Chapter 1 - Last Chances

Ardal

This is my last chance.

I never thought I would think those words when it came to Kadeem and me, but one way or another this is where we’ve found ourselves. My childhood friend, my lover, my husband, my mate.

Tonight is my last chance to win him back - even if losing him was never my fault.

Kadeem is lying in bed when I walk out of the bathroom, wearing the lacy lingerie that I picked out for tonight. There’s a gleam in his eyes as he stares at me, though he’s also skeptical. Only, his lust wins over as he sees my breasts nearly spilling out of my bra.

I go to him, wasting no time as I move to straddle his lap. Kadeem lets out a huff as I settle.

“Adral…” he begins, his large palms sliding up the sides of my thighs. I nearly shudder at his touch over my skin - I’ve come to know those hands so well.

I first experienced their touch when we were ten and Kadeem held my hand for the first time. And over the years, his fingers and palms began to explore other parts of me until he memorized every inch of my body.

And I memorized his too. We’ve become so familiar with one another. But it’s more than that. Not only is Kadeem’s body perfect under my touch, but it also fits perfectly against my own body.

For a while, we thought that was because we were childhood sweethearts. Kadeem was the Alpha’s son and I was the daughter of the Beta while my mother was one of the main pack fighters. We spent a lot of time together, grew close, and then we fell in love.

However, years later, we also discovered we were mates. Not only do our bodies fit together because we know each other so well, but because we were basically made for each other. Every curve of him is meant to line up with me.

It makes him feel heavenly underneath me now - the sensation only heightened as he raises his hips up, causing me to roll over him as I sigh. I feel his growing length underneath me, making my stomach become warmer.

“Come to play, sweetheart?” Kadeem asks then.

“Yes,” I breathe, knowing I’ve come to do more than play. This is not a game - this is desperation. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to keep Kadeem’s wavering attention. And that begins by reminding him just how perfect we were made for each other.

Upon my response, Kadeem takes over. His hands wander over my skin and the fabric of my lingerie as he reaches up to cover my breasts with his hands and then squeezes. I squeak at the warmth of his palms, my hips grinding over him once more.

“Fuck,” he draws out, a groan rumbling out of his throat. “You’re so beautiful. I need to be inside you right now.”

I moan, causing Kadeem’s fingers to swiftly unhook my bra before he flips us. Within the blink of an eye, he’s on top of me, leaving enough space between our bodies so he can tear off my panties.

He hums as I’m completely naked to him, his hands rubbing over my skin again as my eyelashes flutter from the tingles he leaves over my stomach and thighs. But then his fingers dip between my legs, running through the slickness and my obvious desire for him.

“So wet for me,” he purrs, sliding his fingers inside of me and making my whimper. However, he soon pulls his fingers away and I look down to see him removing his pants, his underwear. In the meantime, I pull off his shirt, leaving him completely bare to me as well.

He’s so beautiful. That’s all I can think as he moves to kiss me, his tongue sweeping into my mouth.

We kiss and pull on each other until neither of us can take it anymore. Kadeem’s hips come forward with ease, the velvety skin at the head of his cock parting me until he begins to slide in. His size causes my hips to jerk as I gasp into his mouth, trying to adjust to accommodate him.

“You know you can take it,” he reminds me, causing me to nod as he presses in again, giving me more of him.

Finally, my body relaxes enough that my discomfort is replaced by pure pleasure as he slides in deeper, making me release an uncontrollable moan.

“Good girl,” he murmurs as he kisses my throat. “You’re so fucking perfect.”

He thinks I’m perfect - at least in that moment.

Kadeem moves again, pushing himself even deeper inside of me, making me cry out as my back arches. Seemingly delighted by my noises, he thrusts harder into me, finding a rhythm as he fucks me again and again.

“Yessss,” I draw out, dizzy from the feel of him. My hands are in his hair as I hold him close, our skin coating with sweat as we move against each other.

It’s perfect. Every single second of it. The way he moves in me, the noises we make, the way we match every move. This is it…everything that I wanted. And I’m sure that I’m victorious, that Kadeem is mine, will always be mine.

But when our eyes meet again, I’m immediately proven wrong.

It happens in seconds, that deep gaze is filled with ravenous desire but then immediately goes blank, empty. And then my heart drops as Kadeem freezes, staring at me as if I’m nothing.

“Enough,” he says harshly, tearing away from me. “Enough with this poor performance!”

With every inch that he retracts back, I feel myself shattering into smaller and smaller pieces. Especially as his gaze is practically dripping with hatred. My own desire and enthusiasm is quickly blown out like a candle as I lay there, self conscious by my nakedness and the sweat still over my skin.

“You’re pathetic if you think you can trick me,” he says then. “I don’t want you anymore, Ardal. How could I want a traitor who left me when I needed them most?”

His words are like a slap to the face and I have to bite the side of my tongue to keep from crying.

“I don’t love you anymore,” he says finally - as if he really needs to convince me. And officially, my whole world feels like it’s crumbling.

“I was only sleeping with you so I could see you try and please me for money,” he explains coldly. “But it’s a waste of my time - your body…everything about you does nothing for me.”

I bore him. My body bores him.  Now I can no longer hold back the tears as I study the disgusted look in his eyes. In my mate’s eyes.

“I want Susan,” he states then, like a final nail in the coffin. “I want Susan.”

Susan. The woman who I thought was my friend, who I thought had been trying to help me. Somehow she has turned Kadeem’s head…and somewhere along the way I’d lost him to her.

He doesn’t want me anymore, and any courage I have to save our marriage is completely gone.

So I just breathe, words slipping out of me.

“Let’s get a divorce.”

~

It’s been days since Kadeem signed the papers. It was pure desperation that drove me to file for divorce, but I could no longer see another option.

The look on Kadeem’s face as he’d moved the pen across the page had been terrifying, even if he’d signed without any hesitation. Likely, he viewed my request for a divorce as proof that I’ve wanted to leave him for a long time, that I’d been planning this for months. Or maybe he believes I’m just trying to get more money from him with this separation.

But he doesn’t know, and he certainly doesn’t care, how much I still love him. How I didn’t want this divorce, but I felt pushed to it when I knew Kadeem would now always see me as a villain in his story. He believes every lie told about me and no longer loves me.

Today, I’m going to get all of my things from what was our home. I’m walking toward the door, pain and loneliness resting in my heart. The feeling only grows stronger as I let myself inside, immediately heading up to our room where I know boxes will be waiting.

However, when I finally pass through the door, I find Susan standing within my room…my old room…throwing my things on the floor.

“What are you doing?” I ask her. She pauses as she notices me, a hint of a smile appearing on her lips as she registers my tear stained cheeks. However, she holds back as she remembers the two servants also in the room, both of them carrying boxes of what I realize are her things.

“Leave us,” she tells them, and immediately they listen. They pass me on their way out of the room, giving me slightly regretful looks as they disappear. When they’re gone, I look back at her again.

And that’s when I notice her things are not only in boxes, they’re also already placed in various spots within the room. I haven’t even moved out yet and Susan is already moving in, taking my place.

“Glad to see he’s finally kicking you out,” she tells me smugly. “He should have done it long ago.”

I grit my teeth as her words find me, which only seems to please her as she hums.

“Or I guess you’re divorcing him, right?” she asks, clicking her tongue. “Poor thing. It was just too easy,” Susan pauses to laugh. “Taking him from you.”

Her words make my head pound, my palms twitch. And then she smiles again, smiles with evident and unapologetic wickedness.

“I’m going to take everything from you,” she states. “Every. Single. Thing.”

I can no longer contain myself. I’m blind with rage as I cross the room to her, practically pulled to her. And before I know it, I’m slapping her across the face with any strength I have left.

As I see the red stain against her face, I wait for her to laugh again. However, it’s not Susan’s voice that I eventually hear.

“Ardal!”

Kadeem’s voice calls out from behind me, making every inch of my tense as I turn back to see him. He’s standing in the doorway, undiluted anger fueling his gaze as he takes in the scene. From the corner of my eye, I can see Susan begin to play into the whole thing - painting herself as the victim as she gasps, shakes, and lamely touches her cheek.

Then I hear two words.

“Get out.”