Chapter 4: Broken

“Where have you been? Mary told me you filed a leave for two days,” Eliot told me when I went to work two days after staying in my apartment and pretended that I was not home. Eliot has been checking out for me for the past two days and although I was inside, I never answered his calls.

He’s with his girlfriend, the girl who had been rumored to be his fiance and who was also a nurse. She was already transferred to the hospital we work at on the last day.

“Oh sorry, I was with my family,” I replied, masking my pain with a smile.

“Oh, okay. By the way, this is Mia, my fiance,” he proudly introduced his girlfriend to me. “Mia, this is Artemis, my best friend and the one who saved me when I was a child,” he proudly said.

“Fiance? I thought-”

“I’m pregnant,” Mia replied with her sweet smile.

I looked at Eliot, confused as my heart broke into a million pieces. He gently took my hand, tingles exploded but I wasn’t longer happy about it.

“Mia and I have been in a relationship since college. And she was there for me even when my mother was dead,” he said.

I blinked the tears that slowly built into my eyes.

“Oh really? Congrats then,” I said. “Uhm, I’ll have to go. I have some work to do. And also congrats Mia, we’ll talk when my work is over,” I said and hurriedly pushed away the cart loaded with water with ease. I would really like to throw it away but I do not want to cause any commotions.

I watched them from afar. I watched them having a break together and laughing with all their heart which was breaking my heart and they had no clue about it. What does Mia Moore have that I do not? She has my best friend and my one true mate, Eliot Reurer.

I tore my eyes away as they walked down the hall, knowing that they would stop by me and have a small conversation. I know what will happen tonight for them. Eliot told me. He told me he was taking her to our favorite local restaurant. Grabbing the handle to my locker, I opened it up and put a few things inside, wondering if I could just avoid them and leave for the day.

Maybe I should. But if I cannot make it through this day then I cannot make it through the last two weeks of work. I have two weeks and then I’ll finally leave for good. I plan on leaving and never looking back. I couldn’t live in a town where my mate was with someone else. Hell, I cried myself to sleep last night all because I cannot even reject my mate without him knowing I am not human.

I made my decision, skipping the talk with Elliot and Mia. I have to get away from them at least. I cannot do that kind of torture and put on a happy face. Wearing masks would only hurt you at the end of the day more than you wish.

"You're going to have to face him sometime," I muttered to myself.

My wolf has already slowly given up. She was strong, and unbeatable in the fight but when it came to our mate, we were defeated with no chance to fight.

Mia was someone you cannot hate. She's someone, that although she has my mate, I could never hate her. Why? Because she has done nothing to me, hell, she only knows me as Eliot’s best friend and nothing more. To her, I'm just someone to get along with because she was dating my best friend for all she knew. She's with the man fate has paired me up with.

The minutes fly by and soon, I am heading home. A woman entered the hospital and I already knew who it was by their scent and the fact that we do this every Friday.

"Run tomorrow morning before the sunrise? It’ll help you cool down," Charlotte asked, hugging me. "I’ve missed you lately."

I shrugged.

"Things have changed."

She nodded, knowing what I was referring to, how I don't like shifting that much since my wolf would just be going to stay still and refuse to run. Every Tuesday morning a group of ten of us would meet up at four in the morning by the pack house and we would run and watch the sunrise. The last time I took part in the event was four months ago. Four months ago, when Eliot told me that Mia was pregnant.

"Your loss, Artemy," she muttered. “That was not like you.”

Now and then Charlotte would visit me and try to cheer me up.

“Okay I'm going with you,” replied just to shut her up. I almost wanted to scream on her face to leave me alone but I remember Charlotte is a special wolf and I don’t want to be mean to her.

“Okay. Let’s meet up at the usual place. No shifting up. Just our human form exactly at four in the morning. I’ll go and fetch you up.” Charlotte blew me a kiss and said goodbye.

As my work ended and I left the utility room as fast as possible, who was waiting for me the second I made it to the staircase caused my heart to skip a beat. Eliot was standing there, hands in his pocket, his eyes upon me, and a smile on his face.

"Art!"

I offered him a weak smile. "Where were you this week? I felt like you were avoiding me. I hardly see you."

"I work early" I lied, not even taking the time for a pause to occur between the two of us. He simply raised an eyebrow and watched me as I looked over my shoulder. I want to go for a run, I want to feel the wind in my hair and my paws hitting the ground. My wolf doesn't want to. She wants to be locked away. She's still mourning the loss of a mate. We know we have lost him. "I've got to go back home."

Eliot stepped forward as his scent enveloped me and my body instantly became warm. "Are you okay? Is there something wrong? Did I do something?"

Yes. You did something. You did something without even knowing to know that you did it. I wanted to answer him with those words.

"I'm fine, nothing wrong," I said, my voice chirpy as I could hear Mia calling his name. "I'll leave the two of you." Stepping away, I scurried up the steps of the hospital, my legs feeling like jelly as I could hear them laughing down below. All I wanted was for Eliot to be by my side, for him to cuddle me, hold me, confess his feelings for me, and make me feel like I'm the only girl in the world day after day after day. But he cannot. He has someone else and he is in love with her and he's going to be a father.

"Art!" I could hear him call out, the sound of his shoes against the pavement allowing me to know how far away he was.

Simply, I took in a slow and deep breath, turning around to see Eliot chasing after me, worried in his eyes as my heart swelled. At least I know that he cared for me, that he is drawn to me...but as a friend. As nothing more but a friend. It hurts me to realize. It hurts me to acknowledge.

"You have some explaining to do. You're acting like we're in some fight."

I saw Mia follow quickly behind him, her slender legs covered by a simple pair of jeans, her flat chest covered by a pretty white blouse. She's the girl that could wear a sundress any day of the year and no one would question her, for they would not be able to take their eyes off her. She's not hot, not sexy, but she's beyond beautiful.

She's the classy beauty that lets you know she holds herself to high standards, has self-control, and cares deeply for everyone. She doesn't get selfish. Eliot fell for her. He fell for the perfect girl, while his perfect match was beside him and he didn’t notice it.

"Eliot, please, I'm tired right now and have a migraine," I informed Eliot, coming to a halt as he stood before me. Mia followed quickly behind, offering me a gentle smile as my wolf growled within me. I haven't heard from my wolf in hours.

"I need to go."

"What's wrong, Art?" Eliot asked. Pain filled my heart as I watched Mia take his hand, their fingers interlocking all I could feel was pain.

Pain.

He caused me not only mental pain but physical pain. Physical because I cannot reject him, because any moment I would try to shift into my wolf, she would dig herself deeper into a hole and I feel a pain within my chest.

"Nothing."

Unlocking my car, I leave them alone, driving off as my vision blurs. The waterworks occur as I drive, my hands shaking as sobs escape my mouth. Not wanting to go home, I pull over onto the side of the road, right to the entrance of the private drive to the pack house. I used to spend tons of time at the pack house until a year ago when I realized I had found my mate. Now, it is a distant memory, yet a warm one, one when I didn't feel pain every time I saw my mate. Back then I didn't have to watch my mate fall in love with someone else.

There's a knock on my car window. I jumped, looking out to see a familiar face. Quickly, I wiped away my tears, composed myself as I rolled down the window, and faked a smile.

"Hey."

"Get into the passenger's seat, I'm taking us home, you're in no state to drive," Charlotte announced. Looking over my shoulder, I saw her car parked behind mine.

As Charlotte was driving me home, my tears couldn’t stop flowing.

“I think I’ll accept Dad’s offer to marry me to the second Prince,” I told her. And my wolf whined, crying because our heart was broken and there’s nothing we can do.