Chapter 59

It kills to know that's what she feels. It destroys my already shattered heart. How are you supposed to deal with your wolf hating you? “Piper,” Alec calls, and I turn to him with tears in my eyes. “Can you tell me everything? How you found Sadie?” I mutter, feeling completely drained and tired as hell. He nods. “Come then; this isn't the place to talk.” He offers his hand, and after taking one last look at my mate, I turn and follow him. He leads through the dungeon, the pack house, and finally outside. We walk for a couple of minutes until we find a small bench at the back of the house facing a beautiful pond. It is a bit chilly, even though the sun is already up in the sky. We take a seat, both facing forward. Alec sighs before asking, “Where do you want to start?” “The beginning,” I reply. “Sadie is my mate, and we have a three-year-old daughter.” “W-what?” I stammer, in complete astonishment. Before I can process his words, he proceeds to tell me everything. I mean everything. The words pour out of him and take me by surprise each and every time. When he is done, I stare at him in shock, my brain unable to function. I think he might have short-circuited it because I can't think. The most shocking of all the things he told me is that Sadie is the alpha of this pack. That's something I would never have predicted. “I can't imagine what you're going through, Alec,” I whisper, my heart going out to him. “You lost one mate, and now your second-chance mate doesn't want anything to do with you.” Why was the goddess doing this to us? Why was she messing up our lives in this manner? Alec's mate is the woman that despises him, while my mate is the man that destroyed both their lives. Was this her way of punishing us? Was this her way of giving Sadie justice for the shit we put her through? “Lola wasn't my mate, Piper,” Alec says, pulling me back from my thoughts. My brows furrow, and I look at him in confusion. “She was. Didn't you tell us that she was?” “It's a long story that I don't want to dive into right now, but I made a fucking mistake. Lola wasn't my mate, and Sadie isn't my second-chance mate. She's my fated mate.” I can do nothing but stare at my brother. How does one make a mistake when it comes to a mate? It’s either she is or she isn’t. It was that simple. Period. To have him tell me he made a mistake blows my mind. What kind of soap opera shit was going on? As I continue to stare at him, it hits me. We punished Sadie thinking she caused Alec to lose his fated mate, and now it turns out that she was his fated mate all along. “Fuck! How did things get this bad?” I whisper in defeat. “We really messed up when it comes to Sadie.” “I know,” he growls before standing up. “I fucking know.” Alec is my brother, and I know this is eating him up. The fact that he hurt his mate is destroying him from the inside out. The Sadie I knew was pretty forgiving, and if it were then, I would have assured Alec that she'll forgive him. The Sadie of now, though, is unpredictable. I don't know much about her, but from the snippets I've gotten since I came, she doesn't look like one to forgive easily. “What are we going to do?” I choke up as the reality of things crashes into me. He releases a grunt of frustration before running a hand down his face. “I don't know, Piper. I just don't know.” My heart hurts at the helplessness in his voice. Alec is usually assured and confident. Right now, he looks anything but, and I hate it. “We'll figure it out. Don't worry; everything will be okay. Things will work themselves out.” Even as I say those words, I know they are a lie. Things will probably never be okay, and I doubt they'll ever work themselves out. Alec pauses in his pacing, and his eyes become unfocused for a while before they return to normal, and he turns to me. “I need to meet up with Micah and Jason. Will you be okay on your own?” I nod my head. “Yeah. Go and do what needs to be done.” After pecking my cheek, he turns to leave, and I'm left alone with nothing but my consuming thoughts. I was drowning in guilt and heartache, not only for what I put Sadie through but for what Alec and Calvin were going through. If only we had the power to see the impact of our actions on our future, maybe then we would have treated Sadie differently. I slump against the bench in defeat. It's hilarious, really. I used to scoff and laugh it off when Sadie would tell me that she believes Alec was her mate. I didn’t look down on her, but I just thought it was impossible. Back then, her wish coming true was similar to a unicorn being spotted in real life. It was simply impossible. The joke's on us, though. Turns out that Sadie is Alec's mate. Her dream did come true; the only problem right now is that she despises him to the core. A noise interrupts my thoughts. I twist to the left and see Sadie together with the woman who had stopped her from killing Calvin yesterday. Sadie is laughing at something the woman is telling her. They have their hands linked, and you can feel the strong bond they share. She looks so carefree and happy. It reminds me of how she was before we ruined her life. Seeing her like this, seeing the bond between her and this woman, causes a pang inside my heart. We used to be like this. She used to be my friend, but then I turned on her, and now she hates my guts. Sadie comes to an abrupt stop when she shifts from looking at her friend and her eyes land on me. The laughter that was there minutes ago dies. All traces of warmth disappear, and her face turns stone-cold. Her eyes pierce mine with nothing but anger and hatred. Those eyes that used to smile at me now stare at me like I'm the lowest of scum. I push down the lump in my throat and the sob that threatens to escape my lips and stand up. I walk towards her. She moves to leave, but I grab her hand. “Sadie,” I beg. She flinches as if my touch has burned her. When she tries to pull her arm from mine, I hold on tight, refusing to let go until she hears my apology. “You better let go before I punch you and give you a black eye to match the left one,” she growls through gritted teeth. Remembering what happened in the dungeons, I wince and let go of her hand. “Please, Sadie, listen to me,” I was desperate to make amends, not only for myself but also for Alec. “I don't have to listen to shit,” her anger is palpable. “In fact, I want you out of my pack and take your fucking brother with you before I'm tempted to end your pathetic lives.” With that, she grabs her friend's arm and storms away. I stand in my spot, tears streaking down my face as the weight of her hatred for me and Alec crashes down into a bloody pulp. “You deserve this and so much more,” Ash sneers in mockery before she blocks me again. I try to ignore her words, but they keep playing in my head like a broken record. This entire thing is a clusterfuck. How the hell am I going to fix this mess?