His hand shot out, gripping my arm with a force that would have once made my heart race. Now, it only made me feel trapped. "Aeliana, why the hell are you still acting up?" His voice held an edge of desperation as if he couldn’t comprehend why I was pulling away.
"Acting up?" I repeated, my voice calm yet laced with the bitterness I had kept suppressed for so long. "Is that what you think this is? Just a tantrum? You’ve always seen it that way, haven’t you? You thought I was just being difficult, never once considering that maybe, just maybe, you were the one in the wrong."
He opened his mouth to respond, but I cut him off, the words spilling out before I could stop them. "Do you even know how many nights I spent learning to cook, trying to make meals you’d enjoy? And do you know where they ended up? In front of Leila, because she’s ‘weak’ and needs them more than you."
His grip loosened slightly, a flicker of something like guilt passing through his eyes, but it was quickly masked by the stubbornness I had come to know all too well. "She’s not like you," he said defensively. "You’re strong, Aeliana, you have Lycan blood. Leila…she’s different. She needed those meals more."
I let out a mirthless laugh. "Of course. One is strong, and one is weak. You two really are quite a match." I pulled my arm free from his grasp, the finality in my voice leaving no room for argument. "I don’t have time for this, Alpha. I have work to do."
I walked away from him without looking back, focusing all my attention on the tasks ahead. The phone calls, the messages, the mind-links—each one was ignored, severed before they could reach me.
The only odd thing was that my wolf, who should have been writhing in discomfort from the distance between us, remained silent and unaffected. It was like this from the very start, as if she never felt any mate pull when between us, it should be her that should be affected the most.
Days turned into weeks, the gifts, the meals—everything the Alpha sent was returned unopened, and with each rejection, I felt a little more like myself again. I almost forgot about them entirely until Beta Ark called me.
"Luna Aeliana, when are you coming? We're all waiting here. The gathering is incomplete without our Luna." His voice, dripping with mock politeness, reminded me of the role I was supposed to play.
"Waiting for me? Why?" I asked, genuinely confused.