Page 10 of The Alpha's Broken Oath

Crystal Sanders stands in my office. Her dark hair is up in a ponytail, her lips are smeared with red lipstick, and her body is in a tiny dress that hugs all of her curves.

She’s dressed to impress, for sure. Unfortunately for her, she could be standing naked in my office, and I would barely notice.

The only woman I would kill to see naked is gone. But I’ll find her. I’ll find my mate soon and bring her back. I’ll end this torment once and for all.

“Deacon,” Crystal purrs my name, her voice laced with the same sultry tone she’s been using on me since Winter disappeared and my father got ill.

If I cared enough about her and her actions, I’d dwell on the way her eyes buzz with excitement every time she steps into my office, how she takes every opportunity to put her hands on my shoulders, and how big of a smile she gives me when I speak to her. It doesn’t take a genius to see Crystal Sanders is shamelessly infatuated with me. I couldn’t care less about the whole thing.

“Crystal.” Her name flies out of my mouth dryly.

The only reason I’ve been entertaining the woman in my office is because she was Winter’s best friend once upon a time. Yet one question gnaws at my mind. If Crystal really was Winter’s best friend, why would she flirt with her best friend’s mate? Why would she go to the extent of trying to seduce her best friend’s mate with the short dresses she wears every time she comes to see me?

If anything, this woman was never Winter’s friend. Frankly speaking, I don’t think she understands how the concept of loyalty works.

“I just came from seeing Uncle Foster, and the doctor said he’s doing a bit better. You shouldn’t be worried. Your father is going to be okay.”

My father has been bedridden for six months. The healers have been trying all they can to nurse him back to health. The pack has been praying for him, but his state has only continued to worsen.

Foster Cross is not getting any better. His wolf is not healing him, either. If I’m being honest, my old man is one day away from kicking the bucket, and I don’t feel a morsel of pity about it.

“Thank you for the concern, Crystal. I appreciate it,” I repeat the same words I’ve been giving every member of the pack who comes to assure me that everything will be okay with the Alpha.

Crystal’s eyes light up as if my words have just handed her a bag of the most coveted candy.

“Of course. I’m here for you, Deacon. Always. I know you are still mourning Jake, and you are still dealing with what Winter did to you. But I’ll never leave you. I’m here to help.”

The scoff that leaves my throat almost engulfs the entire room in flames.

I haven’t heard my mate’s name since she disappeared.

“Pray tell, Crystal. What did my mate do to me?”

The ice in my tone and the tick in my jaw has the woman in front of me taking a step back.

“I just meant she left you. She just took off and left, but I won’t do that. I’ll be by your side as long as you need me.”

Winter didn’t just leave me with no explanation.

I failed her. I betrayed her. I rejected her. I’m the one who left her, not the other way around, and I regret every second of it.

I’m about to educate the woman who was once my mate’s best friend about that tiny detail when someone knocks on my door for the second time in the day.

This time around, I don’t have to shout “come in” to my visitor because she barges right in.

Tall and thin with graying hair and a pale look on her face, the pack’s healer looks at me and whispers the very thing I’ve been waiting for months.

“Deacon, your father… Alpha Foster wants to see you.”

xxx

Small shards of the sun’s light penetrate into the room and lie across the floorboards of my father’s bedroom. Many are the times I played in this room before my mother died when I was two, and my father took the role of being both mother and father to me.

Years later, the room has lost my mother’s smell as well as the best memories I shared with her.

If anything, it smells like death here.

“Deacon. Come…Come here,” my father’s groggy voice beckons me from where he’s sleeping on the bed.

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