Chapter 2 -Betrayed: Vanessa

I knew I needed to go home and would eventually need to face Ty. I needed to convince him somehow that rejecting each other was for the best. We would both have to compensate for the weakness rejection would bring us, but I didn’t care. Besides, if the rejection was mutual, how bad could it be? That was the only solution. We couldn’t possibly try to be mates. The very thought of completing the bond with Tyler made my stomach churn in disgust. 

I stood and dusted the dirt from my clothes, then bent to pick up the towel I hadn’t even used. It was time to go home and face the problems today had brought me head-on. I slowly put one foot in front of the other and started the trek toward home. 

It was almost time for dinner when I finally walked through the front door. “Vanessa, I thought you would have been home hours ago. Go upstairs, get a shower, and change into something nice. We have guests coming for dinner,” my mother lightly scolded. I wasn’t in the mood for dinner guests or the inevitable birthday celebration my mother had planned. I didn’t want to paste a smile on my face and make merry with our guests.

When I trudged my way up to my room, I found a beautiful black and red wrap mini dress hanging on my closet door and couldn’t stop the tears forming in my eyes. It was cute and exactly the type of dress Lucien wouldn’t have been able to keep his hands off of me while I was wearing it. 

Lucien… I had to tell him I found my mate and that until we rejected one another, I wouldn’t be able to see him. If I were still with Lucien, it would cause Tyler a lot of pain. I am not sure why that mattered, because Tyler was the reason my life was now a mess. Still, I respected the bond enough not to do something so disrespectful. 

I got into the shower and dutifully slugged my way through my cleansing routine. I was trying to talk myself into a somewhat decent mood, so my mom wouldn't detect that something was wrong. An excruciating pain surged through my body just as I was finishing up. I placed a hand on the shower wall to steady myself until it was over. When it was through, I got out, dried off, and decided I had no energy to do anything other than dry my hair. 

I walked over to the dress and ran my fingers along the front of it. It was as soft as it was pretty, and a small flash of excitement ran through me as I removed it from the hanger. I sighed as I slipped it on because it gently hugged my body in all the right places. ‘I can do this,’ I thought to myself, and found my nude heels that would be perfect with this dress. 

‘Okay, Vanessa, go ahead and be happy for mom’s sake. She’s likely spent a good portion of the day making everything perfect for your birthday celebration. You can pretend that your world hasn’t been turned upside down for a couple of hours,’ I told myself as I looked in the mirror. 

I turned and pasted a smile on my face to head down to my birthday celebration dinner. Walking into the dining room, I noticed Alpha Riker and Luna Jess seated at the table with my parents and Lucien. There were two other empty seats across from mine, and I had a bad feeling about who those might belong to. 

Lucien stood when he noticed my presence. When he walked over, he tried to kiss me, but I turned my head so that he got my cheek instead of my lips. “You look beautiful in that dress, Vanessa. I can’t wait to get you out of it and give you a birthday treat,” he whispered in my ear. 

I could feel all eyes on me as my stomach sank, knowing that I would have to turn Lucien down tonight. 

Moments later, my suspicions were confirmed about the two other seats as Tyler walked in with Cass on his arm. Cass released Ty’s arm and came over to me. “Vanessa, you look simply amazing. Happy Birthday, girlie,” she greeted, giving me a big hug. It felt fake, and I felt like Tyler may have already told her our truth, but I couldn’t be sure, so I politely thanked her and went to take my seat. 

Tyler just glared at me, like I had committed some great atrocity. His eyes were hard, and his jaw firm. I knew that he was clenching his teeth. ‘Don’t you dare say a fucking word to me. I am here because I knew the Alpha was supposed to be here tonight, and I didn’t want him to suspect that anything was wrong,’ Tyler growled through the mind-link.

I nodded my head ever so slightly as I bit my tongue, literally, so I wouldn’t cry or say something I shouldn’t. I muttered my thanks to Lucien as he pulled out my chair for me, then greeted the Alpha and Luna and offered my neck in submission. 

“Happy Birthday, Vanessa! I can’t believe my baby is a grown woman already. Just think, you could find your mate any day now. Then I will get to be a grandmother with a pup to rock and sing to, just like I did you,” my mother gushed.

I wanted to vomit from her little speech. I found my mate already, and he doesn’t make me happy or complete me. He’s the evil jackass glaring at me from across the table, the one worried about losing his status if we reject one another. I would rather be torn apart by rogues than get pregnant and carry Tyler’s evil spawn.

I pasted a polite smile on my face and then responded. “Thank you, Mother. I am delighted that I will be able to ascend to replace you as the female lead warrior. I am truly grateful for all you and Father have taught me.” My mother and I have never had much more than a coldly formal relationship. My father and I were closer, where my mother would say that I wasn’t trying hard enough while training, my dad would tell me how great I did, and how proud he was of me.

“I do hope you find your mate before the super blue moon. It would be nice if your father and I could retire together,” she replied. 

Our cook came into the dining room and presented Alpha Riker with the bottle of wine that had been selected to go with dinner. He nodded for her to pour, and then he did all the other pretentious things that some people do to approve a wine. 

I didn’t see the point. We don’t drink shit wine for any other occasion. My mother would rather die than serve anything less than perfection to the Alpha and Luna of our pack. Once he had approved it, the wine was poured for all present. The whole meal was stuffy and pretentious. The only good part was that my favorites had been served: lasagna and tiramisu. 

Toward the end of dessert, I had another terrible pain rip through my chest and gasped when it took my breath away. “Vanessa, darling, are you alright?” my mother questioned.

I wasn’t, but I had no explanation for what had happened. “I think I may have overeaten. I am sure it was nothing,” I replied, hoping that this would be over soon. As a species, werewolves are healthy and don’t suffer from common illnesses that humans do. However, I wondered if the crushing suffocation I was experiencing was similar to a human heart attack. 

As the pain eased and I caught my breath, I don’t know why I glanced in his direction, but I noticed Tyler staring at me with an evil grin on his face. I didn’t know what his problem was; I hadn’t said or done anything during the meal that would have alerted anyone to our circumstances. However, that is also when I noticed that the way Ty’s arm was angled. The angle wouldn’t mean that his hand was resting in his lap; it would be resting in Cass’s. He wouldn’t, would he? Oh, but he had, and that was what the horrible pain had been. 

I can tell by the way his eyes now glittered that he knew that I knew what he was doing. ‘Stop!’ I shouted at him through the mind-link.

‘Fucking make me. You ruined everything,’ he sneered back just as Cass eeped in surprise and another excruciating pain tore through my chest. 

I pushed away from the table and stood with my arms wrapped around myself as I cried out in pain. My mother came to my side and began rubbing my back. “Vanessa, are you unwell? Should I call a healer?” she asked with panic in her voice. 

Then several things happened: Tyler snickered as yet another pain ripped through me, I noticed the Alpha and Luna watching me with rapt attention, and somewhere inside me, I found my voice.

“I FUCKING HATE YOU, TYLER!” I screeched. “I, Vanessa Suzanne Stinson, reject you, Tyler Eric Houston, as my mate. Burn in hell, you sonofabitch!” I added, turning to run toward the front door and tearing it open. As soon as my feet touched the porch, I leapt into the air and shifted before I hit the ground running.

I ran as hard and as fast as Lena’s paws could carry us. I didn’t know where I was going, but I wasn’t going to stay around to be berated by Tyler, Alpha Riker, or my parents. Alpha Riker's rule that mates could only be rejected in the cases of death or abuse was cruel. The bond didn’t guarantee love, and forcing the bond was wrong on so many levels.

My mother has probably had one of her dramatic fainting spells. Her only daughter just embarrassed her in front of the Alpha and Luna of the pack. She may be the current female lead warrior, but she was also a drama queen of epic proportions. For her, image is everything. 

My father will likely fall in line with whatever my mother has to say. The only place he has a spine is on the battlefield; otherwise, he is a yes-man, especially when it comes to my mother. 

That brings me back to Tyler. I didn’t understand how things had gotten blown so far out of proportion. Fifteen years of friendship have gone up in smoke because the moon goddess has a sick sense of humor. Had Tyler always been such a vile person, and I just failed to see it? He said hateful things about Cass, but then brought her to my birthday party and used her to inflict pain on me. Why? What had I done that was so wrong?