Chapter 6: The Breaking Point

The breakroom was tiny and kind of hidden near the warriors’ side of the pack house. It smelled like old coffee and bleach, the kind of place nobody really wanted to stay in for long. Garrett took Elena’s arm gently and walked her inside. He pointed at a chair. “Sit.”

Elena stopped in the doorway, glancing back down the hall. Her stomach twisted. “I should go back. Mrs. Gable will get mad if I’m gone too long. She already hates when I take breaks.”

“Mrs. Gable can wait five minutes,” Garrett said firmly. He was already opening the little freezer. Ice trays clinked as he pulled some out and wrapped it in a clean towel from the counter. “Show me your hands. Let me see how bad it is.”

She held them out slowly, palms up. The skin was bright red where the hot coffee had soaked through her rag. Small blisters were starting to pop up on her fingers and knuckles. It stung every time she moved them. Garrett’s face got hard, his eyes narrowing. “That woman is mean. Straight-up cruel.”

“She’s going to be Luna,” Elena said quietly. She said it more to remind herself than anything else. No point hoping for something that wasn’t going to happen. She’d learned that lesson the hard way five years ago.

“Everybody keeps saying that.” Garrett pressed the ice against her hands carefully, holding it there so she didn’t have to. The cold felt so good it almost hurt in a nice way, easing the burn right away. “Doesn’t make it real. Doesn’t make her better than you.”

Elena looked up at him. Garrett had sandy hair that always looked a little messy, and nice gray eyes that didn’t judge. He was good-looking in a normal way—not flashy, just real. It had been forever since anyone looked at her like she was actually a person and not just the help, the rejected one, the omega who cleaned up after everyone.

“Why are you being nice to me?” she asked, her voice small.

He shrugged, but his eyes stayed soft. “Because it’s the right thing. And because I remember you. Not the version everyone talks about now—the real you.”

Her whole body went still. Her heart skipped. “You do?”

“Yeah.” He kept the ice steady, his thumb brushing her wrist lightly by accident. “Five years ago at the pack's party. You were in that green dress that matched your eyes. You looked happy for a little while… laughing with your friends, dancing like you didn’t have a care. Then everything fell apart.” He stopped talking, like he didn’t want to push too hard. “You didn’t deserve any of it. Not the rejection, not the way the pack turned on you.”

Her throat got tight. Memories flooded back—the music, the lights, the moment Xander’s voice cut through the crowd like a knife. She had to swallow hard to keep her voice steady. “I try not to think about that night.”

“You shouldn’t have to,” Garrett said. “Xander messed up bad. I told him back then. I said rank doesn’t matter with mates. The Moon Goddess picks who she picks—no elders, no politics. But he was young and dumb. Too worried about what the pack would think, what the alliances would look like.”

“And now?” Elena asked, hating how hopeful the question sounded even to her own ears.

“Now he’s older. Still dumb sometimes.” Garrett gave a small smile, the corner of his mouth tilting up. “But I see how he watches you these days. Like he’s been thirsty for five years straight and just realized the water’s right there.”

Elena laughed, but it came out bitter and sharp. “He watched me this morning while I was on my knees scrubbing his floor. While Katerina stood there like she owned the place.”

“He looked like he wanted to tear Katerina apart. I saw his wolf flash in his eyes—the whole kitchen felt it.”

“Then why didn’t he stop her?” The words hurt coming out. She’d asked herself the same thing a hundred times today.

Garrett didn’t answer right away. The room got quiet except for the drip of melting ice hitting the floor. After a minute Elena whispered, “Thanks. For being kind. It means something. More than you know.”

The air suddenly turned freezing.

A heavy feeling pressed down on everything, like a storm rolling in. Elena’s skin prickled all over. She didn’t have to look to know who was there.

Xander stood in the doorway. He didn’t move, but anger poured off him in waves. His eyes were bright gold—wolf eyes, the kind that meant he was barely holding it together. He stared at Garrett’s hand on the ice pack, at how close they were sitting, heads bent together.

A growl rumbled out of him. Low. Scary. The windows shook a little.

“Alpha,” Garrett said fast, standing up straight. “She got burned bad. I was just helping—”

“Get. Out.” Xander’s voice was rough, like rocks grinding together.

“She needs—”

“Out!” It was an Alpha command, sharp and impossible to fight. Garrett’s body jerked like someone pulled invisible strings. He tried to fight it for a second, eyes flicking to Elena with worry.

“It’s okay,” she said quickly, even though her pulse raced. “Go. Please.”

Garrett looked like he hated every second of it, but he nodded. “I’ll be right outside if you need anything.” He walked past Xander, shoulders stiff. The door shut with a soft click.

Xander moved so fast she barely saw it. One second he was by the door, the next her back was against the counter and his arms were on either side of her, trapping her. His smell hit her hard—pine trees and campfire smoke, the same scent that used to make her feel safe. The mate bond woke up in her chest, warm and annoying, pulling at her even now.

“What are you doing?” he asked, voice low and mad. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Putting ice on my burns.” She lifted her chin, trying to look braver than she felt. “Is that not allowed anymore?”

His eyes dropped to her hands. For one second something like guilt crossed his face—real, raw—then it was gone, replaced by that hard mask he wore so well.

“With my Beta? In here alone?”

“He was being nice.” Her voice shook a little. “Maybe you should try it sometime.”

Xander’s fingers dug into the counter behind her. The wood made a cracking sound under his grip. “Don’t.”

“Don’t what? Let someone help me when you just stand there and watch her dump coffee on me like I’m nothing?”

“Don’t act like you weren’t letting him touch you.” He leaned in closer. His breath brushed her face. “Like he has any right.”

“Touch me?” Elena snapped, anger rising hot. “Like a normal person? Not like someone who lets me get treated like trash in front of everybody? You don’t get to be jealous now, Xander.”

“You’re not his,” he said. His voice dropped lower, dangerous. “The bond says you’re mine.”

“The bond?” She almost laughed, but it hurt too much. “The bond is the chain you use to keep hurting me. You stood in front of the whole pack and said I wasn’t good enough. You made me feel like nothing. I left. I built a life where I didn’t have to feel small every single day.”

“You kept my daughter from me for five years!”

“To protect her!” Elena’s voice cracked, tears stinging her eyes. “So she wouldn’t grow up feeling the same shame you put on me. The way people looked at me after that night. The whispers behind my back. The way nobody would sit next to me at meals, like I was cursed. I wasn’t going to let Maya feel that. Not ever.”

The room felt electric. Both of them were breathing hard, chests rising and falling.

“Are you trying to replace me already?” Xander asked quietly. Too quietly. “Is that what this is? You think Garrett can take my place?”

“You rejected me, Xander.” She looked straight into his eyes, holding nothing back. “I can talk to whoever I want. Look at whoever I want. You don’t get to decide anymore. You gave that up.”

She pulled her hands back and held them up so he could see the red skin and blisters clearly. “These hurt. But not as bad as watching you do nothing while she humiliated me. Again.”

Elena pushed past him. He didn’t grab her this time, though she felt him tense like he wanted to. She got to the door and stopped when he spoke again, voice softer now.

“Elena. Your hands. You should get them checked. Properly.”

She didn’t turn around. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep them working. Maya needs her nanny, right? Can’t have me useless.”

She walked out, legs shaky.

Garrett was leaning against the wall in the hallway, arms crossed, face tight. “You okay?”

“No,” she said honestly. “But I’ll be fine. Eventually.”

Behind them, inside the breakroom, something big hit the counter—wood breaking with a loud crack. Then a howl came, long and painful, like a wolf that was breaking inside.

Garrett made a face. “He’s falling apart in there.”

“Good,” Elena said, but her voice cracked on the word.

Her hands were shaking as she walked away, and it wasn’t just from the burns. The bond still tugged at her, whispering things she didn’t want to hear.