"Hey..." he whispered, cupping her face carefully, checking her over. "You okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"
Naomi blinked, still stunned by the face hovering above her. Alpha Kaidan. Her mate, the same man who had never once shown her care like this. And here he was now, clothes soaked through, hair dripping, water sliding down his jaw and onto her already ruined dress.
For the first time, she saw it, real worry in his eyes. Heard actual panic in his voice. Noticed the way his chest rose and fell too fast, like something in him had genuinely been afraid. It didn’t match anything she knew about him, and for a strange, disorienting second she almost didn’t trust what she was seeing.
He’d saved her. He was the one who’d dived in after her.
Alpha Kaidan grabbed the jacket he’d shed before jumping in and wrapped it around her shoulders, covering the wet, clinging fabric of her dress, his hands surprisingly careful for someone who looked so shaken.
"Goodness, Naomi. Thank the goddess you’re alright," Serena said, hurrying over, her voice dripping with concern that didn’t reach her eyes.
Naomi’s throat burned. The nerve of her. Pretending to care after she’d nearly gotten her killed, standing there now like she hadn’t been the one to put her under the water in the first place.
Serena stood just behind Alpha Kaidan, her expression already shifting back into the soft, sweet version of herself that everyone else believed was real. Everyone but Naomi.
She lifted her head slowly and looked around. A crowd had gathered. Some faces held pity. Some held out phones, recording. A few were even laughing quietly, like her nearly drowning was some kind of show, entertainment dressed up as concern.
"What happened?" Alpha Kaidan muttered, still cradling her face, his fingers brushing lightly over her cheek. "How did you..."
He didn’t get to finish before Serena cut in.
"Oh, poor Naomi. Why would you jump in like that?" she said, voice trembling like she might cry.
Naomi’s heart lurched. Did she just say jumped? She’d been shoved, when no one was watching, and now she was twisting it into something Naomi had done to herself, so smoothly it barely sounded like a lie at all.
Alpha Kaidan blinked, brow furrowing in confusion.
"What do you mean?" he asked, glancing back at Serena.
"She jumped in on her own," Serena said firmly. "She wanted to end her life."
"What?" Alpha Kaidan said, disbelief written across his face.
"What? That’s not true!" Naomi shot back, stunned at how easily the lie left Serena’s mouth, like she’d rehearsed it somewhere long before tonight.
A gasp rippled through the crowd. Alpha Kaidan’s hands trembled slightly against her face as he stared down at her, his expression shifting slowly into something like disappointment.
He usually kept his face locked down, unreadable. Not this time. This time, the shock on it was plain for everyone to see, and somehow that made it worse.
"I was just talking to her, calmly," Serena continued, letting a single fake tear slide down her cheek. "And she suddenly went and threw herself into the pool."
"That’s a lie, Serena. You pushed me!" Naomi shouted, unable to hold it in any longer.
"I know it’s humiliating, Naomi," Serena said gently. "Admitting you tried to end things because of Alpha Kaidan. But you can’t just accuse me of lying about it."
"Because of the Alpha?" whispers spread fast through the crowd, quiet and eager, the way gossip always seemed to move faster than truth ever could.
Alpha Kaidan’s jaw tightened, his whole face hardening. He pulled his hands off her cheeks and rose to his feet, putting distance between them like she’d suddenly become something to avoid.
"It’s not true. She’s making it up..." Naomi tried again.
"Didn’t you ask me to stay away from your mate?" Serena cut in, voice sharpening now. "Didn’t you say he doesn’t love you because of me? That you couldn’t stand to keep living while watching us be happy?"
The crowd gasped again, eyes wide with disbelief. Murmurs spread. That she was foolish. Desperate and embarrassing herself.
Nobody wanted to hear her side. They’d already chosen Serena’s version. They looked at Naomi like she was something worthless, something to be pitied and despised all at once, and she felt every one of those stares land somewhere she couldn’t defend.
And that was when it hit her. This had been the plan all along. This was what Serena meant when she said she’d help her remember who mattered. She’d known exactly how this crowd would fall in line behind her, had probably counted on it before she’d even pushed.
Tears filled Naomi’s eyes as she looked up at the man standing over her, wondering if he actually believed all of it too.
Alpha Kaidan stared back at her, pure fury written across his face. His eyes had gone dark with anger, his jaw locked tight. He was furious.
At her!
He believed her!!
Naomi’s chest cracked as she shook her head slowly, silently begging him with her eyes to believe her, just this once, just once out of everything.
She hadn’t even finished her training yet. Hadn’t performed a single true healing on her own. How could anyone believe she’d want to throw all of that away, throw herself away, over him of all people?
"Please believe me, Alpha Kaidan. She’s lying," she pleaded. "I would never do something like that."
"Enough, Naomi!" he snapped. "Haven’t you embarrassed me enough for one night?"
Embarrassed.
The word landed strange in her ears. She almost laughed. Who had really been the embarrassment between the two of them, all this time, standing here soaked and accused while he stood dry beside another woman’s tears.
"How could you even think that," Serena said, voice wobbling like she was about to break down. "How could you assume Alpha Kaidan and I still have something between us? He’s bonded now. Saying things like that makes him look careless."
A bitter laugh escaped Naomi’s lips before she could stop it. Serena was so good at playing innocent, like there was nothing at all happening between the two of them, like the whole pack hadn’t been whispering about it for years.
Naomi knew exactly what she was doing. Pretending to protect his image. He was the Alpha, powerful, respected, and no matter how much the pack loved to pair the two of them together in gossip, an open affair would still stain his name.
But the real reason Serena had brought it up was simple. She wanted to mock her. Wanted to remind Naomi exactly what she and Alpha Kaidan still had, right here, in front of everyone.
"Are you not having an affair?" The question slipped out before Naomi could stop it.
Alpha Kaidan’s fists clenched so hard his knuckles paled, like her words had cut somewhere deep.
"Watch your mouth."
She tried to let it go. She really did. But she couldn’t stop now, maybe because some part of her was just tired, tired of years of pain swallowed in silence. She needed to hear him say it, even though his actions had already answered the question for her, long before tonight.
"Are you not?" she pressed again, forcing calm into her voice despite the way her whole body was shaking.
"Don’t push me, Naomi," he growled through his teeth.
"No, I want you to say it," she said, holding his eyes. "Go on. Deny it. Deny that you’re bonded to me in name only while you’re still tangled up with your ex."
"I am not..." Alpha Kaidan started, but Serena cut him off before he could finish.
"Alpha Kaidan... my head," she mumbled, pressing a hand to her temple like it might split open. "It hurts."
He stopped mid-sentence and turned to her. "Hey, are you okay?" Real concern colored his voice, the same concern he hadn’t once offered Naomi tonight.
Serena shook her head weakly. "No," she whispered, eyes squeezed shut. "All this... it’s giving me a headache."
Naomi let out a scoff she couldn’t hold back. Unbelievable, how far Serena was willing to take the act. Pretending to be the victim of chaos she’d created herself.
"Serena’s fragile. She’s been through enough already. Why can’t you just show her some kindness, Naomi?" Alpha Kaidan snapped, anger flashing hot across his face.
Once again, blaming her for something she hadn’t done. Would he look this worried if he knew what his precious, innocent Serena had actually tried to do to her tonight, out by the water, when no one else was looking?
"I really need to rest, Alpha Kaidan. Can you take me home?" Serena said softly, voice weak and pitiful.
"Yeah, of course. Let’s go," he answered immediately, pulling her into his arms.
Then he paused and turned back to Naomi. His eyes had gone cold. The disgust in them unmistakable.
"We shouldn’t have even come if I’d known you’d act like this," he said.
And just like that, he walked off with Serena in his arms.
Leaving Naomi there alone, soaked through, freezing, surrounded by a crowd staring at her like she deserved every ounce of it.