After a short time of jogging, Emily went to the part of the forest where she was trained to fight for a couple of days. There was a punching bag hanging on the big pine tree, which she thought could be helpful in order for her to forget the rejection she just had in the morning.Sweat dripped on her face as she continued to punch the punching bag with all of her strength. In her mind, she was seeing it as Lucian, who needed to get punched and punished for hurting her feelings numerous times. The searing pain inside her chest was so intolerable that she was about to lose her mind. For every punch she released, she could feel as though her great mortification was slowly subsiding, yet the pain remained and haunted her.She did not know why Lucian had to do that—fucked her at night, made her feel all those ecstatic emotions after getting marked, and would act like a total victim who got drugged in the morning. As far as she recalled, she was the one who was tipsy a

 When she was young, she thought marriage bound the two people who were madly in love with each other; that love, out of any, was the most powerful emotion that let two people meet and bind them in a lifetime commitment. She believed in those beliefs until she met Lucian. 

A moan escaped her throat when she felt Lucian’s two fingers invading her wetness. Emily had no idea how they ended up on the bed, warming each other. She could still recall how this man was so enraged because of what happened between her and Scarlett.There was fury and coldness in his eyes as if Lucian wanted her to know her place in the pack and in his life. He made her feel like nothing more than a mere band-aid that would shut down the Elders and his parents—no more than that.This time, however, was different. Lucian seemed to be a different man, worshipping every part of her body. Emily felt like a queen who was being served with the utmost warmth, and her body craved his touch even more."I... I thought you were mad at me," she muttered under her breath, under him, who was devouring her neck as if she were hot syrup."I can’t fight the desire to get this closer to you," Lucian whispered, continuing to suck the skin off her neck a

As she gazed upon the sparkling, pristine water, a sensation of being carried away by fate washed over her. Those ruthless, cold eyes that glared at her with the utmost contempt, making her feel lost and unwanted at the same time, still lingered in her mind.Emily knew she should be having fun at the moment. It was a bright day, and the weather was refreshing, but as she stared at the lake, her mind couldn’t help but wonder about what had happened in the Alpha’s mansion this morning.Then again, she could feel the waves of pain trying to rip her heart apart."Gingerhead!" called a familiar, sweet voice.Emily turned her gaze to the other side of the lake, where Laura swam. Her mate’s twin sister was oozing with sexiness in her red two-piece swimsuit, completely wet, and waving her hand at her.Laura had arranged for them to escape the troubles of home by retreating to a charming cabin nestled deep within the forest. At first, Emily did not like the idea, as she wanted to lock herself

Was Scarlett the reason he didn’t go home last night? Did he realize that he was into that woman?Was he choosing Scarlett over her now?Did he love the way she kissed him?Those thoughts made her feel worse. The freaking mate bond made her feel all the unwanted emotions and get totally lost in it.Emily wiped all her tears away when she saw Laura coming out of the White House. The last thing she wanted was for the Alpha’s twin sister to find out she cried after seeing her husband kiss her ex-fiancé. She took a deep breath and blinked away the agony engulfing her whole system.Laura huffed in frustration as soon as she got into the driver’s seat."W-What’s the matter?" Emily asked, trying to act normally. She already knew that Laura’s conversation with her parents did not go well, seeing how her expression turned sour all of a sudden."Well, like the usual family drama," Laura answered as she ran her fingers through her hair and looked at Emily. "Hmm, are you okay? Your eyes—""Yeah,