Chapter Six

HAILEY

"Marry me" 

His words came as a shock to me. When I proposed that we form an alliance, I didn't mean it as such. It was only meant to be for show and not realistic but he sounded as serious as it could get.

"You're joking, right?" He had to be because I didn't survive death caused by a jealous friend and cheating mate saga only to get entangled with another man. "You don't mean we should get married like for real, right?"

Carter frowned. His expression annoyed like he would prefer to be anywhere but here. "I don't have all the time in the world, Miss Hailey. You have just twenty four hours to make up your mind, after that, the deal is done." then he made an attempt to walk away but I grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Give me time to think about it." I tried to reason with him, "marriage is not a thing to be taken lightly."

Carter gave me a look of understanding "Whenever you're ready, you know where to find me." He then gave me his card and with that, he strolled away and I couldn't help but admire his strong back and his elegant posture. Alpha Carter was an attractive man, no doubt and I could bet my life savings that woman of all ages and sizes trampled at his feet just to be noticed by him.

But he didn't give a fuck about them, it was obvious, he man only cared about his mate. I wonder where she disappeared to. Speaking of mates, I remembered mine. Where was he?

I needed to know what he was up to so I'd know how to act. I set out to find him.

I strolled to his house and towards the direction of room, knocked on the door and entered like I owned the place. Technically, I did. It's my father's park and I was his mate and according to our tradition, whatever he owned was mine too.

Tristan straightened when he heard the sound of the door opening but his shoulder fell when he saw that I was the one behind the door. It was as though he was expecting someone else, so I asked, "were you expecting someone else?" I raised my brow accusingly at him.

"No" He denied almost immediately, "Who would I be expecting?"

"I don't know" I moved closer to him, sat on the bed and touched his shoulder. "I've noticed that you've been acting distant towards me." I began, "did I do something wrong?"

If I wanted Tristan to keep trusting me, I'd have to keep acting like the calm, naive Hailey that he claimed to love. I'd have to get him to trust me more than he already did.

"Why would you think that?" He cupped my face in his palms and looked intently into my eyes. "You could never do something wrong to me. Do you know how much I love you?" 

He said and proceeded to plant his lips on mine and began kissing me. If it were before, his words and his kisses would have made a butterfly garden in my stomach, it would have made me weak in the knees. 

But now, his lips on mine made me want to puke so badly. I'd have to scrub my lips to get rid of his nauseating taste. I never knew it was possible to hate someone you had once loved with so much passion.

Tristan made me realize he was a really good liar and actor but I wanted to test the waters to see how far he'd go so I pulled away from the kiss and mustered the saddest look ever on my face.

"I feel like you do not love me anymore." I croaked. Since Tristan loved Maya the white lotus, I decided to be a much bigger white lotus. "You don't back up your words with actions. I need everyone to know you're mine." 

"How do you mean?" Tristan studied me intensely like he wanted to read my mind. Perhaps was he scared that I had someone managed to find out his secret?

"Exactly what I said." I shifted closer to him and pulled him closer even though my actions greatly repulsed me. Then I mustered the courage and said, "Introduce me to the park as yours. Marry me, Tristan."

I studied his facial expressions closely so as not to miss a thing. He shifted in his seat then his face changed from confusion to shock and then finally to irritation but he quickly schooled his expression. 

"Why so soon? There's no need for the rush. I'm all yours." He said.

His reply was exactly as I expected. He never loved me, he still wanted to carry on with his plan of using me for his selfish needs and then dumping me afterwards. I had wanted to give him the benefits of doubt but not anymore. He was just as evil as his partner, Maya.

I quickly rose from the bed and made to walk away but he held me back. "It's not like I don't love you, Hailey but give me time." He began his silly excuses, "you know as the beta, there's a lot of things I need to sort out but I promise you that immediately everything is under control, you'll be where you want, where you should be."

Silly of him to think that I wouldn't be able to detect the underlying threat and promise in his words. My stomach churned with hatred. I was going to deal with this man, that was a promise I made to myself.

"Not if I have something to do about that." I muttered slowly.

"Huh?"

"Nothing" I said. We stared at each other for a while, different thoughts running through both our minds. 

My mind was made. I'd marry Carter and expertly deal with Tristan. This was a vow, after all, revenge is a dish best served cold.