The Price of Betrayal: My White Wolf Path

, but to my husband, Alpha Blake, I

ildhood friend Ariana with attenti

diary. It wa

sary dinner for he

ture while leaving me to be cr

watching him leave to comfort Ariana bec

night I was hit by a truck

he doctors called Blake. They needed

ake said coldly ov

the fetus is strong, it will surv

hun

life inside

, I opened my notebo

ur child for her.

rs, left them on the ashe

y house, realizing he had lost his True

't know the

awakened as the legendary White W

pte

g the dusty cardboard of a shoebox tucked behind a pair of winter boots, met the unyielding spine of a leather-bound journal. It was not Caroline's; her journals were riots of color, fil

oline's precise, almost severe s

ed. He read the rul

g Point

s this marriage is a mistak

zero, I will file for

culiar, childish ledger of perceived slights. He flipped through the page

nniversary. Again. He was

because Ariana's dog was sick. He

called me Ari

a vintage wine I'd been searching for, o

of guilt. He saw it not as a record of his failures, but as evidence of Caroline's fixation on his friendship with Ariana Whi

choice from a good family, a person who could manage the Santos household while h

meant nothing. He found his cufflinks and shut the closet door, the journal already dissolving from his thoughts. He had more pressing matters to

a large pad, her brow furrowed in concentration. She looked up as he e

rly," she said,

" he replied, loosening his t

ed to retract, pulling bac

red in painstaking detail and suffused with a soft, imaginary light. A crib, a mobile of tiny silver stars, a rocking chair. He felt a brief, unid

lient?" he asked

losed the sketchbo

he clock. He should leave soon. He wanted to be the fir

etween them, when his phone ran

ws! Now!" Mark's voice

filled the screen. A building was engulfed in flames. Thick gouts of black s

d Gallery downtown, where a massive fire broke out

mn, causing the fine hairs on his forearms

ia

rantic, hammering pulse in his own ears. He grabbed his keys, his coat, and bolted for the door without a word to Car

eeded to witness the finality of it. She drove through the city, her hands locked

re of emergency lights, the guttural roar of the fire. Blake had abandoned

get her!" Blake yelled, t

he structure is unstable!"

are! She's

restrain him. "Blake, ca

heard from him. Not for her. Never for her. He stared at the burning edifice as if it were

ay and made a run

I'm Blake Santos! These hands are insured for millions! They perform miracles! But I

fession. A truth so brutal

ding in the shadows, her fac

ine...

fixated on Ariana since they were in school. I thought marrying Caro

ust neglect. It was a love story in which she ha

She had decorated their home, managed his social calendar, comforted him after long surgeries, and endured his

ll along, in every missed anniversary, every canceled plan, e

hemorrhage of her own devotion. It was a way to give herself a finish line, an escape from a marriage that was hollowing her out

ious, coughing, but otherwise seemed unharmed. He held her as if she were an object of irreplaceable val

ce looked f

's body finally surrendered. The adrenaline receded, and he

k. She remembered the charity gala where she first met him. He was the most brilliant, captivating man she had ever seen.

that. But when he proposed six months later, she thought she had

guest. "Blake only married her because Ariana got married. He needed a distraction, a wife to satisfy his family. Poor girl thinks he actually loves her." Each syllable was a nail, pinning t

er marriage. It was the day she went out and bought the plain black journal. It was he

d everything. The points on her list disappeared with terrifying speed. H

os? Your husband is stable. He inhaled a great deal of smoke, but

ine, he'll come to his senses," Sarah said, placing a hand on

te in her mouth. She stood up and walked o

walked to the closet and took out the bla

n into a burning

d he would give up

e page. She did not write immediately, but felt the cool weight of the bar

saving her, and his first and l

a few points left. Very