Chapter 2

• The next morning, I woke up to an empty house. Even if our mating was one of convenience, my mate was too distant. I had dreamt of happiness, of warmth and friendship but rather than that, I got silence. A cold, biting silence. With a house that echoed and a mate whose gaze always slid past me like I was part of the furniture, the silence was crushing.
• My ringtone shattered the silence around me. It was my mother calling.
• “Hello?” I said in surprise.
• “Where are you?” There was no warmth in that voice.
• “Umm, I’m at home. Why?” I asked, wondering what I missed.
• My mother never called me. Ever. Even when I called her, she hardly ever picked up.
• “Didn’t Elijah tell you that Rosie is back?” She asked.
• My heart plummeted, hard and cold, to my stomach that tightened. I lost feeling in my fingers and my phone slipped from my grasp and clattered to the ground. Those words stole my breath and for a few seconds, I forgot how to move my limbs.
• “Hello? Hello!? Did this ungrateful bitch hang up on me?” I heard my mother shout from my device on the floor.
• I moved, slow as a snail, trying to delay the inevitable as I picked up my phone and put it back to my ear.
• “Why?” I whispered into the device.
• Why!? Why!? Why!?
• “What do you mean why?” Mother shouted. “Aren’t you happy that she returned to us safe and healthy? How selfish can you get? We picked you and raised you but you don’t even appreciate us as your family. You should be happy that your sister is back in one piece!”
• “I – I am.” The words that came from my lips were a lie.
• I was not happy at all. It made me feel like a villain but I wasn’t happy. No, I was terrified. Five years had passed so why did she return? Why now?
• “Don’t lie to me.” I could almost picture my mother rolling her eyes. “You were always jealous of Rosie so how can you be glad that she’s back?”
• “No!” I denied. “No, I wasn’t – I have never –“
• “I raised you so I know how filthy your thoughts are. Rosie is prettier, funnier and more popular than you can ever dream to be. It’s as if you were created to live in her shadow. I know you’re jealous of her. You must be upset that she’s back.” She laughed as she cut me down, each word sending a knife into my chest.
• I hated that she was right. I hated myself for being jealous and feeling inferior to my younger sister. I hated myself for wishing she never returned home.
• What did this mean for me? What did this mean for my relationship with Elijah? Now that his first love had returned, would I be cast aside? The life I built for the last five years was on the verge of collapsing and I didn’t know what to do.
• “Your sister is back. What are you going to do as the Luna?” My mother asked.
• “What – am I supposed to do?” I asked.
• “You’re so dumb, it’s a shame.” She hissed at me. “You stole her man so the least you can do is throw her a welcome back party. The Glenda Hall will be a good venue.”
• “But –“ The dial tone sounded before I could get a word in.
• I called Elijah immediately after that. I called him once, twice, five times. I hated to bother him but I was anxious so I kept calling. I kept calling but he never picked up. Instead, he turned off his phone. I had no choice but to go find him.
• “What are you doing here?” A cold voice stopped me as I walked into the office building.
• There he was. The love of my life. The man who I shared a bond with. There he was with a glare at me while a petite woman clung to his side.
• “Ri, I’ve missed you!” The woman ran from his side and flung her hands around me, her little hands crushing me. “It’s been so long but you haven’t changed at all!”
• Her words were a backhanded comment that I could not respond to. Elijah had a strange look in his eyes as he stared at us. When Rosie let me go, she went back to his side as if it was natural, her hand looping around his bicep.
• “Were you in his office?” I asked.
• It was not intentional. I didn’t mean to sound accusatory or on edge but I did. I wanted to calm my racing heart but I couldn’t. I was scared. Frightened that the sandcastle I had spent the last five years building would be washed away by the storm in front of me.
• “Yes, I brought him lunch. We also discussed my welcome back party. I know you’re busy and I can’t ask you to throw it so mum has agreed to do it. Eli said we can use the Glenda Hall!” She was still the same, still an annoying chatterbox.
• “You can’t use that hall,” I blurted.
• “Why not?” She fluttered her lashes, her eyes laughing at me. “Eli said I could use it.”
• The Glenda Hall was just that; a hall, but over time, it had become known as the Luna’s hall. For many years, the Lunas of this pack used it to throw parties for themselves and sometimes their daughters. It was totally outside the Alpha’s jurisdiction to grant anyone access to that hall.
• “You need my permission to use it and I didn’t give it.”
• “Eli gave his permission already. Doesn’t the word of the Alpha trump yours?”
• “I –“
• “Let her use the hall.” Before I could argue, Elijah’s cold tone interrupted me. “I agreed to it already so are you going to make me eat my words?” His eyes were fierce, his tone even fiercer.
• I wanted to argue but I found that I hadn’t the energy for an argument. It was the first time I felt scared since I mated with Elijah. I had tried so hard to win his heart but maybe it was time to end my delusions before he bruised my heart even more.
• **
• I felt silly.
• In a competition between Rosie and I, it was clear that I would always be the loser in Elijah’s eyes. Even with my resignation, I still wanted to try so I put on my best dress and accompanied him to Rosie’s welcome back ceremony.
• My mate didn’t say a word to me throughout the car ride here and once we got in, he was gone from my side. My face burned with humiliation, my teeth tearing into my bottom lip to stop my lips from quivering as he abandoned me to be with Rosie.
• Was love supposed to be this painful? Why did I have to beg for his love, the same love he gave freely to a woman who abandoned him? I wanted to stop loving him but I didn’t know how to. The last five years had been hell and the future didn’t look any brighter. I wanted to put an end to everything but I still found myself attached.
• Loud laughter rang in the hall, drawing my attention. There he was, my mate who never smiled, my mate who never had a warm word or even a warm look for me, there he was gazing tenderly at Rosie as she laughed and joked with her old friends.
• I’d grown used to his indifference, his empty stares and grunted words. I’d gotten used to the invisible wall that separated us and learnt to live with it but watching him look at another woman with the eyes that I wished he’d look at me with made my heart twist and ache.
• He did not leave her side throughout that evening while I nursed a drink in the corner, bearing the weight of several mocking gazes. They seemed like the picture-perfect couple, him with a soft smile on his lips and her leaning into him.
• “Oh, Luna, I didn’t see you there.” A woman with her mate bumped into me.
• “Hello, Mitchell.” She was Rosie’s childhood friend so I knew that nothing good would come from interacting with her.
• “Why are you standing alone in a corner? Shouldn’t you be with your mate?” Her mate snickered at her words. “Ah, with Rosie back, I guess we may be seeing some interesting changes soon.”
• “Look at the way the Alpha looks at her,” her mate cut in. “There is so much love and tenderness in that gaze – oops.” Mitchell jabbed a hand into his side and he stopped with a sheepish grin. “Did I overstep?”
• “No, you are right.” I agreed with them and moved away without having the time to savor their shocked gazes.
• Tonight, everyone was focused on me. My reaction was what they came to check out and I didn’t want to give anyone the satisfaction of seeing me put down so I held my head high and walked towards my mate.
• My brother blocked me before I got to him.
• “It’s been a while, Reese.” My whole body clammed up just from looking at him but I continued to hold my head high. He was the Beta and I was the Luna. He should bow to me, not me to him.
• “Don’t get in Rosie’s way,” he snapped “You’ve already taken too much from her so don’t bother her.”
• “Are you asking me to allow my mate have an affair with my sister?” I could only laugh at Reese’s words, feeling hollow inside. “What did I ever take from her? I’m your sister too so why –“
• Why did I have to beg to be loved? Why could I never be good enough?
• “Don’t even try to play the victim here,” he hissed in my face. “Rosie returned after five years and I’d be damned if I don’t do everything in my power to ensure she never leaves again. If it’s Elijah she wants then she’ll get Elijah. He doesn’t even want you so why cling to him?”
• Right. Why did I continue to chase after a man who made it clear he could never want me?
• “One day,” I spoke with a dry throat. “One day, you’ll look back and regret how you’ve treated me. Every single one of you.”
• “Nobody wants you so why don’t you do us all a favour and die rather than spitting rubbish? What a waste of my time.” He brushed passed me, making it a point to bump my shoulder as he went.
• I lost my balance. There was a loud ringing in my ear before the world went black.