CHAPTER FIVE: THE TERRIBLE DISCOVERY

LAILA

The next morning, I woke up feeling a little braver. The tiny voice inside me had grown a little stronger overnight. Maybe I didn't have to be so scared all the time.

I decided to surprise Damien with his favorite breakfast when he came home from the pack meeting. Maybe if I was really nice to him, he would be nice to me too.

I dialed his phone and it rang for a couple of times before he picked up the call.

"What?" He said when he answered the phone.

"G..good morning Damien, uhm when are you getting home?"

"Wow, so you're asking me questions about my whereabouts now?"

Oh no he was angry now.

"N..no Damien I..I just wanted to cook something special f..for you"

"Something special, your special burnt food?" He laughed and I heard someone laugh at the background.

"I.. I'm sorry"

"Well, I'm still busy with pack duties so I won't be back till dinner. You better make sure not to burn the food and if you do, make sure to burn yourself along with it. Did I make myself clear?" He yelled

"Y..yes"

"What's that?" He growled.

"Y..yes Damien" I spoke louder.

"Pathetic thing for a mate" He said before disconnecting the call.

I felt a tear drop down my cheek but I quickly wiped it with my hand and smiled at myself.

At least he still wants me to cook. He's just busy with his Beta duties. Damien is not completely mean I know it.

I cleaned up the house, put some makeup to cover my bruise and wore a long sleeved shirt before going to the store to get ingredients and a gift for Damien because our two year anniversary is tomorrow.

When I got to the store to buy ingredients, I saw something that made my heart break into a million pieces.

Damien was there, but he wasn't alone. He was with Vivian Hartwell, the daughter of Alpha Robert from the Mountain View Pack.

They were standing very close together, and Damien had his arms around her waist.

I hid behind a tall shelf and watched them. Vivian was everything I wasn't.

She was tall and beautiful with long dark hair. Her wolf was strong - I had seen her shift into a gorgeous chstenut wolf with black stripes at previous festivals.

"I can't wait until this is all over," I heard Vivian say to Damien. "When are you going to get rid of that pathetic excuse for a mate?"

Damien laughed. "Soon, my love. Very soon. I just need to wait for the right moment."

"She's so ugly and weak," Vivian said meanly. "I can't believe you've been pretending to be mated to that thing for two years."

"It hasn't been easy," Damien said. "But my father said I needed to be mated to someone from this pack to secure our alliance. Laila was the easiest target because she's so desperate and stupid."

"I'm sick and tired of being away from you my darling" Vivian whined with a pout.

"I know my love, you are just the perfect woman fit to be my mate and Luna of my pack. Not that pathetic weak thing"

I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. All those sweet words he said to me at the festival... all those promises to love and protect me... they were all lies.

'Well, at least after tomorrow's Harvest Festival, you won't have to pretend anymore," Vivian said.

"When all the other Alphas are there to witness it, you can publicly tell them about me, then we can finally be together as one big family." She said and held her slightly protruding stomach.

"Yes I can't wait to be with you and my pup and the best part," Damien said with a cruel smile, "is that I found out some very interesting information about Laila. Information that will make sure no other male ever wants her."

"Really? That's so amazing Damien" Vivian squealed and hugged him.

They kissed then, long and passionate.

I had to cover my mouth to keep from crying out loud.

I ran home as fast as I could. When I got there, I threw up from all the pain in my heart.

Everything I thought I knew about my life was a lie.

Damien didn't love me. He had never loved me.

I was just a tool he used to make his father happy and tomorrow, at our second anniversary, in front of everyone, he was going to throw me away like garbage.

He has been cheating on me. I was his mate. He even has a child with that woman.

I have been suspicious about him for a couple of months but I never wanted to believe that he could cheat on me. I even thought I was ungrateful for thinking that way about him.

Now I realize that all my suspicions were true.

Every single time he said he was busy with pack duties, he most likely wasn't.

We weren't even living in the pack house. He said it was because he wanted us to have our own privacy but it was just because he wanted to have his privacy with his Vivian.

Five months into our marriage, he stopped being intimate with me. He said it was because he didn't want to hurt me and wanted me to be able to shift before we had a child but they were all lies.

He barely touched me except when he started hitting me, grabbing me or a few times when he forced his drunk self on me.

If he never wanted to be with me, he should have at least treated me right.

I have always been treated differently by pack members because I was an orphan who couldn't shift.

When Damien came into my life, I thought I finally found happiness, love and a family to call my own but I was wrong.

I was so wrong. No one loved me and no one will.

I cried thinking about everything until I had no more tears left.

Then I sat on my bed and tried to think about what to do. I could run away before the festival but where would I go?

I had no money, no family except my uncle who clearly didn't care about me, and no friends who would help me.

Or I could stay and face whatever horrible thing Damien was planning to do to me. At least then I would know the truth.

The tiny voice inside me whispered like it was in pain

"You deserve better than this."

For the first time, I listened to it completely.

"You're right," I whispered. "I do deserve better."

-End of Flashback-

As tears streamed down my face.

I thought about everything and how I didn't have anything to live for anymore.

Going with him wouldn't matter right?