Page 51 of Abandoned By My Alpha Husband

Lily and bay leaf!

"Who was just here?" My tone wasn't great. I was teetering on the edge.

The room went dead silent. Every motion froze. Lina's fingers tightened around her glass, then she quickly looked up, forcing a casual, relaxed expression.

"Nothing special, just a waitress came in to replace the drinks—"

"WHO WAS HERE?"

I lost my patience. My voice shot up. Alpha pressure flooded the room instantly. The air pressure dropped, suffocating and oppressive. A wolf at the table leaned forward eagerly, desperate to please, his face full of fawning smiles.

"Your Majesty, it was the former Luna, that half-blood—"

Elena!

She's my mate!

In an instant, my breathing stopped. My heartbeat thundered louder and louder. I stepped back instinctively, grabbing a chair. Elena was my mate.

What had I done?

My wolf let out a piercing howl. I thought of Elena's pleading when she was thrown out. She'd told the truth. And me? I told her to stop lying. How desperate had Elena been in that moment?

I was an idiot!

The wolf kept talking. "She was working as a waitress here tonight. We took the opportunity to teach her a lesson. Let her know the price of deceiving the Hale family."

"Teach her a lesson?" My voice was ice. The male wolf didn't sense the danger, pulling out his phone unprompted, swiping the screen and turning the video toward me.

I recognized that familiar figure instantly.

Elena knelt on the floor in a waitress's uniform. Her hair was soaked with alcohol, plastered to her pale face. Liquor dripped steadily from her jaw. Someone yanked her hair, jerking her upright. Someone else lifted a foot, taunting her. Lina sat in her chair, legs crossed. Elena's face was inches from the tip of her shoe.

The video kept playing. Every second recorded her being humiliated at will. Quiet and brutal.

My knuckles went white, crushing the glass in my grip. The porcelain wall warped under the pressure. The cup clinked against the table—a sharp crack in the dead-silent room. The next second, I grabbed the male wolf by the collar and hurled him. He flew backward, toppling chairs. Glasses shattered, liquid and shards spraying everywhere.

The others stared, too terrified to speak.

He hit the wall with a muffled grunt. I stepped forward and crushed his phone under my heel.

"How dare you hurt my mate?"

I roared. He looked up in terror. "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I didn't know—"

Crack! I kicked him. He toppled sideways, clutching his face, begging desperately. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

My eyes locked on Lina.

The composure she'd been clinging to shattered completely. She froze, fingertips still resting on her glass rim. Real fear finally flooded her eyes. The images looped in my head, unshakable. Elena kneeling, humble. The humiliation of being pressed close to someone's shoe. Forced to endure everyone's mockery and abuse.

My chest heaved violently. Regret, pain—it was tearing me apart. What had I done? I'd denied she was my mate in front of the entire pack. I didn't believe her—

In that moment, I could barely stand. My wolf lost all control, rage and grief intertwined, terrified of losing my only mate completely. And I felt her immense pain too. My heart felt seized by an invisible force, squeezed, pulled. The metallic taste filled my mouth. I nearly vomited blood but forced it down.

I stepped forward, my shadow swallowing Lina completely. My voice was low, cold, laced with lethal pressure.

"You made her kneel. You made her lick your shoe!"