Chapter 2

Leah's POV

I felt the butterfly in my stomach, the lump in my throat, and the burning sensation in every inch of my skin. My heart was pounding so fast that I wouldn't be surprised if it suddenly stopped functioning.

Lucas stroked my hair behind my ear. As his fingers flicked across my ear, my whole body started shivering.

Then, he drew himself closer to me. For a brief moment, I thought he was about to kiss me. 

I bit my lips so that I didn't make any awkward moaning sound. 

I looked into his eyes. He was so close, yet so far away from me. 

Then, I realized that he was just checking out the scar on my forehead. 

He looked a bit surprised because the scar was almost healed. 

He cleared his voice and said, "Your blood is precious to Josephine. Your blood is the only cure to stabilize her condition. You need to be more careful."

The moment he let go of me, I felt that someone was peeling off my skin. 

The excruciating pain made me curl up in a ball of fear.

Josephine wrapped her hands around Lucas' arms and said, "Come on, Luke. Tell me about everything in Skagen City!" 

"I'll tell you everything later." Lucas' voice was full of affection and admiration. "Now, I've got a gift for you. It's in the living room. Why don't you go and take a look?"

"Oh, Luke. You're so kind. You don't have to bring me a present every time you see me." Josephine looked flattered. 

Then, she took a triumphal look at me and asked Lucas, "Luke, what is the gift?"

"You can go downstairs and take a look at it yourself." 

"Is it the thing that I've always wanted?" Josephine's big round doe eyes widened with surprise. 

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise." Lucas' lips quirked up with a faint smile. 

"Oh, Luke! I love you! I love you! I love you!" Josephine quickly tiptoed and pecked Lucas' face before running out of the room. 

A moment later, she came back, tittering and giggling like a little girl, with a giant pendant necklace on her long, swan-like neck. 

I recognized that pedant immediately. 

It was a giant sapphire stone cut into a heart shape. It was the wedding gift that Lucas gave to me on our wedding day. 

I only wore it once. As soon as Josephine saw it, he immediately showed a great interest in it.

I couldn't believe Lucas would give that pendant to her.

"How do I look, Lucas? Does it make my eyes brighter?" She circled around Lucas, jumping up and down like a little bunny. 

Lucas caught her, held her in his arms, and gave him a long, passionate kiss on her hair. 

"Do you like your gift?" He asked Josephine.

"Like it? I love it!" Josephine exclaimed while clapping her hands. 

She glimpsed at me like a guilty child. Then, she immediately turned to Lucas, looking sad. 

"What happened, Jo?" Lucas asked. 

"It's nothing." Josephine lowered her head and said in a sentimental voice, "I'm just thinking, Basil would be so happy to see me wearing this necklace if he was alive."

Hearing Basil's name, Lucas' face immediately became clouded. 

Basil used to be his Beta and best friend. He passed in a battle a few years ago and entrusted his younger sister Josephine to Lucas before he passed away. They were supposed to get married until I, Lucas' mate, showed up. 

I still kept the photo that someone sent me on our wedding day. It was a picture that shows Lucas holding Josephine in his arms. They were so close and I wasn't sure if they were kissing each other.

On the back of that picture, there was only one sentence -

You are the third person in this marriage.

I knew it was sent by Josephine. But I didn't tell anyone. 

My husband and mate was breathtakingly handsome man as well as the leader of the most powerful pack in the North. No woman in their right mind would resist his look and charm. 

Being his mate and Luna, I knew I had to put up with a lot of inconveniences to maintain the legitimacy of our marriage and the decency of my husband. 

It's for the better of the pack. 

"Come downstairs with me, Luke. Today's such a beautiful day and you're back. I'm wearing such a beautiful necklace. Why don't we have a picnic at the lake? Leah will cook for us! Will you, Leah?" Josephine raised her eyebrows while staring at me.

"Yes, Miss." I lowered my head and whispered, trying to pretend that everything was OK with me.

"Go ahead and get ready for our picnic trip. I'll join you later," Lucas said to Josephine in a soft voice. 

Josephine nodded and winked at him. 

After Josephine was gone, Rosalie leered at me and said, "Why are you lying on the floor like a piece of trash? Are you trying to win anyone's sympathy? Clean up the mess that you've caused and go do the washing now." 

"Yes, Ma'am," I whispered, quickly taking up the shattered pieces on the floor. 

My head was buzzing. My vision blurred. Some of the shards were embedded into my flesh, but I could no longer feel the pain. 

Nothing would rival the excruciating pain of being ignored by my own mate. 

Rosalie rolled her eyes and me and said to Lucas, "I've talked to Doctor Jafar today. He suggested we should increase the frequency of blood transfer to three times a day."

My heart sank. 

I pleaded desperately, "Ma'am, Alpha, please don't do this to me. Twice a day is already too much for me. That's why I keep fainting and being scattered all day round. I really can't afford to do it three times a day..." 

"I'm trying to have a private conversation with my son. Who do you think you are to interrupt our conversation?" Rosalie looked crossed. 

"And don't look for lousy excuses for yourself! You keep messing up because you're clumsy," she added. 

Lucas held his mother's hands and said, "Mother, please go downstairs and I'll talk to her."

Rosalie gave me a dark look and walked off. 

The whole room was suddenly empty, with me and Lucas alone. 

Lucas looked down at me and broke the silence -

"OK, tell me how much money you want for the blood transfer. Name a price." 

"I want nothing from you, Alpha," I answered in a low voice, trying to scrape off the blood stains on the floor with a sponge, but more blood kept dripping on the floor from my head.

Lucas sighed. He took out his mobile and fiddled with it for a while. Then, put down his phone and said, "I've just wired another three million dollars into your account. Increase the volume of blood transfer to three times a day, and you'll get three million for each transfer."

"Alpha, I don't need your money..."

"So what do you want?" He started to look impatient.

"Why do you give my pendant to Josephine?" I asked. 

"Are you answering my question with another question?" He frowned. 

"You gave that pendant to me on our wedding day. Do you remember?" 

My voice wasn't loud, but it managed to surprise him. 

"Josephine likes it, so now it belongs to her. Do you have any problems with that?" Dark clouds started gathering on his face. A storm was impending.

"What do you need it for anyway? You never go to parties or balls," he added.

You are the third person in this marriage. 

Five years of marriage in exchange for this. I failed on so many levels and I was failed by my mate.

I gave up.

I threw the blood-soaked sponge on the floor and said in a calm, steady voice, "I never go to parties or balls because I have never been invited in the first place. Also, I've been too busy folding napkins and giving another woman my blood." 

I had never spoken so many words in a sentence to my mate. 

My voice was still quiet, but I managed to make my message clear.

Lucas had an incredible look on his face. 

For the first time in his life, he managed to really see me.

"You... " he mumbled.

I could sense the nervousness in his voice.  

"Yes, me. I'm standing right in front of you. I used to be your Luna, your mate, the service maid and nurse for your mother and your dearest Josephine. But now, I am only myself. A free, independent woman, who wants to have nothing to do with you anymore."

Lucas looked at me like his world was turned upside down.

"What do you mean?" He asked in an anxious voice. 

"You've heard me," I replied and wiped the last drop of blood on my forehead. "I'm rejecting you, Lucas."

"Reje... No, you can't do that." His voice turned high-pitched and dry.

For the first time in my life, I sensed fear in his tone. 

"I can do whatever I want, Lucas. So, watch me." I stood up, and stepped forward to close the distance between us. 

"I, Leah Eleanor Lewyn of the Defiant Pack, reject you, Lucas Logan Steele of the White Walkers Pack, as my rightful mate."