22 - Heather
I was done waiting. I’d given him enough time to notice the perfection that was in front of him. It’s been years!
I was the one who cooked his meals while he was mated to my whore of a cousin! After she died, I was the one whocame over and cleaned his house, did his laundry, and baked him muffins while he was licking his wounds in their bedroom.
Throughout it all, I thought, “Be patient, he just needs time.”
Well, guess fucking what? That frumpy hick shows up one day, and suddenly, he has a mate again.
Fuck!
I pressed the heels of my palms into my eyes, but the throbbing pain just wouldn’t go away.
“What are you doing, Heather? Why is Hank downstairs?”
“Shut up!” I yelled at her as I thrust the silver knife in her direction. “Just be quiet!”
The bitch still didn’t get it. She still acted like she was High and Mighty Luna Penelope dealing with meek little crippled Heather. Not this time.
I tried reaching for my wolf, the instinct as strong as ever whenever I felt threatened, despite the fact that I was no longer one with her. The years after losing my mate so unexpectedly and so brutally had been dark.
Wolfsbane saved my life, but it also made it unbearable. My family knew I’d messed up my bond with my wolf by numbing her pain, and their solution was to hitch my wagon to my bitch of a cousin and get rid of me. Fuck them.
God, I’d hated her. I stayed in the pack only for him . For the silent kindness he’d shown me since the first day I moved into his pack. The way he’d shoot me secret glances when Cassie wasn’t looking, how he’d make sure I’d eaten or rested enough. And at work, he always paid such attention to me. He took care of me, always. And soon the bond between us would become apparent to his wolf as well.
“Did you like your tea?” I asked her as she frowned, probably trying (and failing) to get her claws out.
“What?”
“The tea Dominic brought you this morning. Did you like it, Penelope?”
Her eyes widened in realization. I gave her my real smile, the predatory baring of the teeth. I no longer pretended I was well-adjusted or nice.
“Can we go say goodbye to the Luna before you drive me to the train station?” I imitated the breathy voice I'd used with Dominic that morning and then raised an eyebrow at her.
“Wolfsbane?”
“Yes. And I put some in Dom’s coffee as well, so he won’t be able to sense your anguish or properly scent the crime scene once he gets here tonight.”
“How did you even get back here?”
“I got off the train two towns over and drove back,” I told her.
Ah, it felt so good to finally be honest.
“Yes, Penelope, I can and do drive. Don’t tell me you’re so naive and kind that the idea of me lying never crossed your mind?”
She didn’t respond. The first smart thing she did today. Stupid bitch. She was so unworthy of a male like my Alpha.
At first, I was relieved because he never displayed any attachment to her after bringing her to the pack out of nowhere. Me, on the other hand? He never missed my PT appointments or any of our lunches at work.
But lately, it was like she had bewitched him. She had done something to him! My sweet, gentle male was being cold and cruel to me. It was all her fault!
I flinched when I tore off a piece of skin as I chewed on my cuticle. Penelope didn’t love Dominic like I did. She ran all over town with her little friends and spent time with everyone but him.
He went months without sex because of her frigid ass. And she spent his birthday moping because her grandma had kicked the bucket. What would she have done if she’d experienced true tragedy the way Dominic and I had?
I looked at her again. She’d gotten even bigger since she’d had the pup. Her dress was a tent, like always. God, I hated the sight of her.
I felt my upper lip being pulled up in a sneer. What an unlikely couple they made. She was such a dowdy female and so dull. He had such depth to him, such strength.
I remembered how I'd recognized the pain in his eyes the first time I met him. His wounded soul called to mine. We would soon be one, and we would heal each other. My wolf would have a mate again, and she’d heal from whatever I’d inadvertently done to her. I would finally feel whole again. No more pretending. No more tinctures. No more loneliness. Dom would finally see me. Me .
“Now, let me get Hank, and then you two lovebirds can have your grand finale.”
She frowned, and I knew the wheels in her head were turning, so I helped her out.
“I’m planning to make it seem like Hank and you had a little lovers’ spat gone wrong right here in your pup’s room. Now, I can’t guarantee that’s how others will see it. Maybe they’ll think Hank was obsessed with you, all these months alone in the car, maybe he approached you, and you shot him down? I’d be happy with either, as long as the outcome remains the same.”
“The outcome being my death?”
“Bingo. But don’t worry, I’ll take good care of Dom. We’re meant to be, you know?”
“I actually don’t, Heather,” she shrugged and moved to sit on the bed.
I let her. She might as well get comfortable before I cut the tendons in her legs to prevent her from running. I took a step toward her, and to her credit, she didn’t flinch.
“Have you ever heard of the Clearheart legend?” I asked, and she shook her head no. “Some of the European packs believed that if a pair of fated mates had an awful relationship because one of them was terrible, true love between one of the mates and a third party could break the bond and forge a new one between the lovers if they are both pure of heart.”
“I’m sorry, Heather, but Dominic and I don’t have an awful relationship.”
“Please,” I made a face at her. “He was ignoring you for the longest time; he even left for three months. And when he finally came back, I never smelled you on him again! What would you call that?”
Penelope’s mouth tightened in anger and disapproval, but she knew I was right. I made it my life’s mission to observe that male.
“Do you think you’re pure of heart, Heather? Do you think you fulfill the conditions of the legend?” she tried reasoning with me.
The throbbing became stronger.
“My heart beats only for Dom. Everything I did was for him! If that isn’t pure I don’t know what is. That whore cheated on him! I could smell Alpha Anderson all over her. I almost vomited. I couldn’t believe it,” my eyes filled with tears. “How could she do that to Dom? How could she cheat on her mate?”
Penelope’s gaze was soft when she asked, “What happened when you picked Cassie up that night?”
“We argued,” I wiped my eyes with my sleeve.
I wore sweatpants and a long-sleeved tee today. None of my clothes fit right anymore. I was slowly wasting away without a mate.
“I confronted her about the cheating, and she claimed she just needed closure with an ex, and we got into it. I ran us off the road when I attacked her as she was driving.”
“How did no one notice you were lying about the accident?”
I puffed out my chest proudly.
“First of all, I’m an accomplished faker,” I said, a hint of the old bitterness creeping in.
“I had you all fooled, didn’t I?” I looked at her pointedly, and I think she would’ve laughed if it wasn’t for the knife in my hand.
“I took a swig from Cassie’s flask. She usually laced her drinks with wolfsbane when she partied. Together with the kava mixture that I take for anxiety, it left me calm and composed, and with no wolf to show my unease. Messed with my leg, though,” I grimaced.
“Please, just don’t hurt my pup,” she suddenly fell to her knees in front of me and put her face in her hands.
Finally, she was in her rightful place, below me.
“Don’t be stupid. He’s not even here. And I need him. After your death, Dom will need someone to help him with the pup,” I said as I leaned down to yank her from the floor when I felt a sharp burn in my chest.
I looked down and saw blood blooming on my shirt as the bitch yanked the dagger out of the wound.
The last thing I remembered before blacking out was charging at her in impotent rage.