“Look! The Alpha’s future mate is here.”
I followed her gaze.
Alexa walked straight into Ezra’s office, swaying her hips, wearing high heels and not knocking.
Within moments, the blinds dropped with a decisive snap, blocking any view of what was happening inside.
But soon, the man and woman’s panting could be heard. Through the blinds, two figures were seen entangled together.
I lowered my eyes, my thoughts returning to the past.
Ezra once pressed me against the same office desk, his hands urgent but gentle.
His eyes shone with desire as he whispered:
“Don’t you think this feels thrilling? Like we’re having a forbidden affair?”
I’d laughed then, drunk on his attention and desire.
His sweat had dripped onto my skin while he held me close.
I almost laughed aloud at my former self. I felt pathetic for repeatedly believing his empty words.
Allowing him to deceive me ten times was foolish.
But now, touching the mate bond dissolution papers and pack registry withdrawal forms in my bag, feeling the Council’s seal under my fingertips, I knew with absolute certainty:
There would not be an eleventh time.
Two hours later, while I was busy delivering my work to colleagues, Ezra sent me a mind-link.
Bring coffee to my office. Now.
The demand was made without a please or thank you, just in his usual commanding tone. As if I still belonged to him. As though nothing had changed.
He was always extremely picky, particularly about his coffee. Not just particular, but tyrannical about taste, temperature, and presentation.
To make him happy, I once spent $5,000 from my own savings to purchase the highest quality coffee beans available from a speciality importer.
Beans had to be flown in weekly from remote mountain ranges halfway around the world. I’d even attended special barista classes three towns away, driving two hours each way every Saturday for a month to learn proper brewing techniques.
All so he could have the perfect cup.
In the entire pack office, I was the only one who could make his coffee exactly the way he preferred. Something he would brag about to Alphas who came to visit.
“My Zara knows exactly how I like it,” he would say, smiling. My heart used to skip a beat whenever I saw her.
I stared at his message, my jaw clenching at how his tone implied that my devotion was simply expected–a natural right of his.
I gave out a cold laugh. I almost forgot I had purchased those coffee beans with my own money. He had never offered to reimburse me.
I ignored Ezra’s message and got up to make myself a cup. The expensive beans were still in the break room, so I might as well eat them one last time before I leave.
What I hadn’t expected was to find Alexa in the break room.
When she noticed me enter, her lips curled into a contemptuous smile.
“Well, if it isn’t Zara the doormat,” she said, her voice full of mock sweetness. “I thought you’d burst into the office earlier to catch us in the act. You usually do.”
She deliberately tilted her chin up while speaking, highlighting the glaring red marks on her neck. Marks that were clearly meant to be seen, perfectly positioned so that her collar wouldn’t hide them.
