Daphne's POV

I was throwing up blood all over the place, but Darius Kullen remained side with his healer groping all over him. He was making fun of my situation, laughing down her neck. I struggled to maintain consciousness, but neither of them participated in helping me. So much for being an alpha and healer of our pack.

On our awkward drive back home, my eyes turned to the shining metal and stone sitting in the dashboard indent.

Before I could confront, Darius snatched the ring from me, force nicking my palm. His aura darkened, "Don't touch what's not yours."

He warned, I rolled my eyes. Of course I shouldn't. It's his belongings that I had no right over. Even if I was luna of Junglewood pack. I sighed, catching a shop pass by.

"That's our stop." I was pious and composed, unlike Darius who was fuming. I smirked in my head because it only felt right to destroy my wedding dress in front of my boyfriend.

I had just climbed down when Darius flung a woollen sweater, the hard zip hitting the corner of my eye.

"Quit being so untidy. It's childish and annoying." He growled. I took one look at the fallen pink sweater and turned away, "That's not mine."

Darius's scowl soothed a bit, "Sorry."

And he threw the sweater in backseat. Hypocrite much?

The only woman I knew who loved everything pink was Audrey Browne's. Her recklessness sparked heated arguments between us, but not this time. I chose to retain peace.

"Perfect timing, Mr and Mrs Kullen! Your dresses are ready."

"Good." Before I could say, Darius walked along and forced me to show him the dress.

"Hmm." Darius examined me, "Ugly." He commented. The shopkeeper was flabbergasted, but I wasn't.

"Please take a picture of me."

"S-sure." The shopkeeper agreed. I watched Darius roll his eyes and glue himself to the phone. My eyes darted to Darius who smiled widely on the phone and dashed away in an instant.

"I'm coming to deliver it personally~" The warmth in his voice was never shown to me, but it was coming freely from someone external, someone who doesn't even share a bond with him.

"Darius?" I called, only for his back to answer me. I was humiliated. Scoffing, I changed back into normal clothes and did something petty. I left the beautiful, paid wedding dress in the trial room, shredded to pieces.

At 2 am while packing my things up, my phone buzzed against the silence,

-Darius: Stuck with work-

Yeah, work. Darius would want to fool me as much as he liked. But I knew the truth anyway.

Ignoring his text deliberately, I finished up and sunk into the bed, letting slumber wash over.

At around dawn, I woke up to a looming presence standing over me. I ripped my eyes open to see Darius.

"Did you lose your hands?" He asked notoriously, I rolled over and sighed. I was always the one to check up on him but he was slapped with silence last night.

Right before I was heading to work, Darius asked, "Where's our anniversary photo frame?"

I looked at the garbage truck, lifted the can, and fed itself the photo frame, right where it belonged. He didn't even wait for my reply when he pulled me aside and escaped our house, phone to his ear.

"I'm sorry! Coming right up with your favorite bubblegum cookies!" I made a face at that. Bubblegum flavored cookies?

In the evening, I came back to catch Darius on a call that ended abruptly. My head was dizzy, I had diabetes. I reached for the plate of cereal and took a bite. Suddenly, Darius snatched the bowl and threw a tantrum!

"Did you have to contaminate my food!? Ugh!" He dragged the bowl away and threw the contents in the trash, along with my favorite ceramic bowl.

"I told you my condition isn't fucking contagious. Will it curse you if I take one bite from your food while I've been feeding you for years?" I was hurt, but my voice was flat.

"That wasn't the problem. You stealing my food without permission was the problem. Bloody rogue born." Cursing aloud, he grabbed the keys and sprung out of the house.

Driven to tears, I decided to distract myself with social media. But it sure wasn't my day. I opened Darius and my personal chat and caught the changed profile picture.

The beautiful pink princess Audrey Browne was posing in a slutty dress, winking at the camera. With a flick of my thumb, I quickly deleted Darius's chats and sent him to the bottom of the list.

Around break time at work, I was heading to deliver files to my boss aka Darius when I caught Darius and Audrey. Their hair looked like nests, and the elevator smelled warm and yucky. Darius helped Audrey gather her hair neatly.

"Daphne! Don't you play with Boss Darius? He's irritating me!" Darius was pulling her hair to which she exaggerated a pout. I was dying internally.

"Liar. I only play with you and you're not irritated." I rolled my eyes, placing the heavy files down by my feet. Darius pinched her cheek and was whispering something inappropriate, thinking he was sleek.

"Daphne. You should join us for lunch." I turned to Darius slowly, he refused to meet my eyes. In seven years of working together in the same building, Darius never invited me to sit with him for anything. He always kept me on my toes as Beta.

"Sorry. Got work." I said, walking out of the elevator.

"Your files—" Audrey was about to remind me when the elevator shook vigorously.

"Brother Darius!" Audrey held his shirt, almost ripping it off. I crouched down until the tremors stopped. I caught Darius comforting the 'traumatized princess', while I was the one who suffered from diagnosed claustrophobia.

We spilled out of the elevator. Darius asked me if he could drop me home. But before I could even reply, Audrey conveniently shut her eyes and collapsed.

Panic struck Darius like lightning. He scooped her off the floor, carefully putting her in the backseat and shooting off to a hospital.

Fetching my phone barely functioning from the cracks, I hailed a drive back home with difficulty.

The next day, during recess, Darius mysteriously dropped off a truffle cake at my desk. I was doomscrolling just then when I stumbled upon Audrey's new post.

-Having someone to love you like boss does is a beautiful feeling. Blessed as ever!-

"Really, Darius?"

Audrey's post boasted a broad collection of Swiss delicacies, all bubblegum or vanilla flavored.

"Well, thank you for this. I need to overlook some documents now." Saying, I left the half eaten dessert on the table to Darius. Suddenly, he caught my wrist, "Daphne, you're being too polite. What's wrong?"

I turned to fetch the letter for his signature. But when I turned back around, he was already gone. In my messages, he left a note to meet him after his discussion schedule.

I deleted the text and hurled the dessert box in the trash before going to the HR to submit my resignation. By standard procedure, I'll be allowed to leave after finishing my tasks due up to the week.

I was drinking with other pack members after work when Darius called. A male pack member answered and quickly gave the phone to me.

"Why aren't you home, Daphne?" Darius let out a low growl.

"Hmm...out." I replied, slightly tipsy.

"I know where you are. Im coming to get you." He ended the call abruptly. My happiness vanished into thin air.

I watched the pack members disperse and waited against closed shutters of the shop. Darius never showed up.

I checked our group chat and found a male hand hovering over Audrey's in her new post. I wasn't surprised.

Booking a cab again, I went home for the day to resume looking for apartment spaces online. Then, I took and shower and slept.

Around 2 am, Darius hovered over me, trying to wake me up.

"I'm hungry, Daphne. Wake up and make me some fried rice." His voice was as cold as the snow, but he sounded tired and worn out too. Darius hated anything with MSG. The fried rice I make and he loathes has tons of it. I quickly realized whom he wanted to feed.

Stirring up the dish quickly, I passed the cover to Darius.

"Anything else Audrey likes? Popcorn? Mimosas?" I watched Darius roll his eyes.

"That's it. Thanks." He fished out a few bills and placed it on the TV table. I scoffed at it.

Eight years ago, I encountered a rebellion group which was notorious to demoralize werewolf girls in campus. Had it not been for the Alpha's son to kick their butts, I didn't know what could have happened to me that day at school library. A bowl of fried rice seemed like a pretty reasonable exchange for saving my life ten years ago.

Before he could leave, Darius caught my wrist which made me wince. His gaze fixed on my burn wound, now healing up at an exceptional rate.

"I'm sleepy." I reminded him of the bizarre timing of his food request.

"Yes." Coldly wording out, Darius left quickly. But I didn't miss the softened gaze he was looking with over my burn.

At around dawn, Darius barged in and disturbed me from my sleep again. I was getting ready for the day, feeling cranky when Darius held up ice cream,

"That's to reduce your crankiness. Also, we need to hurry our wedding preparations with the elders. I'm going abroad next Wednesday."

"No need for that." I intervened, stopping him from explaining further. He looked taken aback, fear dwindling in his eyes.

"What do you mean 'no need'?"

"The elders are busy with other work." I lied with an saint like smile. Darius was searching my eyes for truth. I felt my world spin slower. Just then, his customized ringtone for Audrey went off. He ran back out, leaving the table arranged for two people to eat.

By next Monday, I was done with my duties and was ready to leave for good. Had I even stepped out of the elevator, Darius dragged me and pushed me into his car. If it wasn't for context, people would think I was being kidnapped!

At a high end restaurant in a mall, Darius snatched my utensils to cut the ribeye for me when he inquired, "Which wine would you like?"

I was scrolling for houses on my laptop and replied calmly, "Your choice."

My lack of giving him attention made him gloom over. Tad bit.

"Who's keeping you busy from me?" He smirked, trying to be sleek. "No one." My monotonous voice said flatly.

Almost suddenly, he shut my laptop and snatched it away as well.

"Whyd you change your wallpaper? You were infatuated with me." He furrowed looking at my phone wallpaper. Not only did it feature a cute picture of my family when I was younger.

Darius was trying way too hard to get a conversation out of me. I excused myself to the restroom. But guess what? I was stumped with an expensive bill and my ex-mate was nowhere to be found. Right before leaving, the staff wished me happy birthday, having noticed my birth date on identity card. It wasn't mine.

I walked out and entered the mall space. Beside the children's play area, a familiar plasticky voice infiltrated my ears.

"Ah! Darius, don't do this in public! You're so strong, alpha!" Darius and Audrey booked out the kid's play area to...wrestle. Audrey almost face planted if it wasn't for Darius catching her right on time. He was looking deep into her eyes, filled with adoration that seemed to be lacking when he was around me.

Audrey was blushing profusely, until her gaze met mine. She slowly retracted herself away from Darius. She shamelessly walked to me, "Daphne, it's not what you think it looks like. Alpha just saved me from falling."

Darius appeared behind her, ruffling her hair, "There's no need to explain to her, silly. She's seen it anyway. All that matters is you're not hurt."

After coaxing her not to cry, Darius's gaze shifted to me, "Done stuffing your face?" He asked, his voice lacking warmth and replaced with condescending intention.

I chose not to reply for obvious reasons. I turned away, the photo booth catching my attention. Audrey scowled behind my back for my lack of emotional sensitivity.

She dragged Darius behind me. "Look alpha! A photo booth! You know how much I love photo booths!" She gleamed like a rat.

The staff told us it was a love booth, and guess who went ahead anyway? Thats right. Darius and Audrey entered the love booth. After their joyous photoshoot, Darius scurried every nook and corner of the mall for my presence but failed to track me down.

That night, upon returning to our house, I carried two small bags and left a note for the man, "I'm done. Goodbye."

Without a shred of hesitation, I walked out of the house which manifested my dreams. It was hard, but happiness came first.

At around midnight, my phone rang. I was on my way to the airport, far away from the city centre. I realized it was Darius, his ID picture changed to Audrey's cute selfie.

I ignored it. I was around the boarding area, lamenting over one hour flight delay back home. I got a call from Darius again and was tempted to block him. But something caught my eye.

As I opened the messages, my inbox was flooded with enraged messages. I kinda saw it coming anyway.

I widened my eyes. Darius, known to be stoic like a rock unbridled his emotions for the first time.

-Darius: Are you serious? Ignoring my calls and texts is your way of wishing me on my birthday?-

-Darius: Stop being petty and childish. I've had enough. Come back this instant or I'm going to sell our house away.-

Well, good luck with that, Darius. I've already done the needful. I'll have no loss statements on my bank.

I felt the breeze magically wash over me when I deleted his messages and blocked him everywhere.

Taste of freedom was addicting. But something else was even more obsessive.