I wanted to ignore his text, but after pondering on it, I decided to walk down the street to Hailey's house.

When I entered the house, I saw Blake gripping Hailey's hand as he whispered soft murmurs to her.

However, as soon as his gaze landed on me, his expression changed as his face darkened and he growled, “What took you so long to come? If she doesn't see a therapist right away, I don't know how much more traumatized she will become.”

Hailey rubbed his arm softly as she pouted and murmured, “You don't need to worry about me, Blake. Don't let my condition come between the two of you. I know that she's never been fond of me.”

He reprimanded me, “That's it, Amber! Do her laundry and tidy this place up. I can't mark a lazy she-wolf that doesn't know her duties!”

As soon as he said that's he turned around and walked out of the house while pulling Hailey with him as he had her wrap her arm around his shoulders and supported her weight on his side.

I stared at his back as he walked away and muttered to myself, “And I can't let a filthy, unfaithful he-wolf mark me.”

I walked to her bedroom and glanced around the room to look for the laundry.

Two towels that had a man's cum stains laid on the bed.

I felt my heart clench in my chest.

Was this why Blake has now been making excuses about rogue attacks late at night and needing to stay out late to stop them?

So he goes down a few blocks away from us to Hailey's to sleep with her each night before coming back home to me.

I saw her walk-in closet left open and noticed designer clothes along with designer bags and shoes.

A week ago, I had wanted to buy a new scarf to keep me warm during the cold winter, so I told Blake about wanting it as my anniversary gift.

He had narrowed his eyes at me as hate filled them and he yelled, “Nine years together isn't something to be happy about! I haven't even marked you yet for God's sake. Despicable!

Wait until I mark you and then you'll celebrate.

Concentrate on your pack duties instead of thinking of silly things. Celebrating our anniversary wouldn't make me want to mark you any sooner.”

It wouldn't make him want to mark me any sooner and that wouldn't stop him from marking other she-wolves as his either. His ‘ideal mate’ as he had called her, Hailey must be the one that he liked the most.

I mentally prepared myself and pulled my phone out of my hand bag then started making a video of the bedroom.

After that, I walked out of the house and made my way back home. I was going to gather my things and get ready to leave.

Even though Blake and I have been together for nine years, he had only given me two gifts – a hair comb and a set of hair products including shampoo, deep conditioner, leave-in conditioner, detangling lotion and moisturizer.

I wasn't going to take them with me when he was cheating on me.

It was almost like my relationship with Blake was a joke. My stuff in the house couldn't even fill my suitcase while Hailey's stuff in her house could fill five suitcases.

As soon as I was finished packing, I dialed my close friend, Gina’s number who was in another pack.

She picked up almost instantly and I felt my heart clench with pain as I said, “Gina, I've made a mistake.

Giving up my position as the pack's financial secretary and living my life freely for Blake was the worst decision that I've ever made! I feel remorseful over this decision and I want to transfer to your pack to reunite with you again.”

“You're so dumb for falling for his lies.” She said and hung up the call.

I stared at the wall as I felt my heart break from pain.

I remembered how she had told me countless times how Blake was just playing with my feelings and how a look of disapproval stayed on her face when she left the pack.

My heart broke even more as I remembered the memories and I clutched my chest. I crumbled to the floor as my mood turned dark. That was when my phone beeped.

I got up from the floor on shaky knees and I grabbed my phone from the bed.

I checked the notification to see that it was a message from Gina.

She had sent me the pack transfer form and her pack's location.

She sent another message that read, [The transfer form needs to be filled and signed within a day and sent back for approval. The approval would take only a day.]

That meant that I could leave in two days.

I typed and sent her, [Thank you.]

A laugh tore out from my throat as I felt overwhelmed with joy. I would finally stop wasting my life on Blake and be free.

This called for a run. I wanted to celebrate, so I placed my phone on the bed and made my way to the front door.

As soon as I was out of the house, I shifted into my wolf form and started running into the woods beside the pack house.

I howled, finally feeling free.

The wild animal in me let loose and ran faster.

The full moon loomed above in the sky, lighting my path.

Suddenly, I disappeared from the woods and appeared in front of Hailey's house.

Did I teleport? How did I gain new powers?

I looked into the house’s window and saw her standing in the kitchen in front of the counter and then I saw Blake walk behind her to wrap his arms around her then pull her back to his front.

I had seen enough, so I turned around and ran back home.

I slept alone that night because Blake didn't return home. When he saw that I didn't follow his instructions to act as Hailey's servant, he stopped answering my mindlinks and blocked me on Facebook and all social media.

I decided to ignore him too and made my way to my father's house to pack my remaining stuff from there.

I didn't know what Blake had said to my father to make him so angry. When I climbed out of the taxi, I saw him walking towards me.

He scanned the area for Blake. When he realized that I was alone, his expression changed as a scowl appeared on his face.

He shouldn't have cared about Blake because Blake would never visit his home ever again.

He always thought that we were too low class to be his concern.

Dad stopped in front of me as he asked in a stern voice, “Are you and Blake back together?”

“No, we're never getting back together.” I muttered in a firm voice.

After I said those words, my father threw a kick at my calf, making me groan and wince in pain as I squatted down and held onto my leg.

He looked like he didn't have enough, and pushed me, making me fall to the ground.

“Shift!” He growled at me and shifted into his wolf form.

I had no choice, but to shift.

He opened his mouth wide and clamped his sharp teeth around my neck. He always did this as a punishment whenever I had angered him.

I let him do it since he was my father. Besides, it would be hard to fight him off since he was bigger and stronger even though I had werewolf powers unlike him.

The pack members around us stared and pointed at us.

After doing that for a while, he let go and aimed for my shoulder. He bit down hard, making me groan in pain.

He has never bitten before, and I knew that he was very angry to have bitten me.

As he pulled away, I heard his mindlink as he said, “You’re a disgrace.”

I felt tears brim in my eyes and felt my tummy tighten in pain at his words and actions.

He head butted me, making me skid across the ground and stop a few feet away from him.

He walked over to me as he shifted back to his human form.

I stayed in wolf form as I waited for the bite wound to heal since we healed faster in wolf form.

He pointed fingers at me as he growled, “I learnt what happened from Blake. Don't you know that getting a he-wolf like him to want you as his mate is good karma that takes thousands of years to earn, yet you couldn't get him stay with you? Envious, lazy and acting like a whore, you're worse than a disgrace!”

“I'll tell you this, you better try whatever you can to get Blake to mark you whether it's by treating him like he means the world to you or acting as his maid or I'll disown you!” He yelled as he glared at me.

I shifted back to my human form as my wound has healed, but I was still weak and it was from his words, not from his punishment.

Tears dripped down my cheeks as I remained speechless.

My father only stopped hurling insults at me when snow started falling from the sky.

He turned around and made his way to the house. I followed him, but turned back around when he heard my footsteps.

A growl rumbled from my father's throat, threatening me to stay away.

He then turned back around and went inside then locked the door.

I stared at the door as I thought of how to fix the situation.

A few minutes later, he unlocked the door, opened it and pushed my stuff out onto the porch; a box of books and awards, a traveling bag and a small suitcase then kicked them off the porch.

“Leave this instant! I would never accept you back unless you get back together with Blake!” He growled at me.

He threw one of my accounting textbooks at me and it slammed against my stomach, making me couch loudly as I held onto my tummy.

He turned around and slammed the door shut.

I squatted down and grabbed the textbook then placed it in the box of books. I checked the stuff inside the book as I wanted to save my past experiences.

Suddenly, a new model Mustang stopped in front of of our lawn and the driver's seat door opened. Blake climbed out with a small, black blanket in his hand.

He walked over to me and caught my arm then dragged me to his car as I struggled against him.

He glanced me as he muttered, “About time you learned, Amber! I'm the only he-wolf that will take you as a mate. So stop being stubborn and come back to the house with me. Repent the right way to Hailey and I will mark you.”

He wrapped the blanket around me and I saw its tag with the a brand name on it, [Hailey.]

She must have had them made for her like that so that people would think that she was a fashion designer.

I didn't answer Blake, I just stared at the road ahead through the windshield as I thought about my father's harsh words. Pain and sadness enveloped me.

I used to take Blake as my rock and would go to him whenever I was in distress and tell him all that was bothering me. However, he had exploited my vulnerabilities.

He was never my safe haven and he didn't deserve my heart. Leaving him was the first step towards reclaiming my life.

As I continued pondering on my love life, Blake's phone beeped, indicating a message coming through. He checked it and as he started typing, the phone started ringing.

“Where are you? All the pack members at the pack office are eager for your arrival, Alpha Blake.”

With my heightened werewolf hearing, I heard a she-wolf's voice say as soon as he answered the call.

She added, “They're mocking me and talking about how the pack company's Gala party can't have only the Alpha's mate coming to the party when the Alpha isn't even present. I don't even have anymore excuses to give.”

Blake glanced at me as his face slipped into a cold mask. He stayed silent for a few seconds as if thinking it over.

It looked like he wanted to leave me to go to the pack company’s Gala, but he seemed to have a change of heart as he sighed and asked me, “Come with me to our pack company’s Gala party. You agree, right?”

Blake has never let me attend the pack company's Gala party or any event that the company was hosting before even when I was working at the company.

He said that he didn't want any he-wolf to get any ideas when he sees me at a party even though it was a formal party.

I caressed my shoulder where my father had bitten me, realizing that it wasn't hurting anymore, I nodded steadily and I replied, “Sure.”

When we reached the pack company's Gala party, I was shivering from the snow that I was exposed to back at my father's lawn.

My clothes also had snow on them and I dusted some of, but some stuck by and some melted on my clothes.

Blake walked faster, maintaining a safe distance from me.

It was like he was embarrassed to be seen with me.

Hailey's lips tipped downwards and a frown fell on her brows as her gaze landed on me.

Using my werewolf hearing, I heard Blake murmur to her, “I don't pity her, I want to put her in her place. I'll make everyone see that without me, her life is more miserable than a rat's.”

Even though I heard their taunts and saw their puzzled gazes, I was indifferent.

Maybe it was because Blake has put me through so much emotional pain that I didn't care about what people thought of me anymore.

I saw a security guard by a door on my right and I walked over as I asked, “Hi, can I get a change of clothes? I know that there are clothes kept in cases of emergency when I used to work for this company.”

“Yeah, I'll get you another dress.” She replied with a smile and then walked into through another door.

A few minutes later, she called me into the room and handed me a black dress. I took it and she left me to change in the room.

After I had changed, I pushed the dress that I took off into my large handbag and walked out of the room.

I had just sat down at a table and was looking around the party when my phone beeped.

I pulled it out of my handbag and saw a message from Gina.

It read, [Your pack transfer has been approved and I have talked to our Alpha about giving you a position in the pack.

He agreed and he said that he would be interviewing you for either the pack financial secretary position or the pack warrior position since I told him about your previous work experience and fighting skills.]

I read the next message that came through aloud, “I can't wait for interview. I would choose the financial secretary position for you!”

I felt someone touch my hand and I looked up to see Blake.

A confused look showed on his face as he asked, “What are you talking about? An interview? Are you going somewhere?”

I shook my head and hid the truth, “Financial advisor interview.”

His confusion dissipated as a look of understanding appeared on his face and he replied, “I can see you doing that. Besides, your Dad kicked you out, you have nowhere else to go.

The snow isn't falling anymore, and you're not doing anything at this party. Just go back to the pack house. Remember to put my blanket in the washing machine once you reach home.”

I stared at him as I muttered to myself, “Really?”

I pulled off the blanket from around me and placed it on the table.

Haikey kept her gaze on me as she rubbed her chin.

After a few seconds, she pressed on, “We have to help her find a taxi since she didn't come with her car.”

“Sure.” Blake agreed as he smiled fondly at her.

We walked out of the company building and stood beside the road.

Out of nowhere, Hailey crashed into me, making me crash against the rusty, old telephone booth that was beside me.

“Oh no! Amber!” Blake yelled as he tried to pull me back.

However, he stopped because Hailey screamed as she wobbled on her feet like she was also going to crash into the telephone booth.

He watched the glass of the telephone booth break and rain on me as he grabbed Hailey's shoulders to steady her then turned her away and moved her away from the crash.

The small glass shards stuck to my skin, drawing a bit of blood.

I had fallen onto all fours as the glass rained on me and that made me feel even more wretched.

I stood up on shaky legs just as Blake pulled out small glass particles from Hailey's hair and brushed her hair back from her face tenderly.