Chapter 2

Selene POV

Nyx became agitated almost instantly.

The oppressive presence of an Alpha apex predator—intense, scorching, dangerous. Different from those chaotic, disgusting sweet scents in the hall. Michael's scent was familiar enough to make my heart ache.

Too close. So close I could even feel his scorching breath falling on my skin. Pain, agitation, long-suppressed emotions all surged up madly.

I instinctively wanted to push him away, but my legs were almost weak. Michael didn't give me any chance to leave. His hand gripped my wrist tightly, his other hand pressed against my ear, completely blocking my escape route.

I had never seen Michael like this.

Those deep blue eyes were terrifyingly dark. Something almost out of control was suppressed inside them. So dangerous that I felt instinctively afraid for the first time, my shoulders starting to stiffen uncontrollably.

Nyx whimpered lowly. My voice trembled, "What the hell do you want!"

Michael stared at me, "Why aren't you angry?"

He asked again, his voice more hoarse than before, suppressing fury on the verge of collapse. I was stunned for a moment. My chest suddenly ached, along with some absurdly sweet expectation.

So. You can lose control because of me too?

"Why should I be angry?" I heard myself laugh lightly, but even I thought that laugh sounded awful. "Haven't you always been like this?"

But Michael's expression instantly darkened. The Alpha pheromones in the air pressed down so heavily I could barely breathe.

He was angry.

"Selene." He called my name in a low voice, seemingly calm and cold but like something was suppressed underneath, as if he would completely lose control the next second. "What the hell are you pretending?"

Those words stabbed into my chest like a knife. I almost gasped, jerking my head up to look at him.

"Michael." My vision was blurred by tears, but I gritted my teeth not letting them fall. My voice became increasingly calm, "Today is my birthday."

His body suddenly stiffened for a moment. So briefly I almost thought it was an illusion.

"I saw you holding Evelyn, letting her sit on your lap." My voice got softer and softer, carrying broken whimpers. "You're covered in other people's scents."

Music from the hall could still be faintly heard outside the corridor, but here it was so oppressive I could barely breathe.

I sneered, "Thank you for the birthday gift, mate."

Michael stared at me deadly, his breathing getting heavier and heavier, like he was desperately suppressing something. He suddenly spoke, his voice frighteningly cold, "At least Evelyn knows what she's doing."

The smile on my face slightly froze, "What?"

I stared at him blankly. Completely unable to understand what he was saying.

Michael stared at me deadly, emotions in his eyes suppressed to near danger. But he suddenly smiled, the smile terrifyingly cold, "You're always fucking like this."

His voice got more and more hoarse, his tone heavier and heavier, faster and faster. The hand gripping my wrist tightened bit by bit, scorchingly hot. "Even when you see your mate with someone else, you just stand there and watch."

"Selene." His voice was completely hoarse, the hand gripping my wrist even started trembling slightly. "I should have known."

His voice got colder and colder, "You always make me regret."

I opened my mouth but found I couldn't say a word. Like a fish out of water, even breathing started to hurt. Those deep blue eyes were terrifyingly dark. Like the sea surface before a storm, about to swallow me whole, so dangerous I didn't dare look anymore. I instinctively shrank back. The emotions in his eyes suddenly lost control, he yanked me back violently, pressing me into his embrace.

Michael's hand clasped my neck, his scorching palm possessively pressing against my skin. He lowered his head, his nose almost touching my neck, his breath so hot it almost burned my skin. I heard an extremely soft, low hoarse sigh, like someone who had been suppressing for too long finally touching what they most desired. My heart skipped a beat, I even forgot to breathe.

"So happy." Nyx said blissfully, "He held us today."

"No." I said softly, like convincing Nyx, and like convincing myself.

The mate instinct rolled in my soul, wanting to respond to the bond, wanting to belong to Michael again. My pulse beat wildly under his palm. My legs were so weak I could barely stand, I could only instinctively grab the hand he had clasped on my neck.

"Selene." Nyx whimpered aggrievedly, somewhat urgently, "Kiss him, hug him."

Michael lifted my chin, forcing me to look at him. Those deep blue eyes slowly fell on my lips. Then moved closer bit by bit, so close even our eyelashes were about to touch. I gently closed my eyes.

I pathetically discovered that even after being hurt like this by him, I would still expect. Expect him to lower his head. Kiss me. Tell me everything was just a misunderstanding.

But the next second, he pressed against my lips, his voice low and hoarse, almost broken, "I hate you."

The happiness and expectation just now were snuffed out as if someone had strangled them. I jerked my eyes open, staring at him blankly, seeming to hear something completely shatter. My hand slid down from the back of his hand. How ridiculous of me to expect that kiss.

I suddenly remembered Michael from long ago. Back then he would still gently help me pull up my scarf. He would deliberately restrain his Alpha pheromones when approaching, would ask in a low voice: "Selene, are you sure you want to be my mate?" I really thought he loved me then. Maybe he did love me. But after completing the bond, Michael started distancing himself from me. Started refusing to respond to the bond, wouldn't even touch me.

So he regretted making me his mate.

"Since you hate me so much." My voice trembled weakly, "Why didn't you reject me?"

Michael let go of the hand clasping my neck as if he'd been burned, as if the person who just touched me wasn't him at all. The force of pushing me away was so strong it made me stagger back half a step, my back hitting the wall hard.

He really regretted even touching me. Then what was just now about?

Michael closed his eyes hard. When he opened them again, those deep blue eyes held nothing. He laughed lowly and mockingly, "Because I'm pathetic."

But before I could speak, he quickly pulled away, his footsteps gradually disappearing at the end of the corridor. Michael's scent in the air gradually withdrew from around me, the warmth instantly drained away. I stood there, my back still holding the temperature from when he just pressed against me, but now I was shivering from cold.

The bond in my chest suddenly hurt sharply, like something was being forcibly cut off. The emotions, temperature, and sense of presence I could originally faintly feel completely disappeared in that instant. Only cold, dead silence remained.

Would you rather personally seal the bond than face me?

Nyx suddenly whimpered, "Selene, doesn't he want us anymore?"

Intense panic almost instantly gripped my heart. I could barely stand. I could only press hard against my chest, breathing heavily. But no matter how desperately I tried to feel it, there was no response from the other end of the bond.

Michael really left.

The last bit of strength supporting me suddenly disappeared completely. I slowly slid down the cold wall to sit on the ground, burying my face in my knees.

"I don't know, Nyx."