REBORN:LOVE AND VENGEANCE

Ariel I wasn’t supposed to hear the moaning, not in my own home, not in our bed and certainly not after returning from a pack strategy meeting, the one I had begged Klaus to attend with me, only to be told that he was “too tired.”
I guess this was what exhaustion looked like now. My fingers curled tightly around the wheels of my chair, which creaked softly down the hallway. The sound grew louder with every push as I approached the master bedroom, flesh slamming against flesh,and a soft laughter that belonged to a woman, accompanied by breathy whimpers. I stopped at the door and swallowed hard, bile rising in my throat. It was half open, just enough to see the edge of the bed and the sheets tossed like they didn’t care to cover up anything. I heard her laugh again and Klaus’s scent hit me. No. No, it couldn’t be. I pushed the door open with a trembling hand and there they were. Klaus, my mate, the man I bled for and Madea, the woman he brought into our home under the guise of "helping me" while I recovered from an accident that shattered my spine were on the bed. She was supposed to take care of me, not ride my mate like some cheat slut but here she was, on top of him, her head thrown back in ecstasy, and hair clinging to damp skin while Klaus lay beneath her staring into her eyes, looking happier than I had ever seen before. They still hadn’t noticed my presence, not until I rolled my wheelchair into the room. “What’s going on?” I forcefully managed to speak. Their eyes immediately turned to me but neither of them moved. Klaus didn’t flinch or care to push Madea off, instead his hand gripped her like she was his lifeline. As for Madea her mouth was left half open like she was contemplating saying something but she stayed silent, not making any attempt to get off Klaus’s body. “Ariel,” Klaus called coolly, glancing over me in a lazy way, “why didn’t you knock before coming in?” I blinked, stunned into silence. The pain hit first. How could this be his first words after what I just saw? Then came the heat. The rage. The humiliation. “I live here,” I said, heat and rage taking over me. “I’m your Luna and this is our room. Why in the goddess’s name should I knock before coming in!” He pulled away from Madea and stood, naked and completely unashamed. “Don’t raise your voice on me!” I blinked. “What? I just caught you cheating on me and this is how you act? With no act of remorse whatsoever?” “No,” he replied. “I have done nothing wrong. I am a man who needs pleasure and I obviously don’t get that from you anymore since you became a burden.” I couldn’t speak. My hands tightened on the armrests of my wheelchair as my lungs burned for air. Madea slipped into one of his shirts and had the nerves to lean against the dresser like she’d always lived here. “You… you brought her here to care for me,” I whispered, turning to her with so much rage. “You dirty tramp! How dare you?” Madea raised her eyes lazily to meet mine and smirked. She didn’t even try to hide the evil in her eyes. “I am sorry, you weren’t meant to see this, if only you didn’t come back early,” she said, as if I was wrong to have walked in on them. Klaus sighed like I was the inconvenience. “You think I want to spend my life tied to a cripple? You used to be useful. You had fire. But now? You're dead weight, Ariel. This pack deserves more.” “I—why?” I finally managed to say with my cracking voice. “You never told me anything about this. If you felt this way about me, there were other better solutions other than sleeping with a lady supposed to take care of me.” He looked at Madea with something disturbingly close to affection. “What’s wrong with choosing Madea? She’s obviously not like you. She walks, runs and shifts. She’ll give me strong heirs.” Madea ran her fingers through her hair and shrugged. “No offense. It’s just evolution, sweetie.” My breath caught, it felt like the whole world was tilting. My heart cracked. “I gave everything; my body, my wolf, and my legs up, for you and for this pack!” He snorted. “Please don’t say it like anyone asked you to play the hero.” “He’s right, Ariel. You’re so dramatic,” Madea chirped in. “Always have been. Did you think playing the sacrificial lamb would make you superior? Did you think being crippled makes you special?” “You make it seem like I wanted to be crippled, I was only serving my pack,” I whispered. “And that’s exactly the problem,” Klaus said. “No one asked you to do all that.” The tears in my eyes began to fall down, hot and uncontrollable. “I led warriors into battle when our forces were dying!” I shouted. “The Blood Fang ambush killed half our men. I stepped in because I was Luna! I—” I could barely breathe. “I lost the use of my legs in that battle. You weren’t even there, Klaus but I carried your title and your burden!” “No need for all this, you should’ve stayed home like a proper Luna,” he coldly. “Instead, you thought you were some kind of savior. And now? Look at you.” His eyes raked over my body with disgust. “You are a good-for-nothing burden and a broken woman.” I felt like the floor had given way beneath me. He once called me his fierce warrior and the flame of the pack but now, I was nothing but a “useless nobody” in his life. “Please, Klaus…” I whispered. “I love you. I understand people make mistakes and I—I am willing to forgive you. Just stop. Please.” He laughed. A cruel, hollow sound that echoed in my chest. “You are willing to forgive me?” he mocked. “You’re not in any position to forgive anyone, Ariel. You’re pitiful. You can’t even shift anymore. What kind of Luna doesn’t have a wolf?” Madea giggled. ““If you love him so much,” Madea said with a smirk, “You should be thanking me for giving him what you couldn’t.” Tears streamed down my face. I wiped them away furiously, ashamed. “I gave you everything,” I whispered. “And I’m giving you your freedom,” he said. “As of this moment, I reject you as my mate. And as Alpha, I strip you of your Luna title.” My heart stilled. “No…” “Yes,” he said. Then, raising his voice, he added, “I will let the pack know that Madea is my chosen mate.” “No!” I cried. “You can’t! The Moon Goddess—” “The Moon Goddess made a mistake,” he snapped. “And I’m correcting it.” My hands trembled violently. I turned my chair around and wheeled away as fast as I could, gasping for air like I was drowning. I needed to outrun the shame curling around my throat.