Scarred by the Alpha

Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

PIERCE'S POV

I couldn’t get her out of my head.

The moment I’d seen Raya at the party, it was like something inside me had snapped. She looked different, more confident, more radiant, but still undeniably the woman I had once dreamed of spending my life with.

And that guy, who was that guy standing so close to her, touching her like he had every right to, it made my blood boil.

I leaned back in my chair at the pack house, staring at the papers scattered on my desk. Connor, my Beta, sat across from me with a slightly annoyed expression on his face as he rattled off updates about rogue activity near the border.

“Pierce,” Connor said, snapping his fingers in front of me, “Are you even listening?”

“What?” I blinked, bringing my focus back to him.

Connor groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ve been talking about the border patrols for the last ten minutes, but you’re clearly somewhere else. What’s going on with you?”

I hesitated, debating whether to brush him off or tell him the truth. Connor wasn’t just my Beta, he was my best friend. If anyone could handle the mess in my head, it was him.

“It’s Raya,” I admitted, leaning forward and resting my elbows on the desk.

"Raya?" Connor’s eyebrows shot up, “As in your Raya?”

“She’s not mine anymore,” I muttered, the words tasting bitter on my tongue.

Connor leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. “Alright, start talking. What happened?”

I ran a hand through my hair in frustration “She’s back, Connor. Her parents invited me to her surprise party yesterday, and…” I paused, the memory of her standing there in that dress flashing through my mind, "She looked incredible.”

Connor smirked. “And?”

“And she hates me,” I said flatly, “I tried talking to her, I even asked her out on a date to make up for lost time.”

“You did what?” Connor’s smirk turned into a laugh.

“She poured her drink on me,” I admitted, feeling the sting of humiliation all over again.

"Ha!" Connor laughed harder, slapping his knee, “That’s what you get! What were you expecting, Pierce? A warm hug? A kiss on the cheek?”

I glared at him. “I don’t need your sarcasm right now.”

“Come on, man,” Connor said, still chuckling, “What did you think would happen? You rejected her out of the blue two years ago without giving an explanation. Did you really think she’d welcome you back with open arms?”

I clenched my fists. He wasn’t wrong, but that didn’t make it any easier to hear.

Connor’s laughter faded, and he gave me a serious look. “Why did you reject her, Pierce? You never told me.”

“It’s complicated,” I replied, looking away, my jaw tightening. I was telling the truth, it was complicated.

“Complicated, my ass," Connor scoffed, "Spill it. Does this have something to do with Nicole?”

“No,” I said sharply, my voice colder than I intended, “This has nothing to do with another she-wolf. No one could ever compare to Raya.”

"Then what is it?" Connor raised an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced, "Why would you reject the woman you clearly still want? Because, let’s be honest, you’ve been brooding over her since the day you let her go.”

I shifted my gaze to the floor, the weight of his words pressing down on me.

He wasn’t wrong. Every day since I rejected her had been hell, a constant war between my heart and the decision I had made.

“It’s not something I can explain,” I said finally with a low voice.

“You’re hopeless, you know that?” Connor said with a sigh, shaking his head.

“Maybe,” I muttered, then slightly raised my voice in annoyance, "Worse, I saw her with some new guy."

"Really?" Connor asked in surprise as he leaned forward, resting his arms on the desk, “So, what’s the plan? Because from the sound of it, Raya’s moved on. Maybe she and the guy are together.”

Jealousy washed through me, the image of the guy's hand on Raya’s arm flashing through my mind. “You think so?”

“Could be," Connor shrugged, "It’s been two years, Pierce. You can’t expect her to sit around waiting for you forever.”

The thought of Raya being with someone else made my stomach twist. I clenched my fists tightly, and I could feel the sharp edge of my nails biting into my palms.

“I don’t care who he is,” I said, my voice hard, “I’m not giving up on her.”

Connor gave me a skeptical look. “You’re determined, I’ll give you that. But if you’re serious about winning her back, you’ve got your work cut out for you. She’s not going to make this easy.”

“I wouldn’t expect her to,” I said.

“Good,” Connor said, standing up, “Because if you mess this up again, you’ll have more than just a drink thrown at you.”

"Hmph," I scoffed, “Thanks for the pep talk.”

Connor smirked. “Anytime.” he replied in sarcasm.

As he left the room, I leaned back in my chair, staring out the window. The memory of Raya’s eyes, blazing with anger and pain, played in my mind.

I had hurt her deeply, and no matter how much I wanted to make things right, I knew it wouldn’t be easy.

But I wasn’t going to give up. Never.

I would do whatever it took to win her back.

Even if it meant facing the consequences of the choices I had made.