Page 23 of Unlearning

I took a good look at my husband's mate. She was tall and looked very strong, reminding me of those gazelles in nature documentaries whose legs are all muscle and you just know that they could easily outrun the lion, even when they seem to be calmly grazing. Her honey blond hair was up in two French braids, and her blue eyes scanned the room sharply, her stance was alert but her outfit casual - jeans and a white shirt, sneakerson her feet. No makeup, maybe some lip balm. Something about her felt familiar, but I couldn’t place her. She was pretty, I could admit that, but she was also extremelynormal.Nothing like thefemme fatalethat I had dreamed up in my head, the tempting seductress threatening my marriage. Plus, she was gazing adoringly at the dark-haired man standing next to her, who was gorgeous and seemed equally smitten with her.

My loving husband, on the other hand, was hyperventilating in the seat next to me. He seemed to be having a hard time just being in the same room withher.I still didn’t understand it completely, the whole mate thing. Why was she not struggling, and what was with the tampons?

“As much as we all love a good fight at a pack barbecue,” Alpha Tom snickered, “I know for a fact that y'all have been avoiding each other for years. So what happened out there?”

It was Lucas who spoke first.

“It seems we were misinformed about the dates of the Lanes' absence,” he said and glared at me. Brandon's head jerked towards me.

“Hailey? What is he talking about?”

“I told him we would be back on the 20th.”

“Why would you do that?” he choked out as if he were in pain.

“I wanted to see her,” I whispered.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” Samantha yelled. At me! The room was dead silent. “Do you understand what happened here today? Do you understand what you could have done? Cause it seems you don't. Well let me enlighten you.Brandonhere,” and she spat his name like she hated him, “smelled me and barged into the barbecue, saw James with his arm around me, smelled him on me, and triedto kill him. Why, you may wonder? Because his wolf got possessive and couldn't handle seeing me with someone else. And if he had, by some miracle, managed to do it? No one would bat an eye, because fighting for your mate is completely justified.”

I just sat there, petrified. My mind was in overdrive, trying to process everything she was telling me.

“This is not some little game where I am avoiding you because my heart is broken! By lying about those dates you put your fucking life in danger,” she seemed truly exasperated now. “I specifically left this pack to keep you and your pup alive. My wolf would have torn you both to shreds if I had stayed, has your husband not explained this to you?” I looked at Brandon and he shamefully looked away with his head hung low.

“Are... are you being serious right now?” I managed to stutter out and everyone looked at me like I was the one being insane, and not them. We were talking about murder! Why waseveryone so calm? Samantha scoffed and then sat down, facing me.

“Hailey... you know we are werewolves, what did you think that meant? We have a literal animal inside us, and the animal lives by a different set of rules. That is why it is so important for your pup to grow up here. If he doesn't learn about himself and just shifts without any guidance once he is of age, he could end up going around mauling people for the smallest slights to his wolf. Here he will learn control and how to handle his wolf properly, but some things are almost impossible to control, like today's episode has proven,” she told me gently, in a tone much different than she had previously used, maybe because my eyes were filled with tears now.

“And why am I the one who is explaining these things to you? What the fuck has Brandon been doing?” She glared at him, and it was almost comical because she still had the tampons in her nose. “Have you not changedat all?”

The man, James, sat down next to her, and when she grabbed hold of his hand, his thumb started caressing her gently. I felt a pang of jealousy in my heart, and I tried scooting closer to Brandon to relieve it in some way. And then my husband croaked out:

“Please... can you just...nottouch her.”

My jaw dropped open. I couldn’t breathe. I was knocked over by a wave of shame so strong that it submerged me completely. My husband of six years, the man I spent a decade with, wasbegginganother man not to touch his mate because he couldn’t handle it. His voice was pleading, completely broken. This was not something he could fight. Samantha, however, snarled at him.

“I listened to you have sex with Hailey and I even let you guys finish,Brandon,” again she said his name mockingly, as if it were an insult. “You can handle five minutes of hand-holding. Stop being a baby.”

I looked between the two of them. When had she listened to us? I felt a surge of anger welling up inside me and it was so much better than that pathetic shame I felt a minute ago. I hated being left in the dark, I hated sitting here being the stupid human wife who hadn’t been told basic things and facts she needed to know. I hated Brandon so much right now. I hated his bitch mate as well, sitting there smugly, lecturing me like I was some idiot.

“What?!” I stood. “When were you listening to us? What is wrong with you?” I took a step towards her and both James and Brandon growled at me, protecting their precious Samantha. I couldn’t believe it and I remained frozen in place.

Samantha sighed, like she was tired of all of us already.

“Just stay in your house for the next two days, please. James and I will book the first ticket out of here. And for the love of God, don't pull anything like this again, just tell Lucas the truth from now on.”

I nodded, ashamed.

“I think it's better for all of us if we never see each other again,” she added.

Brandon was still staring at the carpet, breathing through his mouth, not saying a damn thing. If they had been exes, she'd definitely be winning the breakup. I'd never seen him look so pathetic and lost.

Then, Samantha and James left, followed by everyone else. Her father shot Brandon a smug look before leaving, almost as if to say “serves you right.” His parents said nothing, but they looked older than ever. We drove home in silence, and when we got there, we retired to separate parts of the house to lick our wounds. I wasn’t even offended that he hadn't said a word to me, I was too busy sifting over everything that had happened. I only knew one thing for certain – my marriage was dead, and a situation of my own making was what had delivered the final blow.

CHAPTER 16

November 2017

James, age 36

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