Chapter 3

Amanda had barely stepped outside the funeral home when her phone suddenly rang. She looked at the screen and saw Louis Jones's name, and after a long moment, she answered while holding the urn containing her father's ashes close to her chest.

“What did you do with the watch and necklace I gave you?” Louis asked immediately, his voice filled with anger.

Amanda remained quiet for a moment before answering, “I sold them.”

“You sold my gifts?” Louis snapped. “How could you do that without asking me?”

“They belonged to me,” Amanda replied calmly. “I needed the money.”

Louis let out an irritated laugh. “You needed money? You could have asked me. Instead, you sold everything I gave you as if it meant nothing.”

Amanda's eyes lowered. “You already told me you would delay the money for my father's company.”

“That doesn't give you the right to sell my gifts,” Louis said coldly. “Do you have any idea how embarrassing this makes me look?”

Amanda tightened her arms around the urn. She had endured enough of his arrogance, enough of his constant attention toward Francine, and enough of watching her own mate rush to another woman whenever she pretended to need him.

“Louis,” she said quietly, “I want a divorce.”

There was a brief silence.

Then Louis suddenly laughed.

“A divorce?” he repeated with obvious amusement. “Amanda, are you serious?”

“Yes.”

His laughter became louder. “What exactly makes you think you can demand a divorce from me?”

Amanda's fingers tightened around the urn. “Because I don't want this marriage anymore.”

Louis scoffed. “You don't want it anymore? Don't forget that ever since we became mates and married, you've depended on me for everything.”

Amanda remained silent.

Louis continued arrogantly, “Your family business depends on my money. Your position as Luna depends on our marriage. Even your life inside this pack changed because of me.”

Amanda's heart hurt, but she refused to let him hear it.

“You think you can walk away from me after everything I've done for you?” Louis asked with a mocking laugh. “You have become dependent on me, Amanda. Without me, what exactly do you have?”

Amanda looked toward the gray sky.

“I have myself.”

Louis laughed again. “That's a nice thing to say when you're angry, but reality will hit you soon enough.”

Amanda closed her eyes.

She had not told him that her father was already dead.

She would not give Louis that satisfaction.

Instead, she said quietly, “I don't care about the company anymore.”

Louis's voice became colder. “Then you should think carefully before throwing away the only protection you have.”

Amanda took a slow breath. “I'm not asking for your permission.”

“You don't have a choice,” Louis replied arrogantly. “You became my Luna because you became my mate. You don't get to simply decide that you're finished whenever you feel like it.”

Amanda's wolf, Darcy, growled inside her mind.

Reject him.

Amanda's heart shook.

She had loved Louis once.

She had trusted him.

She had believed that the Moon Goddess had brought them together for a reason.

But now she finally understood that she had been holding onto a love that no longer existed.

“Louis Jones,” Amanda said, her voice trembling but firm, “I reject you as my mate.”

Silence followed.

Then Louis laughed.

Not a laugh of pain.

Not a laugh of heartbreak.

It was an arrogant laugh.

“You're rejecting me?” he asked mockingly. “Amanda, you really think I care about that?”

Amanda froze.

Louis continued, “Go ahead. Reject me if it makes you feel powerful. But remember, you're the one who will suffer afterward. You have depended on me since we married, and you won't survive in this pack without me.”

Amanda's eyes burned with tears, but she refused to cry.

Louis gave another dismissive laugh. “You'll come back when you realize what you've lost.”

Amanda slowly lowered her phone.

“No,” she whispered. “I won't.”

She ended the call.

The rejection burned through her body, leaving her trembling, but she stood her ground.

She had not told Louis about her father's death.

She had not told him that she had already decided to leave everything behind.

And she certainly would not tell him that the man she once loved no longer had any place in her heart.

A few hours later, Amanda arrived at Westbrook Cemetery alone.

Rain poured from the dark sky as she stood beneath her umbrella, watching the funeral staff lower her father's urn into the ground.

There was no grand pack funeral.

No Alpha standing beside her.

No mate holding her hand.

Only Amanda.

She placed a bouquet of white lilies beside the grave and stared at the photograph of Alpha Richard Robinson on the tombstone.

“Dad,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “I'm sorry.”

Rainwater covered the photograph, and Amanda reached out to wipe it away with her trembling fingers.

“I wanted you to be here,” she said softly. “I wanted you to see me become strong.”

Darcy remained quiet inside her.

Amanda stared at the grave as an old memory suddenly returned.

She remembered another rainy day when Louis had found her crying outside the pack training grounds. He had taken off his coat and placed it around her shoulders.

“You'll catch a cold,” the younger Louis had told her with a gentle smile.

Amanda had looked at him through her tears. “Why are you always kind to me?”

“Because you're important to me,” he had answered.

Amanda had believed him.

She had believed that Louis would always protect her.

Now, standing alone beside her father's grave, she realized that the memory belonged to a different time.

Amanda lowered her eyes and whispered, “I was wrong about him.”

She placed her hand over the cold stone.

“Goodbye, Dad.”

The rain continued falling as Amanda stood alone at the grave, her heart broken but her decision made.

She had rejected her mate.

She had lost her father.

And she had walked away from the man who believed she could never survive without him.