The Alpha King's Tomboy Concubine

Cheap Trash

JOANNA

~~

C-Caleb …

N-no. T-that’s im-impossible.

My mouth was dry, air catching in my throat as my mind spun into nothing but sheer confusion and sickening realization that I didn’t want to accept.

Yet, Seth’s painfully familiar moan hit my eardrums again, sealing my fate “Goddesss, Caleb…”

That was the final blow that shattered my soul.

Shakily, I placed my palm on the door and pushed it open. The moans and smell of ecstasy were enough confirmation, but even those didn’t prepare me for the gut-wrenching pain that consumed me when I set my eyes on the duo in t-that position.

While my body went rigid along with my brain, Seth’s eyes widened, shock flashing in his dilated blue orbs, but still couldn’t replace the burning lust glinting in them.

"Joanna! What the hell?"

Seth, the man I have loved for three years, hissed, scrambling to pull the thin sheet up to his waist, even though the image of him balls deep within his supposed best friend was already burned into my memory.

Anger?

I couldn’t believe that was the first emotion my boyfriend of three years expressed to me right after I caught him cheating on me with Caleb!

A man!

His f*****g best friend, who was meant to be the best man at our wedding!

“Since when are you into men?” My lungs twitched to scream those words at Seth as Caleb rolled onto the other side of the bed. I have been in too many times.

But I couldn’t ask him that question.

Not when it felt like everything was finally making sense. Not when I now understand that Seth was into me, the hardened tomboy daughter of—

“It’s not what it looks like, Joanna,” Caleb muttered with a softer voice, his eyes shifting between Seth and me.

“Not what it looks like?” I scoffed, holding back tears because I wouldn’t like either of them to see how much they have broken me.

It looked like my worst fears… like I wasn't good enough for any man, not even a gay one.

I wasn’t a woman and would never be a man. Just plainly undeserving.

“Actually, it looks like everyone was right.” I hissed, embracing the anger that zapped through my muscles instead of the pain slicing my heart.

“Joanna,” Seth called out, emulating Caleb’s tone as if he could finally see the blood gushing out from the wound he had inflicted on my heart.

However, after catching him in the act, I wouldn’t be fooled. Not anymore.

“It’s all been a lie,” I uttered confidently, forcing my emotions to the very depths of my soul as I held his gaze. “The affection, the promises, and—”

My voice broke before I could complete that statement, but I quickly found my voice again, lashing out, “Everything has been a lie, and all you wanted was to become Alpha!”

Before I walked in on him and Caleb, I would have never accused Seth like this. Gosh, he was perfect. In fact, I would have expected him to reassure me sweetly, but now, I expected nothing from him.

I felt empty.

“You are wrong, Joanna.” Instead of Seth, Caleb denied, fumbling with his zipper as he added, “Th-this is a one-time thing, and I forced Seth to do it. He loves you—”

Rage seized me up, fueled by the ache in my heart, and before I knew it, I dashed towards Caleb and my balled fist connected with his jaw. Hard and with every intention to cause him pain.

Wasn’t it bad enough that he was the other person in my relationship? Did he have to lie to me again?

Hell, I might not have a wolf and also failed to smell their act of betrayal until now, but there was no denying that they have been f*****g behind my back.

Maybe I was the other person in the relationship.

Those thoughts bubbled within me like an angry wave, and my fist moved with it, punching repeatedly as my emotions blinded me.

Yes, I was a tomboy. I don’t cry.

Instead, I make use of my fists.

At least I did until Seth violently yanked me off Caleb, throwing me to the other side of his tiny room as he snarled, “Dammit, b***h! Leave him out of this!”

Genuine concern?

Scratch that!

It was love that I heard in his voice as I pushed myself off the floor and watched him pull Caleb into the strong arms I

used to love having around me. Not even once in three years did Seth gaze at me like that.

If I had any questions to ask Seth, they all died within me when his angry eyes met mine again, and he snarled like a lioness whose cub has been messed with.

“Who in their right mind would love you?” He started and instantly answered that question himself. “Definitely not me, bitch.”

“You’ve got to calm down, Seth. Think of the bigger picture.” Caleb whispered almost inaudibly.

But Seth was far gone. I guess pouncing on Caleb, the man he obviously loved, has unleashed the side of him that he had successfully hidden from me for the past three years. He shoved Caleb behind him protectively, stepping forward to loom over me, and poured out the truth.

“I never loved you, and I never will. Not because I’m gay, but because you are blinded by your stupidity.” Seth roared, his voice bouncing off the thin walls of his room.

He didn’t flinch, nor did he take a breath as he continued, “Look at yourself! You’re the only child of the Alpha of Blue Moon Pack, yet you wear those damn rags and train like a street dog. You don’t even have a wolf, and your dad is a ghost of the Alpha he used to be because of your shortcomings and your mother’s death.”

The words landed like physical blows, each one targeting a different vulnerable spot—all my insecurities and pain.

“Your pack is suffering, Joanna!” He snapped, adding another punch that I couldn’t bear.

Yet, he wasn’t done.

He grabbed Caleb’s wrist, pulling him forward slightly as if to display a prize I would never earn even if I tried. “Caleb and I have a real bond, Joanna. You should be grateful I was willing to share myself with someone like you for all our sakes!”

I should feel gratitude? For being used repeatedly? Being lied to? Being mocked, unwanted?

My heart didn’t break. It pulverized.

The last thread of hope, the desperate denial that had kept me standing, snapped. The cold, empty feeling in my chest was replaced by a roaring, white-hot vacuum of pure, lethal rage.

And once again, I did the only thing I did best—I embraced it.

The hotness ignited the muscles in my arms and legs that everyone else mocked.

I took one swift, powerful step, ignoring the sting in my knuckles from the earlier strike. I didn't aim for Caleb this time. My eyes locked onto Seth’s sneering face, and I drew back my fist, which soon connected squarely with his face, delivering a brutal hit that cracked through the silence.

The sneer he once wore was wiped clean, replaced by the dizzy confusion of my attack. He staggered, the sudden force rocking him and pushing him back against Caleb.

He didn’t see beyond my muscles, but he will certainly feel them now.

I didn’t wait for him to recover or for Caleb to run to his aid before I raised my knee and kicked him where the sun doesn’t shine. I thought, “If I were in pain, he should be in agony.”

“I hope it never rises again.” I spat in Seth’s red face before I walked out of the room.

Seth’s agonizing groans mixed with Caleb’s cry for help, but it sounded like music to my broken soul as I walked out of the barracks. Despite the physical pain and the chaos within, I didn’t stop walking until I was back inside the warmth-lacking living room.

My dad was still sitting by the dead fireplace, and his tired eyes shifted to me the minute he perceived my presence. He looked at the fresh splinters on my shoulders, at the blood on my knuckles, and finally, into my vacant eyes.

"Joanna," he began, his voice barely a breath.

I simply raised my hand to stop him from voicing the pity and concern plastered all over his face. It was too late for him to act like a dad, and I was done putting up a fight.

Heck, all I wanted now was to put distance between myself and everyone who has played a part in shaping me into this person—

Maybe I was furious or filled with hatred. Just maybe.

But none of that emotion slipped into my voice as I announced, “You win.”

My dad’s surprise was evident, but I ignored it as I concluded, “You can ship me off to the Alpha King… Hell, sell me off like some cheap trash.”