Secrets Behind the Betrayal

Chapter 6

I walk down the hall to the room at the end. I stand in front of the door, hesitating. I take a deep breath and knock loudly. A moment later, the door opens and Victoria stands in front of me. She looks surprised as she stands there.

I give her a small smile. "Hey, Tori."

She stands in silence for a moment before throwing her arms around me, hugging me tight. "Zena," she whispers, her voice full of emotion.

I hug her back, relieved that our argument has been forgotten.

She pulls away after a moment, smiling. "What brings you to the pack house today?"

My thoughts go back to last night with Neo and I blush a little bit, but shake my head. "Alpha Cory wanted me to help you prepare for your Delta ceremony. He said you would be less nervous if you had someone you knew by your side."

She nods excitedly. "Absolutely." She steps aside and gestures for me to come into the room. "I'm beyond nervous and Ian is stressing so much about what the pack will think."

I follow her, closing the door behind me. "You'll do great and Ian will adore having you by his side. The pack may take a little bit to get used to you, but they'll love you too."

She sits on the couch at the side of the room. I sit on the other end of the couch, tucking my legs beneath me.

We're both quiet for a moment.

"How are things going with Neo?" she asks hesitantly.

I suppress a smile as I think about him, then I frown. "You know what I have to do," I murmur, staring down at my hands. "But I wanted to wait until after your ceremony so I don't have to hurt him more than is necessary."

She sighs. "I just don't understand. Why does your wolf want you to reject him? She feels the mate bond just as much as you do."

I shake my head. "I don't know," I lie. "All she said was something didn't feel right." Before she can say anything else, I look up and smile at her. "Enough about my drama. This is supposed to be a happy occasion for you. Have you picked out a dress?"

She shakes her head, seemingly relieved to be on a different subject. "Not yet. Ian says it's customary for the Delta female to wear a yellow dress, though. I haven't had a chance to get one yet."

"Then we'll count that as the top priority of the to-do list today. I'm sure the omegas will be handling food and decorations. You should probably write some kind of speech too." I smile apologetically at her. "I know you hate public speaking."

She runs her hand through her hair. "I'll have to get used to it since I'm going to be Delta female. I can't be scared of speaking in front of large groups of people forever."

"Well," I say standing up. "Let's get started then."

I hold out my hand and she takes it, pulling herself to her feet. I let her hand go and lead the way out of the room and down towards the front door.

I catch a faint trace of Neo's sweet scent, but there's no sign that he's here. It's best if I don't let Victoria see us together. It will look bad on my end.

Before we reach the door, I notice Audrey approaching nervously. I stop and watch her warily.

She stops a few feet away from us and sighs. "I know we got off on the wrong foot, Zena," she murmurs. "But I wanted to apologize and I really hope we can be friends."

I'm taken aback by her words and all I can do is stare, eyes wide in confusion.

"I mean it," she says honestly. "You did nothing to deserve such hostility from me and I'd really like it if we could start over."