CHAPTER ONE

WOLF’S LOYALTY

Edited.√√

Chapter One

Betrayal

I slammed the door on my way in, not bothering to hang the keys upon the board.

Today is just a bad day. First I have another fight with Raymond, then my boss springs a surprise assignment on me. Now, I forgot the stupid shopping list.

I snatched the list from the fridge and am about to head back out when I heard something that makes me stop on my track.

Uhmm?

I tilt my head to the side, listening. It's a kind of thumping noise, coming from upstairs.

Curiosity came over me as I head for the stairs. My boss won't be happy if I'm not in, Saturday or not, and I needed to some stuff for dinner on the way home, but this will only take a minute.

The trumping get louder as I walk cautiously up the stairs. I wonder if Raymond was trying to fix a broken board or something.

It coming from the bedroom.

The door is ajar, and I pushed it open, peering inside.

What I saw made me freeze in shock. Raymond and my neighbor's daughter, Rose. She's nineteen.

They're together...on our bed. Neither of them noticed me.

For a couple of seconds, all I could feel is a numb shock. That is quickly followed by crippling sadness.

How could Raymond do this to me?

He knows things have been bad between us, but I thought he loved me.

He had been lying if I said I hadn't thought of breaking the engagement, but I never would have guessed he would do something like this to me. If anyone held a knife to my throat, I would have sworn up and down that he would never betray me.

These thoughts are swiftly followed by a wave of anger.

He wants Rose. Fine, he can have her.

I stride into the room, letting the door bang loudly against the wall. There is an uproarious sound from the direction of the bed, but I ignore it. I pulled open the cupboard and start emptying it.

“Amelia...” Raymond was behind me, naked.

Running footsteps tell me that Rose had left, but I didn't look around. I didn't answer Raymond either, I grabbed my suitcase from the back of the cupboard.

He tentatively put his hand on my shoulder.

“Don't you fucking dare touch me!!”

Raymond jerks back as if fire just burn his hands.

“Amelia....it isn't what you think .”

“Oh yeah? Because it seems to me like I just found you cheating on me with our neighbor's daughter nineteen- year - old daughter!!”

I never meant t....”.

“For me to find out? I figured that much for myself, Raymond!! You knew I would be gone for hours - or at least, you thought I would.

How long had this been going on?

“It's just sex. It doesn't mean anything .”

I want to scream at him, but I focus my energies, on packing my luggage.

“Please, Amelia, I love you. Don't go.”

If you loved me, you wouldn't have cheated on me, you bastard!”

I went into the bathroom and started throwing my toiletries into the clothes haphazardly. It doesn't take more than a few minutes to pack the essentials. I will get the rest of my stuff some other time. Right now, I can't stand to be with Raymond for another moment.

When I got to the door, he's standing in my way. “Move.”

“No, please, we have to talk about this.”He said.

“You think talking is fucking going to help?”You should talk to me before you started fucking around! Then it might have helped. Now, is way too late. Move, or I'm calling the police. You can't force me to stay here. You have five seconds.”

“Please Amelia....” He pleaded again.

“Five, four, three....”

Raymond moves. I didn't look back as I storm out. I throw my suitcase into the car and started driving.

I'm two blocks away when I realized I didn't know where I was going.

I pulled over, trying to think. It was only now that I realized my face was wet. I try to stop the tears.

That jerk didn't worth my tears.

I grab my phone and scroll through the most recent numbers. Amanda will let me stay with her. We've been best friends since high school. Nothing changed when we went to college, or when we finished studying and got a job.

She's a lawyer, something I'm immensely proud of.

I did well with my journalist degree, getting a job at one of the top news agencies in the city, but what I've accomplished is nothing compared to Hannah. She's well on her way to being the manager of her law firm, having worked there only a couple of years.

“Hey, Bestie! How are you?

“I....can I come and stay with you for a few days ?” My voice is thick and it choked with tears. My nose is blocked too; I must have sounded terrible.

“ What's wrong ?”

“Raymond cheated on me.”

“Oh honey, I'm sorry. Of course, you can stay with me, for as long as you need.”

“Thanks. I'm on my way over .” I briefly consider asking Amanda to get the rest of the things but decided against it. The chances are about fifty-fifty that she’ll castrate Raymond if she sees him. A lawyer or no lawyer, that was the mean trouble for her.

~••••••••••••••••••••••~

Ten minutes later, Amanda was waiting for me in the driveway way. As soon as I got down, she pulls me into a hug.

I'm eternally grateful that she doesn't say “I told you before but you wouldn't listen ”. She's been urging me to leave Raymond for months, but like a fool, I preserved, hoping we could fix things, between us.

“Come on, I've already ordered pizza and ice cream.”

“You know me well,” I tell her thickly with a watery smile.

Amanda leads me inside and I help me unpack into her spare room bedroom. “You want to soak in the Jacuzzi while we wait for pizza?”

That does sound inviting. “Sure. You have wine.

“Of course .”

I don't usually drink much, but today, I'm making an exception. It's only as I'm sinking into the tub next to Amanda when I remember.

“I'm supposed to go to work !”

“Not today, you're not .” Amanda gets out of the tub, looking grim. “I'll tell your boss. Don't worry, he won't give me any trouble.”

I couldn't help but chuckle. No one gives Amanda trouble - and any ones who do seriously regret it. I don't think Roland will mind, though. He's not heartless, and I have a spotless record of him.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, Amanda comes back, along with pizza and ice cream.

“Roland said it fine, he can get someone else to cover the story. He asked me to pass along his best wishes .”

“Thanks.” I poured myself a glass of wine and take a sip. “I don't know what to do .”

“For now, relax, drink and eat. Tomorrow, I suppose you'll be expected back at work. As I said, you can stay here as long as you need. There's no rush .”

Her words are a comfort, but they don't fill the aching hole that Raymond had left inside of me.

Over the next few hours, we proceed to drink out our way through two of Amanda's best bottles. By the time I'm pretty happy. I flop into the bed, grinning vaguely. My phone is on the dresser and I grab it.

I scroll through my WhatsApp contacts, not looking for anyone in particular. The name Aiden Rogers catches my eyes.

Rogers was very close to Amanda and me in school and throughout most of college. Everything changed one weekend after he went camping.

We never figured out what happened. He came back with blood, refusing to say how he got hurt. Barely a week later, he moved clear across the state. I've tried calling him, with no response. So far he hasn't responded to my messages.

Well, it is worth a shot.

Amelia: “Hey.

I broke up with Raymond. He cheated on me.

Rogers: Sorry, Lia. Are you okay?

Amelia: Sure, I'm great.

Rogers: You are drunk, ain't you?

Amelia: Absolutely.

Rogers: Lol. Call me when you are sober if you want to talk.

It's not much, but it was more of a response that I've gotten so far. I send Rogers another smiling sticker before dropping the phone, missing the dresser and letting it fall to the ground.

I try to grab it, but I ended up hitting my head on the lamp.

Oh well.

There are five missed calls from Raymond, but I ignored those.

Maybe I'll let Amanda go there tomorrow and castrate him.

My head is starting to pound, so I figure this is a good time to sleep. Getting myself under the blankets is a task that defeats me in my drunken state, so I sprawl atop them. My thoughts try to turn to Raymond, and I tried to shut them down with little success.

For the first time in a long time, I worried about my future. I don't know what my life looks like without Raymond. I don't know if I can survive without him.

What I can't do it?

*****★*****

T.B.C