Chapter 2

Juliette POV.

I looked at him with a surprised look and was silent for a few moments. Suddenly my heartache disappeared as it was replaced with what I had just heard.

Was he not wrong to offer me something like that? Or was he trying to make a joke or was he going to bully me after this?

But for a few minutes, I was speechless and he only looked at me with a serious look in his eyes. It confused me because no serious person has bad intentions, surely he really meant what he said.

I swallowed my saliva while wetting my lower lip and looked around while letting out my breath. There was no one except us and it made this conversation become more serious.

"I didn't hear wrong, did I?" I asked him.

"Are you denying what you just heard?"

Damn! I needed an answer as to whether he really meant it or not. But it looked like he meant it. I just need to think about his offer solemnly. It wasn’t just an ordinary offer, but a truly extraordinary one that would have a great effect on me.

"I just thought that you were joking," I said softly and lowered my head.

Then he touched my chin and lifted it until my eyes met his. His aura was so powerful that it made anyone who looked at him fall to their knees.

"So you still don't believe that I'm not the Alpha bully? How long have you been living in your disbelief, Juliette?"

I averted my eyes and backed away again. But suddenly he pulled my body in his arms and looked at me seriously. "One more time you step back, you'll only kill yourself."

My breath caught in my throat as I realized that behind me was a cliff, and he was right, I could fall if I stepped back without looking back.

His hands still didn't let go of my body, which made my heart beat faster because this position was for me who had just been hurt. And it seemed he had no intention of letting me go because his grip on my body felt so possessive and aggressive.

"Do you realize that you're offering me that as a former mate of your cousin, Damian?" I ask him.

Now he pulled me further from the brink and removed his hands from my body. "I'm one hundred percent aware of what I'm offering you. I haven't even forgotten who you and Sammy are."

I paused and began to walk back and forth in front of him while staring at the dry leaves that were my base.

Now, could I be his mate? That would mean I would become Luna, right? All this time I had only been the mate of Sammy, the Beta in the pack. I didn't have much of a hand and I felt like I was just another mate ever since.

"Why are you offering me that?" I asked him who stopped right in front of him.

He sighed and his body was completely built with charisma. "Because soon I will be crowned the original Alpha of the pack, replacing my father. You know that I'm not officially an Alpha yet either, right?"

I waited for more details from him but it seemed he wouldn't explain if I didn't ask, because he just stayed silent while still looking at me.

The way he looked at me was completely different. Or was it because it was the first time I felt his eyes looking at me differently? I didn't know but I felt really unusual being looked at like that by him.

"I know," I replied. "Then, when will your position be inaugurated?" I asked finally.

"It’s in the full moon. I really want to get my mate right on the day I'm crowned Alpha, Juliette."

Should I accept his offer? What if it turned out to be a trap? I really kept thinking bad things since Sammy rejected me as his mate, I was really afraid that Damian would end up bullying me, and that this was his way of blatantly embarrassing me.

"If I accept you ... does that mean you will mark me in front of the whole pack, including Sammy?" I asked with a stutter.

He nodded and said, "You know that's the first rule for marking mates, Juliette. But after you agree with my offer, I have to mark you myself privately, and when in front of the pack, it is only for formality.”

I bit my lower lip out of nervousness as I remembered the moment when Sammy marked me as his mate back then. It felt so good to have a mate and be loved, but the reality now really hurt me.

Reflexively, I touched my shoulder, where Sammy had marked me there. Then I realized that I didn't feel the bite mark with my hand.

Suddenly, Damian's hand grabbed my clothes and lowered them halfway down my side, right at my shoulder. "The marks disappeared after he rejected you," he said.

I glanced to the side and there were no bite marks to be seen. Usually, even without a mirror, I could see it, and I could even feel it with my hand.

I sighed and went back to fixing my clothes with an embarrassment that I only realized because Damian was still staring at me.

Did he have no other sights than looking at me? I was really surprised.

"So, we're really separated," I said softly. "He and I are no longer bonded."

"Yeah, that's true."

I felt that heartbreak again as I remembered everything. And now, I had to organize my future around my own decisions.

"Juliette," Damian said suddenly. "This time I ask you once again, do you want to be my mate?"

He must have been waiting for my answer while I still needed time to think. I'd really been embarrassed today for being rejected by someone I loved on our anniversary, let alone witnessed by everyone, which really embarrassed me instantly.

I looked into his eyes and asked, "Why me, Damian? There are many she-wolves in the pack that you can mate with. Why me? I'm even the former mate of your cousin."

"There is no reason. But if you accept my offer, of course, you get the highest title of being the Alpha's mate, plus I don't have to choose another because you're all I think about," he explained. "I will await your final answer before the full moon arrives, Juliette."