Chapter 12 You were mine first
Sera's Pov
The morning after the confrontation felt unreal. Damien’s voice still echoed through me, dark, calm, claiming me in a way that made the bond in my chest twist. Caden’s growl still rang in my head. The way they looked at each other, like two storms circling the same moon, made something in me tighten.
And then Damien left.
One second he was staring at me like I was the only thing worth tearing the world apart for.
The next he was gone, fading into the shadows like he’d never been there at all.
I hadn’t slept. I’d spent most of the night staring at my ceiling, replaying the moment Caden’s lips touched mine, the way he whispered my name like it was sacred, the way his hands trembled even though he was an Alpha.
Then Damien’s words drowned it out.
“You were mine first.”
My mind wouldn’t quiet, and by morning, my chest felt so tight I could barely breathe.
My mind was racing, I could remember everything else, but why couldn't I remember Damien? Who was Damien to Selene?
I picked up my bag and I went to school anyway.
I shouldn’t have.
The moment I stepped through the front doors, the whispers hit me from every direction.
“She tried to seduce Caden.”
“Brielle said she threw herself at him.”
“She’s obsessed with him.”
“Did you hear she lied about being mates?”
“Pathetic.”
My steps slowed. Every voice felt like claws dragging across my skin.
I kept my face blank, shoulders straight, refusing to flinch. But the hallway felt suffocating. People parted when I walked by, not out of respect, but to stare better.
When I reached my locker, I knew something was wrong even before I opened it.
The door swung wide, and everything fell out.
Torn notes. Crumpled assignments. Someone had poured water inside. My textbooks were soaked, ink poured everywhere and it snapped something in me, this feeling of helplessness that Selene passed through was how I felt at the exact moment.
A group of students near me snickered.
Brielle leaned against the lockers, arms crossed, smiling like she’d scripted this moment herself.
“Oh no,” she said innocently. “Did your locker drown? Or is this normal for girls who can’t take rejection?”
I didn’t react.
Her smile sharpened.
“You didn’t think Caden would actually want you, did you? Are you that delusional?”
I crouched and picked up a ruined notebook. The pages dripped onto the floor.
Zara walked over, nudging the puddle with her boot. “Should’ve known. Girls like her always try to sleep their way into power.”
“She probably thought she could seduce an Alpha.” Brielle shrugged. “Embarrassing.”
Something inside me cracked, not loudly, not dramatically but just a small break, quiet enough that no one noticed. But I felt it.
I stood, drenched notebook in hand. “Are you done?”
Brielle blinked, thrown off by my voice being steady.
She stepped closer, chin lifted. “Did I hit a nerve? Or is that guilt?”
I stared directly into her eyes. And she flinched, just a little. She masked it fast, but I saw it.
“Move,” I said softly.
The hallway froze but Brielle didn’t move.
But her friends shifted, uneasy, like they sensed something under my skin they didn’t want to awaken. After a tense beat, Brielle stepped aside, pretending it was her idea.
I walked past her, shoulders stiff, heart pounding in my throat.
But the day only got worse.
In chemistry, the two girls behind me whispered loud enough for the whole class.
“Isn’t it pathetic? Throwing herself at Caden.”
“She probably begged him.”
“She’s such a desperate freak.”
My pencil snapped in my hand.
The teacher didn’t look up. As always, they always turn a blind eye to bullying, exactly the same way they let everyone turn Selene into a laughing stock.
At lunch, I found my bag had been moved, emptied, dumped onto a cafeteria table. Half my things were missing. My water bottle was gone. My lunch was smashed.
When I tried to gather my belongings, Trent stuck out his foot and shoved me with his knee.
I hit the ground hard, my palms stinging as the cafeteria erupted in laughter.
He leaned down. “Oops. Didn’t see you there. You’re so small, Sera.”
I lifted my eyes to his and his smirk wavered.
Then he backed away, not because he respected me, but because something just made him uneasy.
A teacher watched this happen and she did nothing.
Brielle sat across the room, biting into an apple, eyes locked on me like she was savoring every second.
By the end of the week, everything felt heavy.
My textbooks were destroyed.
My bag was vandalized twice.
Someone shoved me into a wall so hard my shoulder bruised.
A girl tripped me going down the steps, whispering, “Slut.”
Teachers looked away. Students laughed. The rumors grew until they felt bigger than me.
And Caden…
He avoided me completely.
He didn’t look at me in class, didn’t approach me after school, didn’t check if I was okay. He didn’t even glance when Brielle whispered lies right in front of him.
He looked… conflicted. Torn. Exhausted. But he never spoke.
And that hurt worse than the bruises.
By the end of the week, I stopped eating lunch altogether. I sat in the library instead, staring at blank pages I couldn’t bring myself to write on.
My grades slipped.
I barely slept.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Caden’s conflicted stare… and Damien’s dark promise.
By Friday, I couldn’t face another day.
So I didn’t, I stayed home instead.
By late afternoon, the sky had turned a soft grey. The kind of color that made the world feel quiet.
I sat on the edge of my bed, knees pulled up, forehead resting on them.
For the first time since my rebirth, I felt truly alone.
Then the air shifted.
A slow, warm ripple crept up my spine. The kind that felt familiar in a way that made my breath catch.
I lifted my head.
A shadow stood outside my window, tall and still as stone.
My heartbeat stuttered.
The curtains swayed faintly as if responding to his presence.
Then a voice, not loud, not forceful, but deep enough to vibrate through the glass, spoke softly.
“Sera.”
I froze.
“I felt your sadness from miles away,” Damien said. “Little moon… open the window.”
My chest tightened so hard it almost hurt.
He stepped closer, the dying light catching his eyes, dark, burning, unnervingly gentle.
“I’m here,” he murmured. “I always am.”
My hand hovered over the window latch.
My heart fluttered painfully.
And then, a soft growl echoed behind me. From inside the room. I turned slowly and there he was, Caden stood in the doorway.
Fury radiating off him like heat.
His gaze locked on Damien outside.
“Sera,” he said quietly, voice breaking in a way that terrified me.
“We need to talk.”