something? Why on earth did I have to see him physically? My lips curled sadly and I shook my head. Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

Don’t you dare cry, Sidonie. Not in public.

Sniffing, I fished out the card mom had given me before I left home. It stated the table number where we were to meet and his name.

Carlyle.

I approached one of the waiters and showed them the card. “I’d like to go to this table please?”

The man read through, nodded, and pointed towards the end of the cafeteria. “Last booth on the right.”

Last booth? Whoever this Alpha of the Alpha was, he really must like his privacy. I trudged toward the booth and then a very familiar scent tickled my nose. The scent of wood and pines.

The searing pain of rejection shot through my veins and I clamped my teeth down on my lips, trying to remind myself of all the many reasons why I shouldn’t cry.

I approached the booth where my betrothed sat. He had dark hair. Wavy dark hair. My eyes narrowed. The scent of my ex-mate grew stronger and a gasp slipped from my lips when he looked up.

Blue and violet eyes blinked right at me.

It was him.

Sure, he was dressed differently. In a blue shirt that had a few of its buttons undone, revealing his marvelous chest. But it was him.

My betrothed was the very same male that had brutally ripped my heart right out of my chest and stomped on it three weeks ago. He hadn’t cared what severing the mate bond would do to me. He hadn’t cared if I lived or not in the past three weeks.

And that was the male I was to marry?

His eyes widened as he took me in and then they narrowed into slits. He rose to his feet, gritting his teeth angrily. “What are you doing here?!”

“Me?” I asked, looking back to see if he was referring to anyone else.

“Are you stalking me? Is that it?”

If I thought his rejection had hurt, his accusation made it worse.

“I… I’m not…” I said feebly, feeling my tongue grow heavy with embarrassment.

He stepped closer and the pain, the emptiness I had felt in the past few days, eased up at his presence. He was the tribulation in my flesh. And yet, he was the cure.

It was maddening.

“I told you,” he hissed. “I don’t f**king want you! Do you need me to spell it out for you?”

“I… I wasn’t–”

“–F**k! You’re damned annoying! I don’t want you. I don’t f**king need you. Quit pestering me and quit stalking me! If you had any bit of sense, you would f**king understand that!”

And the pain was back with those cruel words. I stepped away from him, tears sliding down my cheek in streams. I glanced around to see everyone watching us and the world came crashing down on my shoulders.

I had been humiliated.

By none other than my mate.

I laughed in derision at myself and did the one thing I could think of.

I ran.

****

I walked down the huge bridge in the city, staring down at the river that pooled beneath it. The vacuum in my heart seemed to have grown bigger after that encounter.

Some part of me had hoped that my betrothed would treat me better. That Alpha Carlyle would care for me and would alleviate the pain that came from my mate’s rejection.

Seeing they were the same person shattered that hope hard against the ground. He was cruel. He was horrid. If I married him, he would make my life a living hell.

Not like it was any better.

I stopped walking down the bridge, eyes fixed on the water. To passersby, I most likely looked like I was enjoying the view.

They couldn’t be more wrong.

My eyes watered as I contemplated the action I was about to take. I had spent the last three weeks, contemplating suicide. The burning pain in my bones was too much to bear. It was too much for me to handle.

I had hoped that my betrothed would change that and if he claimed me, then I would be free of this pain.

But now?

I’d rather die than be bound to that jackass forever. If he could manage to look that fine, to look as if he didn’t feel the pain that tortured me, then he truly did not care about me.

How could I trust my life into the hands of a man who treated his mate, who treated me like dirt? I shook my head, wiping the tears that slid down my cheeks quickly.

He did not deserve my tears. He was a horrible, horrid person who did not deserve an ounce of my tears.

I took a deep breath, summoning the courage to toss myself over the bridge. I closed my eyes, feeling sorry for my parents. If I had been a perfect daughter, perhaps this wouldn’t have happened. I would never have met Carlyle at the club if I didn’t sneak out. That would have spared me the rejection.

But then, I never would have known the kind of person he was. The cruel bitter person he was beneath all that good looks. He didn’t deserve me.

My eyes flew open and I grabbed the ledge of the bridge ready to hurl myself over when suddenly the world turned slightly blurry, tilted on its axis and everything went dark.