Chapter 52
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Chapter 15
Selene’s pov
It had been five months.
Five months of quiet, focused work at the Syndicate Research Center, where the world outside seemed a distant hum.
Until today.
News swept through every channel, faster than wildfire across the Pack networks.
“Julian Blake, Alpha of the Blake Syndicate, abandoned his Bond Ceremony with his supposed Mate, Claire Lancaster, leaving the bride humiliated and pregnant at the altar p>
The headlines were relentless, vicious in their detail.
I kept my head down over my datapad, sorting figures and recalibrating models as if I hadn’t heard a thing.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Ethan Caldwell sneaking glances at me, his brows knitting in worry.
I sighed and looked up.
“What?” I asked, my tone even.
Ethan scratched the back of his head sheepishly, a small laugh escaping.
“I thought… I don’t know… you might be upset p>
“Upset?” I echoed, blinking at him. “Why would I be upset p>
Ethan’s awkward smile widened, and I shook my head, half amused, half exasperated.
“And even if I were, why would you be laughing about it p>
Three questions in a row.
Ethan had the good sense not to answer.
He simply grinned wider and ducked his head.
I rolled my eyes and returned my attention to the data streaming across my screen.
“It’s ancient history, ” I said, my voice calm, steady. “Whatever Julian Blakę chooses to do now–whether he bonds, severs, or flees- none of it has anything to do with me anymore p>
I tapped another formula into the console, pausing only to add,
“If anything, it just proves he never understood what it meant to take responsibility p>
A heavy silence settled over the lab.
I frowned and glanced up again-
only to find half the room frozen, their eyes locked behind me.
Dread coiled in my gut.
I turned slowly.
Julian Blake stood there, still dressed in the formal black and silver of a Pack Bond Ceremony, the chest bloom of the ritual corsage still pinned crookedly to his jacket.
He looked as though he had run straight from the altar to find me.
For a moment, I simply stared.
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Then I blinked, shifted my stance, and spoke with the kind of detached professionalism only months of hardening could teach.
“Alpha Blake,” I said coolly. “While we appreciate the Blake Syndicate’s investment in our research, we ask all patrons to minimize their presence during sensitive experiments p>
My words struck him visibly, like a physical slap.
But I felt no pity.
I turned back to my workstation, waiting.
After several long beats of silence, he finally rasped,
“Selene… Can we speak alone p>
I sighed, setting my datapad aside.
The stares burning into my back were more suffocating than his presence.
Better to end this quickly.
Without a word, I led him out of the lab, pulling the heavy door closed behind us.
Outside, in the sterile hallway, I faced him.
“What brings you here, Alpha Blake?” I asked, arms crossed, voice dry.
“Surely not another generous donation p>
I didn’t expect an answer.
Certainly not the way he looked at me, like a man begging for oxygen.
For a flicker of what we used to have.
I watched him hesitate.
For once, the words seemed to stick in his throat.
Finally, he said, voice hoarse,
“I didn’t want to bond with her. The pup-” he stumbled, pain flashing across his features, “-it wasn’t planned. She trapped me. Selene… I realized long ago I don’t love her p>
He took a shuddering breath, reaching out, but stopping short when he caught the warning in my eyes.
“I loved you.
I still love you p>
I let the words fall between us like broken glass.
I shook my head slowly, deliberately.
“Alpha Blake,” I said, the name burning on my tongue, “maybe you once thought you loved me. ”
“But love that shatters at the first temptation,” I continued, my voice steady, “love that wavers when confronted with the past- isn’t love. ”
“ It’s weakness. ”
He flinched.
I stepped closer, my tone sharper.
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“You told me you clung to Claire out of regret.
How do you know,” I asked, tilting my head slightly, “that what you feel now isn’t the same)
“Regret,” I said softly, “for losing what you didn’t treasure when you had it p>
“Not love. ”
He opened his mouth to protest.
I didn’t let him.
“We’ve both moved on,” I said. “You just haven’t realized it yet p>
“You’ve already moved forward, Alpha Blake,” I added, my voice softening slightly. “Now it’s time for you to let me move forward too p>
He shook his head violently.
“ No,” he said. “No, Selene- I swear, this isn’t regret.
I love you p>
“I was a fool,” he whispered, voice breaking.
“I let the past blind me. But with you- everything we shared was real p>
I smiled then.
Not cruelly.
Not kindly.
Just… finally.
Maybe it had been real once.
Maybe there had been something genuine between us.
But it hadn’t been enough.
Not when it could be thrown away so easily.
I took a slow breath, letting the last shred of softness burn out from my chest.
I met his desperate, broken gaze squarely.
“Maybe you did love me,” I said softly, “in your way p>
“But your love, Julian Blake, was never enough to anchor you p>
“It wavered. It faltered. It betrayed p>
“And love that cheap,” I said, my voice cutting like a blade, “ is not the kind of love I need p>
“I deserve better. ”
“I deserve a love that doesn’t hesitate. ”
“A love that doesn’t need to lose me first to know what it had p>
He flinched-
truly flinched—
as if each word peeled back a layer of whatever hope he still clung to.
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I didn’t stay to see if he would fall apart.
I didn’t owe him that.
Without another glance, I turned, pulled open the heavy lab door,
and walked back into the bright, clean world of my future.
Leaving him to drown in the ruins of his past.
Chapter 15