Page 14 of The Alpha's Reclaimed Mate

“If you were trying to do the right thing, you would have dropped your Alpha training and moved on!” Oswald snapped.

“What… Why?”

“Haven’t I made it clear?” He leaned forward, digging his nails into the desk. “I never wanted you, Aria. I never wanted to touch you or talk to you. I was never attracted to you. I always thought you were a weak little runt. It should have been obvious. I tried to reject you without saying anything because the rest of the pack would have judged me if I rejected you before it was time, so I tried to discourage you, break your heart, and make you not want me—but you didn’t get it. You kept trying, and that’s your fucking problem. That’s why I had to reject you in front of everybody because you were too stupid to see that I never wanted you in the first place.”

My eyes widened with the weight of that revelation. Oswald’s cruelty had always been intended to break me. It wasn’t that he was too busy to give me affection or show he cared about me—the truth was that he really never wanted anything to do with me. This entire time, I’d just been too ignorant to realize it.

“I was even going to let you down easy. I would have talked to you before the ceremony, but after you started attacking Mara, I had to punish you. And what better punishment than humiliating you in front of the entire pack? So no, Aria, I’m not going to help you out by giving you a job. You can figure it out yourself since you’ve always been so determined to get what you want. Just leave Mara and me out of it.”

Coming here to talk to Oswald had been a mistake. I swallowed the lump in my throat, but it hurt. Every part of me hurt. I backed against the door and clenched my fists.

“And don’t even think about talking to Mara. She’s everything I want, Aria. She’s perfect. Don’t dare taint her with your selfishness and greed,” warned Oswald.

“Don’t worry,” I muttered immediately, “I’m going to stay far away from you and Mara. Thanks for nothing.”

As I turned my shoulder to Oswald, he snarled. “What did you say?”

I didn’t linger. My anger urged me to ignore Oswald and slam his office door, leaving him behind to tackle my emotions once more.

Then, everything I’d felt until I was alone again was numbed by shock.

My entire life was wasted on a man who never wanted me. All the friendships I could have made, the bonds I could have forged with my sisters, and the careers I could have pursued were thrown away for a life that was never destined to be mine. He knew he was never going to make me his mate, and he made me endure four years of training all the same, believing that someday he would love me. He had expected me to read his mind, to know that he didn’t want me—my own fated mate. And then, because I was too focused on my studies, he punished me for something I didn’t even do. Well… he could have Mara.

Now that I knew the truth, I wanted more than anything to expose Oswald’s lies and betrayal. I yearned for someone, anyone, to understand what I was going through. My heart was aching. All I wanted was a little compassion. But would anyone even listen to me?

Chapter 6: Aria

I paced in the living room, waiting for my family to get home. For the first time since my ceremony, I didn’t feel sorry for myself. I felt angry. And that anger churned within me for an hour before my parents stepped through the door.

“Aria. I see you’re finally feeling sociable again,” drawled my mother, setting down a paper bag full of groceries while my father walked past us to his office.

“I spoke to Oswald,” I said to them both.

My father paused and looked at me with disappointment. “Why?”

“Because I wanted to find a new purpose,” I replied. “Instead, Oswald told me the truth about why he rejected me during my ceremony.”

My mother crossed her arms and stood next to my father. They exchanged a dismayed glance, their faces darkening.

“He never wanted me. He was always planning to reject me because he wasn’t attracted to me, but he didn’t want to upset the pack by coming off as shallow because of it,” I said, the words like poison on my tongue.

“He has the right to make that decision for himself,” said my father.

“Would you rather he mate with you and your relationship be a lie?” added my mother.

“No. I would rather he have told me instead of dragging it out and humiliating me!” I looked between them, searching for any sign of support. “Don’t you think what he did was shitty?”

My mother’s disappointment intensified. “What do you hope to gain by making accusations like that?”

“Everybody’s blaming me for not trying enough or trying too hard. But no matter what I did, Oswald still would have rejected me!”

“And? What would you have us do about it? Our family is already under scrutiny for raising the little monster that you turned out to be!”

“Little monster?” I echoed incredulously. “All I ever did was train and do what I was told!”

“Yet you still let jealousy control you. You attacked our new Alpha Female!”

“I didn’t attack her!” I shouted.

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