I literally couldn't believe my eyes. At that point, I was praying that it had all been an illusion that was playing out in my dreams. But then, it was clear that it was all happening right before me.

“But Nate...” I could hardly get the words out of my mouth, “How could you?” The man I called my mate was holding hands with the last person I had expected. “With... Hannah?”

It had been a normal day until I walked into the door of his office to see Nate holding hands with Hannah, my so-called best friend, whom I had thought to have been studying abroad.

“What's the meaning of all this?” I asked, as I was finally able to articulate some intelligible words after a couple of moments. “Is this some kind of prank or what?”

“What do you think?” Hannah asked, with her facial expression beaming with satisfaction. Every movement of her body seemed to be solely aimed at getting me ticked off.

The fact that they were still holding hands even after I had walked in on them had me on the verge of going insane. But I was still holding back the tears somehow, even though they were holding hands like they were a passionate couple on their first date.

“Hannah and I were having a conversation before you walked in. Is there anything I could do for you?” Nate's words pierced painfully like a dart right in my chest.

His display of coldness was nothing new in our loveless marriage. But that time around, he was treating me like I was a total stranger. There was no greater hurt than that.

At that point, I couldn't take it anymore. I turned and fled the scene. I regretted ever walking in on the both of them that afternoon. It was the most unbearable situation I had found myself in.

All through the loveless marriage between Nate and I, I had endured the worst of him all along. It had all happened because of my promise to my father when he lay on his deathbed.

I could recall my words to him just before he gave up the ghost. “If that's what will make your death less painful and more peaceful...” I had foolishly said, “Then I would marry Nate...”

In the heat of the hell I was currently living in, I wished I could take back the hands of time to the moment when I had agreed to the words of my dying father. Too bad he wasn't there to endure the consequences of that decision with me.

From the very start, I had known it would be a loveless marriage with the egoistic alpha, Nate of the Free Moon Pack. But I had bent my will just to make it work all along, but it clearly wasn't working, and I had finally seen why it wasn't working.

I burst into hot tears immediately I ran into my room, as the pain of the betrayal from Hannah whom I had thought to be my best friend was just too much for one person to bear. Even Ava— my wolf shared in my grief.

“How could she?” I cried as I crouched in one of my rooms, nursing the pain from the injuries I had sustained from the loveless marriage. I wished my father could see what he had forced me into.

There was no hope for me to be with him anymore. It would only hurt me more and more to remain there.

I took out my phone and recalled how I used to call Hannah to tell her about the difficulty in my marriage with Nate, not knowing that she had been the actual cause of everything. How stupid of me! How couldn't I have seen it coming somehow? She hadn't even told me when she was returning to the pack.

There was only one person I could call in that situation, and I felt miserable as I dialed her number. “Tianna...”

“Layla...?” She called my name with a troubled tone that seemed to have come from the fact that I was crying so audibly on the phone. “Are you alright?”

“No...” My world was falling apart right before my eyes, and I couldn't do anything to stop it from happening. “It just happened...”

“Okay, I need you to calm down right now...” Tianna spoke gently, but not even the calmness of her voice could keep me from breaking down. “Tell me... what happened?”

“Nate is seeing someone else,” I said, wiping off those tears, as I tried convincing myself that Nate wasn't worth the tears I was crying for him. But I was just too hurt to hold back the rivers from breaking out of my eyelids. “He's seeing Hannah...”

“What?” Tianna let out a sigh of surprise and was silent for a while on the phone. “Why... I thought he was over that slut a long time ago. Why's he back with her?”

“I wish I could provide the answers to that, but I'm just as shocked as you are by it all,” I said, mustering some courage to get up on my feet. “I guess it's now safe to say that this marriage is the worst decision I have ever made.”

“I'm short of words right now...” Tianna was silent for a couple of moments. “I'm deeply sorry for the hell that you're going through right now.”

“It's fine...” I said, even though I knew that it wasn't. “At least I had to let you know before I took my decision to do what I am about to do.”

“And what decision is that?” Tianna asked, with a heightened anticipation that was palpable from my end of the line.

“I've had enough of this...” I said, as I hung up on her and marched to where Nate and Hannah seemed to be catching up with each other on the balcony.

My footsteps distracted them momentarily from each other. But they returned to talking with each other like I wasn't even there. Soon enough, I closed up the space that was in between us.

“I want a rejection,” I demanded. That surely had their attention.

The look in Nate's eyes hurriedly went from shocked and appalled to amused and unmoved. A wicked smile formed on his face, and then suddenly an outburst of laughter occurred.

The mocking sound of his laughter rattled my very being, and that made me feel quite demeaned and had my self-esteem wrecked in an instant. It went on for quite a while. And to make it all worse, he was doing all of that to me in front of Hannah, who seemed to be having the time of her life.

“Are you being serious right now?” Nate asked, still reeling from the laughter, which he was seemingly lost in. “It seems like you lost your mind from the shock.”

Yet again, I could feel myself about to break apart right in front of them. “It's clear that I'm of no use to you now, so it's only rational that you let me go...”

“You don't call the shots here,” Nate said, as he stared me hatefully in the eyes. “I do. You can't just make demands and have them done at your every whim. I'm still alpha, even though I still agreed to condescend to be in a union with you.”

My emotions were taking the biggest hit at that point, as he demeaned my worth all in one sentence.

“You're one of the worst mistakes I ever made in my life, and it's only fair I return the favor in like manner... Now you're going to know what it feels like to be stuck...” he said, as he took Hannah by the hand to walk away from me. What the heck was going on?

The humiliation from the moment was so great that I impulsively reached for Nate's arm and held him back from leaving. It almost felt like I was trying to draw back all the time I had wasted, trying to be the perfect mate for Nate.

“Are you being serious right now?” Nate suddenly sparked at me, as I held on to his arm like my life depended on it. “Don't tell me you have suddenly grown this psychotic all the while...”

“What on earth were you expecting? No one could remain normal under the circumstances you made me go through...” I held on to him tightly, even though I didn't know why my actions had suddenly grown erratic for a man that I didn't consider to be worth it. “I'm not letting you go until you reject me.”

I disregarded the fact that I was creating a scene for all to see, but then, I desired to be set free from my union with Nate, which was eating me alive.

“Let go, or I'll make a mess of you right now.” Mate threatened with his eyes flaring with anger. But somehow, they didn't seem to scare me anymore. I had gotten worse than that in that hellish marriage. “You are overstepping your boundaries...”

“You overstepped yours first,” I snapped at him with a boldness that I couldn't explain. “Just end it now...”

“Come take her to her room!” he suddenly ordered his guards to come and get rid of me immediately, like I was some sort of bothersome pest that he was so desperate to get rid of.

Before I could turn to realize what was happening, two of his guards came and obtained me as they would do to an omega who had overstepped their boundaries to touch the alpha.

“Let go of me...!” I yelled, but to no avail, as I was being hurled to my room where I had come out from. They pushed me in and locked my door on me without saying a single word to me.

Was that happening to me?

***

Nate's POV

“Serves her right...” Hannah said, clutching my arm as she walked me to the room. She seemed to have enjoyed the rough treatment I had just treated Layla to. “Next time she would learn to steer clear of us.”

“Right...” I replied, even though I was fighting the inward battle with my wolf who disliked the way I was treating my mate.

‘That wasn't nice at all...’ Rex, my wolf desired for us to be with Layla, and not with Hannah whom I had loved. ‘She's our mate, and she doesn't deserve to be treated that way—’

‘Quiet...’ I silenced him as I didn't want anything to ruin the magical moment of seeing the love of my life once again.

“It's so nice seeing you again, Nate...” Hannah's voice was soothing and that made me feel a bit better about what I was doing at the moment. “I almost felt like I would never see you again forever...”

“I felt the same way. Being in this hellish marriage felt like the end of happiness in my life until you came...” It had been a while since I sounded that real with anyone. There was no room for love in the arranged marriage between me and the daughter of the deceased beta. I wished my father could see just how tired I was of the marriage.

“I'm deeply sorry about that,” she said, as we got to the door of the room. “I should have never left you all alone. It's my fault that you had to go through this all alone. But I'm here now, and I'm willing to make it up to you...”

“Sure thing...” I walked into the room with her. Memories of the feel of her body on mine had me longing to recreate all those memories. I longed to ignite the flames of passion once more.

“Relax...” she made me lie down as she slowly came on top of me.

But to my surprise, I felt nothing when I touched her. What was happening? The flames I had been longing for were nowhere to be found. I tried to carry on with it, but it just wasn't working.

“What's wrong?” Hannah asked as she seemed to notice something was wrong with my disposition. “Are you...”

I got out from under her before she could ask the next question.

“Nate...”

“I have to go...”

It almost felt like I had the rug pulled off from underneath me in an instant. Though I despised Layla, I suddenly felt like she didn't deserve to go through that sort of pain.

A part of me desired Hannah immensely, but that part of me had suddenly died immediately I put my hands on her. I didn't have the words to explain what had caused me to suddenly need to be alone.

I just couldn't do it with Hannah. And that was it. There just wasn't an explanation for it.

“Nate...”

I looked up to see Freddie standing on the balcony where I had wanted to spend time alone. It was hard not to get annoyed at that point, as I knew just what exactly he was about to say to me.

“What is it?” I asked, trying my best not to give in to the feeling of annoyance that was threatening to break out from within me. It was quite a lot to deal with having my friend as a beta.

“Did you have to go that far with Layla?” Freddie asked with a sigh. “It's okay that you don't love her, but then, locking her up like a prisoner was quite too extreme for someone who assumes the position of Luna and—”

“Spare me that...” I interrupted, as I was tired of the lecture that he was trying to put me through. “I am not having this conversation with you right now.”

Freddie was speechless for a while at my absurd behavioral change. “You could at least order the men to open the door for her. I get that you don't love her, but she's not some sort of prisoner.”

“If that's what would make you quit bugging me, then it's done...” I said as I walked past him hurriedly. At that moment, my mind linked with my men to set her free. “Now if you would excuse me...”

At that point, I didn't care if I was sounding cold or harsh. All I wanted at that point was to be all alone to battle my contradicting feelings on my own.

“Aren’t you supposed to meet with the council of elders about the increasing threat of the rogue wolves on our borders?” Freddie was beginning to get on my nerves at that point, even though he was just doing his job.

“I will have to adjourn that. I’m in no mood to meet with anyone right now.” I made it clear in my tone, as much as I could, hoping that he would just get that I meant it.

“But, alpha… your people are in danger as we speak. You have to--”

“I will not repeat myself nicely again,” I suddenly retorted violently, and that made him back off finally. “Don’t make me do something that I might end up regretting.”

Freddie froze in shock, almost making me feel guilty for being unnecessarily harsh. But my anger didn’t give room for any other feelings whatsoever.

***

Layla's POV

Alone I sat in my room, as I wondered what exactly was happening to me at that point. I had gone from being the alpha’s wife to being a house prisoner.

I had been in there until the next morning, and I was prepared to stay for as long as Nate wanted to keep me. At that point, I didn't care anymore.

Suddenly, the door came open with Tianna coming through it. I was surprised that the door had been opened, as I had my mind prepared to stay in there for quite some time.

“What’s going on?” Tianna asked, with her eyes brimming with concern. “Are you hurt?”

I was done crying by the time she came in, and that enabled me to answer her without breaking down. I was literally out of tears at that point.

Deep down, I was hurt by the fact I was even crying because of Nate. I hated that I was hurting for someone who didn’t care if I lived or died. He wasn’t worth my tears, but there I was, out of tears and out of breath.

“I’m fine…” I sniffled as I said that lie. I was far from being all right. “It’s nothing new… I’ll get past it somehow.”

“You don’t look alright at all,” Tianna said, as she crouched beside me to have a better look at the pain in my eyes. “You look like a mess right now…”

“Because I am…” I suddenly broke into tears all over again, not knowing where the tears came from that time around. “I don’t know what else to do…”

“I’m also not sure what you need to do, but I do know that you’ve got to stop crying first. It’s not going to get anything done.” Tianna’s words hit hard even though they were true. “It’s not the end of the world, Layla.”

“But he won’t reject me…” I cried in frustration. “If he doesn’t want me, he could at least let me go. I’m tired of all this…”

“I understand, and that’s why we need to find a way to get you out of this. But we can’t do anything in your current condition.”

With that, I was able to still myself to an extent. That was more than enough encouragement to snap out of my sorrowful mood. Finally, some hope in my gloom.

“Now get up, go get something to eat, and we’ll talk about what to do…” Tianna said, urging me to get up from the floor where I had balled up myself. She put her arms around me and that gave me enough strength to stand.

***

Hannah’s POV

“How could he?” I questioned myself angrily, still reeling from Nate’s sudden withdrawal. Nate was meant to be mine and mine alone, but then, I was sure that he still had his eyes on that fool who thought me to be her best friend.

Layla was the only obstacle between me and Nate, and I was going to get rid of her once and for all with one masterful move. She totally wouldn’t see it coming.

“Where is the alpha’s meal?” I demanded urgently from the maids as I stepped into the kitchen. “He has ordered that I bring it to him at once.

All the maids stood, staring at me in shock, like someone had suddenly hit a ‘pause’ button on them.

“Come on now!” I yelled, instantly unfreezing them. Immediately, they handed me the tray. “Thank you,” I said with a forced smile, in a bid to not appear suspicious.

I headed out at once and took out the hallucinogens I had gotten from the witch. With that, I was going to get Nate to have me and do away with Layla in one clean move.

“I’m sorry Nate, but you are mine…”