Mated To My Mate's Worst Enemy Chapter 26

ARIA

The spring falls had become my refuge over the past week—a hidden gem Nina had shown me on my second day in Shadowmere territory. The water cascaded down smooth rocks into a crystal-clear pool, surrounded by ancient trees that seemed to hold secrets in their gnarled branches. It was peaceful here. Quiet. The perfect place to fall apart without witnesses.

I sat on the flat rock overlooking the pool, my legs pulled up to my chest, and let the tears fall freely.

I couldn't believe that had just happened. After years of hoping, praying, dreaming—Damon had finally said the words I'd been desperate to hear. He loved me. He wanted me. He was willing to break his bond with Sera, to fight for me, to give me everything I'd ever wanted from him.

And it was too late.

Too late, and for all the wrong reasons.

He hadn't chosen me because he'd suddenly realized my worth. He'd chosen me because he was losing me. Because I'd finally stopped waiting around for him to notice me, had finally found somewhere else to belong, and his ego couldn't handle it.

The realization made me cry harder, my shoulders shaking with sobs I'd been holding back since the border confrontation. All those years I'd wasted loving him. All those nights I'd lain awake wondering what I could do differently to make him see me. All those times I'd watched him with Sera and felt like my heart was being ripped from my chest.

And now he wanted me. Now, when it was too late. When I'd already committed to another Alpha, another pack, another life entirely.

"Why couldn't you have chosen me before?" I whispered to the waterfall, my voice breaking. "Why did you wait until I was gone to realize what you'd lost?"

The water offered no answers. Just the steady rush of its fall, eternal and unchanging, indifferent to the drama of one omega's broken heart.

Part of me—a treacherous, foolish part—wanted to run back to the border. To tell Damon I'd changed my mind, that I'd wait for him to break his bond with Sera, that we could finally have the life I'd dreamed about. The pups we'd planned to name Luna and Oak. The future we'd mapped out in late-night conversations that had meant everything to me and apparently nothing to him until I was no longer available.

But I couldn't do that.

I wouldn't do that.

Because going back to Damon would prove that I was still waiting for him. Still willing to be his backup plan, his second choice, the woman he settled for when his first option didn't work out. It would show everyone—Shadowmere pack, Blackwood pack, myself—that I had no self-respect, no boundaries, no sense of my own worth beyond what he was willing to give me.

And more than that, it would be a betrayal. Of Kael, who'd fought five nightwalkers to save me. Of Nina, who'd spent a week training me, believing in me, treating me like I mattered. Of Eliza and the healers who'd worked tirelessly to keep me alive after the attack. Of every wolf in Shadowmere who'd welcomed me with open arms, who'd started calling me Luna before I'd even earned the title.

I wiped my tears with the back of my hand, but they kept coming. Grief for the life I'd imagined with Damon. Anger at him for waiting so long to fight for me. Guilt for still feeling anything at all for a man who'd treated me so poorly for so long.

And underneath it all, fear. Fear that I was making a mistake bonding with Kael. Fear that I was using him to escape Damon rather than genuinely wanting a life with him. Fear that I'd never love anyone the way I'd loved Damon, that I was damaged somehow, broken in ways that couldn't be fixed.

Did I love Kael? I'd told Damon I was falling in love with him, but had that been truth or just words meant to wound? I cared about Kael, certainly. Respected him. Admired his strength and dedication to his pack. Appreciated how he'd treated me with more consideration in a week than Damon had in years.

But was that love? Or was it just relief at finally being valued?

I didn't know. And that uncertainty terrified me almost as much as Damon's sudden declaration had.

The sound of small footsteps on the path behind me made me freeze. I quickly wiped at my face, trying to compose myself, but it was too late. A group of children—five of them, none older than eight—had already spotted me and were making their way toward the spring falls with the fearless curiosity of the very young.

"Luna Aria!" The smallest one, a girl with dark curls named Lily who couldn't be more than five, called out cheerfully. "We've been looking for you!"

I forced a smile, though I knew my eyes were probably red and swollen from crying. "Hello, little ones. What brings you all the way out here?"

They clustered around me on the rock, their small faces a mixture of excitement and concern. Lily climbed right into my lap without hesitation, her trust in me absolute and unearned. The gesture made my throat tight with emotion.

"People are saying a bad man came to our borders," an older boy named Thomas said, his brown eyes serious. "They said he tried to take you away. Is that true?"

Of course the children had heard. Pack gossip traveled faster than wildfire, and dramatic confrontations at the border were probably the most exciting thing that had happened in Shadowmere in months.

"It's... complicated," I started, unsure how to explain adult relationship drama to children so young.

"Was he really bad?" Lily asked, tilting her head up to look at me. "Like a villain in the stories? Did he want to hurt you?"

"No, he didn't want to hurt me," I said carefully. "He's not a villain. He's just... confused. And sad."

"Why?" Another girl, Sophie, sat down next to me and took my hand. "Why would he be sad if he's a bad man?"