The Possessive Ex

Ayla left Julian's quarters just before dawn, the pack grounds quiet except for her own footsteps. Julian's words kept circling in her head. Take your time, but know that I won't let my mate go.

Her plan was simple. Get to her room, grab what she could carry, make it to the eastern border before anyone noticed. She didn't want to give herself enough time to change her mind.

She turned the last corner toward her chambers and slowed. Liam stood in the doorway, blocking it completely, his face twisted with anger.

"So the rumors were true," he said before she could speak. "The servants are already whispering that you were seen going into that Alpha's quarters last night."

Ayla stopped a few steps away. "Word travels fast."

"Is that all you have to say?" His voice rose. "Soon the whole pack will know the Alpha Prince's former mate was in another Alpha's quarters the same night she was rejected."

"We're no longer together, Liam." She folded her arms. "Or did you forget you rejected me in front of everyone? Whatever I do with my life now isn't your business."

"Not my business?" His voice echoed down the hallway. "You think people won't talk? You think it won't reflect on me?"

"That's your problem, not mine." She stepped to move past him. "You made your choice at that altar."

Liam grabbed her arm before she cleared the doorway and shoved her back against the doorframe, his fingers digging into the same spot Julian had held so gently hours before.

"You couldn't even wait a day," he said through his teeth.

"Let go of me." She pushed against his chest with her free hand. "I need to get inside."

He didn't let go. Instead he walked her backward until her shoulders hit the wall, boxing her in with one arm braced beside her head. "Is that what he told you? That you're worth something?" His mouth curled. "Men like him don't want someone like you, Ayla. What could you possibly give him?"

"More than you ever gave me." She held his eyes. "At least he didn't laugh at me in front of hundreds of people."

"Watch yourself." A growl threaded under the words.

"Or what? You'll reject me again?" She lifted her chin. "You already did that. There's nothing left for you to take."

"There's plenty left." He leaned in. "Starting with whatever you think you're building with him."

"I don't owe you an explanation." She tried to duck under his arm. "You lost that right the moment you humiliated me in front of the whole pack."

"That happened because you wouldn't accept reality. I told you exactly how I felt."

"You said it once, in front of everyone. That should've been enough."

"Careful." His grip on her arm tightened. "You're not in a position to talk to me like that."

"What position is that?" Her voice rose to match his. "The one where you humiliated me? I think I've earned the right to say whatever I want to you now."

Liam's jaw worked, and for a second his eyes dropped from hers. "You think that Alpha wants you for more than one night? He'll get bored the moment someone better walks through his door."

"At least he looked at me like I was worth wanting." Her voice shook but held. "You never did. Not once, in all the years I loved you."

"Don't act like I never tried." Something cracked underneath the anger in his voice. "I spent years hoping you'd change."

"You spent years making me feel like a problem that needed fixing." Her voice broke on the last word, but she didn't look away. "I never needed fixing, Liam."

"News flash." He stepped in close, his voice dropping low and hard. "No other man is getting you while I breathe. Nobody touches what's mine."

"I'm not yours." She used the closeness to shove him hard with both hands, and the sudden give in his grip let her slip half a step free.

He caught her wrist again before she could clear him, spinning her back against the wall, harder this time. "You're still mine to worry about. Rejection doesn't erase the years between us. It doesn't erase what people are already saying about my pack because of you."

"That's your problem." She wrenched against his hold, her wrist throbbing where his fingers dug in. "You made your choice. Live with it."

"You're not going anywhere. Not until you understand what you've done."

"I understand plenty." Her breath was coming fast now, more from anger than fear. "I understand you only care because someone else wants what you threw away."

"That's not true." But his voice cracked on it, thin and unconvincing.

"It's exactly true." She stared him down. "You don't want me back. You just can't stand that Julian does."

His grip tightened hard enough to bruise. She didn't look away.

"Let me go." Louder this time.

"Not until you tell me you're done with him."

"I'm not telling you anything. I don't owe you a word."

"You'll regret this." His voice dropped, cold now. "Once he's done with you, don't come crawling back to me."

"I would never crawl back to you." The words came out flat, certain. "Not after everything you've done to me."

Something in her chest went hot and then perfectly still, all at once. She didn't decide to move. She just threw her weight forward, both hands slamming into his chest.

Liam's balance broke and he hit the floor hard, the thud echoing down the empty hallway.

He stared up at her, stunned. Ayla didn't wait to see what came next. She turned and ran, snatching the few things she'd already packed as she passed through her door, and didn't look back once.

All she could think about was the eastern border, and the Alpha waiting there for her.