[Why are you ignoring my mind links?]
[You’re not answering my calls as well!
[Marcia, please. Let me explain, okay? It’s not what you think it is.]
As I glanced at the flurry of messages from Preston, I reluctantly used our mind link. His voice was urgent and pleading when he answered, “Marcia!”
“Why didn’t you answer my mind links and calls? Where are you? I went home, but you weren’t there. I’m outside your office now,” he rattled off.
“Yes, I’m here. I’m coming down now, I told him, a sense of resignation creeping into my tone. At that moment, another voice sounded. It was familiar. And as always, whenever she would initiate to talk to me, even though we were far away from each other, it always felt magical. “My daughter… Please talk to me,” the Moon Goddess, my birth mother, talked to me through a
mind link.
I sighed as my fist balled. “Mom.”
“Marcia!” She seemed so excited, but at the same time, I could feel her worry all the way down.
here.
“I know… I know everything that is happening. Please, my dear. Can’t you leave that place. already? I can break your mateship! I can sever your fate with him if you want me to! Just please,” she was almost begging me.
If I were who I was before, I would have declined. I would have been angry, shutting her down.. But the idea of ending this mateship seemed good in the ears now.
I was… tired.
Was being wolfless worth it? Of course not. Of course… not. Not even my mate was constantly cheating behind my back. Not when my Alpha thought of me as a replacement for his first love- Gwen. Now that her mate, her Alpha, had died, she was back. And now, all his attention was on the woman and her child.
“We can wake your wolf up. I promise that, okay? Just choose yourself this time. Choose to
leave.”
As I descended to the ground floor, Preston’s car pulled up. He got out and walked over, taking the folder from my hand. “Let’s go home,” the Alpha said, his voice tinged with a mix of concern and weariness.
I reached for the car door, but my stomach twisted at the sight that greeted me: Gwen sitting comfortably in the passenger seat. She smiled at me, her apology ringing hollow as she chirped, “I’m sorry, Marcia, I get carsick easily. Could you sit in the back for now?”
The audacity of her intrusion, not just into our mateship but into my personal space, was a bitter pill to swallow. The Alpha, ever the accommodating mate, interjected before I could object, “Marcia, Gwen’s stomach is sensitive. Please sit in the back for now. I’ll drop her off first, then you can move to the front.”
“There’s no need to switch, I muttered tersely. “The back is fine.”
2:53 pm
With a forced smile, I settled into the back seat. The leather offered no comfort from the icy tendrils of betrayal that gripped my heart. Gwen, oblivious to the turmoil within me, started a conversation, trying to justify her presence and Preston’s actions.
“I haven’t been back in a while and I’m not familiar with many places,” she said, glancing at me *Plus, I usually have to take care of Tricia, so I don’t get out much. Preston was free today, so hi took me out. You don’t mind, do
you?”
“I don’t mind,” I replied flatly, my words lacking any genuine feeling. A sarcastic thought crosse my mind, laced with dark humor. “Did you have fun? If not, let my mate take you somewhere else next time. He’s free on weekends.”
Preston’s expression darkened, but Gwen placated him with a touch and a smile. “His arm is sore from carrying me today,” she remarked. “We won’t go out again anytime soon, right, Alpha Preston? He’s been working so hard, too.”
My mate nodded stiffly, clearly uncomfortable. After dropping Gwen off at her place, he turned to me, his frustration palpable. “Marcia, come sit in the front.”
“There’s no need, Alpha,” I replied evenly. “The back is perfectly spacious and comfortable.”
Annoyance flashed across Preston’s face. “Stop being difficult,” he snapped. “I only took Gwer out because she was bored. She hasn’t been out in a while, and I just wanted to keep her
company.”
His excuses rang hollow in my ears. “I believe you,” I said tonelessly, though my conviction was lacking. “Let’s just go home.”
With a sigh, Preston exited the car and moved to sit beside me in the back seat. His hand brushed mine, seeking reassurance. “Do you really not care? Are you pretending to be okay out of spite?”
“I believe you,” I repeated mechanically.
As he hugged me, promising to keep his distance from Gwen, I couldn’t help but feel a distant detachment. The hurt and anger were there, but they felt remote, overshadowed by a cold realization that I no longer needed him. The decision to leave had been made, silently and
resolutely.
Maybe, ending this mateship was better.
‘Okay,” I murmured, the words almost lost in the growing chasm between
- US.
My mother was right. Staying here was torture, and the more I lingered, the more I lost myself.
2:53 pm G
Chapter 7
