Page 12 of The Alpha's Reclaimed Mate

I’d barely made it to my feet before my cousin stormed up to me, embracing me in a tight hug.

“Are you okay? What the hell was all that about? I can’t believe Oswald seriously did that to you!”

Feeling hollow, I just stood there until Dax detached from me. His hands were still on my arms. I didn’t know what to say. “I’m sorry. I… I’m such a disappointment.”

Dax’s eyebrows quirked in sympathy. “Aria, you don’t have to apologize. Oswald hurt you.”

“I’m not good enough. That’s all there is to it.”

He shook his head. “No, I don’t believe that.”

I didn’t want to believe it either. I didn’t even understand it. But somehow, Mara was better than me. In the couple weeks she’d been part of the pack, she had proven to Oswald that she could be a better leader, a better lover, a better person than me. She was older and wiser and had more experience. She was prettier, and she was better than me in every way—that must be why Oswald chose her over me. Every comparison I drew between myself and Mara brought my agony back to the surface, but all my tears were spent. There was nothing left behind except bleak, black melancholy. I stared dully past Dax and finally asked, “What happened after I left?”

Dax hesitated before slowly replying, “At first, everyone was surprised, but nobody complained. Everybody seemed to like Mara. I guess she had gone around and made friends with the pack while she was healing, so everybody was happy for her. It was almost like they expected it to happen.”

My melancholy ignited. Now, the heat of betrayal rushed through my veins. I regretted asking, but I’d hoped that at least somebody would speak up about a complete stranger becoming the pack’s Alpha Female. Clearly, I was wrong.

“She made this speech after you left about how, unlike you, she has the pack’s best interest at heart. I think it’s bullshit,” said Dax. “The way she has everyone wrapped around her finger. I know for a fact you committed your life to your pack.”

“Everything I did was for the pack! For Oswald,” I croaked, emotion threatening to break my voice. “None of it makes sense. How can he not see everything I’ve sacrificed? What am I going to do? What am I even worth to my pack?”

Dax sighed and pulled me in for another hug. As much as I tried to fight them, tears spilled down my cheeks in one last outburst. “I know you feel pretty beaten down right now, but this isn’t the end. You’ve always been resilient and adaptable, and you’re intelligent and kind, and you know your worth. It hurts, but… I believe in you, Aria. I know you’ll be able to pick yourself back up after this,” he said.

A dark, bitter laugh tumbled from my lips. “That’s easy for you to say.”

“Because it’s true,” said Dax. “You passed all your training for a reason—because you have what it takes. Oswald may not see it, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is you stay true to yourself. Don’t let what others think get you down.”

Then he pulled away and looked me in the eye.

“You can do this. Find your own way. You know I’ll always be here to support you. I’m just a phone call away.”

He just wanted me to stop feeling sorry for myself. I wished it was that easy. All the same, I sighed and nodded. “Yeah.”

“Come on. Let’s go back,” said Dax.

My body was heavy with doubt as I followed him out of the forest. I appreciated Dax’s encouragement, but I couldn’t see any way I could possibly pick myself up from this.

“Is she still in there? She’s been crying for two days straight,” said Emma, her voice muffled in the other room.

“Yeah,” said Cassie, “it’s so pathetic. She brought it on herself by being a bitch to Mara. Why can’t she own up to it and admit she fucked up?”

“Because little Aria never does anything wrong.”

“Well, just because your fated mate is the Alpha doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed to become the Alpha Female… I think that’s become obvious. She can’t expect people to feel sorry for her forever. She has to get over it and start working just like the rest of us.”

I stood in front of the door to my bedroom, listening to my sisters gossip about me, hesitating to turn the knob and show my face. I wanted so badly to argue with them, but I was beginning to wonder if they were right.

My schedule had become unnervingly empty. Without training or Alpha duties to keep me busy, I didn’t know how I was meant to serve my pack. I thought my destiny was to lead with Oswald. What was I supposed to do?Maybe I should just swallow my pride and ask for help.

With a glance in the mirror, I tried to make myself look a little less pathetic than what my sisters accused me of. My tears had long since dried on my cheeks, and my eyes were no longer red, just sunken into dark circles. I brushed my hair and got dressed in jeans and a grey t-shirt. Then with a deep inhale, I opened the door and stepped into the living room.

Emma and Cassie were surprised to see me.

“Look who came crawling out of her dungeon,” said Emma. “Did you finally get tired of wallowing?”

“I got tired of hearing you talk about me like I’m not here,” I said dully.

“Can you blame us? You barely do anything,” sneered Cassie.

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