Rejecting The Alpha King：My Second Chance Mate Chapter 10
“If you won’t be mine willingly…” A savage, unhinged light flared in Tornell’s gaze. “Then I will take you by force.”
His body began to change. Bones snapped and realigned, sinews thickened, and a pelt of gleaming silver fur burst from his skin.
In seconds, Tornell stood before me as a monstrous wolf, immense and terrifying.
He bared his jaws, revealing glistening fangs—a clear, horrifying intent.
The forced claiming. Among our kind, it was the ultimate violation, a ritual designed to shatter an Omega completely.
A wolf claimed by force became nothing more than a mindless puppet for their Alpha.
“Never!” I scrambled back, pure terror seizing me, only to slam into the unyielding, rough stone of the cave wall.
Tornell stalked forward, a deep, menacing rumble building in his chest.
His teeth hovered just above the exposed skin of my throat.
In that frozen instant of dread—
CRASH!
The wall of the cave exploded inward. A dark shape shot through the hail of rock and dust like a bolt of lightning, its powerful claws striking Tornell’s flank with brutal force.
Riordane!
The two giant wolves crashed together in the cramped, shadowed space, a whirlwind of snarls, fangs, and slashing claws.
Tornell was bigger, his raw strength undeniable, but Riordane was a blur of speed and precision.
And crucially, Riordane was wreathed in a crackling aura of dark, potent magic.
“ROAR!” Tornell howled in fury, his claws driving toward Riordane’s neck.
Riordane dodged with impossible grace, his own strike ripping a gash across Tornell’s shoulder.
Silver blood sprayed across the cave floor.
“You will not touch her,” Riordane growled, shifting back to his human form. His amethyst eyes burned with a protective fire.
Tornell also transformed, clutching his bleeding shoulder, his expression contorted with rage.
“Cursed mongrel!” he hissed. “You’ve destroyed everything!”
“Destroyed what?” Riordane’s voice was icy. “Your chance to enslave a mate? You disgrace the title of Alpha, Tornell.”
“She is mine!” Tornell shrieked, the sound edged with madness. “She was always destined to be mine!”
“She is her own,” Riordane stated, stepping between us. “She answers to no one.”
Tornell tried to rally, to keep fighting, but the corrosive dark magic had already done its work.
He swayed, legs buckling, and crashed to the ground, his eyes glazing over with furious despair.
A distant, thunderous howl pierced the air from beyond the cave entrance.
“The Scarletclaw Pack!” I breathed, dread coiling tight in my stomach.
“They’ve used the distraction to mount their attack,” Riordane said urgently, his hand closing around mine. “We need to leave. Now.”
Tornell’s face was a mask of utter hopelessness as the cacophony of battle drew nearer.
Without the prophecies to guide him, without any warning, his pack stood no chance against the Scarletclaw onslaught.
“Vaelora!” he screamed, a last, raw plea tearing from his throat. “Help me! Give me a vision!”
I didn’t look back.
I let Riordane pull me swiftly from the cave, Tornell’s final, agonized cry drowned out by the rising roar of war behind us.
Three days of hard travel later, we reached Riordane’s domain.
It was a hidden valley, shielded by old, powerful wards, eternally bathed in a soft, ethereal moonlight that made the darkness feel serene and welcoming.
A silver stream cut through the heart of the land, its edges lined with luminescent blossoms that pulsed with a gentle light.
“Welcome home,” Riordane murmured, his tone impossibly soft.
Tucked into the embrace of the valley was a small, perfect cottage.
I stared, my breath catching. This was the house from my dreams—the one I’d seen in fleeting visions of a peace I never thought I’d find.
“How… how is this possible?” I whispered, my voice thick.
A shy smile touched Riordane’s lips. “I remembered. You told the pack once, long ago, describing your ideal sanctuary. So I built it for you.”
Tears blurred my vision, softening the glow of the flowers all around us.
That evening, beside the quiet stream, I told him everything—my past life, Tornell’s treachery, Vellima’s poisonous envy, the memory of the silver dagger that still chilled me to the bone.
“I had my suspicions,” Riordane said gently, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear. “Tornell’s act was poor. And that bear… it reeked of alchemical tampering.”
“Why didn’t you say anything back then?” I asked, my voice unsteady.
“You wouldn’t have listened,” he admitted, his smile tinged with sadness. “Your heart was his alone in those days.”
“And now?” I looked up, searching his amethyst eyes.
“Now,” he replied, his voice a low caress as he pressed a tender kiss to my forehead, “your heart looks only to me. From the moment I saw you at your Oracle ceremony, I was lost to you. In this life, and the one before.”
I moved into his arms, resting my head against his chest, listening to the strong, steady rhythm of his heart.
Me too, I thought, a profound calm finally washing over me. In this life, and the last.
