The Mate He Hates

Alpha Edward’s POV

“What did you say?” I wanted to be sure I wasn’t hearing wrong. The young man held my gaze and looked me straight in the eye. “Elisa wasn’t the one who saved you in the woods; she told me herself.” He repeated his words, and I shook my head in disbelief.

That was impossible. That cannot be. The men who rescued me from the woods told me her name was Elisa. I even took them to their house, and they pointed at Elisa, confirming it was she. Then why would he stand here and look me straight in the eyes, telling me Elisa wasn’t the young girl who saved me?

Grabbing him by the collar of his chest, I glared right into his eyes, anger boiling inside of me. “Are you trying to fool me?” I asked through gritted teeth. Maybe he was lying to me.

“I’m not,” the young man said, shaking his head. “I’m telling the truth, Alpha. Elisa wasn’t the one who saved you. She told me herself. Besides, I know Elisa very well. Elisa cannot see a wounded man in the woods and wants to help. Rather, she will run away,” he muttered with all seriousness.

“No!” I didn’t want to believe it. Why isn’t it her? If it’s not her, then who? It’s not even making sense. “The guards confirmed to me that they saw Elisa with me.”

“That doesn’t mean she was the one who stopped your bleeding,” the young man countered.

“Elisa told me she wasn’t the one who helped with your injury. Alpha Edward, you know nothing about Elisa,” he said, and I grunted.

“Elisa is afraid of blood, especially someone’s blood,” he added, and my heart pounded in my chest. If Elisa wasn’t the one who saved me, then who? Who was the one who had helped me in the woods? “Who is she? If Elisa wasn’t the one who saved me in the woods, then tell me who did.” I urged. Everything was becoming confusing. Everything I thought I had known now seemed like a lie.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

“I have no idea; she refused to tell me.” His response made me clench my fist and grit my teeth as I let go of him and ran a hand through my hair.

“This can’t be true,” I murmured under my breath as I paced around my study. Their words kept echoing in my head, and no matter how hard I didn’t want to believe it, it seemed that it was the truth. Elisa wasn’t the one who saved me. That means Elisa isn’t my mate, which means my second-chance mate is out there.

Looking in Amanda’s direction, my eyes met hers, and I furrowed my brow and walked over to her. I stood before her, curiosity filling my being.

“You know who saved me, right?” I asked curiously, but Amanda shook her head without a second thought.

“I don’t,” she responded coldly.

I furrowed my brow as I stared at her in disbelief, finding it difficult to believe that she didn’t know who the actual girl who had saved me that day was. “You are Elisa’s sister; you live in the same house with her. How can you tell me you don’t know who actually saved me?” I spat in frustration.

A big frown spread across Amanda’s face as she glared at me with anger shimmering in her eyes. “Elisa is my half-sister. Secondly, we hardly talk to each other, so I know nothing about her. But come to think of it, Alpha Edward, is this the only thing that bothers you? Your mate? Finding out who your actual savior is? Is that the only issue here?” She spat angrily while I furrowed my brow, confused at her words.

“Have you forgotten the part where Elisa’s mate just confessed that he was the one who had killed Elisa, which means I am innocent, and you have brutally punished me for a crime I never committed?” She yelled at me, and I went mute. I had totally forgotten about that.

How could I forget the wrong I have done? How could I forget the pain I had inflicted on innocent Amanda? And how would I be able to make up for what I have made her go through? What do I do? What do I say?

“Alpha Edward, has the cat got your tongue, or you still don’t believe what the young man said and want more proof?” Amanda asked.

“Alpha Zach wants more proof, we can give that to him,” Matthew said, and that piqued my curiosity. I looked his way, and he nodded at me. “We will get Elisa’s mother here, and we will make her tell the truth,” he stated, and I swallowed in fear. Despite how much I didn’t want to believe it, I couldn’t deny that the facts were right.

The young men didn’t seem to lie, and they wouldn’t lie to me when they knew the implications of their lies.

Confused, I stared at everyone in the room, and then I settled my gaze back on Amanda, whose gaze hadn’t left me. “I believe you have something to say, Alpha Zach.”

My lips were heavy, as I didn’t know what to say. Memories of what I did flooded my head-the brutal sex I had with her, the punishments, the dark cell, the water torture, the flogging-everything was replaying in my head and was driving me crazy. I couldn’t believe all this while Amanda was innocent, yet I made her endure all those terrible things. Where do I start? How do I start apologizing? How will she be able to forgive me? And even if she does forgive me, how can I wipe off those painful memories I have inflicted on her? All this made me speechless, as I didn’t know where to begin.

My mind was a whirlwind of confusion and guilt. How could I have been so blind? How could I have punished Amanda unjustly? The weight of my mistakes pressed down on me, suffocating me with remorse and guilt. I took a deep breath, trying to steady my thoughts.

“I was so enveloped in the pain that I didn’t know what I was doing. I lost my first mate, and thinking that I had lost the second one made me go insane. It turned me into something I wasn’t.” I paused and looked at Amanda, whose eyes were filled with pain and anger. My heart clenched in my chest as I imagined the kind of pain she must have gone through at such a young age, and all for a crime she had never committed. If only I were wise enough, if only I had believed her when she said she was innocent and investigated the matter, I would have found the truth, and Amanda wouldn’t have gone through such cruelty from me.

“Amanda, I don’t even know where to begin… I don’t know where to start apologizing.” My words were cut short as, in a swift motion, Amanda slapped me across the face, the sound echoing in the room.

“You can begin your apology by bringing my mother back to life!” She yelled.