Chapter2
1185 Words
Zack's POV
The divorce papers felt like they weighed a thousand pounds in my hands. The ballroom had erupted into chaos after Chloe walked out, but all I could see were those papers. She'd been carrying them. How long had she been planning to leave me?
"Alpha, are you alright?" James stood beside me, his voice concerned.
"Fine," I growled, though my wolf was raging inside me. How dare she embarrass me like this? How dare she hurt Ryan and then act like the victim?
Ryan sat in a chair, pack members fussing over his injuries. The claw marks down his chest looked deep. My wolf wanted blood. Someone had hurt a pack member under my protection. That it was my own mate made it worse.
"I'm so sorry, Zack," Ryan said weakly. "I thought she loved you. I never imagined she'd... that she'd want me instead."
"Tell me exactly what happened."
"I went to your study to get some papers for Monday. She followed me in. Said she was lonely, that you didn't pay attention to her." He winced, touching his chest. "I told her she was your mate, that it was wrong. But she wouldn't listen. She said if I didn't... if I didn't kiss her, she'd tell you I forced myself on her."
Veronica appeared with a first aid kit, her hands gentle as she cleaned Ryan's wounds. "This is horrible. Poor Luna Chloe must be having some sort of breakdown."
"She's not Luna anymore," I said sharply.
The room went quiet. Rejecting a mate publicly was serious. But she'd betrayed me. She'd tried to seduce my newest executive, her own stepbrother.
"Zack," James said quietly. "Maybe you should talk to her first. Get her side—"
"You saw the evidence!" I roared. "You saw what she did to him!"
James stepped back, submitting to my Alpha command. But something in his eyes bothered me. Doubt? No. James was my Beta. He trusted my judgment.
I looked down at the divorce papers again. Already filed with the court. She just needed my signature. Part of me wanted to rip them up, to drag her back here and demand answers. But my pride wouldn't let me. She'd humiliated me in front of my entire pack.
"I'll sign them tomorrow," I said coldly. "James, make sure she's moved out of the penthouse by morning."
"Alpha... that's her home."
"Not anymore."
I left the pack house, driving back to the penthouse alone. The place felt different without her scent. Empty. My wolf whined, but I ignored him. She'd made her choice when she attacked Ryan.
But sleep wouldn't come. I found myself in her closet, surrounded by her clothes. Her scent was everywhere. Vanilla and honey. My wolf wanted to hunt her down, to mark her, to remind her who she belonged to.
No. She'd betrayed me. She'd broken our bond.
I moved to my office, trying to focus on work. But my eyes kept drifting to a photo on my desk. Our wedding day. Chloe looked radiant in white, smiling up at me like I was her whole world. When had that changed? When had she become so unhappy that she'd turn to another man?
My phone rang. James.
"What?"
"Alpha, I think you should know. Chloe left with nothing. No money, no cards, just the clothes on her back."
"So?"
"So she's your mate. Your wife. You can't just—"
"She should have thought about that before she betrayed me."
I hung up. But the words echoed. My mate. My wife. For three years, she'd been both. Had I really been such a terrible husband that she'd turn to Ryan?
No. I'd given her everything. The penthouse, designer clothes, jewelry, status. What more could she want?
My wolf growled. "Time. She wanted time."
I pushed the thought away. I didn't have time. I had an empire to run, a pack to lead. She knew that when she married me.
The next morning, I signed the papers. Each signature felt like claws ripping through my chest, but I did it. The marriage was over. Chloe was no longer my Luna, no longer my wife.
"It's done," I told James, handing him the papers to file.
He looked at me with something like disappointment. "You're going to regret this."
"The only thing I regret is trusting her."
Ryan started work that day, bandages visible under his shirt. The pack members who worked at Thornton Industries whispered when they thought I couldn't hear. Some supported my decision. Others seemed uncertain.
"She was a good Luna," I heard one secretary whisper. "This doesn't seem like her."
I wanted to roar at them all to shut up. But doubt crept in like poison. Chloe had been a good Luna. Perfect, actually. She'd handled every pack duty with grace. Never complained, never failed.
So why would she suddenly attack Ryan?
"Because she was lonely," my wolf said. "Because we ignored her."
I silenced him again. Being lonely wasn't an excuse for betrayal.
Veronica brought me coffee, her fingers lingering on mine as she handed me the cup. "You did the right thing, Alpha. A Luna who would betray her mate doesn't deserve you."
Something about her eagerness bothered me. But then, Veronica had always been loyal. Unlike my ex-wife.
Ex-wife. The word tasted bitter.
That night, the penthouse felt like a tomb. Every room held memories of Chloe. Her laugh in the kitchen. Her humming in the shower. The way she'd curl up in the library with a book.
I found myself in our bedroom. Her pillow still smelled like her. My wolf took control for a moment, and I found myself burying my face in it, inhaling deeply.
"We need her," he howled.
"She betrayed us," I reminded him.
"Did she? Or did we betray her first?"
I threw the pillow across the room. I hadn't betrayed anyone. I'd been working, building our future. Everything I did was for the pack, for us.
But as I lay in our bed alone, a memory surfaced. Last month, Chloe had planned a dinner. Just the two of us. She'd cooked my favorite meal, worn a beautiful dress. And I'd canceled at the last minute for a meeting that could have waited.
The disappointment in her eyes had been crushing. But she'd just smiled and said, "I understand."
How many times had she said that? How many times had I put her last?
No. This wasn't my fault. She'd made her choice when she went after Ryan.
My phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number. I opened it, and my blood turned to ice.
It was a photo. Chloe, walking alone down a dark street. She looked small, vulnerable. The message beneath made my wolf snarl:
"Your ex-Luna looks pretty alone. Maybe someone should keep her company."
I was out of bed and in my car before I could think. Whoever was threatening her would learn what happened when someone touched what was mine.
Except she wasn't mine anymore. I'd thrown her away.
And someone was hunting her.
- Writer
