You have nowhere to go.

Alina.

I didn't know grief could swallow time, now I do because mine definitely did. Apparently, from midnight, six hours had elapsed.

It was around six in the morning when I finally emerged from the house.

My hands trembled slightly when I closed the door, and the click sounded like a final nail in a coffin, totally sealing my fate.

After six hours of crying, my voice was nearly lost, and my eyes were so swollen I could barely see.

Surprisingly, at that point, I felt no pain in.. just a numbness that gripped even tighter than an actual blow.

My fingers tightened around the straps of my bag as I took the stairs to the porch, desperate to leave, anywhere was fine, just not here.

Who would have thought that the place I had once thought would be my home forever, would one day feel like hell?

" Where are you going?" Right before I could take another step, just a few meters from the main exit, a very familiar voice cut through, and I froze in place..

If it were before, a few hours after the humiliation, tears would have slid down my eyes from just hearing his voice.

But now? There were no more tears. Just calm detachment as I looked at the man who had been my very heartbeat, for the past eighteen years of my life.

It was Asher.

He stood right before me, his brows furrowed in confusion as his gaze moved between me and the bag I was holding.

And standing next to him? Serena, of course. She was leaning on him, looking all weak and alluringly tired. Briefly, our eyes met, and a glint of triumph crossed her eyes before she looked away, in utter boredom.

My fingers clenched into fists when I saw what she was wearing. She was in his white shirt, with the two top buttons missing, exposing her clear skin, painted with kiss marks. And right on her collarbone was the mate's mark.. Asher's mark. I had spent a forever imagining myself wearing his mark, wondering what it would feel like to have it adorn my skin.. And now, I was forced to look at it in Serena's neck.

I had already made peace with everything.. Seeing his mark on her shouldn't have hurt, right? But it did. So much that the pain nearly brought me to my knees.

Slowly, my eyes drifted to Asher...

His hair was dishevelled, weaving a tale of a wild night, flaunting the remnants of his betrayal on my face.

He was shirtless, just like he had paraded himself in the past. but this time, there was a difference ..Bold and provocative hickeys painted his skin, touching from the chest all the way to the very V of his abdomen..

The sight had my eyes burning, and I felt like an invisible hand was pressing on my throat, making it hard to breathe.

Miraculously, I managed to stay on my feet, and to keep those burning tears at bay, even when all I wanted was another session of breaking down. But I had to leave. With everything I was feeling, I couldn't stay there one more second.

I turned to head out instead. He and I had nothing to do with each other.

From the moment he'd entered into that tent with another she-wolf, he and I became strangers.

" I asked you a question, Alina!" Just before I could take another step forward, he gripped my wrist, hoisting me in place, as he demanded.

" What does that have to do with you, Alpha Asher?" I asked, and surprise flickered in his eyes at the address. I had always called him Asher, warmly, tenderly, ever since we were kids. To suddenly call him Alpha, that came as a surprise.

"It's been over five hours already and you are still being unreasonable." A deep frown was set on his lips as he asked, and at the hint of disapproval in his tone, a self-mocking smile tagged at the corners of my lips.

Unreasonable? He was my fated mate. Yet, he chose another in the eyes of the entire Pack, marked and mated with her, and he expected me to be reasonable? After all that humiliation? How hilarious!

"She is still upset.." Out of nowhere, absolutely nowhere, a voice cut in, soft and unfamiliar. It was Serena's. She wore this understanding face, looking all kind and graceful, as if she totally understood what I felt!

"Maybe she needs more time. She will come around." She said, smiling.

"After all, she spent years pinning on you...like you said." She shrugged, and goddess help me! I was a few seconds from ripping her mouth apart, luckily, I didn't. I had no strength left in me, after all.

"What I need is you two to get out of my way!" I said, and surprisingly, my voice came out smoother than I expected.

"I rejected you!" Asher snapped. "It has nothing to do with Serena! She is being kind and understanding! Can't you see?" genuine confusion framed his features as he asked, and looking at him, I was rendered speechless.

Kind? So was I supposed to bow to her and thank her for everything, then?

" I expected you to handle this better than you are! I expect you to be mature and rational about all this! Go back in and think it through. Serena and I are already mated."He informed, and it was the casualness in his tone that reopened the fresh wounds.

"You aren't fit to be Luna, but you can serve her. Serena is an Alpha born. You will benefit greatly by working closely with her." He added, a gracious smile hanging on his lips, as if he were extra generous to a person who didn't even deserve it.

As if it wasn't insulting enough to take her as his Luna, he wanted me to serve her... For a moment, I just stared at Asher, and instead of seeing the kind boy that I fell in love with years ago, I saw a stranger, in a face that closely resembled his.

"Well, thank you for your generosity, Alpha Asher, Luna Serena, but I don't need it!" I stated, my voice cold and clear.

"As long as we won't ever cross our paths, I will forever be grateful!" I mocked, before I pushed past him, walking to the outer gate.

"Where are you going, Alina?" Asher snarled, his voice filled with barely concealed fury.

I kept on moving, hardly reacting...

"You have nowhere else to go! Where else can you go?" He asked, and I stopped dead on my tracks, a smile, cold and mocking tugging at the corners if my lips.

"She will be back... She needs time to cool off.. Let her be." Then I heard Serena's soft voice and something snapped in me.

"I said stop!" He snarled, using his Alpha command. I didn't care. I didn't react.

I didn't turn to face them. Instead, I took bold and determined steps forward.

Nowhere to go?

Asher, you have no idea...