Naomi pulled the jacket tighter around herself as she walked toward the parking lot, refusing to let what had just happened break her down completely. Not now. Not over something she’d already grown far too used to.
Her steps wobbled unsteadily in her heels, breath shaking in the cold night air, but she kept moving forward anyway. She just needed to get home. Get out of this soaked dress before the chill settled into her bones. Every gust of wind seemed to cut straight through the damp fabric clinging to her skin, and she hugged the jacket closer, wishing it did more than it actually could.
But the moment she reached the lot, reality caught up with her.
She hadn’t driven herself here.
She’d forgotten, her driver had called in sick that morning, and she’d taken a cab to the trial instead. It felt almost cruel now, one small forgotten detail turning into this.
"This cannot be happening right now," she muttered under her breath.
She pulled out her phone and called Alpha Kaidan.
She didn’t even know what she was hoping for. Maybe he hadn’t gotten far yet. Maybe, by some miracle, he’d turn the car around and come back for her. She pictured it for half a second, headlights swinging back into the lot, and hated herself a little for even letting the image form.
Finding a cab out here, this deep into pack territory, this late at night, was nearly impossible.
His phone rang. No answer. She tried again. Still nothing.
Her chest ached. What had she really expected, that he’d bother answering while he was busy fussing over his precious Serena?
The hurt settled deep, but she refused to let it show, even though there was no one around to perform for anymore. She forced herself to stay calm and tried booking a ride instead.
Just like she feared, nothing was available. She refreshed the app, tried again. Same result, the little spinning wheel mocking her more than any person could have.
She stood near the gate, hoping some stray cab might pass by, even knowing the odds were slim to none.
Cars rolled past without slowing. A few people threw her pitying glances. Others watched with quiet mockery, like she was some abandoned pup left out in the cold, wet and shivering and alone at the edge of a road that led nowhere useful.
Then a car pulled up in front of her. The window rolled down slowly, and she finally got a look at the driver.
A man, maybe early thirties. She didn’t recognize him from anywhere around the pack. Maybe a guest from the trial.
"Looks like you could use a ride," he said, calm and even. "Get in. I’ll take you home."
She swallowed hard. Even needing the ride as badly as she did, she couldn’t just climb into a stranger’s car.
"I’m alright, really. I’ll find a cab eventually. No need to worry," she said politely, turning him down.
"Will you, though? You’ve been standing here a while now. There’s clearly nothing coming," he said, glancing around the empty road.
He’d noticed how long she’d been standing there?
Had he been watching her? Was this just another form of mockery, dressed up as kindness? But if her situation amused him, why bother offering help at all? She turned the question over quickly in her mind and found no easy answer.
"It’s not safe out here by yourself. And you look half-frozen already. You’ll catch something," he pressed.
She couldn’t argue with that. Standing alone on an empty road trying to flag down a cab wasn’t exactly safe, and her teeth had already started chattering without her fully noticing.
But still.
"It’s just a ride home. Nothing else to worry about," he added, a small easy grin on his face, almost like he could read the hesitation written all over her.
She paused, fingers curling tighter around the jacket. No cab in sight, no telling how long she’d be stuck waiting, the cold already working its way into her bones.
It was just a ride. Nothing more than that.
She took a breath and nodded, agreeing.
The second she buckled her seatbelt, the car pulled off.
The drive stayed quiet, tense in that awkward, unspoken way. Neither of them said much. He didn’t ask questions beyond where she lived, and she was grateful for that small mercy, grateful for the silence that asked nothing of her.
A few minutes later, they pulled up to her gate. She unclipped her belt and turned to thank him.
"Thank you so much for this," she said, offering a warm, polite smile.
"It’s nothing. Glad I could help," he said back.
She stepped out and gave a small wave as he drove off. She’d barely made it a few steps into the compound when a voice boomed out behind her, heavy footsteps closing in fast.
"Who the hell was that?!" Alpha Kaidan’s voice thundered, cold and sharp enough to shake the air around them.
She flinched hard, completely blindsided. Her heart jumped as she blinked at him, stunned to see him standing there at all, still in the clothes from earlier, jaw already set like he’d been waiting there some time.
He stared at the car disappearing down the road, jaw locked tight, face dark with something close to rage.
Then he turned back to her, eyes sharp as blades. "I said, who was that?"
"I... I don’t know, he just..." she started, trying to explain, though she couldn’t understand why he was reacting like this, why any of this warranted the fury written across his face.
Alpha Kaidan didn’t let her finish.
"What do you mean you don’t know him? You just climbed out of his car!" he spat, jaw clenched, face darkening even further.
But she wasn’t lying. She genuinely didn’t know the man. Hadn’t even asked his name. It felt almost absurd, standing here defending herself for accepting a ride home in the freezing cold.
"So this is what you’ve been up to, Naomi?" he hissed. "Cheating on me. All this time."
"What? No..." she managed, throat gone dry.
"Don’t play innocent, Naomi!" he barked, grabbing hold of her wrists.
Her breath caught as she tried to twist free. "I don’t... I don’t know what you’re talking about."
"Liar!" he shouted, like the very idea of her lying was a personal insult. "You lie constantly!"
His grip tightened around her wrists, and she could feel his nails pressing hard into her skin. A small whimper escaped her, tears welling fast, the sting of it sharper than she expected.
"Your hands, Alpha Kaidan, you’re hurting me," she whispered.
He ignored her completely. As always.
"Answer me!" he roared, voice loud enough to rattle the walls around them.
"I don’t know that man, Alpha Kaidan! He just gave me a ride home!" she cried out, voice trembling.
She genuinely couldn’t understand it. Did he actually think she was cheating? There was no other man in her life. There never had been. He was the first, and the only one she’d ever been with, and some small, exhausted part of her almost laughed at how little that had ever seemed to matter to him.
But Alpha Kaidan wasn’t listening. He never did. His grip only tightened further as he started dragging her toward the house like she was some criminal caught red-handed. Every step sent sharp pain tearing up through her injured ankle, each one worse than the last, and still he didn’t slow down.