Derek steps into the pack training ground, coming out of the gym, he's wearing a black joggers and a sleeveless top soaked in sweat, which hugs his delicious muscular frame tightly.

Everyone stops the moment they see him enter, all baring their neck to him.

"Carry on," he says, his eyes searching the crowd for Ella but he doesn't find her.

This is the third day in a row that she hasn't shown up to training and he can see most of the new shifters who she is responsible for training just messing around.

Is she still upset? This is the first time she ever throws a tantrum.

"Gather round," he frowns at the group of first shifters, "make a circle. I want one on one physical combat. The loser does 500 pushups with the winner standing on his back," he orders coldly and the group quickly do as he instructs.

He walks a distance away but not too far so he can continue to observe the first shifters and he mindlinks Ella but she blocks him.

He scoffs, a tiny smile tugging the corner of his lips.

Who would have thought his little bullet had it in her?

"Alpha! Alpha!" His Delta, Ethan, runs towards him, holding out his phone, "you need to see this."

Derek frowns, not liking to be disturbed during training sessions.

"What is it?"

"It's better if you take a look," Ethan replies, bowing slightly.

Derek yanks the phone from him and an even deeper frown contorts his face, his eyes bulge in shock and he looks sharply at Ethan before looking back at the phone.

It's a video of Ella burning her wedding dress. What has gotten into her?

"Who else has seen this?"

"It's gone viral Alpha, it's everywhere."

Derek sneers, "make it disappear," he says, shoving the phone against Ethan chest.

"I said fucking combat, not sparring! Put some fucking weight behind your punch!"

He yells at the two people fighting in the centre of the circle and he mindlinks his Beta, stepping closer to the circle.

'Where are you?'

'Just outside the-'

'Training ground. Now.'

He cuts Gabriel off, takes out his phone and dials Ella's number but it goes straight to voicemail.

He grinds his teeth, wondering what has gotten into her. He's not used to being ignored by her, this feels....strange.

"Alpha," Gabriel says, bowing slightly as he appears behind him moments later, "you sounded like it was an emergency."

"What are you doing? You don't give the enemy a chance when he's down, you finish him off," Derek says to one fighter in the group before turning to Gabriel with a cold glare in his eyes.

"Ella is not here. Did you deliver my message to her?"

"Yes Alpha," Gabriel nods.

"And...?"

Gabriel huffs, bringing his face close to Derek's ear to whisper away from the hearing of the others. "Well, she.....she said she's on honeymoon leave and she's not coming back."

"She said what?" Derek cocks his head and looks at Gabriel sharply, "without having a fucking wedding?"

"Yes. When I tried to confront her over her attitude, she wouldn't listen. That woman, she's something else," Gabriel replies, an undertone of spite in his voice.

"Huh," Derek replies in a low tone, thinning his lips.

What could have gotten into her to that extent? He knows she has a stubborn, ill tempered side to her but never towards him.

"And you made it clear that I sent you?" He asks, his tone still full of disbelief.

"As clear as day," Gabriel replies sharply.

Derek scoffs, finding the whole thing rather amusing. "Does she know plans are already in place to get her a bigger wedding as I promised?"

"I told her everything Alpha, I tried my best to convince her, she just wouldn't listen."

"Obviously not your best, I'll go see her myself," Derek sneers at him, feeling an uneasiness within.

"You have more important things to worry about, let me try again, I'll bring her home this time," Gabriel interjects.

"Fine," Derek grunts.

****

Ella in bed, watching old videos of her and Derek on her phone, sometimes smiling, mostly crying, when she hears the hurried footsteps of her mother coming towards her door before she hears the woman yell.

After moving out of Derek's house, she had nowhere else to go but to move back to her parents house.

"Honey! Honey! Come out! The Alpha Just parked outside," her mother knocks frantically on her door. "Hurry up and come out. Wear something nice. The man misses you so much he had to come get you himself," her mother chuckles.

Ella's heart immediately races, hearing Derek is here to get her.

He came? He really came?

For some reason, the gloom she has been feeling lifts off.

She just wants to hear what he has to say, what excuse he wants to give her this time.

She lazily makes her way out of her bedroom to the living room, only for heart to sink when she sees Gabriel standing in their living room and not Derek.

Ella does not hide her displeasure at seeing Gabriel, a frown immediately contorting her face, knowing the reason why he is here.

"Have you seen the video of you that's trending?" Gabriel asks in a curt voice, his eyes cold, a nasty frown on his face, "have you seen what people are saying about the Alpha because of you?"

"What video? What are they saying?" Fiona, Ella's mother asks frantically, her fear filled eyes darting between Ella and Gabriel, clearly hearing from the tone of Gabriel's voice that there might be trouble.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ella replies in a cold tone, crossing her arms against her chest, "if this is some-"

"You may want to get off your high horse, woman. This is serious," Gabriel cuts her off, takes out his phone and shoves it in her face.

Ella freezes, staring at the video of her burning her wedding dress with shock in her eyes and her heart thuds.

She had no idea there were cameras on her that day.

A pang of guilt slices through her heart knowing this will indeed look bad for Derek's image and that was not her intention at all, she was only giving an outlet to the rage she was feeling that day.

No one knows how she felt when she got that picture from Rose with Derek in Rose arms the same day he called off their wedding.

She scrolls through the comments and surprisingly, the slanders are for her and not for Derek at all.

[Needy Bitch]

[What a waste, she was never fit to be Luna.]

[I hope the Alpha rejects her, she doesn't deserve him.]

She scoffs bitterly and thins her lips. Well, the people are saying a lot more about her than Derek even if she is the one who was wronged but of course, no one will see it like that.

"What is-" Fiona impatiently snatches the phone from Ella.

Fiona's eyes widen and she gasps, clasping her hands around her mouth at the sight of the video.

"You silly child, why would you do this? Why?" Fiona asks in a shaky voice, glancing at Ella with shock and disappointment in her eyes.

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry about this," she turns to Gabriel with fear and worry deeply etched in her eyes, "I don't know what must have come over her."

"I'm not the one owed an apology," Gabriel replied coldly, "it's the Alpha but he's willing to forgive everything as long as she returns home with me right now."

"Really?" Fiona asks in a hope filled voice, "she'll come with you, she'll come with you right now."

"I'm not going anywhere with him," Ella replies.

She does not owe Derek an apology nor does she need his forgiveness and since this video already went viral, Derek has the perfect excuse to leave her and go be with Rose, the woman that he actually wants.

"Give us a minute," Fiona pulls Ella forcefully into the corridor, away from Gabriel.

"Have you gone mad Ella, what the hell is wrong with you? Have you suddenly forgotten everything Derek has done for us since you got together? This house that we live in, your siblings getting scholarships to study in the best schools, your father's business getting back on its feet, it's all because of him. Do you want to throw all that away? Think about your family my dear," Fiona says in a slightly raised tone but her countenance is more sad than angry.

Ella looks at her mom in the eyes, hating how she has to be the one to sacrifice her peace and happiness for theirs.

She never wanted any help from Derek when he offered, she refused to allow him buy her parents a new house as her engagement gift but her mom went behind her and accepted it and now she has to suffer for it.

She never wanted the wealth, fame or power that came with being the Alpha's fated mate, all she wanted was a man that would love and cherish her, not one who would treat her like she barely mattered.

"Ella, you have to go back," Fiona says in a much calmer voice, gently rubbing the side of Ella's arms.

Ella looks down at her arm and then at her mom. For once she wants this woman to see things from her perspective, to take her side but it's never going to happen, her mother seems to care more about status than her own daughter.

She peels away from her mother, goes into the room and comes out with a single bag to see her mother standing beside Gabriel.

"Let's go," she says to Gabriel in a cold voice.

He stares at her bag and then at Gabriel before looking back at her, disappointment and anger shifting in his eyes.

"Cla-"

Her dad puts his hands up. "You can go but this door will not open to you anymore. I thought I raised a daughter with some self respect."

Halfway into their journey back to Derek's house, the words of her father keep playing in Ella's head.

"A daughter with self respect."

Her dad may be extreme in his ways but is she really giving herself any respect right now? Is this what she really wants? Going back to him or is she doing it just to please others?

"Stop the car," she says to the driver from the back of the vehicle, making her mind to go back to her father's house and if he doesn't let her back in as he threatened, she'll find a way to survive but she's not going back to him.

The same pattern will just repeat itself and she'll find herself in more pain, anguish and regret. It is better to face it all now, once and for all.

"What?" Gabriel replies from the front beside the driver.

"I said stop the car."

"Keep going," Gabriel orders the driver, looking away from her.

"I swear to the goddess, if you don't stop this car this minute, I'll open the door and jump down and you know I will," She replies in a cold voice, looking daringly at him as she puts her fingers on the door lock.

"Stop," Gabriel says defeatedly, releasing an exasperated sigh, "can't we just talk about this?"

"There's nothing to talk about," she replies as the car comes to a halt and she steps out, slamming the door shut.

Days later, she is in the backyard of the house, uprooting the weeds growing around the flower plants with her hands.

She is slowly getting used to her new reality even though she often catches herself slipping back into having thoughts of Derek. Chores like these help clear her mind and she has been thinking about returning to work too.

She needs the distraction if she is going to ever get Derek out of her mind completely.

The rich baritone voice of none other than Derek reaches her ears and her heart pounds on its own accord.

What is he doing here?

She did not even hear him coming, not that that is a surprise, there's a reason he's called the Silent Wolf.

Her wolf's excitement does not help, making goosebumps dance around her skin as Derek trudges closer to her, his minty and earthy smell sending her stomach into a wild frenzy.

She did not expect to be so rattled by his presence.

"Knock yourself out," she says, pointing to the large expanse of flower beds in the backyard without looking up at him.

If his voice and smell are doing this to her, what will happen if she looks at his handsome face, into those beautiful blue eyes.

Derek chuckles and steps right behind her, crouches and curls his hands around her waist from behind, lifting her up to face him.

"I miss you," he says in the sweetest voice and clasps her into a tight hug, "the comfort your smell brings," he groans passionately, digging his nose into her neck.

Ella fights back the tears tugging her eyes, hearing how her heart pounds, feeling her body letting loose in his arms, the joy of her wolf.

This is what she hates the most, how she finds him irresistible, how his touch drowns away her pain even when he is the one that inflicted the pain on her but she cannot give in this time, she has been here before, several times.

After this faux show of affection, doting on her and a lot of sex, he'll revert back to being cold and distant in a few days. She knows this script, she has lived it too much and wants no more of it.

"I don't miss you," she says in a cold tone, pushing away from his hold.

"I don't believe you," Derek flashes her a beautiful smile and takes one of her arms in his but she smacks his hand away with her free hand, glaring at him.

"What are you doing here?" She asks, hating how her actions are a direct opposite to her feelings.

"What does it look like? I'm here to take you home."

"I am home."

"Listen baby girl," Derek replies, the smile on his face vanishing but his gaze is not cold, just blank. "I've given you time to do whatever it is you have been doing but now you have to come back to reality. You're practically the Luna of this pack, abandoning your responsibilities is not something I expected of you."

"Well, I'm sorry if I disappointed you. Alpha," Ella replies with a sneer on her face, bitterness growing inside her.

What is this responsibility everyone is going on about as if she is the most irresponsible being to have ever lived by choosing her peace.

If Derek wants someone to carry the responsibility of Luna, he should give it to the woman he left her at the altar for, she's sure Maya would be more than willing to oblige.

"I didn't say I was disappointed. Look, let's just go home and put all of this behind us," Derek says, reaching for her hand again, his voice calm and his eyes holding something that looks like remorse but it cannot be.

Ella glares down at his hand, ignoring the tingles his touch is sending through her.

He probably thinks this is just like old times when he shows up and asks her to let it go and she does, he's in for a shock this time.

What exactly is she to put behind her, the fact that he left her at the altar to be in the arms of another woman or the lack of decency to even show up afterwards to talk to her?

She scoffs and yanks her hand away from him. "I'm not going anywhere with you, just leave me alone."

"Ella!" The tone of Derek's voice changes, becoming harsh, raised slightly, his eyes turning into frost. "If you don't come back home, I'll reject you and be done with this."