Betrothed To The Alpha

CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE

HANNAH

I cry until my eyes run dry, my heart shattered into a million jagged pieces by Alex's betrayal and the public humiliation that followed. The tranquil silence of the forest is broken by the crunch of leaves underfoot, and I don't bother lifting my head to see who it is. But I know who it is the moment her scent reaches me, as she wraps her arms around my trembling form.

"There you are! I've been searching everywhere." Mila exclaims, hugging me tight. I cling to her desperately, craving the comfort and solace her embrace provides amidst this maelstrom of heartbreak.

"That asshole Alex doesn't deserve you," she growls, the rumble vibrating through her chest as she tightens her arms around me. "I'm glad this happened so you can be free of him finally." Her words are meant to soothe, but they only reopen the gaping wound in my chest, raw and festering with betrayal.

"You deserve the world's best mate, Hannah. And he's out there waiting for you, I promise." Her palm strokes my hair in a soothing rhythm. "Don't you worry; you'll meet him soon enough." She continues her attempts to cheer me up, and even though I don't say it out loud, I'm grateful for her effort, even if it does little to ease the ache that has taken root in the hollows of my heart.

"Come on, let's get you inside. It's freezing out here," Mila's tone brooks no argument as she pulls me to my feet, steadying me when my legs threaten to buckle beneath the weight of my sorrow.

We make our way back to the pack house, each step driving the jagged shards deeper into my wounded heart as the stares and whispers from the pack members bring fresh tears to my eyes.

"That's her - the one the Alpha was supposed to marry before he was caught cheating."

"I heard he didn't actually cheat; he just went back to his original mate. She was the one keeping them apart."

"So she's the reason he left his first love? What an awful person..."

The cruel words slice through me like knives, each one twisting the blade of humiliation deeper. Mila's hackles rise, her lip curling in a feral snarl as she rounds on the gossipers, the promise of violence crackling in the air around her. Before she can unleash her fury, I grab her wrist, pleading through the lump in my throat, "Please, don't draw more attention. It's the last thing I need right now."

Her eyes blaze mutinously for a moment before softening. With a terse nod, she allows me to tug her forward.

We continue walking to the pack house, and just as we're about to step inside, I stop her again, grabbing her hand.

"Is everything alright?" Mila asks, concern etched into her features.

"Yeah, I just..." I wet my lips, looking around once more at the curious eyes watching our every move. "I don't think I want to stay here tonight. Do you have somewhere I could go?" The only place I know would only remind me of the two people I want to forget exist in this world right now.

She looks at me for a moment, her eyes filled with pity and understanding. "Yeah, I do. Let me get my keys, and we'll go," she says, running inside and leaving me alone with the weight of countless judging stares. I curl my arms around my midsection, hunching my shoulders to make myself smaller, less of a target for their censure and disdain.

Thankfully, she doesn't take long, and we leave for her apartment in the city. I end up spending the entire week there without a single call or text from Alex. Nothing. The silence is deafening, a constant reminder of how quickly and completely he excised me from his life. I slowly start to wonder if the past months were even real because I don't understand the complete 180 our relationship took without any warning or signs. I start to question if there's something wrong somewhere I'm unaware of because none of this makes sense. But I also wonder if I'm just trying to convince myself that Alex was actually falling for me when, in reality, he never was. So many thoughts swirl in my head, and I honestly don't know which are true anymore. I'm tired of trying to figure it out. The constant turmoil and self-doubt are slowly grinding me down, and I feel like something might push me over the edge sooner than I anticipated.