EMILY’S POV
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A year and a half, that's how long it took me to complete the training Haiden did in three years. How ridiculous? Did he fool around between training? I haven't spoken to my mother in a few weeks, and I didn't tell her or anyone else that I was returning home today. I took an early flight, and I'm fifteen minutes from home.
Alpha Cade and Luna Heather have been kind enough to fund my expenses when I left because of my mate’s ultimatum and I'm excited about seeing Haiden again. We had one wonderful night together before I left. Nothing sexually happened because we both agreed that we shouldn't have s*x before my training, and the wait made every single moment more exciting. Just thinking about having my legs wrapped around him makes my toes curl in my shoes, and it has my heart rapidly beating.
My phone dings, vibrating against my bare thigh and I glance down at my screen, my lips twitching up in a smile at the sight of Haiden's name.
Haiden: Going into a meeting, I'll talk to you later my love.
Every time he calls me that, my heart races while my nerves are set on fire. Nothing gets me more excited than him, and tonight, we will have our night together, and I will bare his mark on my neck, proudly and lovingly. I sometimes wish we claimed each other that night, connecting our souls and minds and forming them as one, because then, when I was busy, we could talk whenever, but the thrill of having intimacy tonight is what has my cheeks red.
Arriving home, nothing has really changed except the season, and it's the end of Winter right now. I missed the snow, and the leaves have gotten their color back slowly. I slide out of the car in front of the Alpha's house, staring up at the large three-storyy house with a bright smile on my face. My dark locks flow down my back, my dress hugging every curve as I straighten it out.
I grab my suitcase from the trunk and pay the cab driver before I head up the stairs and I confidently sneak into the house, leaving my suitcase at the bottom of the stairs and excitedly sneak up the stairs. I don't want anyone to spot me. I don't want to ruin the surprise. With my heart excitedly hammering in my chest, I open Haiden's door where I'll be waiting for him until his meeting is over, but instead of finding an empty room, my eyes lock on the familiar blonde locks hanging down a bare back, the covers pulled up to her waist as she moans and my heart sinks into my stomach.
Haiden's veiny hands hold her waist as she rides him, andwhite-hott rage makes me blind, jealousy courses through my veins and I slam the door open furiously, the loud thud against the wall makes Sienna jolt before she rolls off him and she pulls the duvet up to cover herself, but then her green eyes lock on me and her startled expression is replaced with a winning grin. Haiden sits up, pulling the duvet up to cover himself,staring at me agape.
His head turns while his gaze bounces between Sienna and I, and he gets up, tugging his shorts up, "What are you doing here?" he asks baffled, not even attempting to give me an excuse, or looking excited to see me for a split second.
"I'm done with training," I murmur, my chest feeling hallow. The excitement I felt a minute ago is replaced with bitterness.
"You have another year and a half to go," he seethes while looking at me confused. My eyes widen, "No, because I didn't screw around like you!" I seethe as my gaze flicks to Sienna, my nails digging into the soft flesh of my palm. "I didn't." he snorts, "Look what you are doing right now!" I inch closer, my hands shaking.
“Don't look at her!”"I'm looking at you! You betrayed me!", "Because I don't love you!" he yells, and my heart shatters on the spot. "What?" I ask under my breath, "I've never loved you," he sighs, and all of the heartache turns into blinding rage. A thrilling scream escapes my throat as I leap forward and grab onto Haiden's hair, pulling him back hard and fast as I kick his feet out from underneath him. His body hits the ground with a loud thud, and Sienna gets onto her knees, screaming out his name in terror, but I ignore her and leave.
That's why he wanted to wait. That's why he sent me away, that’s why he gave me that stupid ultimatum, he didn't want me to become stronger, he just wanted me to leave, to get out of his life. But why tether me along? Why keep me in line? Was I a backup? Did his parents force him to be with me? Hot tears run down my cheeks, but not because I'm heartbroken, no. It's because I'm mad. I am furious. I've spent the past year and a half being kicked around and yelled at for what? For absolutely nothing. I had broken bones in training, I've gone against large Alpha's, hot ones too, and I shut their flirtatious behavior down for someone who never wanted me.
"Emily?" Luna Heather's voice excitedly rings through my ears. I freeze, blinking the tears away before wiping the tracks from my cheeks and I turn to face her, forcing the best smile onto my face.
"Aunt Heather," I try to act excited to be here, but her smile fades at the sight of my face, “What's wrong?”The question itself has no control over me, but coming from her causes the waterfall of tears to flow and I run into her arms. "Why are you home so early?" she strokes my hair back, rubbing my back as her tiny arms hold me. "I'm done with training," I croak, trying to sound excited, but Haiden's betrayal has turned my happy mood sour. "Already? That's great," she stares at me with pity, "But why are you crying?", "Haiden rejected me," I lie, not wanting to rat his infidelity out to his mother.
Her concerned look is replaced with anger, "What?" she bellows, making me step back. "It's fine," I wave it off. Just thinking about what I witnessed makes everything okay, because I don't want him anymore. I don't want someone like him and if he never gave me the ultimatum and I never went away, I wouldn't have known who Haiden really was. "No, you are perfect for him." her gritted out words makes me wish I never said anything, but she is right.
I am perfect for him, but he is not perfect for me.
"It's fine," I repeat, hoping she'd calm down. "He waited for you, why would he suddenly reject you?" she asks baffled. Her gaze flicks right past me to the stairs, "You." she seethes, her narrowed eyes glued to whoever's behind me, but I know who it is before even seeing them.Her index finger curls towards herself as she silently demands him to come over here.
"Mother," Haiden’s tone is full of warning, "Shut up," she snaps at him, "Explain yourself," she demands and I sigh, "With all due respect, I don't want to be here right now." I tell her honestly. Her eyes widen, and she nods, dismissing me, but before I could put two steps in between Haiden and I, he grabs my arm, spinning me around and he shoves me into the closest wall. If he was who I thought he was, this would've been thrilling, but right now, it's just embarrassing as his fingers wrap around my throat and I stand on my toes as he lifts me.
"You have no business telling my mother who I f**k," he seethes, his blazing eyes flicking between mine as his fingers squeeze my throat, cutting off my oxygen flow. "I didn't," I croak out and his eyes widen in confusion. His grip loosens around my throat unexpectedly, "But you just did," I deadpan when I catch a breath. I lift my knee, and it hits him right on his hard c**k, making him crumble into a ball on the floor as his loud, painful groan fills the house.
I look up at Luna Heather, "My apologies," I blandly stare at her, turning and grab my bag before heading out the door. I'm shook about what he just did to me, but a bigger part of me is overwhelmingly happy that he just outed himself to his mother. All I hear as I leave the house is the sound of her screaming at him, calling him all sorts of names, because to them it was a done deal. We were supposed to be the next rulers of the pack they built, they put all of their trust in their only son and he broke it into tiny pieces. His mother is upset beyond words, so I don't even want to imagine what his father's reaction will be.
As I roll my suitcase over the bumpy grass, Sienna catches up to me, fixing her dress and dragging her thumb across her bottom lip, "Emily, I'm so sorry," she plays the victim, "If I knew you two were still together, I would never have slept with him," her lies are as fake as she is.Her innocent facade may work on everyone else in this pack, but I've watched her for years, I have endured her rude comments and infidelity. I can see right through her, so her facade isn't fooling me. "Go away, Sienna," I spit.
The worst part is, I'm not even mad at her, because I know who she is. I'm mad at Haiden, and at myself. I should've known that he was the same guy who shut me out when my father died. I should've known that he never cared about me, but I was a fool to think that he'd have feelings for me as my mate when he couldn't even stand me as a person.
"I truly am sorry," she mutters, which makes me freeze. I let out a sigh and turn to look at her, "Sienna, you can act all innocent you want because I don't care about you." I seethe, "You can cheat and lie and do whatever the f**k you want, because you are as little as an ant in my life and I'm not mad at you. I expected it from you." I deadpan, her innocent facade falling as anger takes over her face,
"You are NOTHING Emily! You lost your beta status and you will regret speaking to me like this, especially when I become Luna. And do you know the first thing I will do?" she doesn't intimidate me, "Fail," I scoff and walk away. "I will end you! That's what I'll do!" she yells as I walk away.
I slam the door shut while she screams, “Your dad is lucky he escaped you!”