I stare in doubt at the humongous house in front of me. I can hear the booming music playing somewhere outside. I could also hear the screams of children as they had fun.

It was Krystal eighth birthday and I hadn’t been invited. I hadn’t even known there was a party. How pathetic is that? Not knowing your daughter already had a birthday party planned?

I had called Darren to ask him what I should plan. He had angrily answered that Miranda had everything covered. That I shouldn’t bother coming because neither him nor Krystal wanted me there.

I was the one who always planned her parties, and it was always done at our home. But this year it was being held at Miranda’s.

Apparently Krystal had asked her to plan it. Because according to her I don’t plan her parties the way she wanted them. They were always boring and ugly and she hated them.

It had hurt to know that Krystal had never liked or appreciated the work and effort I put in the planning. That it wasn’t enough. That she hated those parties.

I sigh knowing Miranda has overturned everything I’ve ever done. That all my efforts are nothing but squashed bugs beneath her feet.

Why the fuck does it still hurt? It has been months since she come back. I should be used to the new reality by now, but I was still holding on.

“You can do this Ren” My wolf Blue murmurs. As I try to find the courage to walk to her house. A place I remain unwanted.

“This is our pup’s party and we shouldn’t miss it” she continues.

If I had thought what Darren did was painful. Then I had no idea how this would tear me up. That Krystal and Darren hadn’t wanted me there on the day I fucking gave birth to her. I had been angry at both of them, then the anger had turned to hurt.

Pushing those thoughts away I take a step forward. The door was opened so I stepped in and I was in complete awe. Everything was beautiful, Miranda had really done a great job. It looked like something out of a fairytale.

I follow the sound of the music and I end up in the backyard. The lash field had been transformed into a dream. Pink and white flowers covered the ground. Tables covered with glittery gold table clothes.

Each table had four chairs covered with a white satin cloth. They were then tied with gold ribbons. Everything looked fancy and upscale. No wonder Krystal hated my parties.

My self-confidence takes a hit, knowing that nothing I had done, had been good enough for Krystal.

“What are you doing here?!” the shout brings me out of my thoughts.

I turn to look and find Krystal. She stares at me in anger and disgust. As if my very presence would ruin the day for her. Her shout had attracted the attention of guests. Both humans and wolves.

I don’t speak. Unable to comprehend what changed in Krystal. Why she all of a sudden hated me. Was it something I did? Something I said?

“I don’t want you here, leave and don’t ever come back!” she screamed. Her hands balled tightly in a fist.

“Honey, I come to bring you your gift” I tell her gently. My voice trembling from trying to holding my tears back.

I was really trying. The last thing I needed was to be the talk of the city. I could feel the pity from our packmates through the bond. And I know majority don’t agree with what Darren is doing. But I don’t want their pity. I just want my family back.

Krystal reaches out to take the gift. I was about to sigh in relief, to smile at her. But then she does something I never expected her to.

She throws the gift to the floor, before stomping on it. Breaking the doll I had bought her. I look at the broken doll, which is the perfect reflection of my broken heart. She stomped on the doll the same way she just stomped on my heart.

“I told you I don’t want you here, and I don’t want your stupid and ugly present” she snapped at me. She was shaking as if she couldn’t control her anger and hatred.

How did it get to this? What did Miranda have that I didn’t? What was it about her that made my family love her but hate me.

All I ever done was to love them. Give them all of me. The best of me. I’ve done all I could to be the perfect mate and wife. To be the perfect mother but it seemed none of that was enough. Because Miranda easily replaced me in their hearts.

“Krys…” I choke out her name. The pain and tears blocking my airway.

She interrupts me by shouting. “No! I hate you and daddy hates you too. We don’t want you here. Daddy is going to marry mommy Miranda but you don’t want them to because you are a bad and evil person. You’re jealous of her because she is prettier than you and you’re ugly. If you don’t let daddy be happy then I’ll pray for the goddess to punish you and send you to hell”

I stumble back because I feel like I’ve been physically punched. That not only does she hates me so much she would wish me to hell but also because Darren is planning to mate with Miranda.

How did this happen? How had I turned from her mother to the villain in their fairytale story?

“You don’t mean that Krystal. I’m your mommy” I cry out. Unable to stop my tears from flowing.

Why do I feel like my heart is being fucking torn into pieces? Like it’s been shredded into minced meat?

“You are no longer my mommy. I only have one mother and that is mommy Miranda” she declared strongly. She then turns her back to me and runs to Miranda.

Miranda wraps her arms around her, glaring at me while she whispers words of comfort to her. As if she was her biological mother and I was the other woman. The one who had destroyed their happy day.

I can’t believe that Krystal just denounced me. In front of guest. How could she do that to me? And how could Darren allow her to? How could they choose Miranda over me?

The remaining pieces of my heart were shattering. I don’t think there was anything that could fix it, make it whole again.

Before I even have a chance to pick my dignity from the floor, Darren is there. He grabs my arm in a painful grip and drags me away.

“Please Darren…” I plead with him when we are almost to the door.

“Shut the fuck up, you stupid cunt!” he shouts. He is completely livid and furious. His eyes changing from black to yellow.

I shut up completely shocked he would call me a cunt. As if I was nothing but an annoying hoe that was trying to break up his happy family.

It fucking hurts.

His fingers leave my arm and wrap around my neck. He squeezes hard, chocking the day lights out of me. His claws digging deep into my neck. I can feel the blood trailing down my neck. Already soaking my blouse.

“Let this be the last fucking time I see you near Krystal or even me. Don’t touch her, don’t look at her and don’t even breathe the same fucking air as her. If you come even an inch near us, I’ll fucking kill you” he threatened. His voice hard.

“But she’s my daughter” I whisper, tears running down my face.

His voice was cold with finality when he replied. “You heard her…you mean nothing to her and you mean nothing to me”

Without another word, he pushes me out of the door before closing it. I try to break my fall by landing on my hands and knees. I don’t even register that I have bruised them. Or that my neck though healing was till bleeding.

The pain from my physical wounds couldn’t compare to the one in my heart. How am I supposed to fight when I feel broken? Should I even fight for them or just give up? Given they’ve turned their back on me and hate me. What was the point anyway? They no longer want me, us. Blue hurt beyond repair retreated to the back of my mind.

“Hey” a sweet little voice brings me from my trance.

A boy around ten years old stands next to my car. He has blonde hair and grey eyes. He is a handsome little boy and looks really familiar.

“My daddy says that pretty girls shouldn’t cry. And you’re the most beautiful woman I have ever seen” he tells me sweetly and strongly.

I touches my heart that this boy thinks I’m beautiful while own daughter doesn’t think so.

I kneel to his level even though it causes me pain.

“Thank you handsome. What’s your name?” I ask with a teary smile, trying to wipe away my tears.

He smiles at me and damn does it light up his face.

“I’m Jax…and you’re Krystal mom. I don’t mean to be bad, but I don’t like Krystal all that much now. She was mean to you and it made me angry. I also don’t like my mom or Krystal’s dad, what they are doing to you isn’t nice. They are the ones who should be punished” he says with a hint of anger. His hands balled in a fist

It hits me after he finishes speaking. This boy, trying to comfort me was Miranda’s son.

It also hits me that I could poison him against his mother. Say all manner of things to make him hate her but I don’t. It’s not in me. I would never wish this pain on any mother.

“I know baby, but she’s still your mom, no matter what. You should love and respect her” I calmly and gently say.

He looks intensely at me for a while before saying. “Okay, but just know that even though they don’t love you I do and you’re the best”

He then gives me a hug and a kiss on the cheek before leaving. I don’t know what it is about Jax, but I feel a connection to him. Something tells me our paths are somehow tied to each other.

I get in my car and drive away from my daughter and mate. Feeling better for the first time in months. And it was all because of my enemy’s son.

I walk through the hallways of my almost empty company. My best friend and I had built Ruby’s collection from scratch. Ruby’s had been flourishing. Had been among the top ten fashion companies. Now it was crumbling.

Darren had kept true to his promise to destroy me. My name had been dragged through the mud by magazines and gossip columns. I had been painted as the villain.

The evil bitch that had come between old flames. The treacherous wife who refused to release the man that no longer wanted her. The sad and bitter woman who refused to let go.

I have been called names. I have been cyber bullied. I have been painted worse than the devil. The good image I had in the human society has been destroyed. Majority of both humans and wolves no longer want to be associated with me.

We have lost investors. Our profits are dropping drastically and employees are leaving us. No longer wanting to work for a monster like me.

I was the devil while Miranda was an angel. I was the one trying to break them up instead of the other way around. I hated everything that was happening but I couldn’t control it.

Just like the other days. My secretary is nowhere in sight. I have a feeling that she too was about to leave the company.

I walk into my office but I stop dead. A man that I have only seen in magazines is standing in my office. He occupies the room like he owns it. Like it was his own personal playground.

Sebastian Ashford is a very powerful man. Both in the human and wolf world. He has the unspoken title of alpha of alphas. With a wolf that can only be described as a beast, he was the staff of nightmares. He is also Miranda’s former mate.

“How can I help you Mr. Ashford?” I ask him. Finding my voice.

He doesn’t answer immediately. Just stares at me with those forest green eyes. As if he could see the pain that was wreaking havoc inside me.

He is tall, around six feet or maybe more. midnight black, thick hair. Even though he has a suit on. You can still tell he's fit under it.

He is hot in every sense. Too bad my heart will never be whole again. Never will it be able to beat for another. I was done with men.

“My son keeps talking about you. I had to come and see what all the fuss was all about” he says, his voice deep and husky.

I just stare at him not knowing what to say.

“I want to know what intention you have towards him”

He gets so close that I can feel his body heat. Blue perks up for a bit before going back to sleep.

“Nothing bad. He’s a good kid and he comforted me at my lowest” I murmur. I have to tip my head back just to be able to look at him.

“That better be all Red. Because if I find out you’re using him as revenge against his bitch of a mother, I will rip you to pieces. There will be nothing left of you to bury” he threatens his voice going dangerously low.

I can see the beast everyone talks about. He is lurking just behind those hypnotizing cold grey eyes. I should be scared but for some reason I was not.

Just as with his son, something drew me to him.

“I would never do that. I may hate Miranda but I would never use an innocent child to get back at her”

He continues to stare at me in that peculiar way. Like he was searching my soul. Learning all my secrets.

With a last warning he walks out. Taking his overwhelming presence with him. The moment he is gone the room immediately feels empty.

I get back to work. Trying to focus knowing well it was an impossible task.

It was hours later when Darren comes barging into my office. He was completely pissed and breathing fire.

“Stay the fuck away from my parents. I don’t know what you told them to hate Miranda so much but I won’t allow you to sink your dirty claws into them” he shouts, his voice hateful and full of disdain.

I scoff. “I doubt I have any power over them. They hate Miranda for what she did to you. Not because of anything I’ve told them”

He looks at me. His eyes full of loathing. How is it that all love has turned to hate? I just don’t fucking understand.

“Sign the goddamn papers and leave my family alone. Better yet, just fucking die it would make my life easier”

His words shatters me a little further. Leaving both Blue and I broken in a way I’m afraid we will never recover.

He turns about to leave but I stop him.

“Wait” I shout but it comes out as a whimper instead. “Be honest with me. Did you ever really love me? These ten years we’ve been together, did you love me or was it just pretend for you?”

I was fucking scared of the answer but I just had to know. Hoping that at least he loved me at one point. That he had at least cared for me. That he had been happy with me. His answer could destroy me but I needed it.

He sighs, before answering. “I don’t think so. My heart never truly belonged to you, it was always Miranda’s. You were just holding it for her but it was never yours to begin with so let’s just end this sham of a mating, so I can finally be with the only woman I’ve ever loved. We’re ten years overdue”

Without saying anything else he leaves. Walking out the door, like he was walking out of my life.

I fall to my knees. My heart constricting in pain. My soul feeling like it has been torn into two. He never loved me. Not even once. He was just using me.

The pain of this knowledge is crashing.

“Make it stop Blue. Please make the pain go away” I plead with her.

She replies just as broken. “I wish I could, my lovely human”

I don’t know how long I had been on the floor when I heard her. “Ren?”

I look up to find my best friend Claire standing at the door. Within seconds she is kneeling beside me.

“Oh Renny, what’s he done to you?”

And that’s all it takes for me to crumble. I throw myself at her. Finally, I break, a sob tearing its way from the depths of my tortured soul. I let the pain, the anger, the frustration and the hate I’ve been pushing down free.

The dam breaks and the tears I have been holding back flows. I cry my heart out to the moon goddess. Cry at the shitty hand I’ve been dealt with. At the pain she has allowed into my life. At the brokenness I was sure would never be fixed. At my damaged heart.

By the time I’m done I feel empty. Like there is a hole where my soul used to exist.

I whisper, the fight leaving me completely. “I’m sorry Blue but we have to do this”

“I know. Do what you have to, to save what little is left of us” she whimpers before retreating to the back of our mind.

I turn to Claire, whispering the words that tear at me. “I’m done”

She doesn’t say a word, just nods. Her tears fall while she holds me tightly in her arms.

************************************************

I stare at myself in the mirror and I can’t believe the woman staring back at me.

She looks tired and broken. Eye bags under her eyes, her skin ashy and hair thin. She’s lost weight and the clothes hang off her body. She looks like a shadow of her former self.

I close my eyes. Praying that when I do open them again they will be clear. It doesn’t work at all. The pain is still there. Still swimming in their depths. Lurking on the surface.

I take a deep breath then leave the bathroom. I stand in the room I’ve been calling mine. It’s funny how things can change in just a few months. How drastic your life can take a wrong turn.

I survey it making sure I haven’t left anything important behind. Everything I own is packed. The rest, the things Darren gave me are either burnt or donated. I’ve cleared everything. Leaving no sign that I ever lived there.

“Are you ready Blue?” I ask my wolf softly.

“Yeah. As ready as I’ll ever be” she replies, her voice barely above whisper.

She is hurt and has been withdrawing into herself more and more each day. I couldn’t allow her to fade. She was the only one that was keeping me sane.

I leave going straight to the airport. Everything has been sorted. I had already signed the separation papers. I had also gotten my lawyer to draft custody papers. Signing full custody of Krystal over to Darren.

It had broken us to do so. But we knew Krystal would never willingly choose to stay with us. Forcing her would only make her hate us more.

I had no idea where we would go. We just needed to go somewhere far away. Where we’re not constantly reminded of all we had lost.

Where we couldn’t see Darren and Krystal happy while we stood aside unwanted. We had to get away because each day felt like we were dying a little more.

Each day felt like we were one step closer to being swallowed by the darkness surrounding us.

“Blue?” I call. I needed her for this next step.

“I’m here love. Do it, let go” she pushes me. Giving me the strength I need.

“I Lauren Smith, cut all ties with Alpha Darren West and the Silver Mist Pack. I declare that I am now a lone wolf with no pack”

The moment I finish those words, I feel the pack link beginning to shrivel in my mind. The buzz that was always there at the back of my mind was now silent.

A tear falls down my cheek. As the pack link completely fades.

I accept that I’ve just severed the last connection I have to Darren and Krystal.

Blue and I were now truly alone.