Chapter 6
“You should’ve seen this coming, Elena.”
I stared her down, my voice cool and sharp.
“All those times you provoked me, played the helpless victim just to win Theo’s sympathy–every single moment he defended you like you were made of glass, you thought I wouldn’t notice?”
“I let it slide because of him. But now?”
I smiled and pulled out my phone, scrolling through the receipts every word, every dirty little game Elena had ever played.
Then, right in front of her, I hit send.
A full package straight to Theo’s inbox.
“Congrats,” I said. “Long live your friendship.‘
That day, when Theo finally dragged Elena out of my house, I saw him treat her in a way I never thought I’d witness–cold, distant, and completely done with her.
She was still crying when the door slammed shut behind them.
I stood there for a second, letting the silence wash over me. And when I couldn’t hear her sobs anymore, I called Faye and booked a cleaning crew. Every single trace of Theo–gone. His stuff was boxed and shipped straight to his place.
By the time Theo finished going through the messages, Elena was kneeling at Theo’s feet, bawling.
“Theo, please don’t believe her! She’s lying–she faked it all with AI or something! She’s trying to
drive us apart!”
“We grew up together, remember?” she whimpered. “You know me better than anyone–don’t you?”
they
She wasn’t wrong about that. Theo had known Elena since were kids. She’d been the little shadow trailing behind him, always underfoot, always protected. His parents adored her, treated
her like a sister. Told him to look after her, so he did. Fiercely.
Even back then, when someone from her pack joked about them getting married, he’d rejected it
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flat out. Said it was weird. Said he didn’t feel that way.
Because he didn’t know what feeling that way meant-
Not until the mating banquet.
Not until he saw me.
He said it himself: I was the one who stopped him dead in his tracks. The one who made his heart skip like it had never skipped before. And he chased me–hard. For years. Until he caught me.
Now, Theo stood there staring down at Elena, jaw clenched.
Without a word, he pulled out his phone, opened the file I’d sent him, and threw it in her face.
“This,” he said, voice low and furious. “Is all of this fake?”
“Elena, do you think I’m stupid? You really think I can’t tell the difference between the truth and your bullshit?”
She flinched as he stomped down, crushing the phone beneath his boot.
Then he grabbed her by the jaw, forcing her to look at him.
“I told you I love Anya,” he growled. “She’s my fated mate. Chosen by the Moon Goddess herself.”
“I told you that, didn’t I?”
“So why the hell did you try to ruin that?”
“Why, Elena?!”
She didn’t answer. Couldn’t. He shoved her back, and she hit the floor hard, face scraping the ground.
But instead of crying, she started laughing.
At first, just a breathy giggle. Then louder. And louder. Until it turned into full–blown, manic laughter.
Theo kicked her in the side, eyes blazing.
“What the hell are you laughing at?!”
She wiped her tears and sat up, still laughing, voice soaked in venom.
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“I’m laughing at you, Theo.”
“God, you’re pathetic. Still drooling over Anya like a damn mutt, hoping she’ll come back and pet you on the head.”
“You think she wants you now? After everything?”
“She’s not coming back. Not after what you did. Hell, it didn’t have to be cheating. One look, one slip–up, and you were already filthy in her eyes.”
That hit him like a slap.
He remembered.
He’d once asked me, “What’s the one thing you could never forgive in a relationship?”
I hadn’t even hesitated.
“Betrayal,” I said. “Emotional or physical. I don’t care which. I’ll never tolerate betrayal.”
And I meant it.
1
He remembered the way I looked at him that day when I told him to get out.
The way I ended that final call with a quiet, final: “I’m done playing.”
Now that memory tore through him like claws to the chest, and he felt it-
The rot, the stink of guilt spreading like infection from his heart outward.
He snapped.
“Shut up!” he roared, yanking Elena to her feet by her collar.
“Just shut the hell up!”
He slapped her across the face–once, then again.
But she only laughed harder.
“Go ahead,” she spat. “Hit me all you want.
“Hit me for being the one who tells you the truth. You’re weak, Theo. A coward.”
“You lost the only woman who ever really loved you–and you deserve to live with that.”
Chapter 6
Her father was about to violate her when her destined mate appeared
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“Every damn second of it.”