The Luna’s Second Chance Mate

Chapter 54

Larissa’s POV

“Letting you go was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made, and I regret it every single day. I love you, I’ve always loved you, Larissa. I know it may not seem like it, but I haven’t been the same since you left. It’s like you took a part of me with you, and I wished and prayed to the Moon Goddess to help me find you.”

My vision was blurred through my tears, but I watched as Stefan walked forward and got down on one knee.

“I love you so much, Larissa. And I’ll do anything to make you believe my intentions are true. Anything to make you forgive me and believe that I regret everything.” He took my hand and slowly brought his lips to it in a soft kiss. “Come home with me. Tokenmoon misses you. I miss you. Let me love you, and I promise to make up for everything I did. We can be happy again, I know it.”

His eyes were glazed over when he finished, and the trembling of his lips he tried hard to hide was not lost on me. For a few moments, I said nothing. I just stared back at him. I stared back at the man I had once loved with such great intensity. I remembered how excited I had been to be getting married to him. I had felt like the luckiest girl alive, like all my dreams were about to come true. And I desperately believed that. But then everything came crashing down on me like a hurricane. All my hopes and dreams vanishing into thin air. And with that shove to reality came the worst days of my life.

As I stared at Stefan now, I did not envision the man I had once loved. I only saw the man who lacked such faith in me that he believed I could lie and cheat. I saw the man who lay with my step sister in the room next to me on our wedding night. I only saw the man who publicly divorced me and arranged to have me sold. And that man was not someone I wanted anything to do with.

I had never envisioned Stefan bringing himself to a point where he would apologize to me for everything he’d done. And I never envisioned how I would feel about it. But right now it was happening. I should have felt triumphant, or at least a shred of contentment that he was begging for forgiveness. But as I stared at the sick man in front of me, I felt absolutely nothing. And it was the most freeing thing I had ever experienced.

Admittedly, when I first set eyes on him after so many months I wanted nothing more than to jump at him and claw his eyes out. I wanted to rave and scream and hurt him until the hole in my chest was less painful. I wanted to hurt him as much as he had hurt me. I wanted to have him thrown out, and only seconds ago, I probably would have been glad to see him dead.

But, watching Stefan now, I realized how much of an empty man he was, and I wondered why I’d ever been scared of him. His apology should have meant something, but it didn’t. And I knew he was only here because he needed to renew our mate bond. And now I thought about it, it was just like him; shallow. But all the same, I did not want to keep carrying this resentment I had for him. All it had done was break me and hurt me.

“No,” I finally said.

Stefan stared at me, eyes wide. “W-What?”

“No,” I repeated. I gently pulled my hand out of his. “Tokenmoon isn’t my home, it has never been.” As I said the words, I realized how true they were. “After I escaped, I had spent so long yearning for home, but I never had a home there, not with you.”

Stefan shook his head, but before he could say another word, I stopped him. “I used to think the worst thing that could ever happen to me was not being loved by you, and when it did happen, I thought it was terrible, like the world had come to an end. But in truth it was actually a blessing, because if that never happened I would never have met Kaden.”

My chest was beginning to swell with emotions and I could feel my eyes fill up with tears, but I kept going. “Meeting him was the best thing that ever happened to me, and I wouldn’t change a single thing. He loves me unconditionally. He loves every single thing about me, and even when I’m not doing anything right, he still finds a way to love me despite that. And I love him too. Loving him is like breathing for me; effortless. He makes it so easy, and I cannot think of a single reason why I would ever leave him.”

“Larissa, I know that–”

I shook my head. “I sympathize with you for everything you are going through, Stefan. Losing your wife and living in uncertainty with this disease…it must be very difficult. I also accept your apology, and I forgive you for everything. It’s hard, trying to dissociate the man you were from the man in front of me today, but I don’t want to keep living with this anger and hatred. So, I forgive you. But I will not be coming with you. Absolutely nothing in this world could make me leave this man. He is the love of my life, and the man of my dreams, and I love him so much it hurts.”

As Stefan continued to stare at me with the broken look in his eyes, I took a deep breath. “Goodluck. And I hope you find a cure for your illness. But that cure isn’t me.”

The burning relief in my chest spread through my body as I finally turned away from him. I knew I had just gotten the closure I needed, and for the first time I felt light and content, just like it was meant to be.Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

Kaden’s POV

My chest swelled with pride as I watched Larissa turn away from the bastard that was her ex husband. Immediately, I walked down the stairs to meet her. I could hardly put in words how proud I was of her. When the guard informed me that a man was here to see Larissa, I could feel her discomfort through the mate bond and I immediately ran out to meet her.

One look at the bastard told me all I needed to know. He was her ex. The idiot foolish enough to ruin a relationship with Larissa. Anger pumped through my veins at the sight of him, and I would have loved nothing more than to beat him up for trespassing and have him thrown out, but Larissa had stopped me. Larissa had done a lot of things today. And with the week she’d just had, I was unsure how she would handle it. I was stunned at first to see her seething. I had never seen her so angry before, and it was a little scary. So, when she told me to let the bastard be, I was worried about her, although I secretly hoped she would bash his face up so I could have an excuse to join in.

But again, Larissa proved just how strong she was. She was able to call him out on his bullshit and refuse him without losing her marbles. How could she be so mature? I wondered. It takes a lot of strength to even listen to someone who had made your life miserable, but she had done it effortlessly.

As I listened to the words she said to him, I wanted to pull her to me and give her a big hug. She was so precious. Too precious to be going through this kind of pain.

“Come here,” I whispered as I approached her. She walked into my arms and I gave her the hug I’d been wanting to. I kissed her forehead and leaned down to her ear. “I’m so proud of you.” She hugged me even tighter and I breathed in her scent, never wanting to let go.

But then my eyes met his. The bastard. He was staring at us, his eyes filled with jealousy. “One second,” I said to Larissa, letting her go and approaching him. “You heard her,” I spat. “Get the fuck out.”

He stared from me to Larissa, and I watched as he tried to say something. I gripped him hard by the collar before he could say anything. “You really don’t learn your lesson, do you? Well, I am not as patient as my wife.” He struggled futilely as I dragged him down and towards the gate. The guards had already pulled the gates open. I shoved him out. “Go back to whatever hellhole you came from.”

The guards shut the gates in his face and I made my way back to Larissa who was still standing and waiting for me. She laid her head on my chest as I reached in for another hug. “Are you okay?” I asked, caressing her shoulders. She nodded, mumbling into my shirt. “Why don’t you go up to my chambers and wait for me. I’ll be there in a second, alright?”

She nodded and I kissed her again before I watched her walk inside the mansion. I immediately summoned the Gemini and waited for them to arrive. I paced round the premises, deep in thought. If I didn’t do what was on my mind right now, I would not be able to rest. I pulled the Gemini to one side when they arrived. “I’m guessing you both know what just happened.”

They nodded. “That was the Luna’s ex-husband? What on earth was he doing here?”

“Fuck, if I know. I need you both to do something for me.”

“Anything, Alpha.”

“That guy, Stefan, that’s what she called him. There’s something off about him. I just can’t put my finger on it. My wolf sensed it even before I knew who he was. He gave a darn good apology, but there’s something so sneaky and pretentious about him. I need you to tail him. Find out more about him and report back to me.”

They nodded. “Yes, Alpha. Will do.”

“Good. Also, Larissa should never find out about this. Understood?”

They both agreed and I dismissed them and walked back to my room. Larissa was laying on the bed when I walked in. I scooted over to her and planted a light kiss on her forehead. “How are you doing, baby?”

She shrugged. “Better than I thought I would, honestly. I still can’t believe he was here. Our exes are appearing out of nowhere, it’s a nightmare.”

I rubbed her shoulders sympathetically. “Well, you handled it perfectly. I don’t know if I’d have been so mature about it. Although, at first, I was scared you were going to kill him.”

For the first time in days, Larissa laughed. I could not hold back the smile that broke out on my lips.

“He’s in the past,” she said. “He doesn’t deserve any of my tears, he never did.”

“That’s my girl.”

I snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her to me. And for the first time since the wedding, we kissed passionately. Hungrily. I could not get enough of her. Soon she was on my lap as I continued to ravish her with my lips. I bit her bottom lip gently, suckling on it until she let out a moan.

My cock throbbed.

My fingers sought out her breasts through the fabric of her dress and I pulled at buttons until they spilled free. Sighing contentedly, I cupped one breast in my palm and kissed it hungrily. I ran my thumb over her nipple until it was swollen and erect. And then I popped it in my mouth.

“Oh.. yes..” Larissa moaned, throwing her head back as she pushed hard against me. Her fingers tangled in my hair while her other hand focused on unbuttoning my shirt.

She was at the last button when we heard the knock. I gritted my teeth in annoyance. “Who is it?!” I growled. It had been a while since I was intimate with Issa and I didn’t want anyone ruining this moment.

“There is someone outside for you, Alpha.”

Larissa and I exchanged looks and we got off each other and began to straighten our clothes.

“Come in,” I ordered once we were done.

A shaky servant walked in. “S-Sorry for the intrusion, sir, ma’am. But there’s someone here for you.”

“Who?”

The servant looked uncomfortable as she picked at her fingernails. “It’s.. um…Miss Amaya. She says she’s here to see her son.”

I jumped from the bed as though struck by lightning, rage bursting through my body. That bitch was here? Why?

“I’m going to teach her a lesson!” I growled. I was fed up with this drama.

“Kaden! Stop, please,” Larissa called out as I made to leave the room. I turned around, my chest still heaving. “Let it go. This is exactly what she wants. She’s doing this to anger you, and if you go out there now, you’ll be giving her exactly what she wants.”

I stopped. She was right.

“Tell her the Alpha is not accepting any visitors currently,” Larissa said to the servant. “If she resists, have the guards show her out.”

The servant nodded and walked out.

I sat by Larissa’s side, our fingers intertwined as we both got lost in our thoughts. The mention of Amaya had killed the mood and left a sour taste in my mouth. I just wanted her gone.

I had to take care of this whole thing before it ends up tearing my family apart.