Nearly a year later after a gruesome attack from Landon's psycho ex-mate, Lilac and Landon West are living a "normal", safe life... well, considering the incestuous relationship they have.
Their time has been spent bonding with their one-year-old so...
Roughly, I yank away from Landon when he tries to grab my hand as we walk down the corridor to the room we're meeting Ava and Victoria in.
"Don't touch me," I hiss viscously. He lets his arm drop to his side and puts some space between us.
Good, I think.
I so badly want to take my ring off, and throw it at him, watch in pleasure as his heart breaks into thousands of pieces, but I keep it on.
You'll be the weak one, Landon.
He glances at me. "I'm sorry-" He begins but I cut him off.
"Your apologies means nothing to me," I reply bluntly.
Landon frowns. "Okay, I was frustrated and tired, I didn't mean to say those things," He tries again.
My anger flares. "You should have checked yourself, Landon." I walk in front of him, leaving him behind. "I'm done with this," I mumble.
When I walk into the room, Victoria is pacing, her eyes cast down while Ava is staring at her.
Ava perks up. "Morning! We'll start with mental warm-ups and then we'll start on some simulations!" She announces.
We warmed up with tests that tested our agility, our movement coordination, and how we decipher reality from fiction.
From there, we spent three hours on simulation—they went pretty well considering it was our first day—before Ava and Victoria sent us on our way.
Before Landon could follow me, though, I was already back in our room changing into workout clothes so I could put in some time in the dojo.
I'm getting better at not injuring myself every time I try to use a punching bag, and my fists are getting better at building up tolerance against the harsh impact from punching.
My knuckles hardly bleed anymore, and my hands can actually open after all my training.
Ophelia seems pleased with my extra commitment, and I take pride in her approval because I see her as the mother Lydia should have been to me.
As of right now, achieving enough skills so I can defend myself against a rogue if needed is my goal, and by the end of this, being able to protect my children is my ultimate goal.
Landon can protect himself. He has made that quite clear.
Just imagine Landon's face on the punching bag, I think as I ram my fist into it with all my strength.
"You seem annoyed," A deep voice says from behind me.
Abruptly, I turn around to see Thanatos. "Yeah, I am," I mutter as I walk over to my water bottle to take a sip.
He leans on the doorframe. "What's bothering you?" He pauses and tilts his head, "let me guess... Landon?"
I laugh. "Like you couldn't tell from us disagreeing on everything with each other," I reply.
Thanatos walks over to me slowly. "I did some research on your old pack, and apparently your true mate, Hunter Young, has found another," He changes the subject.
Shocked, I look back at him. "No offense, but why do you care?" I ask without trying to snap.
"We, my brother and I, need to know everything about you-"
I cut him off. "You should know right now, then, that he didn't find another. Your mother gave him another mate," I snap before picking up the rest of my belongings, and leaving the room.
Tears sting my eyes.
Hunter would have been a good mate. Was rejecting him so I could be with Landon worth it?
My wolf says yes, but I, sadly, say no.
Now it's Zelia who'll receive his love, receive a title as beta female, receive a title as his wife, and maybe even a title as the mother of his children.
'Landon loves us, Lilac. Just relax, and don't lose faith in him,' She pleads.
Does he love me? What man in his right mind would tell his fiancée that she's the reason they're perceived as weak? What man in his right mind would even think that's acceptable in a relationship?
Only Landon. Only Landon would be that stupid.
It takes me a moment to realize that I'm standing in front our bedroom door just thinking to myself.
When I walk in, I see Landon smiling down at the babies as he plays peek-a-boo with them, occasionally tickling their tiny tummies to receive giggles.
A smile almost finds it's way on my lips, but then I realize he's not going to acknowledge my presence.
'You should have expected that,' My wolf snaps.
Once again, I ignore and don't reply to her. I decide to take a shower to avoid Landon longer.
Reconciliation isn't even on my mind, and to be honest, I don't know when it will be on my mind.
"Can we talk about it?" Landon's voice comes when I'm about to walk into the bathroom.
Pulling my ring off, I set it on the dresser calmly. "No."
I close the door to the bathroom and turn on the water, and strip. Tears sting my eyes despite how hard I'm trying to pull off the "I'm a cold bitch" facade.
The warm water calms me, relaxes all my muscles until my back is flat against the cool tile. At that moment, I decide to let the tears fall down my face because I thought Landon and I could stay strong through a time such as this.
I said yes to his proposal because he knows how to treat me right, make me happy, make the babies happy. When he said his rude remark the other day, my reason for saying yes kind of disappeared.
Yes, there's multiple other reasons for why I agreed to marry him, but that's the main reason, and it hurts that he broke that one single reason with just a few sentences.
Our love is already so special and unique. Adding marriage on top of it almost makes everything in my life golden. Love for Landon still burns inside of me, I'm just... disappointed, ashamed of what he has done and nothing he does can take that back until I feel ready to open my ears and listen.
Every now and then, couples have fights, but this isn't a fight; this is a realization of how Landon sometimes pops under pressure. Who doesn't? But not towards your fiancée, not towards your mate, not towards your daughter, not towards the mother of your children.
It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it's heartbreaking.
••
I'm so sorry it took so long to update! I'm having writers block and I'm bored with this book because I want to focus on Betrayed (description below) I'll try to do better :)
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