When I regained my composure, Taylor Medina’s grip was already around my wrist, his claws digging into my skin like a vice. His eyes burned with fury, the kind that could only come from an Alpha who believed he had been wronged.
“Eden Mendez,” he growled, his Alpha tone low and commanding, “you pushed Louise into the water just because I’ve chosen her as my mate? I never thought you could be so cruel.”
Tears welled up in my eyes before I could stop them. For a moment, Taylor’s grip loosened, as if he was momentarily stunned by my reaction. But then Louise coughed weakly, her scent—vanilla with a hint of rosemary—wrapping around him like a plea.
“Taylor,” she whispered, her voice dripping with false sincerity, “don’t blame Eden… she must not have meant it.”
Taylor immediately released my wrist and turned to Louise, his hands gentle as he helped her sit up. “Louise, you’re too kind. Someone like Eden deserves to be punished for what she’s done.”
My legs threatened to give out beneath me, but I forced myself to stand tall. I pointed to the painting lying on the ground, my voice steady despite the ache in my chest. “Taylor, what if I told you she was the one who threw my mother’s painting into the lake?”
Louise’s face flickered with panic for a split second before she quickly recovered. She tugged at Taylor’s sleeve, her scent thickening with desperation. “Taylor, it was one of the omegas in my household. They didn’t mean to, and I’ve already punished them…”
I stared at the two of them, my heart breaking all over again. In my past life, Taylor had been so good to me, so kind. It was that memory that made the pain unbearable now. Even though I knew he had marked Louise, even though I wanted nothing to do with him anymore, I couldn’t help but feel betrayed.
“Taylor,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper, “even if you don’t love me, even if you’ve chosen her, can’t you just… help me this once?”
The words hung in the air, heavy with the weight of everything unsaid. Taylor’s expression softened for a moment, but then Louise let out another delicate cough, and his attention was immediately drawn back to her, her scent pulling him in like a magnet.
“Eden,” he said, his Alpha tone cold and final, “don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”
I clenched my fists, the mate bond between us screaming in protest, but I said nothing. There was no point. Taylor had made his choice, and it wasn’t me.
