Chapter 25
They looked at one another once again before turning back to me and nodding. They each went back to their tables to collect their data. Before any more words were exchanged, the door of the research center swung open.
Alice tensed right away, and I quickly turned to see Joseph standing in the doorway. We locked eyes for a moment and the tensity Alice was feeling was surreal. I couldn’t blame my wolf for feeling this way; this was technically the first time she’s seen him since going into hibernation. She just expressed how much pain she was in because of him; I knew it wouldn’t be easy seeing him.
I was just hoping he wouldn’t have been here today.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, trying to keep my voice even and calm.
“It’s my pack,” he reminded me. “I heard there’s going to be research development for a vaccine involving my researchers. I figured I should be involved with this process. As Alpha.”
He kept his eyes locked on me. I was going to say more to him, but Alice’s hoarse voice cut through my thoughts once again.
“Mate…” she whispered.
I frowned; my heart was beating heavily against my chest at her words, and I felt my fingers trembling at my sides.
“What?” I asked her, not sure if I heard her correctly.
“He’s our mate…” she said again. “I can see that now.”
At that point, Joseph also stiffened. Something was crossing his expression that I couldn’t read. My breath got caught in my throat.
This couldn’t be real. He couldn’t be my mate. An Alpha would never treat his mate in such a heinous way.
I could feel Alice weeping from inside me; her sorrow was almost too much to take. It was breaking my heart. But I couldn’t let him see that kind of weakness; it was obvious from how he was staring at me, that his wolf had also mentioned something about being my mate.
It would make sense that our wolves didn’t recognize one another till that moment. When we first met, we were both underaged. I was only 16 years old, and he was only 17 years old when we married. By the time he turned 18, Alice was already so weak from the constant blood donations, that she was unrecognizable to his wolf, and she couldn’t recognize him either.
But after everything he’s put me through; everything he’s put Alice through, I didn’t think for a second that he could possibly be my mate.
My heart painfully tugged.
“Mate…” Joseph whispered; it was only loud enough for me to hear, which I was relieved by.
I swallowed hard and grabbed his arm, pulling him into the halls of the research center and away from everyone’s ears.
“How could this be?” He whispered. “How had I not known?”
“It doesn’t matter,” I told him. “We are divorced, Joseph. None of it matters anymore.”
“Anna, you are my mate…” He said, his eyes large and wild.
I was his mate, but he chose to know nothing about me. He had no qualifications of being my mate. I wasn’t even sure he knew how to be a mate in general.
“No,” I finally said, meeting Joseph’s eyes. I wasn’t going to let him see my weakness; I had to keep strong for Alice’s sake. “Joseph, I reject you as my mate.”
He stared at me with his mouth hanging open; he was shocked at my words.
“What?” He asked, astonished.
