1

April

My body trembles as I watch the pack members run around, and under the command of Alpha Scott, they all get on the four-wheel drive and prepare to set off to reach the borders to search outside of the pack’s territory.

I am squeezed between two bulky soldiers,my shoulders and wrists locked, unable to move.

"Go! I'll catch up with you later." Scott jumps off the SUV and strides towards me, his face full of anger.

My calves are trembling, and I don't dare to face him, even though I have been secretly in love with him for the past decade.

"Scott, please! You are hurting me,” I sob pleadingly as he roughly pulls me out of the soldier's grip, grabs me by my hair and drags me away.

I groan in pain as he pulls me by the pack members who have assembled to see what was happening, only to look at me with contempt. I stumble as I try to keep up with Scott's footsteps. I keep trying to let go of me, pleading with him but he doesn't say a word and doesn't even look at me.

My eyes are filled with tears. I still don’t know how all this could have happened. When I woke up from the muddy ground at our pack border, I was accused of killing Scott's mate Hailey. I am still very confused because I clearly remember that I ventured close to the border to remind her not to go out alone. I was trying to help her but then I was knocked unconscious by an attacker who I couldn’t recognize. I had no idea where Hailey was or what had happened to her.

Scott drags me into his father's office, where my mother Hazel and Alpha, or rather former Alpha Kelvin, are already waiting for us.

"Mom!" I hope that at least one person will listen to me first.

The sound of a slap echoes from the walls. My eyes widen in disbelief, and tears flow down my face as I recover from the hit. She used to be strict with me, but she had never hit me. Since my father died to protect Alpha Kelvin, she trained me and repeatedly drummed into me how important it was to be worthy of every bit of care that Alpha Kelvin granted our family. She  was always determined to prove that the Beta family never survived on pity.

“April, you will apologize now!" My Mom screams at me, forcing me to say something I wouldn’t need to.

It wasn’t my fault after all!

Scott stands next to me, his arms around his chest, as he snorts.

It is like another slap in the face to me, but also to my mother.

Alpha Kelvin coughs lightly, and Mom steps back, and I raise my head to face the three of them. I’m just about to say something, justifying myself once again, but when my eyes meet Scott's, he explodes.

"Where is Hailey?" he growls, making my stomach turn.

"I don't know," The last thing I saw before I was attacked was Hailey looking back at me, but she ignored my warning and didn't answer me.

Scott groans, making me feel like the most useless creature in the world. “You heard me right the first time, April. Where the fuck is Hailey?”

It’s only natural for him to be absolutely out of his mind. Hailey joined our pack three months ago. And just earlier this morning, Scott claimed her as his mate. Even proclaiming it officially to the pack.

“I- I don’t know. She was at the pack borders, and I wanted to tell her to keep away as it is dangerous but she didn't answer me and suddenly I was attacked and tackled to the ground,” I explain, making him grimace even more.

I can see how hurt he is by my words, even if he tries to cover it with his flaring anger.

“You have to be fucking kidding me,” he shouts at me.

“Scott,” Alpha Kelvin, Scott’s father, says in a warning tone. “Please calm down. It isn’t clear what happened yet.”

Stabilizing myself against a nearby wall, I wince as my side stings painfully at my sudden movement. Damn. I flinch as I remember how the pain was not induced by the attacker near the border but rather by Hailey as she beat me down and kicked me in the bathroom where I was drying my tears.

My eyes wander to my mother automatically to see if she would come closer to help me, but she doesn't even take a step forward.

My heart aches in my chest, my breathing getting heavier as my throat dries out.

Scott' looks at me incredulously.

And with crazy eyes, filled with rage.

“I didn’t see where she went finally because I fainted right away. I swear! ” I say pleadingly

Scott sighs, passing his hand over his face. “Why are you lying to me, April?” he asks, making panic expand further in my chest.

I am not lying, why doesn’t he believe me? With tears in my eyes, I almost feel desperate enough to want death to take me.

“I am not lying,” I swear to him, putting my hand on my chest. “Why should I?”

He shrugs, tilting his head as he looks at me with a destructive look. “I don’t know. Maybe because you are obsessed with me and she is my mate.”

Yes, I love him.

We grew up together and I am almost part of his family. Alpha Kelvin even set up a room for me in his house. I remember that not soon after my father’s death, people started to gossip behind our backs about how Alpha Kelvin overdid his care towards me and my mom.

They did respect my father, but talking about his family is on another level. When I think of how many times, as a little pup, I had to fight with the young wolves to make them shut up…

But Scott was always on my side and helped me teach them a lesson. We two trained together and talked about everything when we were young. I miss those days so much.

After growing older, my feelings for him became stronger and I developed a huge crush on him. Even if he then spent more of his time with his future followers and keept distancing himself more and more from me, my feelings never changes when it came to him.

I would never do something like this to him. He is my everything, and even if I’m not his mate, I would do everything to support him.

“Yes, Scott, I have feelings for you,” my voice shakes, as admitting it in this terrible situation makes me unable to control myself, “But I would never hurt Hailey because of this!” I clasp my stomach, feeling how the wound is too painful to bear.

“I don’t believe you,” he simply answers, making my heart sink to my stomach.

Taking a deep breath, I reposition myself “Scott, please. I would never lie to you, and even less am I able to hurt anyone. Also, how could I ever have attacked her without having a wolf?”

Putting his hands in his pockets, he scoffs, and my heart breaks as his face distorts in rage, showing me that he doesn’t trust me anymore.

“Looks like you thought this through,” he sneers, stopping my panicky rambling. “And what’s this?”

My eyes widen as I see him unlocking my phone and turning the screen towards me to read the text message.