Kaden walked back to the bed and wrapped me in a hug.

He pulled back and stared into my eyes, “A few rogues can't keep me away from you – I'll be back soon. You must still be angry with me for not answering your calls or replying to your texts. I swear I'll treat you better than this from now on.”

I merely nodded and watched as he made his way out of the bedroom.

I knew that he wouldn't treat me better than this since Penny was his priority.

I wouldn't let those words sway me from my decision – I must leave Kaden.

***

The next evening, I was reading a novel on my phone when I heard Beta Lucas's mindlink, “Hi, Leanne. Do you know where Alpha Kaden is? I haven't seen him since two days ago and he's not answering my mindlinks.”

“Wasn't there a rogue attack last night? That's what he said before leaving the pack house.” I asked him, feeling my heart drop as I realized what I had thought was true.

There really wasn't any rogue attack. He just needed an excuse to see Penny.

Beta Lucas replied in a nervous tone of voice, “Oh, well, I don't know what you're talking about. Just let him know I'm looking for him about pack business.”

“Sure.” I replied as I sighed.

My phone beeped at that moment and I checked it to see a notification from Penny's WhatsApp channel.

I felt anxious as I checked it because I already knew what I would see.

There was a video, so I played it.

Kaden and Penny were holding hands while sitting on a couch as she narrated, “My love is my hero! Even though I arrived back home late at night, he came out to welcome me. He even took me out to dinner and he stayed with me throughout the next day.”

“You're also my hero, Penny!” Kaden replied as he pecked her cheek.

The video ended and saw many heart reactions on the post.

Most of the people in the channel were our pack members.

She must have added them just to show everyone how much she disrespected me.

Why was I even still in the channel?

I was curious, but I decided to leave the channel on the day that I would leave the Kaden and move overseas.

Even though I had expected that he was going to see Penny, it still hurt to see them together.

I called Kaden, but he didn't answer, so I sent him a voice note on WhatsApp, “When are you coming back?”

He sent a voice note, and I wasn't surprised to hear Penny's voice, “After I'm done with him.”

The audacity! I felt so angry that I growled, and before I could reply, another voice note came through.

“I might not be coming home tonight since there's still so much more investigation that I need to do about the rogue attack.”

I felt so frustrated that I wanted to cry, but I didn't want to cry over someone that didn't value me.

So I drew in a deep breath and let it out as I tried to calm myself down.

Did he let her reply to me just to make a fool out of me? It seemed so.

Then there was the lie he kept using. He said it without any shame.

Was this the man that I fell in love with?

Penny posted so many videos and pictures of her and Kaden.

I checked each one of them and my heart broke every time I saw them together.

There was one picture which she sent with a message under it that read, [We all know the werewolf saying; Werewolf mates that run together, grow old together.]

The picture of the two of them in wolf form as they ran through the woods.

How could he go running with her?

Running was very intimate with werewolves. There was the pack run then running among a few pack members and running with your mate.

Two people only went running together when they have feelings for each other.

“All I can say is happy mating, Kaden.”

I was working on my laptop when Kaden walked into the pack house.

He looked anxious as soon as his eyes landed on me.

“Why are you working this late? You have to think about our baby, you can't let work stress you. Stress can lead to miscarriage and we don't want that.” He murmured with a panicked look on his face.

He raised his hand to brush my hair away from my face, but I flinched. He paused when he saw my reaction and then dropped his hand.

How could he act like he cared when he didn't really care?

‘I already had a miscarriage, you jerk!’

That was what I wanted to say, but I couldn't bring myself to tell him about the miscarriage without breaking down.

I drew in a deep breath and let it out as I tried not to hyperventilate.

He stared at me with guilt on his face when he noticed my demeanor.

Running a hand through his blonde hair, he murmured, “Please forgive me, Leanne. I didn't mean to drift away from you. It's just that there's so much pack work that needs my attention.”

I glanced at him then looked back at my laptop and when he noticed my silence, he added, “The full moon will be in two days, let's go for a mates run.”

I gave him a tight smile, “Sure.”

I already knew that he was going to stand me up just like every time we had plans, and it was always because of Penny, but I decided to have a little faith in him.

His lips tugged up into a smile as he looked satisfied with my answer.

On the day of the full moon, Kaden cancelled all his plans and stayed home with me.

It was soon the night of the full moon and we were standing right outside the pack house. Just as we were about to shift into our wolf form, Kaden's lips broke into a grin.

I instantly knew what was happening before he even said anything.

He turned to me and his grin disappeared, replaced with a nervous look in his eyes, “Beta Lucas just mind-linked me and he said that there has been a breach at the pack's border. I need to go and check it out. I'm so sorry that I can't go running with you, but you know how urgent this is.”

Did he think I was a fool?

Why would he grin like that when we were under attack?

Besides, he only grinned like that whenever Penny mind-linked him.

I didn't let him know I knew what he was up to, I just nodded curtly, “I know.”

He didn't seem to notice how indifferent I was and smiled as he added, “I know that we haven't been on a mates run for ages, but I swear I'll treat you right and go on that run with you soon enough.”

We wouldn't be going any run because I was done giving him chances!

Why did I put up with him for so long?

Maybe it was because I felt indebted to him because he once rescued me from some bullies in the pack.

I had been playing in the woods in wolf form all by myself and when I approached the pack house, I shifted into my human form.

The two bullies saw me and teased me about how I had no friends and played alone all the time.

I was only a pup, so I could only cry.

Kaden ran up to me and stood in front of me. He growled at them and they felt scared since he was the future Alpha.

They ran away and he turned to me as he comforted me, “You might be feeling lonely, but you don't have to feel that way anymore because you have me now, and I'll always be with you!”

That was the day that I knew that I wanted Kaden to be my mate.

I sighed as I felt my heart breaking. My hand went to my chest and I clutched it as I tried to will the pain to go away.

It wasn't until I took in deep breaths and let them out that the pain eased and I was able to let go of my chest.

I looked up at the moon and couldn't help, but feel relieved.

I could finally see Kaden for who he really was.

I still wanted to go on a run, so I shifted into my wolf form and started running through the woods that were beside the pack house.

Kaden didn't come home until the next morning and he bought me golden earrings and a golden necklace.

However, it didn't mean anything to me because I saw them on Penny's WhatsApp channel an hour before he came home.

She had sent the pictures along with a voice note where she said, “These are the most unfashionable jewelry that I've ever seen! I mean, who in the world wears a golden earring or necklace anymore? If they were diamonds, I would have loved them, but they're not.”

She sent another voice note after that one, saying, “My love bought me these golden jewelry, not knowing that they were out of fashion, but I've explained it to him and he has promised to buy me diamond jewelry instead!”

She squealed loudly at the end and I grimaced.

I scoffed and shook my head as I stared at the jewelry.

I decided to give them to the hobo that lives behind our pack office building because I definitely wasn't going to wear something that Penny didn't want.

I was working on a project on my laptop when Kaden said he was going out with some friends.

My brows furrowed in confusion as I asked, “Are you going with Beta Lucas and Gamma Kyle?”

He shook his head, “No.”

I raised my brows in surprise as I asked, “Then who are you going with?”

“Penny has transferred back to the pack and we're watching a movie at the movie theater, but it's not a date. It's just a friends thing.” He answered me as his eyes darted around the room nervously.

I nodded, “Yeah, it wouldn't make sense if it was a date since you're already mated to me.”

He nodded and I added, “I want to go too. We can watch the movie together like old times.”

He looked like he was thinking about it as he rubbed the back of his neck anxiously before he finally said, “Sure.”

My eyes found Penny as soon as we entered the movie theater. She was sitting at the back as she scrolled on her phone.

She looked like a celebrity, and I couldn't help, but feel angry.

Was that why Kaden preferred her to me?

“Penny!” Kaden called as he sat down beside her and I sat down beside him.

“Alpha Kaden!” She exclaimed as she grinned at him, but then her gaze moved to me and her grin disappeared.

“Leanne?” She asked as a frown fell on her brows.

“Yeah.” I answered her as I nodded.

“You didn't tell me she was coming.” She muttered to Kaden as she turned back to him.

“She wanted to come.” He muttered as he placed his hand on hers.

She interlaced their fingers and smiled at him.

I couldn't take it anymore and cleared my throat.

Penny glanced at me and quickly pulled her hand away from Kaden's, “Oh, Leanne. Don't misunderstand, I'm just so used to being around Kaden, but I won't do it again.”

I didn't want to talk to her, so I only nodded.

Ten minutes into the movie, Beta Lucas, Gamma Kyle and a pack warrior; Macy walked into the movie theater and sat beside me.

We exchanged greetings and Penny said that she texted them to come because she thought that they would love the movie.

However, I was sure that it was because she was angry that Kaden brought me.

Throughout the movie, Penny and Kaden talked and laughed like mates while I felt left out.

“Seriously, Penny? Why do you keep acting like Kaden's mate when you rejected him because he didn't get his wolf early? Do you want him back now because he's Alpha?” Macy asked in an irritated voice as she glared at Penny.

Penny’s eyes widened and she poured as she mumbled, “I'm back because of him, but not because he's Alpha.”

Kaden's expression softened and he pitied Penny. He glanced at Macy as he defended Penny, “Stop making assumptions. Penny is a nice person, she would never act like that.”

Macy didn't reply and no one said anything because we all knew that what Macy said was true. Yet, he was defending Penny.

I felt my heart tighten at seeing this.

The movie ended at that moment and the manager walked in front of the screen as he said, “Hello, everyone. We are going to present a short film. This short film was made by Alpha Kaden and it is his gift to miss Penny.”

The people in the theater started whispering about how romantic Kaden was and how much he loved Penny.

“I made this as a friendly gesture to Penny, so don't overthink it, Leanne.” Kaden explained as he turned to me.

“Okay.” I muttered with an indifferent expression on my face.

The manager walked out of the theater room and a film about two great lovers played on the screen.

The lovers were separated after the woman moved away for school and then they reunited when the man went after her and moved to her place because he couldn't live without her.

He has never gone as far as producing a film for me before.

There was a time when I told him that I wanted him to make a video of him singing to me, but he said, “Do you think I play around all day? I have Alpha duties to perform, I don't have time to be making videos for you."

I also remembered when Penny screenshot the text he had sent to her, telling how he didn't blame her for rejecting him because no she-wolf would want a wolfless he-wolf.

What about me that stood by his side before he got his wolf? Didn't he appreciate me for doing that?

Well, he has never shown me any appreciation anyway. He has only ever gifted me whatever Penny didn't want.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when I heard clapping. I looked around to see why everyone was clapping and saw the words on the large screen of the theatre.

“You will always have a special place in my heart, Penny.

Love,

Alpha Kaden."