Ripped
1708 Words
Madison’s POV
11:30 PM.
Daniel had never ignored my calls before.
“The number you dialed is not reachable at the moment…”
I dialed his number again, like I had been repeatedly doing over the past two hours.
“The number you dialed is not…” I disconnected the call before it could even complete this time.
“Where the heck are you?” I murmured, staring hopefully at my phone as I anticipated his call.
‘Daniel, please, you are scaring me.’
The text went up to join the rest, making over ten unanswered texts.
I could feel my wolf pacing in the back of my mind as I stood in the kitchen doorway, overlooking the melted candles I had lit exactly two hours ago by both sides of the anniversary cake I had spent the majority of my Saturday afternoon making.
I even wrote our names on the cake with red icing.
Madison & Daniel @ 8… Accompanied by a little heart emoji.
It was a Vanilla sponge cake with strawberry cream, a recipe I had mastered after Daniel mentioned that it was his favorite four years ago.
I was eager to see the smile on his face when he would return from his duties in the Pack and then step into the room covered in red flowers and lit with scented candles.
Unfortunately… Here I am, alone at 11:30 PM in the middle of our shared apartment with no reply to my messages or even a call.
No explanation as to why my Mate wasn’t home yet.
The next trail of thoughts was… Is he okay?
I kept calling, but he didn’t take any of my calls, nor did he return them.
It was late, and I didn’t want to disturb any of his fellow warriors from the pack, but I became so worried that I couldn't refrain from calling.
I dialed the commander of the Pack's warriors.
He wasn’t reachable either.
Did something bad happen to everyone?
I turned on the TV and tuned into the Pack's news station, but nothing serious was going on there.
I didn't even know what to do anymore. Where do I start searching for him?
I waited about an hour more, and then I couldn't wait again.
I picked a jacket from the hanger, already heading out of the room...
I heard the front door fall open.
I heard his voice first, the sound of it making me sigh in relief.
Then suddenly, I heard a second voice. A woman's.
I froze.
"I'm keeping this child." Her voice was steady, but it carried a kind of softness that could make one say yes to all her wishes. "Whether you want me to or not, I don’t care. I already made my decision.”
There was a pause. My hand wrapped tighter around my phone.
"Why wouldn't I want you to?" Came Daniel's voice, his voice reassuring and a little too calm. Nothing like the voice he used with me. "Of course I want you to keep it."
The lady sighed. "I was scared, you know. Because... You and Madison have been dating since high school, yet you asked Madison to get rid of her child…
"Sienna." His voice cut through, gentle but firm. "That's because she's Madison. You're not her."
I stood very still, chills running down my spine.
I must have misheard. I tried to convince myself.
I tried to lie to myself that those words didn't just come out of the mouth of the man whom I had spent eight years loving. The man who joyfully grabbed me into a hug when we found out the goddess honored our request of being paired together as mates.
I tried to move, but my legs felt a little too heavy.
"We're going to spoil this kid with everything in the world." He said, his grin becoming wider as he squeezed her hands in a reassuring way.
That night, three years ago. All I could hear was Daniel being reasonable and thinking for us.
“I just want to be sure I can give our child the best life before we bring anyone into this world. Is that so wrong, Maddie?”
“I want to be ready.”
“I want to be the kind of father who can actually provide. The father who is physically present for his child, not just financially.”
“You understand that, don't you?” He said as he held both of my hands in his.
I understood. I always did.
I looked back at the cake on the counter once again, sitting pretty and untouched. Our names, still legible in red icing.
Something unexplainable happened in my chest, almost like it had been frozen for a moment.
"I'm thinking of naming him..."
"Shuuu... I can scent Madison around." Daniel said.
"Didn't you say she was on night duty?"
"Yes, but..." His words died off when I finally stepped out to the living room area.
Sienna stood by Daniel's side, with her thick red lipstick, which stood out in the dimly lit area.
She is the Beta's daughter, always looking so put-together and well-dressed. I had always privately found her to be slightly intimidating. Even their closeness seemed a bit too off to me. But Daniel would always wave it off and scold me about how jealous I had been becoming of late.
I stepped further into the light, watching how their smiles dropped instantly.
“You’re home?” Daniel muttered, eyes wide.
"Eight years, Daniel," I said, ignoring his stupid question.
"Eight years,” I repeated, letting the weight of it settle.
"I cut off my friends because you said they were a bad influence. I changed the way I dressed, just because you were insecure and didn’t want me attracting other men’s attention. I rearranged my entire life around yours, and I thought…" The words refused to form.
Not because I was going to cry.
But because there were too many of them, pressing against each other; words could barely explain how I felt right now.
“Three abortions, Daniel…” I said, showing off three fingers. “And now, who knows if my womb would ever carry a child again.”
“All because I was trying to wait for you to be ready…”
A sigh of frustration escaped my lips as I ran my hand through my hair, realizing just how stupid I had been all these years.
I looked at him. He looked back at me.
“Did I make a mistake by falling in love with you? Did the goddess make a mistake by making me your mate?”
"Maddie, please… Don't make this harder than it already is." He cut me off; his voice was tired, like he’d had enough of me already.
His words felt like a physical attack.
I could already feel the tears forming in my eyes.
But instead of letting them out, a small pained chuckle escaped my lips.
“We both knew that other than the mate bond pulling us together, there's nothing beautiful about our lives.” He continued, his tone rising.
"Look, Maddie... I can't be trapped with an Omega for the rest of my life. I'm the second in command of the Pack's officer for goddess' sake. Do you know how I've been mocked several times because of you?"
I sniffed back my tears before they could even surface.
A lot of words hung in my throat, ready to be unleashed, but the only word that successfully made it out was… “Wow.”
It was like everything had finally snapped, and my misery was laid bare in front of me.
My eyes snapped to Sienna, who clutched onto Daniel's arm like she was marking her territory.
"Why the heck are you staring at me like that?" She snapped. "It's not my fault you can't satisfy your Mate..."
Her words barely did anything to me; Daniel had completely shattered my heart already, and I guess there was nothing left to break.
My eyes snapped back to Daniel. He didn't say another word, just held Sienna's hand tight like he was trying to protect her from me.
I looked down at my left hand.
At the ring he had merely tossed at me years ago, rather than giving me a heartwarming proposal.
It was like he had done it because he was tired of hearing me whine.
I pulled it off and set it on the side table.
I did it carefully, rather than slamming or throwing it. Enough to let him know that I was done letting my emotions get the best of me.
"I, Madison Howard of Greystone Pack, reject you, Daniel Richmond, as my mate." I spat, the words tasting like freedom.
A laugh escaped both their lips, a sound of mockery.
"I gladly accept your rejection." He said, giving Sienna's hand a small squeeze.
I took a step back, and another, feeling a heavy weight settle in my chest.
My wolf was f*****g hurt.
I held onto my chest, retreating fast enough to make sure that I didn't drop a tear in front of them.
I could hear his voice behind me as I made my way towards the bedroom.
"I’m sorry you had to see all of that," Daniel said, speaking softly to Sienna.
I couldn't be more humiliated.
I shut the bedroom door behind me, letting the tears fall freely for a minute or maybe two. Then I wiped my face, already making my way to the wardrobe.
Despite the heaviness in my chest, I pulled my suitcase from under the bed and started packing.
I zipped the suitcase and picked up my handbag.
On my way out through the kitchen, I took the bottle of whiskey I had gotten for our anniversary night.
I had everything packed up and ready to leave this place for good.
I stopped for a moment.
Then turned back, looking at the place that had once been my entire world.
“Make sure you don't come knocking at my door when you have nowhere to sleep.” His words echoed behind me.
Without a word, I stepped out, the door clicking shut behind me.
- Writer
