27

It was pure torture. I had to follow him closely the whole time, always smiling nicely and shaking hands with many people as if I were honored to meet them, even though they didn't interest me at all. I just went along with this spectacle hoping he would just let me read my life in peace afterwards, but was it really worth it?

"Where's Lou?" I whispered softly to Jayden as we got something new to drink and were finally alone for a moment. "In my cabin," he replied softly, smiling and handing me a glass as if locking up his sister was the most normal thing in the world. I didn't reply to him, although it made me furious because it wouldn't have made any sense anyway. He didn't listen to me and starting a fight here would only end in disaster.

I made a mental note to stay a few more minutes and then run off to Lou. "So that's her," an older man in a hat greeted Jayden, shaking my hand gently as he approached us curiously. "I hope he's good with you," he said with a grin as he shook my hand. "You have no idea," I laughed back at him, whereupon he laughed back at me and Jayden proudly put his arm around me. It didn't feel right to make him look so good, so I drained the glass of champagne and placed it on the table behind me and looked at the man again.

"Only the alcohol addiction and the many prostitutes, that brings us to our limits again and again," I explained to him so loudly that others heard me and then waved amusedly at Jayden, who looked like he was about to fall over, he was so deathly pale .

I turned and ran to the door to leave this fucking party and past the smokers and arrived at the edge of the woods, no wonder Jayden grabbed me angrily. "What was that about? I thought we had a deal?" he asked, looking down at me menacingly, but I snatched my arm away and stomped on furiously.

"Chiara!" I heard him call out, but he didn't follow me any further. That idiot didn't seem to understand anything. Not only did he let his beta insult his sister like she was a little whore, he used me for his purposes and for that he wasn't even nice to me that evening, on the contrary he ignored me and gave me orders like I'm a frontline soldier.

Walking through the darkness, I got angrier and angrier the more I thought about everything, and I had to control myself not to shout my anger into the forest.

It wasn't until I saw the hut that I calmed down and ran up to knock on the door. Lou opened up to me and looked like she had cried for hours, which I guess she had. The dress was behind her on the couch and she was wearing pajamas that were way too big for her.

She immediately started sobbing again and I hugged her comfortingly while holding back the tears. I felt so sorry for her, because unlike me, she had suffered from the pack and its leader for far too long.

Only when we broke up did I realize that I had forgotten my jacket, but out of sheer emotion I only noticed the cold at that moment when I was getting more and more calm and leaving everything behind me.

She silently walked ahead and snuggled under a blanket on the couch while I closed the door and then sat down next to her. "How was it again?" she spoke softly to me, wiping the tears from her face. "You really haven't missed anything."

She smiled halfheartedly at me and turned her gaze away again. I flopped back onto the couch and took a deep breath to relax, but how was I supposed to relax? I was in his hut where he smelled his scent and imagined with disgust that he must have slept with many here on the couch. My heart slammed at the thought and I stood up, startled at my jealousy, while Lou looked at me questioningly.

"Let's go!" I instructed her and helped her up by the hand to then leave this hole with her and walk back to the street. Before the Wialtrama, some smokers were looking over at us, but I didn't pay any attention to them and grabbed Lou's hand to walk her down the street to me, but Chace suddenly came towards us and looked really worried.

"Shall I take you home?" he asked, only looking at Lou, who avoided his gaze and stared into the darkness of the forest. "Don't you need permission for that?" I retorted provocatively, whereupon he looked at me in embarrassment.

I immediately felt sorry for letting him look like that and he was the only one who was still reasonably normal. "Sorry. I didn't mean it like that and yes it would be nice if you could drive us because I'm getting really cold."

He nodded at me, taking off his jacket to put it on me. "I'll get my car quickly." I stood on the side of the road with Lou and waited for Chace, who luckily also drove up quickly.

As soon as we sat in the car, he started a conversation with us, which of course again only revolved around Jayden. "Chiara, actually you should have transformed after his bite, but you didn't. Do you realize what that means?"

I looked over at Chace from the passenger seat and frowned in confusion. "What do you mean by that?" I asked and then glanced back at Lou, who just shrugged in irritation. "It is so..."

"It means that you are either already a wolf but have never felt it, or that your will is stronger than that of an alpha, which is hardly possible."

I swallowed hard at his words and stared out the windshield in a daze. "Didn't you ever feel anything when you were angry or desperate? A tingling in your hands or a voice in your head?"

He turned his head briefly to look at me questioningly, but then looked down the road again to turn into the cul-de-sac.

As the car pulled up in front of my house, I tried to remember something, but I couldn't think of anything that wasn't quite normal. "No, I just had scary dreams, but they stopped," I told him, turning on the seat towards him. "Then you're probably just the strongest woman I know," he grinned and Lou laughed too and clapped her hands happily.

"Finally someone who can defend himself." She leaned forward between the seats and patted my shoulder encouragingly, but Chace suddenly looked past me toward my front door, his grin breaking.

I gave him a confused look and turned to see Ludwig staring nervously into the car. "What are you doing here?" I asked him confused as I got out of the car and walked towards him. "It can't wait until tomorrow, I want to make something clear between us."

I noticed the emptiness in his eyes and also that he seemed very excited. "Alone, please," he then explained and I looked behind me at Chace and Lou, who had also got out in the meantime and were looking over at us.

"Come with me, we'll walk a little." I told them both I'd be right back and followed the blonde behind my house, where he stood with his back to me, apparently not daring to look me in the face. "Chiara, it was a mistake that with us and I-" "Why do you say that?" I interrupted him and ran over to grab his shoulder and turn around to me. My heart was racing with excitement while my hands were shaking. "Did he say that? Did he forbid you to be near me?" I spoke loudly, looking into his eyes, but he stepped back from me and avoided my gaze.

"No, it's me, not you or him." He looked down and took a deep breath while I fought back tears and didn't understand why he rejected me once we became closer.

"It's not me?" I asked him sobbing and walked towards him. "Ludwig, please," I begged him, but he turned away from me and walked past me, leaving me alone and crying. I knew that Jayden was probably behind it, but I didn't know what he had threatened him with.

It felt like an eternity, standing in my little garden, unable to move for sadness. Suddenly everything hurt. My heart, my hands, my mind. Everything felt strange and I tried to calm down. I told myself that I hardly knew him anyway and that I shouldn't care, but it wasn't.

"Chiara?" I heard Chace's voice behind me, coming close to my face to look sympathetically into my crying eyes. I tried to tell him everything was okay, but all I could manage was a stutter that was unintelligible. The brown-haired man took me in his arms tightly and I clawed at his back while crying while I felt Lou's hand stroking my hair soothingly and coaxing me well.

"Where's your key?" she asked me quietly, my head pounding at the thought that it was in my jacket. The grief turned more and more into hatred. Not hating Ludwig or Jayden, but hating myself too.

I hated my choices, my destiny and my feelings. It tore me apart while Chace still had his arms wrapped tightly around me as if to hold me together and stop the breaking. "We're going to the Wialtrama, I'll get your jacket."

Chace carefully pulled away from me, while Lou immediately came to my side and put his arm around me for comfort. "Chace will get your key and then we'll take you home okay? I'll stay with you if you want that," the little one said and I nodded to her silently while wiping my tears from my face and slowly calming down again.

Chace held the car door open for me, but I didn't even get to sit in because Jayden came running up with my jacket and gave us all a confused look.

"What's that, Chace? You're needed at the party and you," he pointed angrily at me. "I still have something to clarify with you." He threw the jacket at me and turned back to Chace. "Come on now."

"No," Chace answered him suddenly and Jayden looked at him menacingly. "No?" he asked the brown-haired man and walked a bit closer to him. "I'm staying here," Chace bravely replied, turning his back on him while Jayden growled loudly and grabbed his arm. "Is that your final decision?" "Yes!"

I widened my eyes and quickly turned to unlock the door and hold it for Chace and Lou to enter. As they both disappeared inside, I glared at Jayden, who was staring at the open door in disbelief. "We talk tomorrow." He pointed at me, but I could see that he was faltering, because now even one of his pack turned against him, which he never expected.