Divorcing My Alpha Husband For His Uncle

Shutting Her Up

I paused mid step at her words. Hot anger crawled up my chest, and I was sure it wasn't just about tonight or this woman or even Alaric.

It stemmed from every whispered insult I received from my pack. Every pitying look, every person who had smiled at my face and made a mockery of me the moment my back was turned.

Every time I'd swallow something that deserved to be spat out. I was so tired of swallowing things and turning a blood eye to it.

So I turned around with my fingers curled into fists beside me, my eyes narrowing at them. I marched back to where they stood.

That's when I caught it. Sera, standing just off to the side with her arms folded, had an unreadable look in her eyes as it always was, except for one thing.

There was a tiny, barely there smirk sitting on her lips as her eyes stayed fixed on me.

I blinked. Confused at first.

Sera? Out of every person standing in this corridor tonight, she was genuinely the last one I expected that from. I mean, she wasn't exactly accommodating, and I could feel the coldness from her every time, but never this sort of open reaction.

I didn't even know what to do with it or what it meant about where she actually stood, because that smirk told me something her professionalism had been carefully hiding, and I didn't have the time or the headspace to unpack it right now.

I filed it away and kept moving. My feet carried me back down the corridor with a purpose that the rest of me was fully signed up for, and I watched the woman's face as I got closer.

The smugness was still there, but now mixed with slight confusion, like she was only now realizing I had actually turned around and was actually coming back, and maybe that hadn't been part of her plan.

Good. Never let them know your next move.

I didn’t slow down until I got in their faces, then I swung my arm with every strength I could muster, my palm connecting with her cheek in a resounding slap, the sound of it bouncing off the corridor walls.

Her head snapped sideways, and she stumbled back with a loud gasp, her hand flying to her cheek, and the bedsheet slipping off one shoulder.

For a full second, nobody moved.

Nobody breathed. Even the crickets went quiet. My palm tingled, and I held in the urge to fist them.

Then her face turned red in anger as she snapped her eyes back to me, "You b***h—"

I swung my palm at her again, not waiting for her to finish that sentence. Even harder than the first time. My palm was on fire at this point, but I didn't care even a little bit. I was so focused on that satisfying feeling in my chest.

She made a sound that was half shriek and half outrage, both hands pressed to her face now, her eyes wide and glassy as she stared at me like she was genuinely struggling to process what was happening to her.

I stood there breathing hard, blood rushing in my ears, and I felt something loosen in my chest that had been knotted up for longer than I could remember. Not just from tonight. From five years of biting my tongue, lowering my eyes, and telling myself it wasn't worth it.

This felt worth it.

I turned to Alaric, my brows drawn together and nose flaring. He hadn't moved. He was standing exactly where he'd been, watching me with that dark, steady gaze that gave nothing away, and I couldn't tell if he was about to intervene or just going to keep standing there looking like that, which was somehow more infuriating.

"This arrangement," I started, pointing between us, my voice was shaking, but I held it together, "is for both of us. We are both getting something out of this, and I want that to be very clear." I held his gaze, not blinking. "I have tolerated enough disrespect to last me several lifetimes, and I am done. I will not stand here and swallow it from a woman who warms your bed and thinks that permits her to talk trash about me."

I turned and pointed directly at the woman, who was still holding her face and staring at me with an expression caught somewhere between fury and shock.

Then I looked back at Alaric, and I felt the words come from somewhere low and bottled up inside me.

"Fix this thing," I said quietly, pointing at her. "Or I will."

The corridor was thick with tension, her mouth dropped open, and she drew herself up to her full height, her eyes blazing, clearly about to say something that was going to make tonight significantly worse for everyone involved.

Then Alaric's voice cut her off, eyes still fixated on me but directed to her. "Say one more word about her," his jaw ticked, and his voice was so quiet it was almost calm, but the weight of it fell on her, "and I'll have you thrown out of this pack."

Lena's mouth snapped shut. She looked at him, then at me, then back at him again, standing there waiting for the part where his expression would crack and he'd tell her he was only joking.

But it never came.

Her face twisted in fury and embarrassment. She shot me a disgusted look, and i coupd careless if daggers were shooting out of her eyes.

She pulled the bedsheet back up around her shoulders with as much dignity as the situation could allow, lifted her chin, and walked away without another word.

Her heels clicked sharply and furiously against the stone floor, each step angrier than the last, until the sound of them faded completely around the corner.

Silence settled over the corridor. I stood there for a moment, still breathing harder than I'd like, my palm still stinging from both slaps, the adrenaline slowly starting to drain out of me, and leaving something quieter in its place.

I could feel Alaric looking at me, but I planted my gaze down instead.

Now what next?

I shot him one sideways glance, long enough to make sure he knew I still had thoughts about all of this that tonight hadn't finished, and then I turned around and walked away.