Chapter Two

Violet

Morning came too soon.

Sunlight filtered in through the blinds as I tried to feel a familiar presence by my side.

“He didn’t return all night.” Rain supplied an answer to my unspoken question. Those words caused more pain than the tightly wrapped bandage around my arm.

Yet, I forced my heavy eyelids to open and looked to the side. The chair was empty, and the side of the bed was cold.

The silence pressed against my heart, suffocating me. I wasn’t a stranger to loneliness or silence, but it felt like a weapon poking at me, stabbing me where it hurt the most.

The door to the hospital room opened, and the doctor walked in, smiling at me.

“Glad to see you are awake. Your vitals look good. Just avoid doing anything strenuous for a few days.” 

I nodded and slowly pushed myself up in a sitting position as he scribbled on his notepad.

“Did Alpha Nate stop by?” I asked the doctor hesitantly.

“I believe he has been in back to back meetings all day.”

Of course, he was working. He was always working.

“Thank you, doctor,” I said in a small voice as he changed my bandage.

I tried not to let the familiar pang of hurt cross my features again. Nor did I gather the courage to ask if he had checked on my well-being with the doctor.

He walked away shortly, leaving me to my own thoughts.

“Work is more important than you, I take it,” Rain spoke sharply.

“You know he has a pack to run, Rain. Our pack,” I insisted.

She only scoffed. “Yes. He has time for everything else except you. And you are too blind to see it, which makes me sick. So starting today, Nate can receive three chances at most. If he fails all three, which I know he will, we are dumping his ass.”

“We have spent wonderful moments together, Rain. Our love deserves more than three chances,” I said desperately.

“He has already exhausted one.” Rain wasn’t convinced, but I clung to the hope like it was my last resort.

I reached for the phone on my nightstand and gave him a call, but it went straight to voicemail.

Then I began browsing through my phone gallery to pass the time, to remind myself of the sweet memories I had created with Nate.

Each brought up a happy memory—one was a picture of us seated by the table, reading through a huge number of files to locate a loophole that saved him thousands of dollars in a trade agreement gone wrong. Another was of his coronation ceremony, where his father declared him the heir to the pack, and I stood beside Nate, smiling proudly.

Brick by brick, we had built our future together. Dreamt of a life together.

I was so lost in thought that I didn’t even realize hours had passed by, and the moon slowly crept up the clear sky, replacing the sun.

I stared at each picture lovingly and began thinking of planning the next dinner date with Nate.

However, my joy was short-lived because not even a second later, I got a notification that Nicole had tagged me in a post titled “The best welcome party ever” with a lot of heart emojis.

There were a few pictures of her and Nate smiling together against a backdrop of sunflowers.

Just the two of them, I noticed.

I zoomed in on the images to get a better look, ignoring her wide grin and focusing on an elegant necklace she wore and gasped.

It belonged to a limited edition jewellery collection studded with diamonds and a ruby at its center.

The same one I had admired countless times while window shopping through the shopping mall, and had blushed when one fine day I saw Nate enquire about it.

He never told me, so I naively thought it was going to be my Valentine’s gift. A special surprise from him.

But now she was wearing it.

“You need more proof?” Rain hissed in my head.

“Maybe it’s Nicole who is trying to sow the seeds of discord in our relationship. Or maybe she bought it for herself.” 

It was a statement piece, after all. 

“He has just two chances,” Rain reminded me. Not wanting to argue with her anymore, I decided to get some air and stepped out after I got discharged.

I had barely enjoyed a second of the cool breeze when my phone buzzed again. Luckily, it was a call from my mom.

“I heard of the attack today at the café and recalled how you had been gushing about your date. How was it? I hope you are okay,” she asked, voice laced with concern.

I lied. “I…am fine, Mom. Just got a few scratches.”

But she noticed how I avoided answering her question entirely.

“Fine isn’t the same as happiness, Violet. I really wonder how my smart girl fell for someone so stupid.”

“Mom!” I groaned, realizing that she was going to lecture me all over again.

“Nate is not worth your time or love. Several people spotted him with a random girl and informed me, but I wanted to hear it from you. Your silence proved that I had been right all along.”

“Mom, Nate is not like that…” I began, but she cut me off sternly.

“I still get an earful from your father for supporting your decision to date that loser. But I can’t see my daughter waste her life anymore. Your father has found a perfect match for you. He could protect our pack and you.”

“Protect the pack? Why? What is going on?” I frowned, feeling a stab of guilt at being so engrossed in my own life that I had grown completely oblivious to the things happening back at home.

“It is more of a political crisis, dear. A war is knocking on our door. Alpha Elijah of the Silver Moon Pack has vowed to support us in these testing times, provided you marry him.”

I bit my lower lip, torn between my feelings for Nate and my duty to my pack.

“There must be another way where I am not turned into a scapegoat, Mom,” I argued, not liking that she was willing to offer me as a bargaining chip.

“Alpha Elijah is a man of honor. Just meet him once...” she began, but I cut her off abruptly.

“I’ll talk to you later, Mom. Take care.”

I had barely disconnected when a familiar voice made me turn around.

“Hey Violet, I heard about the cafe incident and thought of paying you a visit.” Linda, one of the high-ranking she-wolves in Nate’s inner circle, smiled at me.

“Yeah, I am fine. Thanks for your concern,” I replied, and meant to turn away, but her next question made me pause.

“You two lovebirds can’t seem to get enough of each other, can you?” 

“I am not sure I follow,” I replied, and she looked at me teasingly.

“Word has it that some serious reshuffling is going on in the office. And the post of Director Acquisitions just opened up. I wonder who that might be?”

I tried not to grin.

I had been spearheading the company the head of the acquisitions department for a while, but I never knew Nate was planning on promoting me.

Had we already cracked the multi-million dollar project? Nate had mentioned in passing that he would open up a senior role soon after we secured the bid.

Had Nate finally realized his mistake and wished to make it up to me? Hope soared in my heart.

“See, he is fixing it” I told Rain who only muttered “I guess we will find out soon”