Me 50%


    Roman came to the door. I assumed he’d heard Julian’s voice, as he wrapped is arm around me, pretending to be my doting


    husband. His casual touch made me ufortable, as I knew the feelings he had for me, but I yed into it for now. I just wanted


    Julian to leave me alone.


    “You live together?” Julian demanded, anger settling even more deeply on his face.


    “Yes,” Roman said, pulling me even closer into his body.


    Again, I went along with it. If Julian thought that another man, another Alpha, even, lived here, then he wouldn’t try to get to


    Alice. He wouldn’t try to hurt her.


    “Go home, Julian,” I said. “I don’t want you here. I don’t want your money. I don’t know why you keep trying.”


    Despite his off-putting behavior, something inside me still yearned for Julian. I shut it off quickly. Julian was no longer a dream of


    what could have been. He was a threat to my family and the life I’d carefully constructed for my daughter and I.


    “All I’m asking for is my wife, my legal wife, toe home. That’s all. I’m not going to force you.” Julian paused, and his blue


    eyes seared into mine with a mix of emotions I couldn’t quite read. “You won’t find happiness here, though.’


    “}


    “If you keep harassing me, I will get awyer. I will petition the Werewolf Court for a restraining order,” I said, trying to keep my


    voice steady. “You’re stalking me, Alpha. That’s illegal.”


    I saw Julian clench his fists and waited for the bacsh of sharp, pointed words, usations he himself couldn’t understand. The


    words never came. Instead, Julian restrained himself, taking deep breaths before meeting my gaze again.


    “I’ll wait,” Julian said quietly. “You’lle back to me eventually.”


    I had nothing left to say, and his quiet words unsettled me, being so far from what I had expected. I closed the door, going back


    into the house.


    As I returned to preparing dinner, which thankfully hadn’t burned, Julian’s words haunted me.


    He’d caused me so much pain. There was a previous life where all I’d wanted was for him to reciprocate the same love I felt for him, and he’d been unable to give that to me.


    Part of me wanted to try again, and I hated that part of me. If I went back, it would only mean more heartbreak.


    Then, of course, there were all the times he had tried to buy me off. He fundamentally misunderstood my motives and my values. When he looked at me, all he ever saw was a woman who loved money above all else.


    A sharp ache shot through my chest at the thought. Any of the feelings I’d felt seeing him again were gone. I felt nothing towards


    him but bitter coldness.


    “Don’t you have Olivia at home?” I’d asked before shutting the door, reminding him again of how he’d been the one to ruin our marriage. “Go back to her.”


    12:36 PM Tue 26 Aug


    Shock once had once again run across Julian’s face. He was wordless at my defiance.


    I wasn’t the submissive little housewife I’d been in that previous life.


    I had a career I loved and had trained long and hard to do. I had a daughter who was my whole world, my motivation for


    everything I ever did.


    I had nothing to fear from Julian, even if he was the Alpha.


    50%


    Still, the emotions overwhelmed me, washing over me like a tidal wave. Hovering above the dinner simmering on the stove, I


    broke down and cried.


    My tears sizzled as theynded against the hot steel.


    GET IT N…


    X


    12:36 PM Tue 26 Aug