The Alpha’s Unwanted Mate Chapter 08

The Alpha’s Unwanted Mate Chapter 08

He suddenly grabbed my wrist and pulled me closer, but when he saw my disgust, his expression changed.

I had been bothered to explain, but Asher wouldn’t give up.

“Ophelia, if you cut off contact with that Alpha, I can pretend nothing ever happened.”

No anger, no tears. I simply stated calmly, “That night in the pool hall, you thought I was completely unconscious. In fact, I couldn’t move, but I was fully awake…”

“I heard everything you said, all the orders you gave, loud and clear.”

“Asher, I’m never going back to the pack. From now on, if we meet again, just pretend we don’t know each other.”

With those words, I stood up, ordered a hot chocolate to-go at the counter, and flagged down a taxi.

As I got into the car, I heard a thud, followed by commotion near the river.

I didn’t ask the driver to turn around, letting the crowd get smaller in the rearview mirror.

The Lycan joint warrior training project had finally ended, and I had successfully completed my first independent warrior mission.

“You did great,” Tristan handed me a cup of hot cocoa, his eyes full of smiles. “The Lycan King said you’re the best female warrior he’s ever seen.”

I smiled slightly, but my eyes caught a familiar figure.

After six months, Daphne turned so thin and haggard, barely recognizable. She was staring at me with hatred.

“Ophelia!” Her shrill voice caught the attention of passersby, and Tristan instinctively stepped in front of me.

“It’s all your fault! Asher sent me to the Lycan prison!”

She trembled, then suddenly laughed maniacally. “But it’s okay. As long as I get your letter of forgiveness, I can get my sentence reduced.”

I turned coldly and started to walk away, but she suddenly grabbed the strap of my bag and fell to her knees, choking with tears.

“Do you know how scary it is in prison? They wouldn’t even give me water. To survive, I had to drink urine.”

I felt no sympathy for her.

Her face twisted as she pulled out a stack of photos from her bag and threw them at me.

“Then what about these? If I send your private photos to your warrior colleagues, what do you think will happen?”

The photos scattered like snowflakes.

“Distributing private photos and threatening others, especially in severe cases, carries a prison sentence of three years or more.”

Tristan immediately called his beta to stop her and mind-linked the pack enforcer.

Daphne’s face turned pale, but she forced a mocking smile.

“Ophelia, do you think Tristan really likes you? He just pities you! You’re nothing but a worn-out slut, and you’ve lost a pup…”

“Enough!” A cold, harsh voice interrupted her.

Asher appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Daphne’s wrist. “Give me the photos.”

She leaned into him, sobbing with feigning innocence, “Asher, I’m doing this for you…”

Asher shoved her away and tore the photos to pieces, his voice glacial.

“I warned you, don’t show up in front of her again. Are the thirty thugs I sent after you and Callen not enough?”

Daphne stumbled back two steps, as if struck by lightning.

“Callen’s ruined, and he’ll spend the rest of his life with a colostomy bag. I can’t have pups anymore… You set me up!”

Suddenly, she laughed hysterically and pulled a silver dagger out of her bag.

“Ophelia! Go to hell!”

Everything happened too quickly—Asher shielded me, and the blade plunged into his chest with a whoosh.

Blood poured from his fingers.

He collapsed to the ground, but his eyes still fixed on me.

The ambulance arrived with a screech, and as they lifted him away, his pale lips trembled, as if trying to say something.

I turned my face away, clutching Tristan’s sleeve tightly.

“Don’t be afraid,” Tristan said, his warm hand covering mine. “I’m here.”

Three weeks later, the pack hospital called.

Asher had contracted pneumonia after jumping into the river six months ago to retrieve the ring, and complications from the surgery were severe.

There was nothing more healers could do.

Before he passed, he wanted to see me one last time.

“There’s no need,” I said calmly.

After a moment of silence, Luna Isla’s voice came through the phone.

“Ophelia, I know Asher is a fool. He’s sorry for what he did to you. I don’t expect you to forgive him. I just want you to know that I’m not young anymore, and my son’s gone. We’ve left you something…”

“Luna Isla, just donate it.” I hung up the phone, turned, and hugged Tristan, finding comfort in the faintly bitter warmth of the cocoa.

The news broadcasted that Daphne had been sentenced to twelve years for manslaughter.

In prison, she miscarried.

No one knew which of her attackers was the father.

The humiliations she’d inflicted on me had now returned to her tenfold.

The sky was a brilliant, clear blue, and the past faded like smoke.