Our arrangement was an open book in the pack. Even if Diesel hasn't marked me yet, everyone knows he will be soon, and they expect an heir from us. We've been together for years, and I was his chosen mate, and he was to me.
But why now? Why was he cheating on me?
Unless…
Sweat started to form on my forehead.
Oh no, I don't want to think about it.
I'm too dependent on Diesel, and he's someone I would never let go. He was the one who helped me get through my first rejection, and I had already promised myself that if I ever picked someone as my second chance mate, it'd be him.
But I knew that arrangement wasn't entirely sure, knowing Diesel had yet to find his mate, even if he had already passed the age of finding one.
"Babe, are you okay now?" Diesel asked.
"Better, I guess."
I realized he was already back. I watched him as he opened the bottle of wine. Then, I focused on the cell phone he had placed on the bedside table. Even without me going near it, I could tell it was in silent mode, judging by how many times the screen lit up.
Diesel poured me wine in a glass and gave it to me.
"I got this from one of my business trips. I thought you would like it since it tasted so good," Diesel said, chuckling. "Here, have a taste."
"Thanks," I replied and took the glass from his hand.
I gulped the wine without taking her sight off Diesel. He was right, the wine tasted so good, and I knew it was probably damn expensive. I would have praised the wine if only my mind hadn't been focused on him, who was grinning as he grabbed his cell phone from the side table.
I watched him sit on the bed and get engrossed in what he was reading. He didn't notice that my eyes were glued to him.
A lump formed in my stomach due to the pressure of anxiety. Diesel had the same excitement and the sweetest smile he had the morning he asked me to be his mate. Except for this time, I was sure it wasn't for me.
My body started trembling again as my wolf kept on whining. She, too, knew something was off about our mate. I placed her hand over her chest. The anxiety and the thought of Diesel cheating on me made it hard to breathe. I swallowed hard. This can't be.
Maybe I'm too paranoid thinking Diesel was cheating on me. What if he was not? What if I was wrong? No. I read the message clearly, which was not what his business partners would send him. He's cheating on me!
My hands started to tremble, making the wine glass slip from my hands, shattering on the tiled floor. I looked at the shattered pieces of glass and imagined my heart was on the floor.
"Carrie!" Diesel yelled. He must have been startled when he heard the glass shattering and jumped from the side of the bed.
Diesel automatically cupped my face and looked at me. Worry plastered in his eyes.
He guided me to the nearest sofa in our room, and Diesel called an omega to clean it.
"What's wrong, Babe? Are you still feeling unwell?"
I looked at him. I wanted to scream in his face that I knew he was cheating, but I did the opposite.
"No. I was just too tired. The pack is growing, so I had to manage everything," I said, assuring Diesel that I was actually fine even though I wasn't.
"Do you want some water?"
"Yes, please," I replied.
"I'll get you water. Stay in bed for now," Diesel told me and left.
I stood up and shuffled to the bed. I saw Diesel's cell phone on top of his pillow. Silent phone notifications lit up his phone screen, making my heart beat so fast. My instinct has pushed me to check who it was, even though it'll hurt me.
I grabbed the phone. The contact calling was the same person who'd sent him the message. Fifteen missed calls, all from the same caller. I heard footsteps coming near the bedroom door, but there wasn't time to put the phone back.
Our eyes locked, and then Diesel focused on the phone in my hand.
"Your phone." I reached out the phone to him. "Someone has been calling you fifteen times now."
My eyes never left him, but Diesel's eyes looked away. He snatched the phone from her hand. His eyes flickered as his hands started wiping the sweat from his forehead. But he still didn't look at me.
"It's Jensen. He's been calling me regarding our recent business deal," he said before handing me the glass of water. "So take a rest for now, Babe. I'll call Jonathan. Stay here. I'll be back."
I just nodded and watched him as he rushed out of our room. The adrenalin and jealousy gave my body the strength to move and run for the door. Quietly, I watched him from the small opening.
His gestures were familiar. Bright smile. Sparkling eyes.
But I knew one thing for sure. Those were not for me this time. Diesel spoke in a hushed voice, which was impossible for me to hear even if I was a werewolf. He was trying to be cautious.
Once upon a time, there was a broken princess; a prince came and promised her the moon. The princess accepted the prince, became the happiest princess, and dreamt of a happy ending. But now, the happy ending was hanging by a thread. One mistake, and it'll take everything away from the princess.
But at that exact moment, I felt like nothing, not the princess anymore.
Worthless.
Hopeless.
Dumb.
Numb.
My mind was overflowing with silent questions.
Will I be dumped again?
Oh please, no, one more rejection and I'm sure I'll never survive again.
What did I do wrong?
What did I need to do?
Am I still lacking?
Am I not good enough?
All the whats and whys, my thoughts made me doubt myself and question my worth.
The sound of approaching footsteps awakened me from my thoughts. I immediately went to bed and rested against the headboard.
Diesel paced at the end of our bed. He tousled his hair and took a deep breath.
"Sweety, I have to go to Romania now. Jensen has been bugging me about our deal." He bit his lower lip. "We badly need to discuss this, or dollars will be flushed away in a toilet."
I looked at him and balled my left hand into a fist. My wolf was screaming at him, accusing him of being a cheater, and I was thankful for the opportunity that he hadn't marked me yet; otherwise, his wolf would have heard it all.
We wanted to know why he had to lie. "Do you have to go at this hour? You only got home for a few hours. The pack needed a word from their Alpha, too."
"Babe, I know you can do this for me, right? I trusted you with everything while I made money," Diesel said and kissed me quickly.
I cleared her throat. Where are you going? It was the question I wanted to ask him.
"Can't you just go early tomorrow instead?"
Diesel stretched his neck, avoiding my gaze.
"No, that can't be done, Babe! We're talking about a billion-dollar deal here, so it's now or never."
I don't know who this Jensen from Romania was, but all I could say was, "Okay."
I helped him pack some clothes, and when he was ready, he gave me another quick kiss and bid me goodbye.
"I have to go, Babe! I hope everything will be settled soon so I can go home immediately."
Liar!
I wanted to scream this at him, but I smiled at him instead.
"Just go back when your business is done," I replied.
As soon as Diesel closed the door, tears fell from my eyes because I couldn't believe what I discovered just for three damn hours! I trusted this Alpha with all my heart. I gave him everything and helped him run this damn pack but why? Why does he have to do this? Who was she?!
I woke up feeling drained for two weeks now. I couldn't eat and relax since I discovered my mate's cheating. Diesel might have been doing what he really wanted to do wherever the damn country he was in right now. I immediately went to the bathroom and took a shower. I need to clear my mind and focus on the pack's work rather than thinking about Diesel's cheating issue. When everything was done, I left our house and went to my office. "Good morning, Luna. I'm sorry for barging in early in the morning," Thea, the pack Doctor, came in after knocking on my door. "Yes, what is it, Doc?" I ask her cheerfully, hiding the stress in me. "I would like to ask for more clinic beds. The number of she-wolves delivering pups has increased lately, and the beds won't accommodate them all. If you please, Luna." "Okay, I'll let the supplier deliver the beds you wanted, Thea," I replied as I tapped on the keys of my laptop. "Thank you, Luna," Thea replied, and she was about to stand up, but
"Who is she!?" I asked Mom after I arrived from Erix's pack. I thought I could stop thinking about Diesel's game, but it worsened. Flashes of unknown women flooded my mind, and even if Rain comforted me, I couldn't stop myself from thinking. So I made a drastic decision: I returned to the pack and confronted my mother. I wanted to end all this misery and let her speak, tell me the truth before I go insane."Mom!" I yelled inside their house. I don't care if the former Alpha was there. "Carrie? You're back so soon? I-""Tell me everything you know, Mom, before I lose my respect for you," I said, cutting her up. My mother bowed her head and couldn't meet me in the eyes. "Carrie sweet-""Do not sweet talk me, Mom! Tell me when did it start and if the whole pack knew about it!" I yelled, clenching my fist. My wolf has been fighting her way within me, wanting to shred our mother into pieces to keep us from what was actually happening. "I-It started after you got engaged with Diesel y
I cried on top of my desk until there were no more left for me to shed. I felt so broken and so incredibly foolish. My instinct had warned me about this, and I had ignored it. It hadn't mattered when Diesel and I were up against the naysayers; it had brought us closer together, but now it was only me. I was alone, and it was so cold. I didn't want to leave the room, but his words had clearly been an order from my alpha, not a suggestion from my chosen mate. My ex-chosen mate, I corrected bitterly. The worst was I still loved him under all my misery. If he suddenly changed his mind, I would absolutely abandon my pride and forgive it all. My wolf was upset. I imagined being rejected by my true mate was not as bad as it would be, but she was hurting. She had grown attached to Diesel and his wolf, and this dismissal hurt her, too. I would go for a run after I moved my things. I didn't make eye contact with anyone in the halls as I moved forward and wound my familiar way to my—to
I woke up the next morning with a blanket thrown over me on Desiree's couch. I had a light headache, which was a testament to just how much I had drank since werewolves rarely get hangovers.The living room was a mess, and what I could see of the kitchen was no better. Forcing myself to get up, I started collecting bottles and glasses and carrying them to the kitchen. I couldn't leave this mess for Desiree to clean up before her mate and kids would be back in the afternoon.Betty appeared in the hall. "Oh, you're up. Don't worry about the mess."I shook my head. "I've got nothing else to do."She looked uncertain.I frowned. "I can't be acting Luna when he's got his real Luna now." Maybe it was irresponsible of me to abruptly quit doing everything I did for the pack, but I was pretty sure I would simply spend the entire time there crying and not getting anything done either way. Those duties were a part of our relationship, and pretending they were still, mine would be little more tha
My day rapidly plummeted to intolerable when Diesel continued showing Cameron around the pack house, and of course, he had to bring her down to show her Luna's office. I don't know what he had been expecting since his eyes widened as if he was somehow surprised to find me there. It was almost as if it had not been him who had forced me to resume Luna's duties temporarily. All I knew was that I wanted to punch him in his imbecilic face. "And this is Carrie. She's been taking care of the Luna's duties and will show you the ropes," Diesel introduced, barely taking his eyes off the silly girl he had brought back. Cameron was blond and very pretty, but she looked young, probably at least thirteen years his junior. It was a pretty big age gap for a mated pair, although that was the least of my problems with it. I pasted a warm smile onto my face. "Nice to meet you, Luna." She seemed to have momentary misgivings, and I wondered if she saw through my best acting or if she could sense t
Before I could even ride my car, a voice broke through the sounds of the forest. "Arie."My eerie calm exploded into anger and pain. "What do you want, Diesel?"My words echoed in the stillness, angry and cold. "What do you want, Diesel?""I just thought—""What, that you could have the final blow against me? I'm out of your territory and not part of your pack anymore, so I owe you nothing," I nearly growled at him and started walking away."Carrie, listen—"I whirled on Diesel. "No, you've done enough! Leave me the hell alone! I'm leaving, like you wanted. Do you get some sort of sick pleasure out of screwing me around now?""This isn't what I wanted!"I shot him a look that contained all the hate I had built up for him in the month since he had found Cameron and started treating me like garbage. "I don't care anymore, as long as you're away from me. You started everything, then discarded me and pushed me into the corner, and I'm the one who is paying for all of it.""Care—""Sto
I had come full circle, again secretly living among the humans where I had begun to build a life. I went to work and home and repeated my familiar routines like I was on autopilot. It wasn't that I missed having a mate. I was curious to know if Fate still had plans for me. Our time together had made me not believe it anymore. Fate is cruel. Period. I helped a brown-haired customer get a large box down from a shelf. I was pretty sure he was a werewolf from his scent, which was unusual in the store, but I didn't say anything, and he didn't indicate that he knew I was a werewolf, too. It was a weird moment, two supernaturals in a mundane setting surrounded by a sea of humans who didn't know our nature. He thanked me and went on his way. I went to the back to clock out. My gregarious red-headed human co-worker, Pinky caught me as soon as I walked in the door. I put on a smile for her benefit. "So, do you feel like coming out tonight?" she asked. She had her own issues, but she
Trespasser?This was not a pack territory. I had encountered no other wolves on any of my previous visits, and there had been no border of scent trail or any other signs to warn me of this night. How dare they suggest I had been trespassing? I growled again."Your best bet is to come quietly," he said. His voice was level and calm, and for one insane moment, I almost thought I could trust him.Instead of allowing him to lull me, I leveled my gaze at him rebelliously and bared my teeth. Although it was my best bet, I had no interest in cooperating. But I could play along for now since I could not take them all on. I just had to wait for my chance to dash away when their guards were down.That chance did not come. Instead, I was herded forward, surrounded by these rogues playing pack, until we reached a clearing with several trailers and outbuildings situated around the skeletal frame of a building. It was obvious that the wide open space was a recent addition to the area because the gr