Chapter 1 #2
“That is not okay. Cancel that bitch’s return ticket.
Cancel the hotel if they’re not there yet.
Change all your passwords. File fraud with the bank.
Don’t let that asshole have anything. Throw his things out the window,” she listed with rapid fire precision of somebody who may have done this before.
Or simply had a contingency plan for everything.
“Maybe it’s all a misunderstanding,” I breathed. It had to be. How else could I explain that? They wouldn’t actually try to steal my trip, would they? Who even did that?
My phone buzzed with a text from Drea. It was a photo of her kissing Logan, followed by a photo of everyone on a plane holding drinks.
Drea
Don’t wish you were here. Thanks for the free trip and the boyfriend.
No, not a misunderstanding. I’d been replaced.
I screen-shotted everything, then blocked her.
“Auntie, what do I do? I thought he was going to propose.” My heart broke into a million pieces.
“I told you what to do. I’ll be right there.” She ended the call.
I didn’t do anything. Instead, I took all my blankets, curled up on the bed, and started to cry.
About a half an hour later, there was a knock on the door.
I got up and opened it. Auntie Kiki strode in like she owned the place, nose wrinkling at the mess.
Her dark-brown hair was up with a scarf, large glasses sliding down her nose.
She was always dressed impeccably– it was island impeccable, not Los Angeles impeccable.
“Auntie Kiki’s here. Don’t cry. You’re not one of those people who look cute when you cry.” She pulled me in for a hug. “I told you he was no good.”
Auntie said it lovingly. While she could be a lot, she only had my best interest at heart. She was also the most supportive relative I had after my parents’ passing. More so even than my brother.
Not that anyone was unsupportive. My aunties and uncles teased me, got after me about things, but ultimately, they all loved me regardless.
“But I love him. We had our life planned out,” I sobbed. We’d graduate, start our doctoral programs, and after we finished, we’d go wherever my job took me, because physical therapists could work anywhere. Maybe add a pack member or two along the way.
“Then he tossed you aside for some floozy. He’s not worth a single thought. Did you do what I said?” Her eyebrows rose.
I shook my head. “No. Well, except for changing some passwords.”
She rolled her eyes, exasperatedly.
“Wouldn’t it be mean to cancel her ticket and strand her in Bali? If I did that, everyone would be mad at me and accuse me of being controlling. It will ruin their trip,” I sniffed.
“They’re not your friends. Who cares?” She grabbed my laptop from the bedroom and sat down in the living room.
In a few strokes, she canceled Drea’s return ticket. Her fingers hover over the connection as a vicious smile curved across her lips. “Should we cancel her connection?”
“What?” Getting from Hilo to Bali took three flights. They were most likely on their way to Manila.
Auntie shook her head. “No. I won’t do that. Too easy. This way she’ll get there then be stranded. Should we cancel his return flight, too?”
“He’ll get angry with me.” I rubbed my temples. How had it gone from excitement to this?
“Did you pay for it?” she demanded.
I nodded. “He said he’d pay me back.”
Of course, he owed me for a lot of things.
“He stole from you. He’s not your boyfriend. His feelings no longer matter.” Her fingers moved across the keyboard.
Oh my god. We’d broken up, hadn’t we? I curled on the couch in a blanket burrito.
“Did you file the charges with the bank?” she asked.
I shook my head.
She rolled her eyes. “Did you take him off the account?”
“He wasn't on the account. He just used my phone to send himself money. How could he steal from me? How could he uninvite me from the vacation I planned and paid for?” I sobbed. “He was my alpha. He betrayed me.”
In the mornings I woke him up and made sure we had the food he liked. I helped him study. When he had long days, I brought him lunch or packed him one on internship days.
A sob ripped from my throat. I thought he was the one.
Maybe he wasn’t. Obviously, I wasn’t the one for him.
What was I going to do when he came back?
I wasn’t sure how long I laid there on the couch in shock, only occasionally replying when Auntie needed information. I heard her on the phone, but I just laid there, wondering what I did wrong, what I didn’t notice.
How bad of an omega had I been for him to replace me?
Sure, I’ve been really busy with classes and my research, but this was my last semester of undergrad. I thought everyone understood that.
“What are you doing, Auntie?” I asked when she went into the kitchen and got something.
“Getting him out of your life.” She started putting his things into a garbage bag.
“We can't throw his stuff away, he could sue me for it.” I frowned.
“Fine, then move you out, he can pay the rent himself.” She dumped the bag out in the middle of the floor.
“It's campus housing. We’ve already paid for the whole semester. Where am I going to move to? Campus housing is full and I can’t afford rent,” I told her.
“Move in with me. You can use my car or take his, since you paid for it. Don’t think I didn’t know,” she added.
“He'll pay me back. He was just waiting for his scholarship disbursement.” Which was what we were both living off of. That, along with work study jobs, and what I got paid for my research. His internship was unpaid.
While Auntie Kiki would give me whatever I needed, I liked to try to do things myself first.
“You got yours months ago,” she pointed out.
“He said there was a hold up for some reason,” I replied, realizing how pitiful and na?ve those words sounded.
“Hold up. Hold out. Now you move out.” There was finality in her voice. She took my phone.
“What are you doing, Auntie?” I reached for it and she pulled it away.
“Scrolling is bad for you. You are breaking up with him?” she asked.
“I guess so?” It felt like a breakup.
“Good.” A vicious smile spread across her face as she did something with my phone.
“Auntie, what did you do?” I grabbed the phone back from her. She’d taken a bunch of my screenshots and sent them to him, along with a screenshot of the bank transaction.
Me
You dirty, thieving cheater. We’re over.
Then she’d blocked him.
Actually, it wasn’t that bad, and she hasn’t said anything that wasn’t true.
“Let’s go have a nice dinner. You’ll feel so much better. Then we’ll move everything into my place.” She hugged me to her. “You deserve better than him.”
While moving out seemed drastic, it was probably for the better. Then I wouldn’t have to face him. I should probably take him off of everything, too.
“It’ll be really nice to stay with you.” I supposed I could get research done over spring break. It would be quiet on campus. I could surf with my cousins and hang out with the uncles, while Auntie was on her trip to Nashville with her friends.
She eyed my clothes, which were just jeans and a T-shirt. “We're not going to dinner with you dressed like that. You’re single now. Even if you don’t want a new alpha, you still have your pride.”
I stood up. “Fine, Auntie.”
With Auntie I had to pick and choose my battles. For free food, I’d put on something nicer. Especially because she had very good taste.
“Don’t worry. We’ll make him pay.” She smirked.
Logan didn’t know what he was in for. Because there was no wrath quite like an auntie when you’d wronged her favorite.