AMELIA’S P.O.V

I couldn’t bring myself to go to school. I woke up early, I got dressed and I even went as far as to get into my car but I just couldn’t turn the ignition. I felt like a failure, like my destroyed relationship was written across my forehead in permanent marker. Shame filled me which was ironic because I wasn’t the one who did anything worth being ashamed over.


There was a knock on my window and I turned to find Clara standing there with a small smile. “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to. You can afford to miss one day.”

“It isn’t just one day. I missed weeks worth of classes because of them. I cannot afford to miss any more. I had a plan, I had everything set out in front of me and now it is going down the drain. I need something that I can hold onto. I need something that is wholly mine and not his.”

She sighed deeply. I was sure I speaking a whole lot of rubbish but it made sense to me and that was all that mattered. She pulled the door open and I watched as she fidgeted with my turtleneck sweater. It was a bit cold so no one was going to bat an eyelash when they saw me in it. She pushed tendrils of hair out of my face and gave me a small smile.


“Then go do it,” she whispered to me. “Do this for you. Go out there and forget about him. If he calls, don’t respond. Don’t go back.”

“Do you really mean that?” I couldn’t stop myself from asking. “He is your friend. You grew up with him. You know him. You championed our relationship before. I am not blaming you, I am just saying that it seems weird that you would ask me not to go back.”


“As his friend, I want to believe that it was a mistake that will sort itself out but as your friend and your sister, I will kill you if you go back to him,” hot tears gathered in my eyes and I had to blink them back so as not to ruin my makeup. “You’ll have an amazing day and you will realize that maybe life isn’t as bad as it sometimes makes itself out to be.”

“Thank you, Clara.”

She gave me a warm smile before taking a step back from the car.

That conversation was all the strength I needed to start the car and drive to school. I wished I could say that all the anxiety dissipated immediately- it didn’t. My hands still shook and beads of sweat appeared on my forehead but I didn’t turn around. I kept my gaze forward and when I got to school, I pretended like nothing was wrong.

I heard the whispers, I felt the stares but I kept my head up and pretended like they were all beneath me. They would only know what I told them and I made up my mind that I was not going to tell them a single thing. It was my business- mine and Kaden’s. It didn’t matter what they thought.

“Hey,” Serena rushed up to me. “How are you feeling? I heard that the girl from the hospital woke up. Do you-”

“I am not talking about that unless you equally want to talk about what happened between you and Aiden,” she pursed her lips. “I am not going to be the only one giving away pieces of herself, Serena. That is not how a friendship works. If you cannot even trust me with your secrets then how do you expect me to trust you with my own.”

“I just don’t like talking about it.”

“Would you look at that, neither do I,” I said in the same tone she did. “If you don’t ask any questions, I will not either. We have class in twenty minutes. Are you coming?”

Class was a little harder to handle because even the lecturers wanted to know. They would ask me questions more than the others and make suggestive statements as if trying to probe for my weak spots. It was infuriating but there was little to nothing I could do about it. The one with all the power was Kaden and as at right now, I wanted nothing to do with him.

He had been blowing up my phone all day and it seemed like the more I ignored him, the more he called. I sent all his messages to spam and redirected his calls. I didn’t want to speak to him. I didn’t want to hear his half assed apology only to go back and have the same thing repeated over and over again. I deserved better and it was about time that I started acting like it.

“You’re squeezing the cup,” Serena’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts and I looked down only to realize that I had truly been squeezing my coffee cop and it had been spilling all over my hands yet I had not realized it.

I flushed pink as I grabbed paper towels and began to dab at it. While I was doing so, I noticed that Serena had her eyes fixated on something behind me. I turned following her line of sight only to find Nadine walking towards us without a care in the world. She was wearing my clothes, that much I could see and she has a sly smirk on her face.

“What is she doing here?” I asked but Serena simply shrugged.

All eyes were on us as she made her way over and took the seat next to me. I wanted to get up and walk away but I knew that would only bring more gossip so I forced myself to remain still while she made a show of stealing from my fries.

“I hope you don’t mind, Kaden’s clothes are cute and all but I can’t wear them out,” she drawled. It felt like torture trying to keep my face still as she spoke. “I wanted to say thank you for the clothes you left over.”

“You’re welcome, you can get out now.”

She cleared her throat and I turned to her. “I wasn’t done. I also wanted to give you a little warning of sorts. Kaden is mine and I want you to remember that. I want you to know that there is nothing that you can do to get him back. I have him under my thumb. You would do well to walk away right now because it doesn’t matter how much he wants you, he cannot fight me.”

I rolled my eyes. “If you’re done speaking, then you can get the hell out. I don’t do petty girl drama. I have done enough of it to last me a lifetime so if you want him then you can have him. I don’t care and I wont fight you for it.”

I stood to my feet and walked out without another word. I could tell it pissed her off. She was looking for a reaction and I hadn’t given her one. I had essentially ruined her ploy to embarrass me and now she was the one who risked looking like a bully.

I headed straight for the parking lot and got into my car. I was about to slam the door shut when Serena stopped me.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Good, then listen,” she whispered. ‘When I was in high school, I had a crush on Aiden. He was a player, he was everything I knew I should run away from but I didn’t. He would wink at me down the hall, he was nice to me and I was his tutor. I slept with him multiple times despite knowing that I shouldn’t. He filled my head with fantasies of love and babies and a future together. We never used protection and I got pregnant.”

“Why are you-”

“I had the baby, she’s- she doesn’t know I’m her mother. My parents raised her like my sister.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I want you to know that I can be open too. If you ever want to talk, you know where to find me.”

She gave me one last smile before turning on her heels and walking away. I wanted to call out for her, I wanted to ask so many more questions but I couldn’t. I wasn’t ready to speak right now. I drove out of the parking lot and towards the house. It was the only place I could think of being.

Clara was home but she took one look at my expression and knew it was not the time. She let me retreat into the safety of my room and that was where I sat all day. She knocked on my door a few times trying to figure out if I was okay but the truth was that I didn’t know. I wasn’t sure if I was and I couldn’t bring myself to lie about it.

It wasn’t until sometime around nine p.m. that I heard some agitated conversations and pulled myself out of the room. I found Caleb and Clara locked in a heated discussion but the moment they saw me, they fell silent. I didn’t need to be a mind reader to know that it was about me.

“What is it?” I asked but neither of them answered me. “I would very much like to not be treated like a fragile flower. Tell me what the hell is going on.”

“Nothing,” Clara shot a harsh look at Caleb. “He was just being stupid and he is leaving.”

Caleb ignored her and turned to me. “I don’t think Kaden hurt you deliberately. Before you say anything, I want you to listen.”

“Listen to what? You try to defend him almost choking me?”

“You know that I will always be the first one to have your back. I went to rip him a new one today and he lost control of his wolf,” he stared at me like that should have meant nothing. “Kaden is poised and controlled, he doesn’t overreact, he barely even reacts. He lost control of his wolf because I said something about Nadine.”

“Are you just trying to rub it in my face?”

“He said that he cannot control his wolf. It pushes him into the recesses of his mind and takes control. That never happens. Even lesser werewolves can control themselves. There has to be something else at play.”

“Okay.”

“Okay? What do you mean by okay?”

“What do you want me to say?” I exclaimed. “I have lost everything that I had. I will not go down a rabbit hole of fake hope just to delude myself that my mate wants me. He chose her. I don’t care if his wolf did or he did. He chose her.”

“Let’s assume he did. Does that erase everything?”

“You don’t get to play that card on me.”

“Something might be terribly wrong with Kaden and it started the moment she came to this pack. If he is truly in need of help and you leave him at this point, whatever happens is on you.”