Three

"How dare you call me that?" The words tore from her throat, raw and jagged.

She stared at Elena, searching for a glimmer of the girl who had been her backbone for three years. They had met in the rain, sharing a jacket and secrets, promising that nothing, especially not a man, would ever come between them. Seeing her now, standing there with a sneer where her smile used to be, felt like a slow-motion car crash.

"You, obviously," Elena spat, her voice carrying across the compound. "The whole pack knows who you really are now. They know how you tried to trap Alpha Jace into marriage."

She frowned, the confusion momentarily dulling her anger. "What are you talking about?"

A crowd began to form, a circle of judging eyes and whispered insults. She straightened her spine. She hadn't come here to beg for a place she was no longer welcome. She was here for her belongings.

"I am not here for a scene, Elena. I came for my things. Don’t get in my way." Her voice was cold, though her heart was hammering against her ribs. She had no fight left, she just wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear.

"Is that why you 'accidentally' left your bag behind? So you could crawl back and play the victim?" Elena took a step closer, her eyes flashing with malice. "Give it up, Ash. Your infidelity is common knowledge. You cheated on the Alpha. If I hadn't been there to pick up the pieces of his broken heart, who knows what would have happened?"

"Cheat?" She let out a harsh, disbelieving laugh. "When did I ever cheat on Rowan? Is stealing him not enough for you? You have to ruin my reputation, too?"

It was like looking at a stranger. Had the Elena she loved for three years ever existed, or had she been wearing a mask the whole time?

"Oh? Then explain your diary," she taunted, her voice rising for the benefit of the crowd. " ‘I can’t wait to tell him the truth when we finally bond.' You approached him for a reason, didn't you? To climb the social ladder. To stop being a pathetic, low-status Omega."

The air left her lungs. "You read my diary."

"Every word," Elena smirked.

The rage hit her then, hot, blinding, and uncontrollable. Before she could think, her hand flew out. The crack of her palm against Elena’s cheek echoed through the courtyard.

Elena cried out, stumbling back and clutching her face. She looked at her with wide, shocked eyes, as if she couldn't believe Ashley could hit her.

"ASH!"

The roar vibrated in her very bones. She didn't need to turn around to know it was Rowan. He surged through the crowd, reaching Elena and pulling her into his arms as if she were made of glass.

"How dare you lay a hand on her?" He thundered, his gaze burning with a hatred that made her stomach turn.

"She slapped me, Rowan!" Elena whined, burying her face in his chest. "Don’t let her get away with it!"

Ashley opened her mouth to defend herself, but the world suddenly exploded in pain. A sharp, heavy blow landed across her cheek, snapping her head to the side. The crowd gasped.

She stood frozen, the sting of the slap radiating through her jaw. Rowan had never hit her. Not once. Not even when she had cost his pack a major contract through a careless mistake.

Slowly, she turned her face back to him. Their eyes met, and for a fleeting second, she saw a flicker of guilt, a shadow of the man she thought she knew. But it vanished as quickly as it appeared.

"Rowan... my head hurts," Elena whimpered, clutching her stomach. "Let’s go inside before something happens to the baby."

Her blood ran cold. "Baby?" She whispered, the word feeling like ash in her mouth.

"Yes," Rowan said, his voice dropping, though he wouldn't look her in the eye. "She’s a month along. I... I didn't mean to strike you. I was just angry. I reacted on impulse because of the child."

He was apologizing, but it was a hollow, stylish regret. He was already turning away, shielding her, protecting a future that should have been hers.

"I see," she said, a bitter, jagged laugh escaping her throat. "I have been the only fool in this entire pack."

"Ash, listen to me. It doesn't have to end this way," Rowan stepped forward, his voice dropping into that persuasive tone he used when he wanted to fix a mess. "I can still marry you. You can stay here as my mistress. You will have everything you have ever wanted. You could even help Elena with the baby. I still love you, Ash. We can still be together."

A wave of nausea rolled over her. She looked at him, really looked at him, and felt a bone-deep revulsion. She wasn't disgusted by him; she was disgusted by herself for ever wanting to belong to a man this spineless.

"If you truly love me, then choose me," she challenged, her voice dripping with cold irony. "Dump her. Let me have the baby, and I will raise it as the Luna of this pack. How about that, Jace? Is your love worth that much?"

Rowan’s gaze dropped. He actually hesitated. She watched the gears turn in his head as he weighed his 'love' against his convenience.

"Rowan!" Elena snapped, her voice sharp enough to draw blood. She nudged him hard, her eyes like cold chips of ice. "If you marry an Omega like her, you will never be able to hold your head up among the other Alphas. I am high-born. I can help you stand tall. The Great Gathering is in two days and you need a Luna who brings power, not a scandal. I will give you heirs that other packs will fear. I can even connect you with Alpha Dane, he’s in the territory right now."

Rowan’s eyes widened, greed instantly replacing his guilt. "You know Alpha Dane?"

"My cousin is dating his nephew," Elena said, her chin tilting up. "I just need to say the word."

Rowan beamed, pulling Elena into a protective embrace. "I knew you were the one. You are perfect for me."

Over his shoulder, Elena met her eyes. She didn't look like a friend. She looked like a predator who had just finished its meal. ‘I won,’ she mouthed silently.

Ashley turned away, her heart feeling like a lead weight in her chest.

"If you change your mind about being my mistress, you know where to find me," Rowan called out, his arrogance blooming now that he had made his choice. "It’s better than sleeping on the streets, Ash. We both know you have nowhere else to go."

She didn't stop. She reached down, grabbed the bag she left behind, and kept walking.

"Keep the rest," she threw the words over her shoulder. "Consider it a wedding gift."

She didn’t stop walking until the packhouse was nothing more than a dark smudge against the sky.

Her legs burned. Every step sent a sharp reminder through her body, of the night in the forest, of the slap on her face, of everything she had let happen because she loved too deeply and trusted too blindly. But she kept moving. Stopping felt dangerous. If she stopped, she might break completely.

She leaned against a stone wall and let herself breathe. For the first time since she walked in on Rowan and Elena, the noise in her head quieted. The truth settled in her chest, heavy and undeniable.

She had lost.

Not because she was weak.

Not because she was an omega.

But because she trusted too easily.

Her fingers curled around her phone. There was only one path left, one move she could make that didn’t involve begging, groveling, or selling herself as someone’s dirty secret. It wasn’t freedom. It wasn’t love.

But it was power.

She dialed the number she had spent three years trying to forget. The line connected on the second ring.

‘Are you ready to come home now?’ Her father asked, his voice cold, measured.

She swallowed. Her throat burned, but she didn’t let herself cry, not yet.

‘You won,’ she said quietly. ‘I will marry whoever you choose if you give me the power you failed to give my mother.’

There was a pause, as if he was contemplating it. She knew her father well and unless something benefited him, he would never agree to it.

‘If the arranged marriage goes well, you will have your rightful place,’ he said slowly, ‘But we do it my way now. No running. No defiance. If you try to escape again, I will lock you away and marry you off to the oldest, cruellest Alpha I can find. Do you understand?’

She closed her eyes.

Images flashed through her mind; Rowan’s hand striking her face, Elena’s smug smile, the crowd watching as if her humiliation were entertainment. It was time to take control of her life and come out of her shell.

‘It is a deal,’ she replied.

But this time, she wasn’t shaking.

‘I will be waiting,’ he said, and the call ended.

The silence afterward was thick, pressing in around her. She slid down the wall and sat on the cold ground, staring at her hands. These hands had loved, had trusted, had reached for a future that never truly wanted her.

Tears finally came but they were quiet, restrained. There was no hysteria left in her. Just exhaustion. And something darker. Sharper.

She wiped her face and stood.

Love had broken her.

Freedom had cost too much.

If the world insisted on treating her like a pawn, then fine.

She wasn’t a girl chasing love anymore.