Alpha's Regret: Losing His True Mate-Chapter 33

Elodie’s POV

I’d already signed my resignation papers. All I had to do now was wait for them to find a replacement, and then I’d be gone. Out of this company. Out of his world. Out of the life I thought was mine.

Still, that didn’t stop the ache in my chest as I turned to leave his office with the tray in my hands. Nobody here cared about me, no one cared about what I gave up, about what I lost. There was no point explaining, no point fighting anymore.

Just as I stepped past the doorframe, Sienna’s voice floated out behind me. It was soft, honeyed, with that perfect edge of concern.

“Don’t be upset, Dante,” Sienna cooed. “I’m sure she didn’t mean it. Don’t waste your temper on her.”

Those words sliced me open. My mate’s anger, soothed by another woman’s touch. The Alpha of the Bellini Pack, comforted not by his wife, not by the mother of his child but by the woman everyone whispered was his future Luna.

My hand trembled, the tray tipping just enough for the coffee to spill, scalding my fingers again. The burn stung, but I didn’t make a sound. Pain in my skin was easier to bear than the pain splitting me apart inside. I walked quickly to the nearest sink, ran cold water over my hand, and pulled the little tube of ointment from my bag. I always carried medicine. Liora used to scrape her knees so often, and I learned to be ready for anything. But she wasn’t with me anymore. He’d taken her to Italy, to his pack, leaving me with nothing but the memory of her laugh echoing in my chest.

I swallowed hard and forced myself back to my desk. I arranged papers I couldn’t even see clearly, the letters blurring behind my wet eyes. If anyone noticed, they pretended not to. That was the thing about this company. About him. My grief didn’t matter. My place had already been erased.

And then the whispers started.

“Did you hear? The Alpha’s girlfriend is here.”

“Girlfriend? Dante’s?”

“They say she’s from an old pack in Europe. An Alpha’s daughter. Gorgeous, raised to lead.”

My colleagues turned awkward when I stood, their smiles brittle, their voices cutting off mid-sentence. But I didn’t need to hear more. I already knew who they meant. Sienna. Always Sienna.

I kept my face empty, my body steady, forcing it not to shiver, even as my heart felt like it was bleeding out in slow motion.

The elevator doors opened and there she was. Draped in luxury, confidence in every of her step, surrounded by Dante’s senior executives. They hovered around her like wolves groveling before their queen.

“Thank you for visiting the company, Miss Sienna.”

“It’s our honor, given your relationship with the Alpha.”

She smiled politely, the kind of smile that pretends to be warm but keeps you at a distance. The kind of smile that tells you she belongs, and you never did.

My group moved aside quickly, giving way. But apparently, even that wasn’t enough.

“Watch where you’re going!” one of the executives snapped at me. His tone was sharp, scolding, as if I were a clumsy intern and not the woman who once wore the Alpha’s ring. “What if you had bumped into Miss Sienna? Show some respect.”

Those words slammed into me, louder than any slap could. My colleagues stiffened beside me, shrinking against the wall, desperate not to be caught in the line of fire. I didn’t answer. I didn’t even lift my head. I just tightened my grip on the papers in my hands until they crumpled.

And then her eyes met mine.

Sienna looked at me the way a victor looks at the defeated, calmly, assured, triumphant. She didn’t need to say anything. The truth was written all over her perfectly painted face: I’ve taken your place.

And Dante... Dante hadn’t even cared enough to deny it.

Sienna didn’t even hold my gaze. She looked straight past me as though I were nothing, then glided into the elevator with Dante’s executives flanking her like guards to a queen. The doors slid shut, and with them, my air seemed to vanish.

The silence cracked only when my colleagues let out relieved breaths.

“Did you see her?” one whispered, the excitement bubbling out of them.

“Dante’s girlfriend... she’s breathtaking. Everything about her screams old money. Those clothes alone, goddess, I wouldn’t be able to afford even the buttons.”

Another laughed softly. “No wonder she’s confident. Born into wealth, raised to lead. She makes us look like peasants.”

Their words cut like claws. Still, they turned to me, as if I should agree with them.

“What do you think, Elodie?” one asked carefully.

I lowered my eyes to hide the storm burning there. My voice came out small, flat. “She’s... beautiful.”

And she was. Sienna always had been.

But they didn’t know. How could they? My father’s golden child. His other daughter from another woman. Illegitimate? No, she wasn’t. She was The daughter he chose, the daughter he loved enough to tear apart my mother’s world for.

I remembered being eight years old, watching him pack his bags, watching him walk out of our home so he could give Sienna and her mother the life he swore they deserved. He said it was to protect them from shame. What about me? What about my mother, left trembling with rage and grief, her mind splintering while I clung to her skirts, begging her not to cry?

I grew up in the shadows, in the ruins of what he left behind, while Sienna was polished into a diamond under the best tutors, the best houses, the best everything money could buy. She bloomed into the perfect Luna while I scraped myself raw trying to keep up.

And now fate laughed in my face. Even here, even in my marriage, even in my own pack... she was standing in front of me again. The woman who already had everything was now taking Dante too.

I glanced down at my hands. My fingers still ached from the scalding coffee. The burn was nothing compared to this ache inside me, this hollow that wouldn’t stop swallowing me whole.

“Elodie?” one of the girls nudged me softly, concern flickering in her eyes. “You look pale.”

I straightened, forcing a brittle smile. “I’m fine.”

Fine. I had to be. What did it matter if Dante loved her? What did it matter if he paraded her through his company like she was already his Luna? He was nearly done with me anyway.

Our bond was just a paper waiting for ink now. And once the divorce was signed, he would finally be free to claim her, and I would...

I didn’t even know what I would be anymore.

But I knew one thing: no one, not Dante, not Sienna, not anyone would see me break in front of them.