All Chapters of ARABELLA: Mated to the impostor Alpha: Chapter 1 - Chapter 7

BELLA “Are you crazy?! That thing is covered in dust!” I yell at the omega wiping the table surfaces in the pack’s multipurpose hall with a dusty rag. “I’m sorry Luna, I’ll get a clean one right away,” she shudders, shock and fear mixing in her eyes as she scurries away. I sigh and shake my head slowly, a tinge of guilt slicing through my heart. I know I shouldn’t be yelling at people like that but if my husband, Alpha Brad, comes in here and sees even one thing out of place, I won’t hear the end of it. Today is a very important day to him. Dare I say the most important day and the party tonight most especially, so I cannot afford any mistakes or mishaps in its preparation and certainly not dusty tables. I walk over to the line of tables the omega had previously cleaned and run my index finger over them, lifting it up to my face to inspect for any speck of dust when the harsh smell of Esme’s cologne makes me frown. I wonder why she bathes in that stuff. “Happy birthday to you,

BELLA My hand trembles as I stare at the test results, my heart beating so fast and my breath going ragged that I have to sit on the mattress, hands on my chest and taking intentional deep breaths to calm myself. This cannot happen! This should not be happening. I drop the paper on the bed and pick it up again, still in disbelief. I can't be pregnant, not now, not when Ariana just got back and my shaky position in Brad’s life is sure to be uprooted. How did I even get pregnant? I've always been careful. Brad would not be happy about this. For the three years we've been married I can count how many times Brad has touched me__it has always been out of duty or when I need him so much I’m forced to seduce his primal male instinct but each time, I can feel his disgust anytime he's finished. He is too embarrassed to be with me let alone have a child with me. If anyone finds out they will have more reasons to despise me. I can almost hear what they'll say. "Are you really that desp

BELLAThe soft hum of the air condition fills the quiet room while I sign off my section of the divorce papers. All that is left is Brad's signature, he signs off and then I'm free. I don't know which will be more challenging, telling him about the divorce or getting him to sign it.I should forge his signature and leave his ass before he becomes any wiser, Night Shade Attorneys are good with these kinds of discretion. I welcome the idea for a second before thrashing it, his ego is bigger than the pack and he'll do anything to keep it that way__my humiliation this morning was one of many.I can't fit into this life with a child on the way, I have to disappear, my bag’s packed, not even Esme will know where I am. I could rip a page out of Ari's playbook and fake my own death, that way I can't be traced. I don't know what's worse, having a child in a home where he'll never be loved by his father or raising my child as a single mother, no werewolf without a father has ever been treated

BELLA It seems every sound has stopped just to hear Ariana speak, fresh tears trail her cheeks, her lips quiver as she tries to form words of what we all wanted to know since she got back. Slowly, she peels off her robe, revealing her cream shorts and tank top. I gasp in shock, not for the exposed flesh but for the ugly whip scars snaking down her thighs to her calf. What the hell happened? She turns her sad, glassy eyes to Brad. “It all happened so fast, he dragged me and forced me to take off my clothes and put on some dead girl's clothes.” she sniffs, trying so hard to keep her snots in. I wish I could have recognised any on that day, but I was too scared and they had all shifted to their wolf form way before the attack. “Ari, I think you need to sit down.” I pat the space by my left, she ignores it and moves to my right closer to Brad. Too close for comfort, but try not to think about it. “I was blindfolded the entire trip, it was horrible.” I can only imagine how t