I walked through the hallways of my almost empty Company. My best friend and I had built Ruby's collection from scratch. Ruby's had been flourishing. Had been among the the top ten fashion companies. Now it was crumbling.
Darren had kept true to his promise to destroy me. My name had been dragged through the mud by magazines and gossip columns. I had been painted as the villain. The evil bitch that had come between old flames. The treacherous wife who refused to release the man that no longer wanted her. The sad and bitter woman who refused to let go. I have been called names. I have been cyber bullied. I have been painted worse than the devil. The good image I had in the human society had been destroyed. Majority of both humans and wolves no longer want to be associated with me. We have lost investors. Our profit are dropping drastically and employees are leaving us. No longer wanting to work for a monster like me. I was the devil while Miranda was an angel. I was the one trying to break them up instead of the other way around. I hated everything that was happening but I couldn't control it. Just like the other days. My secretary is nowhere in sight. I have a feeling that she too was about to leave the company. I walk into my office but stop dead. A man that I have seen in magazines is standing in my office. He occupied the room like he owns it. Like it was his own personal playground. He is hot in every sense. Too bad my heart will never be whole again. Never will it be able to beat for another. I was done with men. "My son keeps talking about you. I had to come and see what all the fuss was all about" he says, his voice deep and husky. I just stared at him not knowing what to say. "I want to know what intention you have towards him" He gets so close that I can feel body heat. Blue perks up for a bit before going to sleep. "Nothing bad. He is a good kid Sebastian Ashford is a very powerful man. Both in the human and wolf world. He has the unspoken title of Alpha of Alphas. With a wolf that can only be described as a best, he was the staff of nightmares. He is also Miranda's former mate. "How can I help you Mr. Ashford?" | asked him. Finding my voice. He doesn't answer immediately. Just stares at me with those forest green eyes. As if he could see the pain that was wreaking havoc inside me. He is tall, around six feet or maybe more. Midnight black, thick hair. Even though he has a suit on. You can still tell he's fit under it. and he comforted me at my lowest" I murmured. I have tip my head back just to be able to look at him. "That better be all Red. Because if I find out you are using him as revenge against his bitch of a mother, I will rip you to pieces. There will be nothing left of you to bury" he threatens his voice going dangerously low. I can see the best everyone talks about. He is lurking just behind those scared but for some reason I was not. Just as with his son, something drew me to him too. "I would never do that. O may hate Miranda but I would never use an innocent child to get back at her" He continued to stare at me in that peculiar way. Like he was searching my soul. Learning all my secrets. With a last warning he walked out. Taking his overwhelming presence with him. The moment he is gone the room immediately feel empty. I get back to work. Trying to focus knowing well it was an impossible task. It was hours later when Darren was completely pissed and breathing fired. Sign the goddamn papers and leave my family alone. Better yet, just fucking die it would make my life easier." His words shattered me a little further. Leaving both Blue and I broken in a way I'm afraid we will never recover. He turns around to leave but I stopped him. "Wait" I shouted but it comes out as a whisper instead. "Be honest with me. Did you ever really love me? These ten years we have been together, did you love me or was it just pretend for you? "Stay the fuck away from my parents. I don't know what you told them to hate Miranda so much but I won't allow you to sink your dirty claws into them" he shouted, his voice hateful and full of disdain. I scoff. "I doubt I have any power over them. They hate hate Miranda for what she did to you. Not because of anything I have told them." He looks at me. His eyes full of loathing. How is it all love has turned to hate? I just fucking Sign the goddamn papers and leave my family alone. Better yet, just fucking die it would make my life easier." His words shattered me a little further. Leaving both Blue and I broken in a way I'm afraid we will never recover. He turns around to leave but I stopped him. "Wait" I shouted but it comes out as a whisper instead. "Be honest with me. Did you ever really love me? These ten years we have been together, did you love me or was it just pretend for you? I was fucking scared of the answer but I just had to know. Hoping that at least he loved me at one point. That he had at least care for me. That he had been happy with me. His answer could destroy me but I need it. He sighs, before answering. "I don't think so. My heart never truly belonged to you, it was always Miranda's. You were just holding it on her but it was never yours to begin with so let's just end this sham of a mating, so l can finally be with the only woman I have ever loved. We are ten years over due." Without saying anything else he leaves. Walking out of the door, like he was walking out of my life. I fall to my knees. My heart constricting in pain. My soul feeling like it has been torn into two. He never loved me. Not even once. He was just using me. The pain of this knowledge is crashing. "Make it stop Blue. Please make the pain go away" | plead with her. She replied just as broken. "I wish I could, my lovely human." I don't know how long I had been on the floor when I heard her Ren I looked up to find my best friend Claire standing at the door. Within seconds she is kneeling beside me. "Oh Renny, what has he done to you?" And that's all it takes for me to crumbled. I throw myself at her. Finally, I break, a sob tearing its way from the depths of my tortured soul. I let the pain, the anger, the frustration and the hate I have been pushing down free. The dam breaks and the tears I have been holding back flows. I cry my heart out to the moon goddess. Cry at the shitty hand I have been death with. At the pain she has allowed into life. At the brokenness I was sure would never be fixed. At my damaged heart. By the time I'm done I feel empty. Like there is a hole where my soul to exist. I whispered, the flight leaving me completely. "I'm sorry Blue but we have to do this." "I know. Do what you have to save what little is left of us." She whispered before retreating to the back of our minds. I turned to Claire, whispering the words that tear at me. "I'm done." She doesn't say a word, just nods. Her tears fall while she holds me tightly in her arms. I stared at myself in the mirror and I can't believe the woman staring back at me. She looks tired and broken. Eye bags under her eyes, her skin ashy and hair thin. She's lost weight and the clothes hangs off her body. She looks like a shadow of her former self. I closed my eyes. Praying that when I do open them again they will be clear. It doesn't work at all. The pain is still there. Still swimming in their depths. Lurking in the surface. I take a deep breath then leave the bathroom. I stand in the room I have been calling mine. It's funny how things can change in just a few minutes. How drastic your life can take a wrong turn. I survey it making sure I haven't left anything important behind. Everything I own is packed. The rest, the things Darren gave me are either burnt or donated. I have cleared everything. Leaving no sign that I ever lived there. "Yeah. As ready as I'll ever be" she replied, her voice barely above whisper. She is hurt and has been withdrawing into herself more and more each day. I couldn't allow her to fade. She was the only one that was keeping me sane. I leave, going straight to the airport. Everything has been sorted out. I had already signed the separation papers, I had also gotten my lawyer to draft custody papers. Signing full custody of Krystal over to Darren. It had broken us to do so. But we knew Krystal would never willingly choose to stay with us. Forcing her would only make her hate us more. I had no idea where we would go. We just needed to go somewhere far away. Where were not constantly reminded of all we had lost. Where we couldn't see Darren and Krystal happy while we stood aside unwanted. We had to get away because each day fell like we were dying a little more. Each day felt like we were one step closer to being swallowed by the darkness surrounding us. "Blue?" I called. I needed her for this next step. "I'm here love. Do it, let's go" she pushed me. Giving me the strength I need. "I Lauren Smith, cut all the ties with Alpha Darren West and the Silver Mist pack. I declared that I'm now a lone wolf with no pack." The moment I finished those words, I feel the pack link beginning to shrived in my mind. The buzz that was always there at the bark of my mind was now silent. A tears falls down my cheeks. As the pack link completely fades. I accepted that I have just severed the last connection I have to Darren and Krystal. Blue and I were now truly alone.It's been a year since I fled from my pain. I had thought my wound would heal, but I had been wrong. I haven't healed. Neither had I found closure. Instead something darker had taken root inside me. As the Uber driver drives past the familiar streets. I'm reminded of why I had left this forsaken country in the first place. I'm reminded of the pain and humiliation I endured over one year ago. I'm reminded of Darren's betrayal. "I hated this city" Blue murmured in disgust. Echoing my thoughts. Within a minutes we are at the hospital. I pay him then get out. I stand for a minute. Watching the towering building. Calming myself. The hospital is for werewolves only. It was located a secluded area. We had werewolf government officials who helped us keep it under radar. If I were being honest, I hadn't planned on over coming back. But my godson had been diagnosed with a tumor. Camila had called me crying, afraid and hysterical. I would do anything for them. So when they both ask me to c
My new secretary enters my office with a stack of papers. A newspaper and a magazine are part of the stack. Then she quietly leaves after giving me my coffee. I have only worked with her for a few days. But she is honestly the best. She does her work efficiently. Arrives on time and she doesn't gossip which suits me fine. I picked the magazine needing a distraction. I have been cooped up in the office. Trying to catch up on work. The only time I leave was when I have to go get a shower and a change of clothes. Also when l'm visiting Mason. The front page was about me. I don't know whether to be angry at them or thankful because they are spreading the message. I'm no longer a doormat to be stepped on. "Lauren Smith is back and she's colder than the Antarctica' it reads. Below the headlines there was a picture of me slapping the guard. It then goes on to talk about what happened that day. Someone probably sold the story and image. The person was getting fired. Once I f
me and I'll push right back and trust me when I say, you won't like it when I retaliate." His says his eyes are cold and voice silky smooth.. He is calm but I know it a fucking facade. He is a beast underneath all that suit. Blue up for some odd reason. l ignored her though. She is enchanted by him, but I know he's a dangerous man.. "Where are you taking me? You do realize this is considered kidnapping right?" | ask, changing the subject.. I was treading on unfamiliar dangerous waters. One wrong move and I would probably end up in a situation I couldn't get myself out this mess. "I'm Sebastian Ashford, I own this whole damn city and I can do whatever the fuck I want Red." Shit! He was right. Darren is powerful but Sebastian was king of the city. No wonder Miranda had gone after him.. She was gold digging slut. Darren hadn't been enough for her. She had wanted someone more powerful. More prominent. With more money.. Unfortunately for me, I hadn't been enough for Darren.
"That's no going to work." I tell the man in front of me authoritatively. Smith," he replied immediately.Almost arrogant.I have been in this meeting for about two hours. We weren't getting anywhere. I was beginning to get important..I stare at William, the vice-president of Majestic Ltd. It was a textile company that Claire wanted us to partner with.."He's trying to rip us off," Blue mumbled, irritated..It was something I had already figured out. There was just something about the way he looked at me. As if he saw me as someone beneath him..Someone unworthy of leading a successful company. Like, I was dumb somehow, and he saw no problem with it over pricing us..My guess is that he was the type of man raised to believe women should worship the ground they walked on..That woman couldn't lead. Women couldn't become successful on their own. That was a woman's sole purpose is to do men's bidding and raise kids.That they were to be seen heard..I hated that type of stereotype. I hat
"You will have to repeat that," ! choked.He can't be serious. Who in their right mind proposes such a thing? It's completely absurd. He has surely lost his goddamn mind..He doesn't respond to me. Just raised his perfectly shaped eyebrow. As if he were changing me to continue pretending that he hadn't heard him.."Shit!" | mumbled. I'm staring down at my heels in thought..A million thoughts race through my mind. Making it hard to keep up with each one..The last and only time I had been in a sort of making, it had been a love match. At least that's what I had thought, and it hasn't ended well for me..What he was proposing, on the other hand, was a business deal.It brought to go horribly wrong..Could I honestly enter into such a mating after I had been burned? Then, I was shoved aside once my usefulness had ended..The familiar pain that has a grip on my heart emerges. I stamp it down. Refusing to give it reign. It only serves as a reminder of how broken I am.."For a woman, you s
On the other hand, I just don't see how his offer was connected to my problem or how it would fix it.. "Going feral is about your spirit or soul being unhinged. Unbalanced. It's about there being a tear or split. To fix this, I'll mark you. This will anchor your soul to mine and make you rooted to yourself and your wolf, " he rumbled.. It does make sense. Those who go feral do so because their spirit has been split. When you bond to someone and they break you, the heartbreak and pain can become too much that your spirit tips into two. Dividing you and your wolf. Since man and wolf are one, the division causes you to lose your mind.. Heartbreak isn't the only cause for going feral. There are different reasons why a werewolf can lose their mind. In my case, I had bonded myself to Darren in every way even though he hadn't done the same.. I want to ask Sebastian how he knew all these facts, but I don't. His expression brooks no further discussion on the subject.. "Okay then, if I
Lauren I heard the door open, and by the clean and circus smell, I knew it was Darren. I didn't bother standing up to welcome him home. What was the use? When I knew very well that he wouldn't appreciate it nor would he want me to. I was surprised that he had come home. I rarely saw him nowadays, and when I did, he either ignored me, avoided me, or lashed out at me. He would at times stay away for days that I would forget 1 have a husband. The ever-present pain in my heart is what constantly reminded me that I do have a mate. A mate that no longer wanted me. His footsteps approached the dining room. I sat at the dining table with a cup in my hands. I don't look up when his steps are near. I still don't look up when he stops a few feet from me. He throws some documents in front of me, and that's when I raise my head. "What are these?" I ask suspiciously, my eyes meeting his obsidian orbs. Just like every other time, we crossed paths. His eyes are cold, and his face is set
stared in doubt at the humongous house in front of me. I can hear the booming music playing somewhere outside. I could also hear the screams of children and they had fun. It was Krystal's eight years birthday and I hadn't been invited. I hadn't even know there was party. How pathetic is that? Not knowing your daughter already had a birthday planned? I had called Darren to ask him what I should plan. He angrily answered that Miranda had everything covered. That shouldn't bother coming because neither him not Krystal wanted me there. I was the one who always planned her parties, and it was always done at our home. But this year it was being held at Miranda's. Apparently Krystal had asked her to plan it. Because according to her I don't plan her parties the way she wanted them. They were always boring and ugly and It had hurt to know that Krystal had never liked or appreciated the work and effort I put in the planning. That it wasn't enough. That she hated those parties. I