Zoe's POV

I was a fashion designer and I always designed clothes for Aaron and his sister, but somehow, I knew that this request wasn't for his sister.

I replied to Aaron in a clipped tone, “I can't finish the dress before evening time.”

He sighed, looking irritated, “When can you finish it then?”

I nodded, “Tomorrow morning. I'll be going out to buy the materials now.”

He looked relieved as he nodded. He then pulled out his wallet from his pants pocket and pulled out a ton of cash, “Here is the money.”

I took it then grabbed my purse and placed it inside.

His phone started ringing and he picked up the call as he started walking out of the bedroom.

Aaron didn't like picking up my calls, yet here he was picking up other people's calls.

In the years that we've been together, he has only picked up my calls five times.

“Our mate doesn't want us anymore.” Kira murmured in my head.

“Don’t worry, he won't be our mate for long.” I replied as I drew in a deep breath and let it out.

I climbed out of bed and made my way to the bathroom.

The next day, I was in the living room while eating lunch when I saw Aaron's text in the WhatsApp group chat. It was a group chat for Aaron, Hannah, Zed and I.

[Zoe, the dresses that you made are gorgeous.]

Hannah texted next as she gushed, [Yeah, they're so beautiful! I could have bought them from the mall, but you know that they will scam me because I can't tell the high quality dresses apart from the low quality ones. Aaron just doesn't want me to be scammed.]

I knew that the dresses were for her, but he acted like it was his sister's.

I texted back, [Okay.]

Hannah replied, [I'm wearing one of the dresses for my friend’s party. You can come too, it's four houses down from the pack house and we're on the balcony.]

Aaron texted, [There's no need for you to come.]

I decided to ignore them, but then a few minutes later, I received a private text from Hannah.

[I'm craving some chicken wings, buy them on your way here.]

Designing a dress for her wasn't enough, she was now asking me to run errands for her?

I scoffed as I shook my head.

Half an hour later, I walked into the house to see people dancing as music blared from the speakers.

I made my way to the balcony and found Aaron and Hannah sitting at table for four people. They were the only ones there and I noticed that they were sitting very close to each other.

He was staring into her eyes and she was staring back into his.

The sound of my footsteps seemed to make them turn to me. A scowl made its way to his face and he pressed his lips into a thin line as if restraining his anger.

Hannah grinned in a mischievous way, “You've made it.”

Aaron's brows furrowed as he said through clenched teeth, “I told you not to come.”

Hannah grinned wider as she raised her hands, “Guilty! I texted her to bring me some chicken wings.”

Aaron grabbed her hands and pulled them down as he said, “You have nothing to be guilty about, Hannah banana.”

How could he always be on her side?

I remembered the real reason that made me come, so I stretched out the transfer form.

I drew in a deep breath and let it out, “I came here for an important reason. A friend of mine is looking to transfer to another pack because her mate belongs to that pack, so can you please sign this transfer form?”

He glanced at me with a frown on his brows as if thinking about it.

“Just sign it please.” I added, and he grabbed it.

He signed it without reading it as he grumbled lowly then handed it back to me.

I felt relief wash over me as I grabbed the form. I will finally be free from this heartache.

“Is this why you interrupted us?” He asked as he glanced at me.

“Yes.” I muttered.

His jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed. He scoffed and turned his head away from me like he couldn't stand the sight of me.

“The tattoo on your arm looks just like the one that Aaron had a few months ago, but then it disappeared and he told me that he had it removed.” Hannah said as she stared at my right wrist where ‘Mates’ was scribbled in tattoo ink.

I glanced at his wrist and saw that she was right. He has removed the matching tattoo that we got five years ago after he marked me as his mate.

“It's just a tattoo, you can get it too if you want.” I replied to her as I felt anger inside my chest.

I was going to have my tattoo removed today since it didn't mean anything to Aaron.

I didn't wait for her reply and turned around.

My phone started ringing and I glanced at the screen to see that it was my brother, Alec.

I quickly picked up and heard him say, “Zoe! How are you? How's Aaron treating you?”

I sniffed, “I'm good. How's mom?”

He didn't acknowledge that I had ignored his second question and replied, “She’s fine, and we've been missing you a lot, especially Mom. When are you coming home? You told Mom that it will be this week.”

“I've missed you too, and don't worry, I'm coming home in two days.” I replied, feeling glad that he didn't ask why I was leaving Aaron.

As I hung up, I heard footsteps coming from behind me and turned around to see Aaron walking towards me.

I wasn't sure if he had heard me or not, but he didn't say anything about it.

“Let's crash here.” He murmured as he started walking up the stairs.

I didn't know why he wanted us to crash here when our pack house was close by, but I followed him.

I woke up to find that Aaron wasn't in the room. I glanced at the wall clock to see it was already 1:00 pm.

The door opened and Aaron walked in.

He glanced at me, “I've made us a special lunch, come to the dining room to eat it.”

I climbed out of bed and followed Aaron downstairs to the dining room.

Zoe's POV

I saw waffles in front of the seats at the ends of the dining table, and walked over to sit down at one end of the table.

Aaron sat at the other end of the table.

“Why did you change the password to your ipad?” He asked me as he stared at me.

The ipad was a gift that he had bought for me on my twenty-fifth birthday and he was the one that set the password for me. I changed it after I realized that he had gone running with Hannah.

He didn't even notice until now.

“No reason.” I answered him as I chewed on my waffles.

A frown fell on his brows and he said in a cold voice, “The Pack alliance party is tonight, and you've always wanted to be my date to such events. Do you want to go as my date?”

Hannah has always been his date for pack related stuff since she became Beta while I go with my friends, so what changed now?

If I declined his offer, he would grow suspicious and I didn't want him to know that I was leaving just yet.

I didn't look at him as I stood up and replied, “Sure.”

At the pack alliance party, I was sitting at a table inside the city hall where it was taking place with Aaron beside me.

“Are you having fun?” Aaron asked me as he saw the bored look on my face.

I nodded, not sparing him a glance.

Being his date wasn't as fun as I had imagined. I didn't know any of the other Lunas or their Alphas, and Aaron has been ignoring me until now.

“Are you-” He started, but stopped when we heard Hannah's voice.

“Aaron!”

We turned around to see her rushing to us.

She hugged him tightly.

“You look marvelous!” He exclaimed as he stared at her body.

Hannah held his hand, interlacing their fingers, “Thanks!”

She glanced at me as her eyes widened in surprise and she let go of his hand, “Oh no! Luna Zoe, I'm so sorry. It's just that we're very close.”

“You don't have to apologize, Hannah.” Aaron replied to her before I could.

Alpha Aiden walked over at that moment and started talking to Aaron.

“Rogues!” We heard someone yell and everyone started running around in panic.

“Come on, Hannah.” Aaron said as he grabbed Hannah's hand and pulled her towards the back door.

He didn't try protecting me, instead, he was protecting Hannah.

“Everyone, calm down. There are no rogues! A kid saw shadows of a bush and thought it was a rogue.” Alpha Aiden announced, making everyone pause.

I saw Aaron walking back into the hall with Hannah, and I glanced at the time on my phone.

My flight would be taking off early in the morning, so I had to retire to bed soon. I made my way out of the hall and took a taxi to the pack house.

The next morning, I was inside the plane when I heard Aaron's panicked voice in my head, “Zoe! Why am I feeling pain from the mate bond breaking? Why are you leaving? Where are you going?”