Chapter 0003

Aaron snatches the divorce papers out my hand as he tosses aside something he’d been holding – an ice pack, I realize, though there’s no time to dwell on it.

He leafs through the stack, noting the wear from my frequent handling. “How long have you been planning this?” he asks, his eyes never leaving the papers.

I don’t appreciate the accusation in his tone. “I’ve been considering it,” I correct, “for two years.”

Aaron’s face twists with shock and fury, his forearms flexing as his grip crushes the divorce papers. I smell his anger, but the Omega in me doesn’t even have time to submit like she wants to before Aaron grabs me.

Pulling me down and throwing me on our bed, he crawls on top of me with wolfish speed, pinning my wrists above my head on the plush, purple comforter. His other hand shoves between my legs, his thumb rubbing roughly over my clit. “Are you unsatisfied, Mae?”

My wolf raises her hackles at the way he spits my name. This is not the same tender pleasuring from his study just minutes ago. His eyes are devoid of the care and respect with which he beheld me on the sofa.

I was a precious gift in that moment. Now, I’m nothing more than a plaything.

No matter how my legs tremble in response to his angry touch, this isn’t what I wanted. I never wanted to be pleased. I wanted to be desired, cherished.

Loved.

Aaron will never love me.

The tears I’ve kept buried for eight years finally break through the last reserves of my denial. They fall down my face in silence, dripping into my ears as Aaron’s looming face transforms from betrayal to anguish. He pauses, and I take the opportunity to shove him away.

The Alpha lets me.

Aaron rolls off me as I spring from the bed. Spinning to glare at him, it’s me – for once – looking down on him as I unleash everything I’ve been bottling up for years.

“You’ll never love me,” I choke, tears still flowing down my face. “It doesn’t matter that we’re fated. To you, I’m just a convenient caretaker for Ruby, a handy toy – never your wife, your mate.”

My voice strengthens as resolve floods my system. “I’m constantly disrespected in this castle. I’m basically an unacknowledged First Lady!”

My chest heaves, my voice growing hoarse despite my confidence as I pour out the hurt I’ve carried for so long. “I have no right to object when you appear in the media with other women. I’ve sacrificed my career to be a homemaker, yet all you ever say to me is that I don’t help!”

I breathe heavily as if I’ve just let my wolf run around for hours, but my chest unbinds. Finally saying these words out loud brings relief.

Aaron’s silence is loud as he stares at me like he’s trying to measure the weight of my words. I’ve never cried in front of him like this, never yelled at him. It’s unthinkable that an Omega would behave this way toward an Alpha.

I hope that he’ll care about my pain, that he’ll feel awful about mistreating me. But I know there’s a very real chance he could punish me for my insubordination.

Aaron’s jaw clenches, and his gorgeous, green eyes grow cold. “You can’t survive without me. You’ll regret this choice.”

I swallow a smattering of relief at the thought that he might allow the divorce and doesn’t seem interested in reminding me of my Omega place in the pack hierarchy. But I’m quickly overtaken by the disappointment that he won’t admit fault. He’s too proud, too cold, too narrow-minded.

Aaron shakes his head. “How are you supposed to earn a living? You’re a housewife – and an Omega. What options do you really have to make it on your own without me?”

I hold back my wolf who raises her hackles again. “I can survive without you,” I counter. “My college friend has been inviting me to work with him for years, and I’ve only declined because of you and Ruby!”

Aaron gives me a look of pity. He thinks I’m lying to save face.

And that’s when I decide I’m done being tied to a man who thinks so little of me.

I straighten my shoulders, calming my tone as I deliver the final blow. “I want to reject our mate bond.”

My wolf vision doesn’t miss that every muscle in Aaron’s body tenses. Outwardly though, all he does is sneer. As the Alpha, only he can allow the rejection between us.

“No.” The refusal echoes in my confused mind. What possible reason could he have to keep the mate bond with a woman he’s about to divorce when his first love has just returned to his life?

“You want to leave?” he stands, stepping toward me until my neck cranes back to keep our eye contact. “I’ll gladly give this caged bird,” he looks me over condescendingly, “a little freedom.” He wraps an arm around my waist, surprising me as he pulls my body flush with his.

Our noses brush together as he whispers, “All I have to do is wait for you to return to me willingly. Because you will.” He brushes his lips against mine like a ghost, and my heart breaks a little as I realize this is likely the last kiss we’ll ever share.

Just as quickly as he pulled me into his embrace, he releases me, stepping back to sit calmly on our bed as if he didn’t just set my heart racing in a way I wish I could deny. I almost lose my footing at his sudden departure. “And,” he crosses an ankle over his knee like he’s in a meeting, “I’ll take Emma as my date to the upcoming Press Gala.”

I’m still reeling from his touch as I process his callousness. “Makes no difference to me,” I respond. “I’ve never been allowed to attend anyway.”

But it does matter. Because he’s doing this to hurt me. After all the pain he’s already inflicted, he’s not inclined to apologize, only to add insult to injury.

I’m determined not to stay and endure his cruelty any longer, to finally escape this prison.

I break our stare-down to turn on my heel and storm out.

I don’t pack a bag or worry about when I’ll see Ruby next. I don’t grab shoes or change into more than my thin nightgown. I simply grab my red peacoat and my purse from the front hall closet and follow my fury out the front door.

My feet pad along the cool cobblestone of the Moon House’s circular drive, and I gradually calm down. As crisp air eases my wolf’s boiling blood, my head levels out with a plan. Pulling my phone out of my purse, I dial a number.

The call is picked up on the second ring. I skip every manner and nicety that was pounded into me as an Ashford daughter, who was expected to play the part even as an Omega, and I get right to the point.

“Is that job offer still on the table?”