Seven years of love with Alpha Heather misted away like the smoke of a dying fire.

I stood outside their private room, the one where he and his friends are catching up. Apparently, it wasn’t just a simple catch up. When it was supposed to be me to surprise him that I managed to finish early at my job at the pack’s hospital, it was me who was surprised instead.

“Isn’t Farrah a burden to you? You’ve kept her far longer than a rebound girl should be.” I knew that voice. It was Beta Samson’s voice, the son of the richest Beta in the pack and a close friend of Heather.

I don’t like him that much. I never know why. Now...I know why.

I stepped in closer to the door. I learned eavesdropping ever since I was young. Being an Alpha’s only daughter compels you to learn that particular skill.

“Adrianna just returned here since her father finally allows her to leave their pack to reunite with you,” Samson clicked his tongue. “Don’t tell us you’re going to let that opportunity go to waste?!”

“What do you think Jacob will do to you, Alpha? Once he finds out.”

Jacob. My brother’s name pierced through my already betrayed heart.

Heather claimed they’re bestfriends. Well, Jacob once mentioned Heather when we were young so I know he’s not lying.

But of all the things I’ve heard, of all the lies, I think that is the only truth he told me.

Heather laughed at Samson’s question, a laugh that’s between nervous and serious. “If he ever finds out his sister is my rebound girl, he’ll kill me.”

Silence. And then, “Will you allow him?” Beta Samson pushed.

“I won’t let him know,” my boyfriend chuckled. “Farrah is...something to me. But not as something like what was between us and Adrianna.”

I swallowed that emotion, those tears, that threatened to escape from my rotten soul. Perhaps Jacob was right: the moment I left the Dark Moon Pack and let the Black Sun Pack just attack us in the midst of the night even when I knew they would attack already made my soul rotten. Even when I regretted leaving my brother and pack in flames and chaos, I know it wouldn’t make my rotten soul any less than what it already is.

“Farrah made it easy to fool her with her pack and family problems,” Heather’s words brought me back to my present dilemma. Cruel delight lacing his tone.

I never thought, not even for once, that Heather is a two-timing, pathological liar. And an absolute bastard.

Yeah, I was fooled. But that fooling ends now.

As I turned around, as I walked away, I left behind Alpha Heather and his friends—along with his seven years of love built from lies.

***

I woke up drenched in my sweat and tears. I don’t know which is which anymore.

As soon as I left that place where Alpha Heather and his friends met, I rushed straight into the packhouse he and I shared.

Perhaps if I doze myself to sleep, this will all be over. All of my problems will turn out to be just a fragment of my wild imagination.

But deep down, my rotten soul knew it wasn’t.

The darkness of my room, along with the moonless night, utterly matched the hollowness in my chest. I don’t think I even hear my heart beating. Maybe it only beats for Heather.

Every happy memory, every passionate kiss, every sweet promise Alpha Heather had made played through my mind like a cruel reminder of what I’ve been doing all these years compared to what—who—I left behind in the Dark Moon Pack.

I’m not even sure if Jacob is still alive.

“Farrah?” Then there was Heather’s voice again, the ever-loving and ever-gentle Alpha boyfriend. The one I’ve fallen for and had long been trapped in.

“How’s your dinner with friends?” I casually asked as if my heart hadn't been torn apart hours ago.

“Oh, it was the finest dinner I’ve ever had! Even better than the drinking sessions I had with Beta Samson!” His chuckle somehow brought my slumbering blood flowing again.

We’ve been quiet for a time as he undressed and changed to his night pajamas. When he crawled beside me and placed a gentle kiss on my forehead, he spoke. “We’ve been invited to a welcome party by Adrianna tomorrow.”

I blinked. Adrianna.

Her name burned through my soul even with the rottenness it became.

“Your...old friend?”

He cleared his throat. “Yes, she's been an old friend since childhood. All of my friends will be there too, the ones I just dined with.”

“Oh.” It was all my reaction, as if I'd anticipated this.

Like how I anticipated the attack of the Black Sun Pack but still kept my mouth shut and sent the Dark Moon Pack straight to death’s gate.

But I know Jacob. It takes a lot more than the Black Sun Pack to kill him.

It takes more than Heather’s betrayal and this certain Adrianna’s sudden appearance to break my heart.

“You’ll be coming right?” He suddenly asked.

I sat properly and faced him. “No, I don’t think I will. And I don’t have the heart to.”

Adrianna’s welcome party is a hell disguised as a paradise.

“Thank you for coming here, Farrah.” As Heather smiled and thanked me, I couldn’t find that trace of wicked laugh or cruel sentiments towards me yesterday. Nothing. It just disappeared, or perhaps it all retreated behind this mask he’s currently wearing. “Thank you for changing your mind,” he added.

“Well, I guess no is not an acceptable answer,” I jokingly said, but in reality, it really felt like it: I’ve got no choice but to attend.

Perhaps this is my punishment for running away from an almost dying pack and leaving all of it behind to my older brother Jacob. I don’t even know if he’s the Alpha now or if the Dark Moon Pack has been dissolved to be one with the Black Sun Pack.

“Smile, babe.” Alpha Heather’s purr tickled my ears. His hand rested on my back, just above my ass as we entered the hotel Adrianna had prepared for us.

His touch, that used to be affectionate and romantic, felt like a touch of malice and ruin.

It bore deep in my soul, burning my eyes. But I stopped the tears.

“Do I really need to, Heather?” I whispered, my glazed eyes peering up at him. “These are your friends. I don’t know any of them.”

He scoffed. “You don’t need to know them to smile at them.”

Right. He’d already exposed himself now. How he now treats me like a pawn and a doll.

He kissed my cheek as soon as we both saw Adrianna across the room.

Her red dress is like a beacon of war, though her flushed cheeks made the scowl on my face deeper. Heather nudged my elbow softly and I dropped it in a heartbeat. A wry grin replaced it instead.

“Hi, handsome,” Adrianna purred like a cat in-heat.

“Hello, beautiful,” Heather replied.

I don’t know how to react to their casual flirting. But all I know, I need a desperate moment alone. “Excuse me.”

I didn’t wait for their response to walk away.

***

I just finished fixing myself when the restroom’s door pried open.

“Well, if it isn’t the prodigal Alpha’s daughter…” Adrianna sliced the silence with her sweet, high-pitched voice that clearly sounds like coming from a rotten soul.

Adrianna is just another rotten soul, I guess.

“At least I’m not the fiancee who broke up with her fiance, only to return seven years later and flirt back with her ex-fiance.”

Adrianna squinted her eyes. Well, at least I won this fucking round.

“I heard your brother had a hard time with the Black Sun Pack until now.” She clicked her tongue before she sipped from her champagne glass. “How selfish of you to just leave him all alone like that.”

My lips curled into a sneer. “How did you know about Jacob?”

“All of the packs knew about his fate,” was all she said.

I shook my head. She’s lying. If all the packs knew, then how come the Blue Star Pack doesn’t?

Alpha Heather doesn’t really know what happened to him. Or perhaps he’s lying with that information too?

“Both of you are liars,” I bared my teeth at her. “You and Heather.”

“That isn’t a nice thing to say to your boyfriend.” She tilted her head. “Wait, you’re his fiancee already aren’t you?”

I pressed my back against the wall, willing myself not to cry. “At least I won’t leave him for seven years, only to come back after.”

I regretted telling Alpha Heather everything. I regretted pouring all my emotions out to him: my regret of leaving Jacob, my father’s punches and beatings that still haunted me, and the memory of leaving the Dark Moon Pack in flames.

Everything I laid before my Alpha, he sharpened it into a weapon to use against me.

She cleared her throat, and that drifted me back to the present. “Whatever you say, sweetheart, I don’t care. Your time is up. I’m taking him back.” When I didn’t reply, she pressed on. “He had always been mine. From the beginning, his heart only sings my name. You were nothing but a whore whose final shift had been delayed for seven years.”

Whore? Now I’m the whore?

“Perhaps you forgot, Adrianna. You’re not the only Alpha’s daughter in the room. And clearly not the only whore too.”

The rotten of my soul stared at this demoness’ eyes. And for once, I imagined Adrianna as my father as the Black Sun Pack beheaded her. Beheaded him.

Or perhaps I don’t need others to exact my vengeance like what I did to my father. Perhaps I can kill Adrianna myself.

But even with my taunting, her red-painted lips curved into a snake’s smile. “We fucked on your bed, darling. Why do you think he came home past midnight last night?” she gripped my chin, her dainty fingers felt heavy. “The fear of you getting us caught made it so much hotter, you know.”

I swallowed, because I know—I can feel that Adrianna is that type of woman who’s more proud that she snatched away another boyfriend.

The diamond ring on my finger felt heavier than Adrianna’s words.

I opened my mouth to say something, but Adrianna is already striding away. I was left alone with the weight of her words crushing my heart.

Perhaps I was wrong. All it takes to destroy me and my future is from the words of a woman I just met minutes ago.

Did I just run away from a pack of chaos and jump right in the pack that has bombarded me with betrayal?

I think this is really my punishment for all those years: from Alpha Heather’s betrayal to Adrianna’s outright claim of my fiance.

I’m finally doomed after all these years of hiding and running away.

I wiped my tears with the back of my hand and went to wash my hands, my face, and even fixed my hair. I’m not going to act like I'm defeated in front of Heather. Adrianna might have won with the way of her words, but I’m still standing here.

Alpha Heather will still come home to me. The diamond ring around my finger proves it.

Or maybe it’s the fancier leash he chained around my finger?

Here I am, all along thinking that his engagement ring is his new promise of a better tomorrow. It turns out, it was just a jewel carved from lies.

I can’t believe Heather took her in the bed we’d shared for seven years without hesitation. He’d tainted every memory we made, destroyed further chances of us making love.

“I will fight back. I will survive.”

The tears stung my eyes, but I wouldn't let them fall again. Not now. Not until I was alone, away from their wicked smiles and judgmental glances.

“It’s showtime,” and then I exhaled.

***

As soon as I was back, Heather and Adrianna sat across from each other, still holding their act. I feigned ignorance as if Adrianna didn’t just confess everything between them earlier.

I forced my stomach to not twist as I slid into the empty chair beside my Alpha.

Right. I am his fiancee at this moment, in this hour, in this year. Not Adrianna.

“What the hell did you do to Adrianna?” Heather blurted, putting down his wine glass with a thud that only meant he’s angry. Very angry.

“What?” I glared at him, astonished by the sudden shift of his tone and voice. “I didn’t do anything.”

“That’s the phrase that liars always use.”

“And what about you?” I growled. “Aren’t you a liar yourself? You never told me that Adrianna is your ex-fiancee!”

Adrianna’s red lips blossomed into her signature grin at the outright chaos that quickly erupted on the table. If only I could shift at this very heartbeat, my claws will literally tear off that malicious look on her face.

“Stop being so naive and playing innocent again, Farrah.” He slammed a hand on the table, demanding. “Her mother just passed away and you dare tell her mother is nothing but...a whore?”

My mouth fell open, dizziness starting to rock my whole world. “I—hat? I never said anything about—”

“Just fucking stop lying!” He snarled, “Adrianna told me everything about your little chat in the restroom. I knew you could be jealous. But insulting a grieving daughter? That’s so cruel of you, Farrah.”

“She’s the one who called me a whore!” I hissed and stood up. Right, I don’t care if I go down tonight. At least, I wouldn’t go down without fighting. “Seven years really meant nothing to you in the face of her tears, huh, Heather?” I pointed at Adrianna, who’s glazed eyes are all the faking she could afford. Bitch can’t even compel a single tear to fall from her eye.

His voice dropped low in warning. “Farrah—”

“No, Heather. That’s fine. I think Farrah didn’t mean it. Perhaps I misheard or something.” She gestured to the guests. “We shouldn’t make a scene just because of a single word your fiancee said—”

“Shut up!” I finally exploded, bursting like a huge ball of flame and my anger is now spiraling and shooting in all directions. “Just shut up, you whore of a bitch!”

But the crack of Alpha Heather’s palm striking across my face rumbled like lightning through a silent field.

I gaped at what my fiance just did. What my Alpha boyfriend of seven years just did.

For the first time after seven years, a man had hit me again. And it was Alpha Heather. I don’t know if it’s a relief knowing it’s not my father.

The bite of betrayal lingered on my cheeks, cascading down to my heart. I stroked my cheeks, stained with red like Adrianna’s dress.

Adrianna gasped, the feigned horror on her face was more irritating than the slap. “Excuse me.

“Adrianna—wait!” Alpha Heather hastily runs after her. He didn't even spare me a single glance, leaving me alone in the sea of judgmental eyes clawing at me.

***

“Where to, miss?”

I cleared my throat and whispered off my address to the yellow cab driver.

Running away from a welcome party without barely eating bothered my stomach. But I ignored it.

I focused on my emotions. And I can no longer see clearly through the dark night and buzzing city with the tears falling from my face.

Seven years ago, I ran away from my father’s fists and my brother’s plea to stay. Seven years ago, I let a rival pack behead my father, set my pack on flames, and left my brother to face all of it.

It seems I didn’t really learn from the past. I let another Alpha hit me and make me cry again.

I guess I have no choice but to beg my brother this time.

My phone felt heavy in my pocket. But with my heavy tears and heavy heart, it felt lighter compared to those.

My brother. My father’s heir to the Alpha title. But Jacob still dared to protect me from the violence rippling out our father’s hands and feet. The only one who turned his muscular body as a shield to let me be saved from my father’s occasional beating.

I swallowed. Before I could hesitate further, I pressed the call button.

The line rings. Then another. And another.

On the third time, a deep and masculine familiar voice echoed on the other line. “Farrah?”