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Chapter 1 — My Baby Is Gone
Ayla
"Luna, I'm so sorry but this miscarriage caused some serious damage to your womb. As a result of that, your chances of ever having children again are now very slim. You might need to mentally prepare..."
My mind zoned out in the middle of his sentence, my hands tightening around my belly. It was swollen with child when I first arrived a few hours ago but now, it was flat because my baby was gone along with any future hopes of having another child ever again.
It wasn't just any baby. It was my last hope of ever getting Troy to love me, to finally see me for who I truly was. I had tried in vain for three years to get pregnant and finally, two months ago, I had succeeded!
But then, just that morning, after cleaning my mate's room, I had slipped on the slippery floors and fallen down the stairs. Once again, my body failed me and snuffed out the flame of hope in my heart.
"Luna...Luna?" the doctor snapped twice in my face, jolting me out of my reverie. "Are you okay? Do you have any questions for me?"
"Yes...and no. I mean...I'm alright, really." I pulled my bag off his desk and stood on trembling legs, tugging my scarf over my face the more.
I hurried out of his office, blinking quickly to keep back the hot tears threatening to roll down my cheeks. The last thing I wanted to do was to burst into tears in front of the young doctor and show my weakness.
Behind me, I could hear two nurses whispering and I instantly slowed down so I could hear what they were talking about.
"You mean something this serious happened to her and her mate never showed up? A miscarriage is a big deal."
"Like I don't know that. I even heard that right after the procedure, she was crying so hard that she passed out with his name on her lips. Yet, he never showed up."
Her words resounded in my head over and over again as I fought tooth and nail not to burst into tears.
"Oh my gosh. If that isn't a sign that he doesn't love her, then what is? If they don't go their separate ways in the end, I'll be shocked."
I walked away as fast as I could because hearing the truth from strangers was suffocating me. I stopped at the entrance and took a seat, taking out my phone to call my mate.
"Yes?" he snapped at me after three rings like I had interrupted something important.
I immediately lost my tongue, stumbling over my words. "I...I...I'm sorry for d-disturbing you. I...I just wanted to..." I swallowed hard, my courage diminishing with every second.
"Out with it, Ayla. I don't have all day. I'm in the middle of something important and—"
"The baby is gone," I blurted my confession before my courage ran out, letting the tears come at last. I sobbed as I spoke, burying my face in my scarf. "I lost it. I'm so sorry."
Silence followed my confession and beads of sweat slowly gathered on my brow. I thumbed them away, unable to reach the ones running down my spine.
Then I heard him sigh heavily and my chest tightened, waiting for what was coming next. I had just dashed his hopes of being a father; he had every right to be angry.
"Ayla...is that why you called me in the middle of a busy day?"
Huh? "I don't—"
"No, just stop talking! The baby's gone, so, what? Stop crying about it and go home. I'm busy; quit bothering me!"
He ended the call abruptly and I was left to stare at my phone in wonder. I tried calling back to apologize for upsetting him but after that, every call I made went unanswered.
For three years since we were mated, Troy had always treated me that way, acting cold and distant and the sad truth was I had gotten used to it.
We were not known to each other well neither were we fated mates before getting married. Our marriage only happened because three years ago, I had accidentally saved Troy's father, the previous Alpha of Winter Storm Pack, Martin Winston's life.
Martin liked me for my resourcefulness and pushed for the match. Without his dogged insistence, I would have never married Troy because from the start, Troy never wanted me. But I chose to stay because I thought that with time, he could learn to love me back.
Till date, I still hoped Troy would change but clearly, I had hoped for too much.
Shaking off the depressing thoughts, I stood up and continued my hobble to the road. Just then, my battered, outdated phone buzzed and hoping it was a message from Troy, I excitedly pulled out my phone.
It was a message, alright, but it wasn't from Troy. My hopes drained when I saw that the message was from Max Bennett, Troy's Beta.
"What does he want?" He barely spoke to me but he was always polite when we did talk.
The message was actually a video and my curiosity peaked the more. I clicked on it and stood at a spot to watch the video.
An enormous bouquet of roses was the first thing I saw and it covered my entire phone screen. There were hundreds of them, more than I could count, close to a thousand probably.
Then the camera shifted to the left and there Troy stood beside a woman. I gasped in shock when I recognized her.
Skyla Summer, his first love.
My pupils dilated as my wolf whimpered in heartbreak and my fingers gripped my phone tighter. The video was still on and I could hear voices speaking with excitement.
"Skyla, how did Troy know you were coming back to the pack today? He must have been planning this welcome party for weeks because he really went all out!"
"Come on, you should at least give him a hug to thank him!"
"A hug? Please, they should just kiss already. It's not like you two haven't done it before. Don't forget that I still have that video of your three minute epic kiss."
Skyla shook her head with a smile, her perfect golden hair swaying side to side. "No, we won't be doing that anymore. That was so inappropriate."
But before she could finish, Troy pulled her into his arms, his hands circling her waist with a smile. "I can't tell you how happy I am to welcome you back, Skyla."
I could not take my eyes away from my screen, gaze glued to his hands as he held her naturally, so gently, the way he never held me even when I was pregnant with his child.
The crowd screamed and cheered. "See, Skyla? He doesn't mind the crowd. Kiss! Kiss!!"
And just like that, the video ended there.
Well, actually, it was cut off, snatched from my view because it had been deleted by the sender. What was Max up to?
Some seconds later, a new message popped up in front of me.
"Sorry, I sent that to you by mistake."
That was it, no further explanation because he probably thought I hadn't seen it yet.
I stared at the message for a long time before bursting into a bitter laugh.
So that was the important thing he was in the middle of?
I had spent three years trying to get him to warm up to me but with his first love back to the pack, Troy's heart would never belong to me. After all those years, he wasn't mine...he would never be mine now.
It was time to wake up.
Chapter 2 — The Divorce
Ayla
Immediately I got to the packhouse, I started packing my belongings into a bag. They were not much, anyways because over the years, my life had been simple—doing chores and cooking Troy's meals, nothing fancy.
Other than clothes and some books I had brought from my pack, there wasn't that much to pack up. But with every item I packed away, I felt like an imposter, like I had been living a life that was never mine in the first place.
In less than thirty minutes, I was done and ready to go. I thought about leaving at once, about going home to my pack but I looked around the packhouse I had lived in for three years and I knew I couldn't just leave like that.
I decided to wait till Troy came back so that he could see the pain in my eyes, the loneliness that had eaten me up and understand why I couldn't stay.
I had dinner alone that night and even fell asleep at the dining table. It was until past two in the morning that the sound of the front door opening startled me awake. I sat up, pressing the back of my hand over my mouth to stifle a yawn.
Troy stuttered in, eyes roaming around in the dimly lit living room until he met my eyes at the dining.
He didn't seem surprised to see me awake because many a night, I often stayed up late, waiting for him to return home safely. He never asked me to do that neither did he ever acknowledge me for doing so. It had just been one of the selfless things I had done for the man I loved.
But not anymore. I stared at him with haunted eyes, eyes that had cried bitterly during the day.
"You are still up? I thought you said you had a miscarriage today. Shouldn't you be resting?" Despite how nice the words sounded to my ears, his tone was flat, like he didn't really give a care what I did.
"I was waiting for you, Alpha," I stood and walked to the light switch, flipping it on. Light poured into the room and I took my first good look at Troy of the night.
My eyes started from his lips and I scoffed because I used to think they were perfectly shaped. Now I knew they were perfectly crafted to tell lies and had been kissing another woman.
The collar of his white shirt carried faint red lipstick stains and I could see the bite marks littered along his neck. My wolf whimpered again, making a ball out of herself and dunking her head low.
He had done more than kiss Skyla, apparently. He had been been intimate with her because he didn't smell like himself, a new flowery scent floating around him.
A sharp pain struck my chest and I took a step back, fighting another round of tears. That wasn't the time for tears but it was how he barely made any efforts to hide his unfaithfulness to me that destroyed me from the inside out.
In our three years together, Troy had hardly touched me, keeping himself away from my bed chamber. He only ever visited me whenever his family, especially his father pressurized him to continue trying for a child.
Even then, he never kissed me or showed me any form of tenderness. He was thorough, never bothering with foreplay or getting me ready gently at least.
He just went straight to the point, acting like it was a boring task and most times, he left me groaning in pain afterwards. When the painful activity was over, I would reach for him, longing for comfort but he would turn away from and disappear till the next time he had to repeat it.
Not even once did he offer me any warmth or concern, always quick to give me the cold shoulder.
Finally, Troy's gaze dropped to the bag under the dining table and he crossed his hands over his chest, immediately understanding what was going on.
"You saw Max's video, didn't you?"
So he knew about that yet he didn't think to call and explain things to me? It was a night of revelation indeed. I was beginning to understand how little I meant to Troy Winston.
Up close, I could smell the alcohol on his breath and on his clothes, the heavy cloying odour mixing with that flowery scent to produce a stench that made my stomach churn.
"Yes, I saw it and t-that's w-w-why I'm...I'm..." I paused to keep my emotions under control, licking my suddenly dry lips. "Troy Winston, I, Ayla Keaton hereby rej—"
I didn't get to finish before Troy cut me short, holding up his hands.
"There won't be any need for that, Ayla. You and I were never fated mates, so, you rejecting me as your mate is of no use because we have nothing binding us except the rings. Since you've found out about Skyla and I, there's no need hiding it anymore."
He smirked at my astonished look, lifting my lower lip with his index finger to keep it shut. I moved backwards, away from him and he laughed at my cowardice.
"Come on, don't act surprised. You knew from the start that if Skyla had not left the pack, I would have never agreed to marry you. I was hurt when she left and you were available."
All that time, I had been nothing more than a placeholder to him? The rings and vows, they had meant nothing?
It suddenly felt like something heavy was sitting on my lungs and I was panting, staggering to find a chair to lean on.
"Since rejection can't end our marriage, let's do this legally then." He strolled to a locker in the living room and unlocked it with a key he always wore around his neck. He took out some documents and a pen.
He handed them over to me but I didn't need to look at them to know what they were.
Divorce papers. That was what I got as a reward for my years of sacrifice and endurance.
"You don't have to sign them right now. It's late. Get some rest. You can go through them properly later today and move out tomor—"
"There will be no need for that. It's fine. I'll sign them." I took the divorce papers to the dining table and I almost dropped the pen when I saw Troy's signature already scrawled, dated three years ago.
The date of our mating ceremony.
He had been planning this all along and I had been such a fool.
The pen suddenly felt very heavy in my hand. I wasn't just signing a piece of paper; I was ending a dream I had fought long and hard to achieve. As I scrawled my signature on the dotted line, I thought I would break into pieces but I felt a sudden calmness possess me.
When I walked to him to return the documents, it was his turn to look surprised. He frowned as he accepted them, as if doubting that I had seriously gone through with it.
"I know you've probably been drinking so, I made some lemon tea. If you want it, it's in the kitchen." A place I would never be entering again.
I had made the tea out of pure habit, still thinking of his wellbeing while my heart was breaking. For years, I had done everything for him, hoping he would love me back.
I had learnt to make the meals he liked best, though it came with many burns, cuts and scars on my hands. All of his meals meant hours of effort from the buying of groceries to the cooking and then serving it the way he liked.
Troy was very picky and no matter how good the food was, he never once said it tasted great, though I could see how much he enjoyed them.
He knew that a single word of praise from him would keep me happy for days but he never gave me even that little.
"I'm leaving." Three years of marriage and I had nothing more to say.
"Stay for tonight. Nobody is throwing you out."
"No." I just couldn't stay for another second else I would lose my mind. I wasn't leaving because I knew where I was going to. I was leaving because I just couldn't keep up our sham of a marriage anymore.
Walking out that door was the peace I never knew I needed.
Chapter 3 — The Bet
Troy
The front door closed behind Ayla and I could hear the main packhouse gates opening for her to leave. Yet, I stood there, frowning at her audacity to walk out on me. I hated it when she disobeyed me and she knew it, yet she dared to pull off something like this.
My hands folded into fists and I cursed out loud when I discovered that I was squeezing the divorce papers in my right hand. My head was buzzing with the alcohol swimming in my system so I straightened out the papers and took them back to the locker.
Good riddance. At least, she remembered to make the lemon tea for my headaches before leaving. Other than playing with roots and herbs, Ayla was never good for anything else.
Nobody else was awake so, I went to the kitchen and served myself, the warm tea doing wonders for my tired muscles. It had been a really long but exciting day yesterday.
Skyla, the absolute love of my life was back to Winter Storm and nobody, not even my father could stop me from getting married to her now.
My pocket suddenly vibrated before the phone in it started ringing loudly. I groaned in annoyance, wondering who was calling me so early in the morning. It had better not be Ayla calling to apologize when she had walked out all by herself.
It was my Beta calling but that did not make me feel any better. If he hadn't made the mistake of sending the video to Ayla, the divorce proceedings would have been smoother than the way it just went down.
"What?" I was quick to bark at him, scrubbing a hand down my face.
"Hey, calm down, Alpha." He wasn't just a regular Beta; he was my best friend so, our relationship as Alpha and Beta wasn't as strict as other packs were.
"I was just calling to make sure you were back. Did you ask Ayla if she saw the video?"
"What do you think?" I took another glass of the warm lemon tea and went upstairs to my room, my legs feeling rubbery. My headache was receding but talking was making it return. I needed a cold bath and long hours of sleep.
Planning Skyla's welcome party had taken weeks to prepare after I had gotten the hint from a close friend of hers. Eva never did believe that Skyla and I had broken up and kept sending me updates of Skyla's adventures away from the pack.
Skyla had left the pack three years ago amidst tears when I told her that my father wanted me to marry some girl that saved his life. She and I had already planned our future carefully only for Ayla to come from nowhere and ruin everything.
Heartbroken and embarrassed, Skyla fled Winter Storm, estranged from her family for years and leaving me to endure being away from her.
"Shit, she did? I'm so sorry, Alpha. I swear, I didn't mean for that to happen. I thought I sent it to the planning group but then—"
"Enough, enough. You are making my headache worse. Is that why you called?" I switched the call to loudspeaker and dumped it on my bed, so I could begin to undress.
Max was silent for a few seconds and I thought the call had ended before he spoke again:
"Well, even if she saw it, it's probably fine, right? I mean, you two fight all the time anyways but Ayla will never leave you."
I laughed dryly, my pride inflated slightly by his confident sentence. Ayla depended on me like oxygen and had been starry-eyed since my father first introduced us to each other. Unfortunately, she didn't hold a light to Skyla despite how similar their names were.
Where Skyla was classy and had been preparing herself to rule beside me, Ayla was meek and quiet, having little or no idea about what it meant to be a Luna. Ayla was homely at best, hardly had any opinions about anything so, only a few people knew she was actually my Luna and not one of the maids.
So, where had she suddenly developed the courage to walk out on me and our marriage?
"She divorced me, Max," I broke the news flatly, kicking away my shoes and dropping on the bed. My clothes followed my shoes, littering the floor. Someone would probably come later to put the shoes in order like always.
"What? Ayla divorced you? Over a video? Stop pulling my legs, Troy. There's no way Ayla would ever leave you. If she really did, I'll eat my fist."
I could hear the shock in his voice and I could tell he was struggling to process what I just told him.
"I was the one who brought up the divorce idea."
The silence on the other side of the phone was more ominous than the first, like I had stunned him to silence. It wasn't the first time I was mentioning how much I wanted to divorce Ayla but Max would only laugh it off.
"It's Ayla," he would say, laughing at my situation. "That woman clings to you like glue and you will never be able to shake her off!"
But he wasn't laughing now.
"Didn't you try to get rid of her last month and now, she's really gone? Wait, I don't understand, this is crazy. Last time, I bet that she would come back on her knees in less than twelve hours and she did."
That was when she just found out she was pregnant and thought she could use it as leverage. She soon realized how stupid she was for thinking I care about what she did with herself.
"Yeah, so?" I sat up when I suspected where Max was going with this.
"This time, I'll bet that she will be gone for a day at least. If I win, you owe me a free dinner."
I closed my eyes, listening for any sound from the gate. Everywhere was quiet; Ayla was not back yet. She seemed determined this time, compared to the last stunt she pulled.
But I opened my eyes and got up to go into the bathroom, not worried in the least.
"Have you forgotten who is the Alpha of this pack, Max? She won't even make it to tomorrow night. She'll be back by later this morning. The bet is on."
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