The Alpha Who Dumped Me Is Begging At My Feet

1 The bedroom smelled like cologne and something else… a sweet, flowery perfume that obviously didn't belong to me. I lay there in the dark. I felt the weight of a man over me. He was strong, his body hard and cold against mine. He didn't say a word as he pressed his lips against mine. It wasn't a kiss of love. It was a kiss of ownership. He was biting me, devouring me, like a beast that had finally caught its prey. I pushed against his chest with all the strength I had left. My hands shook. "Stop," I whispered, my voice breaking. Peter Reid paused. In the little light streaming through the window, I could see his eyes. They were sharp and dark, filled with a look that made me feel small. He sat back, looking tall and imposing. "What now, Nora?" he scoffed. His voice was like ice. "You begged me to come home today. You used every trick in the book to get me here. Isn't this what you wanted?” A sharp pain went through my chest. It hurt worse than any blow to hear him speak to me like that. Just last week, I had found out the news. I was pregnant. After four years of marriage—four years of him ignoring me, four years of me trying to be the perfect wife and Luna of his pack—I finally had a reason to hope. I thought a baby would change everything. I thought it would finally make him love me. But Peter wouldn't even take my calls or listen to anything I had to say. He was always busy. He was always at a meeting. I knew where he really was. He was with Margot. Margot Thorne. The woman he loved before he met me. The woman his grandfather wouldn't let him marry. I was just the mate forced upon him by his family. To Peter, I was a golden cage. To get him home for my birthday, I had to threaten his assistant. I had to act like a villain, saying I would fire people and make Margot suffer if Peter didn't show up. It was pathetic. I had to use another woman's name just to get my own husband to look at me. I reached over and turned on the bedside lamp. The warm yellow light filled the room, but it didn't feel cozy. Peter looked at me with deep lines in his forehead. He looked bored. He looked like he wanted to be anywhere else but here. "Nora, what game are you playing?" he snapped. He stood up, towering over the bed. "I’m warning you. If you touch Margot, or even speak her name to cause trouble, I will make you regret it. I won't show you any mercy." I looked at the clock. It was one in the morning. He had been with her all night. "Were you with her?" I asked. My voice was small and shaky. "Were you with Margot all day?" Peter’s face turned into a mask of pure hate. "You are not worthy to say her name," he said. Each word was a tiny dagger. "She is a thousand times the woman you will ever be." I felt the tears welling up. I tried to blink them away, but they were too heavy. My whole body started to tremble. For four years, I had worked so hard. I learned how to cook his favorite meals, even though I burned my hands so many times they were covered in scars. I learned how to clean, how to manage a huge house, how to be the perfect Luna and wife by his side." I did it all for a man who thought I wasn't even worthy of speaking a name. "Peter," I said, reaching out to grab his sleeve. I felt so weak, so desperate. "Please. I have something to tell you. It's important. It's about... us." I was going to tell him. Maybe if he knew about the baby, his heart would melt. Maybe the beast in him would love the fact that he was going to become a father. Suddenly, his phone buzzed on the nightstand. The sound was loud and angry in the quiet room. Peter reached for it immediately. "Don't," I begged. I held onto his arm with both hands. My eyes were wide and pleading. "Please, Peter. Just five minutes. Just listen to me first." For a second, he hesitated. He looked at my face, seeing how broken I was. He had never seen me like this—so vulnerable, so close to falling apart. But then, the phone buzzed again. It was a special ringtone. The one he saved just for her. He didn't think twice. He shoved my hands away so hard I fell back onto the pillows. "Don't push your luck, Nora," he growled. "I came home. That should be enough for you." "Is coming home a charity now?" I whispered, a bitter taste in my mouth. He didn't answer. He answered the phone instead. He didn't even leave the room. He wanted me to hear. "Peter?" A woman’s voice came through the speaker. It was high and shaky. She was crying. "Peter, I’m so scared. My car... I have a flat tire. It's so dark in this parking lot. You know how much I hate the dark. Please..." Peter’s entire vibe changed. His coldness vanished, replaced by a deep, intense worry that he had never once shown me. "I'm coming," he said instantly. "Stay in the car. Lock the doors. I'll be there in ten minutes." "Ah!" Margot screamed on the other end. "Margot? Margot, what happened?" Peter was already grabbing his coat. "I... I tried to get out and I stepped on some glass," she sobbed. "I'm bleeding, Daniel. It hurts so much. I’m so dizzy..." "Don't move," Peter said, his voice thick with panic. "I'm coming right now." He turned toward the door. He didn't even look at me. "Peter, wait!" I scrambled out of bed. I felt dizzy, my head spinning from the stress and the lack of food. "You can't go! I need to tell you—I'm pregnant! We're having a baby!” But the words wouldn't come out right. I was sobbing too hard. All that came out was a muffled cry. I ran to the door and blocked his path. "Step aside, Nora," he hissed. His eyes were red with rage. "Please," I sobbed, clutching his shirt. "I'm your wife. I'm hurting too. Please just stay for a moment." "If anything happens to her because you held me up," Peter said, leaning down until his face was inches from mine, "I will never forgive you. I will make sure you lose everything." He put his hand on my shoulder and shoved. I wasn't ready for it. I was weak and tired. I stumbled back, hitting the wall as he stormed out of the room. The front door slammed a moment later. The sound echoed through the empty, cold house. He was gone. He had been home for ten minutes, and he had left me—his pregnant wife—to go help a woman with a flat tire and a scratched foot. I felt a wave of nausea. I had to tell him. I couldn't let him leave like this. I ran out of the bedroom and toward the stairs. "Peter!" I screamed. "Peter, help me!" My vision blurred with tears. My feet felt heavy. As I reached the top of the stairs, my foot slipped on the polished wood. Time seemed to slow down. I reached for the railing, but my fingers missed. I felt myself falling. Thump. Thump. Thump. My body hit the hard steps over and over again. A sharp, white-hot pain exploded in my stomach. I landed at the bottom of the stairs in a heap, my nightgown twisted around my legs. I looked toward the front door. I could see the lights of his car through the glass. "Daniel..." I wheezed. The pain was so bad I couldn't breathe. "Help... help me..." The engine roared. "Stop making a scene, Nora!" his voice shouted from the driveway, muffled by the walls. "Margot needs me! Just go to sleep!" The tires screeched as he sped away. I lay there on the cold floor. I felt something warm and wet spreading between my legs. I looked down and saw the red staining the white rug. My baby.