(ALICE)

I walk over to her, and when I see a photograph on her desk, I reach for it, but she quickly slams it face down on her desk. "What do you want, Darian?"

My jaw tightens. "Is that a picture of your precious husband?"

Her expression shifts for just a second before she narrows her eyes at me. "Should I ask if you keep a picture of your mate in your wallet? It’s not my business, just as this is not your business."

The window behind her chair is large and overlooks the city. I stand by it, my hands in my pockets as I stare at the sky. There’s a restlessness growing inside me.

"My wife", I finally correct her after a few moments of silence. "Willow is not my mate."

In her reflection in the window, I see her shoulders twitch. But when she speaks, her voice is calm. "Is there a difference?"

I look over my shoulder at her. "You’re a wolf shifter. Just because you’ve been hiding out in the human world, it’s no excuse for forgetting your roots. Marriage is for legal purposes. Mating is where the wolf spirits get involved. My wolf does not accept Willow."

I wait for her reaction, but her back remains stiff. I cannot see her expression since she is not facing me. When she does reply, her tone is rigid. "I want to know why you are here, Darian. Haven’t you punished me enough? This life that I have built has nothing to do with you. I would appreciate it if you left me alone."

Her words sting me. "Nothing to do with me, huh?"

Now, she turns in her chair to look at me. Her countenance is blank. There is no anger in her eyes. In fact, I could almost say that they look empty, devoid of emotion.

It infuriates me.

Have I been the only one pining all these years, like a fool?

I move to stand in front of her, and with one hand, I hold her by the jaw, tilting her face up to meet my burning gaze. "Everything you do is my business. Did you think you could hide from me forever?"

She bats my hand away, a hint of irritation entering her eyes. "Don’t try to bully me in my own territory, Darian. I’m no longer that weak little girl you tortured just for kicks. You can’t hurt me now. And if you try, I can disappear all over again. And next time, you’ll never find me."

Fear strikes me in the heart. She means it. She really will vanish again. Then, her previous words register on me.

"You think I tortured you for fun?" My throat tightens as I realize that all this time, that’s what she’s been thinking of me.

"You expect me to believe any different?" Alice rises to her feet, her eyes flashing at me.

"That can’t be further from the—"

She holds up a hand, stopping me, and I see the exhaustion in her eyes. "Look, Darian—sorry, Your Majesty."

It’s my turn to flinch now.

"You wanted to teach me a lesson, and I learnt it. I should’ve stayed in my own lane. I should never have even looked at you. Believe me, I will not make that mistake again." She makes her way around the desk to put some distance between us. "You’re married, or mated, whichever. I’ve been in the human world for seven years. I’ve never looked for you. I’ve never tried to reach out to you. I know my place. I am no longer associated with the Wolf Kingdom. I would appreciate it if you would leave me alone. I’ve built a life here. However mediocre it may seem in your eyes, it is my life. I don’t want your shadow to fall on it. You and I have nothing to link us. That’s what you wanted, isn’t it?"

I stare at her, stunned. "It’s that easy for you? To throw me out of your life?"

She says nothing.

"What do you mean, I taught you a lesson?" I watch her closely, my voice tense. "I wasn’t trying to do anything like that. You don’t understand the circumstances—"

"Save it. I don’t want to remember." She looks me in the eye. "It’s in the past. I swore to myself I would never live in the past. What are you here to do, Sire? Is this just another attempt to ruin my life? Do you have some other plan to humiliate me or try to destroy me? Just tell me. If you want me to disappear, I’ll disappear. I have far too much to lose this time around to bother with pride."

It’s not anger that’s coming from her; it’s resignation. She thinks I’m here to hurt her. She thinks I want to humiliate her.

The very core of me is trembling. "I’m not a monster, Alice," I murmur, my wolf unhappy.

"To me, you are worse than a monster," she responds softly.

I stare at her. A monster. All this time, that’s what she has thought.

I step toward her, a storm raging within me. "Everything I did that night was to protect you, Alice. I didn’t stand there laughing while they sealed your dark magic. I didn’t smile when you were screaming. You can call me many things, but a monster I am not. What I am is a selfish bastard. I wanted you to live. I didn’t want to lose you. If that meant I had to make a deal with the devil, then I did."

Her face is white as a sheet, but she doesn’t back down. "Well, at least one thing you’ve said is true. You truly are a selfish bastard. I’m not naive anymore, Darian. I’m not going to believe everything you say. You had plenty to say before, and what did believing it get me? Just tell me why you’re here."

I clench my jaw, the distrust in her eyes eating at me.

In response to my silence, she walks away from me again. I take the opportunity to pick up the framed photo that she hid from me. There’s no picture of her husband, just one of her and a small child in her arms.

When I look over at her, her eyes are filled with fear.

"Don’t worry, Alice," I say bitterly. "I won’t hurt your child. Or you. I heard you married a human. Did you love him?"

She’s silent once again, and I move closer to her.

"Where did you meet him? If I broke your trust so badly, how were you able to trust him? Or was it one of those things where he knocked you up, so you had to marry him?" I’m getting angrier by the second just talking about the man who had everything I have ever wanted: the love of this woman who can never be mine. "According to your friend, Katherine, he was the love of your life. What about me? Am I nothing to you?"

She still doesn’t answer me.

"Well, what was it?" I roar, unable to control my emotions. "You simply moved on from me in a heartbeat? We were fated mates—"

"Fated mates, yes, and you took another woman into your bed." Alice

storms over to me, her eyes tense. "We were fated mates, and you led me around by the nose till you had the one thing I valued, my trust, and then you shattered it." She shoves me backward, a vicious agony in her eyes. "We were fated mates, Darian, and you watched the woman you are now married to kick me in the face and humiliate me. Don’t make me laugh," she spits out. "You wanted to punish me because the fates had made the mistake of pairing us together. Well, you got what you wanted. You broke me into so many pieces that I still can’t find them all. You did what nobody was able to do my whole life. You made me wish for death. Does that make you happy?"

She pushes me up against the wall now, and I see the cracks in her facade, the broken woman underneath.

"Did it please you to see me crawling on the ground, begging for mercy? Did it satisfy your anger? Are you here to do it all over again? Did you come here to hurt my daughter? To hurt me, using her? Because I will burn everything to the ground before I let you touch her. She is mine. She’s the only good thing in my life, and I’m not going to let you take her. You are the worst thing that ever happened to me, Darian Wild. I wish I never met you. I despise you in my very core. If I have hated anyone in my life, it’s you."

I stare at her, unable to speak, my mouth dry.

Before I can even process her words, the door opens, and her assistant appears, her face pale. She asks, "Miss Lane? Is everything okay? Should I call security?"

Alice glares at me, her chest heaving. Holding my gaze, she breathes, "No. Mr Wild was just leaving."

I stare at her for a few more seconds before moving past her and out the door.

I walk out of the building and down the street. Without stopping, I head toward a park that I know leads into some woods. My pace turns into a run, and once I’m sure I’m away from any humans, I shift into my wolf form. I dash through the trees, trying to escape the agony, this horrific pain that is ripping me apart.

"You are the worst thing that ever happened to me, Darian Wild."

"If I have hated anyone in my life, it’s you."

"I wish I never met you."

A howl of misery leaves my throat. My wolf, broken-hearted, screams into the silent forest.

And it doesn’t stop.