Exiled By My Mate

Forsaken and Cast Out

CHAPTER 3

KADEN'S POV

Each piece of discarded clothing on the floor fueled the fire in my veins, my blood boiling hotter with every crumpled fabric I stepped over.

Bella and her lover lay there in the middle of it all. I nudged the discarded bra away with my boot, my gaze snapping back to their tangled bodies. A bitter taste coated my tongue.

Shock. Anger. Disgust. My stomach churned as the emotions brewed together, thick and suffocating. But beneath the rage, something else festered, an ache, sharp and unexpected. Betrayal

I looked down at the person the moon goddess had apparently chosen to be my mate, naked beside another man.

I took in the face of her lover, and my anger sharpened, twisted by something else, something I didn't want to name.

A part of me felt violated and cheated. I shook my head, fighting against the feeling of jealousy threatening to overcome me.

"Get it together, dammit," my wolf growled.

Right, Bella was insignificant, merely a thorn in my side that I had tolerated all this time. Disgust. Anger. Those were reasonable. But why did this feel like a blade to the chest?

The answer came instantly. The emotions weren't from me. They were from my wolf, who was meant to be Bella's mate.

That was the curse of the mate bond. No matter how much I loathed her, my wolf craved her, pulling me closer against my will. Seeing her like this had turned the feelings of desire to that of hurt.

As if things weren't complicated enough.

Bella’s eyes found mine, wide and stricken with fear a silent confirmation of her guilt.

Who would have thought she had this side to her? Messing around in secret with another man? Just how long had it been going on right under my nose? Questions flooded my mind.

The only reason I had even found out was because I had gone looking for her this morning.

Glade had reported that Bella refused to finish her punishment and deserved worse. I was ready to ignore it, her defiance wasn’t worth my time. But Glade was persistent, so I relented.

I sent for Bella, but the messengers came back empty-handed. A mix of irritation and unease settled in me.

Was she knowingly hiding from me? Or had something bad happened to her?

I sent for her friends next, but only Fiona was found. Fiona claimed she last saw Bella yesterday, and hadn’t seen her since.

Eventually, Glade suggested we find Bella ourselves. I refused at first, but my wolf wouldn’t let it go. And with Glade’s insistence, I gave in.

We searched everywhere but came up with nothing. Just as I was about to call it off, Fiona suddenly had an idea.

I expected to find Bella hiding, or maybe not at all.

But this?

Not her naked, with this excuse of a man, Seth Macclaw. I knew him. I’d always been wary of how close he was to Bella, too close. Now, it all made sense.

How stupid was she?

I was her mate, the Alpha, yet she chose this weak Beta as her lover. He was nothing compared to me.

"It's not what it looks like." Bella's voice trembled.

Not what it looked like? Was that really all she could come up with?

The truth was plain to see. Yet her first words were the same tired excuse of every cheating liar. Did she think I was dumb?!

Glade took a step forward, which caught Bella by surprise. The hands she had been using to hold the sheet against her chest went up to shield her from a hit that never came. The sheet slipped from her grip, baring her chest to the room.

The sight of her bare skin only stoked my fury. She shrieked, scrambling to cover herself, her fearful eyes locking onto my own rage-filled gaze.

"Starblazer, for heaven's sake, this woman isn't worth it. Keep your cool!" I yelled inward to my wolf, who was fuming with rage. I tried to get it under control, but anger seeped through the crack in my resolve.

I really needed to get rid of this maddening bond I had with Bella. Just then, the body lying beside Bella started to move. It seems her lover was finally awakening from his slumber.

"Hmm... what happened?" Seth groaned as he looked around him. His body stiffened as realization dawned on him. He was naked, and we were watching.

The bond forced me to hesitate, to be torn between fury and something I refused to name. But as for the bastard Macclaw, I owed him no sympathy.

I stormed towards the bed. Both Bella and Seth recoiled in fear when they saw me making my way towards them. I grabbed Bella’s wrist, yanking her up without hesitation.

"Get the warriors to put him in the dungeon," I ordered Glade.

"I have already sent Fiona to get them." Glade responded.

I looked at where Fiona had been standing and realized that she was no longer there. I had been so focused on Bella and Seth that I failed to notice when she left.

Soon four of the pack warriors rushed in, saluting me and Glade.

"You sent for us, Alpha." One of them said.

"Take him..." I said, pointing at Seth. "... and put him in the torture chamber."

Seth stiffened in horror, his mouth opening to protest, but I didn’t care. My grip on Bella’s arm tightened as I dragged her away. The sheets lay forgotten, leaving her in nothing but a skimpy panty, but I couldn’t care less.

Since she was a w***e, she shouldn't mind everyone seeing her as just that.

"Please let go," Bella begged as she struggled to free herself from my grip. Confused looks were cast in our direction as we made our way to my castle. The servants and guards stood shocked at the side, but none said a word.

"I'm begging you, just please hear me out." Her voice dripped with desperation.

I dragged her downstairs to the basement prison. The prison guard rushed to unlock a cell. The moment the door swung open, I shoved her inside.

She fell with a thud and didn't try to get up. She turned to look at me, her face already wet with tears, as she kept on repeating her pleas like a mantra.

I gave her one last look of disgust and contempt before slamming the cell door shut. I was not ready to deal with her and her lover yet. They would have to wait till after the festival.

***

Three days later.

My finger drummed into the armrest of my throne as I sat in the large hall. The pack elders flanked me, seated along both sides of the long table. I glanced at Glade before turning to the real spectacle. Bella and Seth, kneeling before the council.

Bella was clothed now, I made the effort to provide her with a black gown. She looked far better than her lover, whose body bore fresh wounds and burn marks, injuries that hadn’t even begun to heal. Wounds of that nature would take quite some time to recover from, especially for a werewolf like him.

The meeting was called to announce their fate, which had been decided earlier in their absence.

Bella's eyes met mine, a silent plea in them.

"You should have thought about that before deciding to be a w***e," I thought.

"It has been decided..." I addressed Bella and Seth. Their visibly drained expression flickered with fear.

I couldn't get rid of my mate bond with Bella, so I decided to get rid of her instead.

"... You both are hereby exiled from the Claws pack."

Panic flared in her eyes, understandably so. She knew exactly what exile meant.

I might as well have ordered their execution.