Chapter 109

Lucian’s POV

Without another word, Sheila pushed past Dr. A and her assistant and burst into the hallway.

“Sheila!” I called after her, both annoyed and confused by her outburst. Must she act so erratically?

I followed her into the hallway, with Dr. A and her assistant in tow.

Sheila was halfway to the stairs when the assistant cried out. “You can’t run from this, Sheila!”

I knew that voice, and looked at the man in shock. This was no assistant. This was Sheila’s ex-husband and my former friend, the rogue, Travis!

At once, I grabbed him by the shoulder, stopping him from pursuing Sheila down the corridor. He struggled, trying to break himself loose. Gripping him firmly with both hands, I refused to release him as we tussled this way and that.

In the grapple, Travis’s mask fell free, revealing his familiar face. He was older now, and he had aged poorly as a rogue, exiled from the pack. Heavy bags hung under his eyes. His face was sullen, his cheeks sunken in. His wild eyes were looking after Sheila.

“You cannot let her get away, Lucian! She has so much to answer for!”

I glanced at Dr. A, searching for explanation about how this villain came to be her assistant. This entire thing felt like a setup. He expected better from her. Yet, with the way she recoiled from Travis, with her hands up defensively, it became abundantly clear to me that Travis did not give Dr. A much choice here.

Shaking Travis, I demanded, “Did you threaten Dr. A as well, you bastard?” My anger was rising. Having him here, the core of my guilt and the face of my shame, was sending me headfirst into a terrible tangle of unpleasant feelings.

I hated this man, hated everything he represented. He’d tortured Sheila physically, but also tormented me mentally. He betrayed me by being such a cad and keeping it hidden from me. I should have known the kind of person he truly was, and because I hadn’t, I hated myself for it. For this. For him.

And now he was back? Why?

As my inner questions were running rampant, Ben and a few others of my guard came pouring out of the stairwell, inadvertently blocking Sheila’s escape. We were all stuck in the hallway now, too many people for such a narrow space.

“Once I had thought you to be a good woman, Sheila!” Travis called, crying out for her and ignoring my own demands for explanation. “But then I married you and discovered the truth. You ruined my life!”

“You ruined your own damn life, and hers,” I snarled.

Travis huffed a bitter laugh. “Is that what she told you, Lucian? Is that why you believed her so readily over me, your own friend?”

“I heard what you’d done,” I snapped.

“What I’d done? What about what she did?”

“Shut up, Travis!” Sheila shouted. She was covering her ears.

“No! You have to hear this! And the King does too!”

“No one wants to hear your lies!” Sheila shouted.

“They aren’t lies! It’s the hard truth!”

I had no faith left to give Travis, but he clearly came here for a reason. Surrounded as guards as he now was, he had no hope of escape.

“I admit I was a playboy in the past,” he said. “But I was resolved to give that up when I became engaged to Sheila. I wanted to settle down, treat her well, and give up the playboy bachelor life. I’d grown wary of it.”

“Don’t listen to him!” Sheila shouted.

“However, on our wedding night, I noticed something off about Sheila. Her pheromones were all out of balance. It didn’t make sense initially, but then it all became clear. She had been promiscuous, even up until the night before our marriage.”

Everything goes quiet a moment. A few of the guards look at Sheila. Dr. A brings up a hand to cover her mouth.

“She used excuses that night to convince me that lifestyle was over for her. How could I fault her when I had been a playboy myself?” Travis continued. “But I made clear, from that moment forward, we were married and neither of us could go outside the marriage bed. She agreed.”

I studied Travis face, searching for any sign of deception. Travis wore his disgust and contempt like badges on his chest, yet there was not any sign of dishonesty.

“He believes what he says,” my wolf whispered, mirroring my own thoughts.

Then I looked at Sheila. Her face was pale, her expression stricken. She glanced all around like she was plotting an escape, though my guards had moved behind her to block off all paths. Even when she saw me looking, she still couldn’t hold my gaze.

Where Travis appeared earnest, Sheila was panicked, the very picture of deceit.

“She lied,” Travis said. “The next few months were the start of the end for my life. She fooled around with countless others behind my back. All the while, she drained my bank accounts, pilfering my wealth away for herself in secret accounts that I had only found out about much too late.”

Travis glared at Sheila. “It took a few months, but when I started to notice discrepancies… The missing money and how her pheromones never seemed to balance despite her insisting she was faithful… I hired a private investigator to track her.

“She covered her gross actions fairly well. The PI needed another few months to get back to me. When he did, the evidence was clear.” Looking at me, he adds, “I intended to come straight to you, Lucian, with the truth of what was happening. I even had all the evidence gathered together in a folder.”

“I heard nothing of this before,” I said.

“No, you wouldn’t have,” Travis said bitterly. “Because Sheila must have caught wind of my plans first. Before I could even arrive at the Alpha headquarters, she was already there, giving you her sob story and falsely accusing me of the worst sort of deplorable actions…”

Travis straightened. “Everything she accused me of was a lie. She was the one who was out at the wild parties, having sex with unmated males. At the same time, she was telling me she loved me, all while stealing everything I ever worked for in my life.”

Looking at Sheila, he spat. “I hate you. I hate you for everything you are, and everything you did to me. But I’ll be damned before I let you ruin Lucian like you ruined me.”

For a brief moment, Sheila glared so hotly at Travis that she seemed like the devil himself, but, spotting me looking at her, she immediately softened. When she turned her eyes on me, they were wide and filled with tears.

“You can’t believe this Lucian… You can’t believe I’d do something like this.”

Dr. A stepped slightly closer to me. Glancing at her, I could see the doubt in her own face. She didn’t trust Sheila.

Inside, my guilt waged war with my own doubts. Travis’s tale was shocking, and it was clear he believed it. Sheila was the one acting guilty and suspicious now.

“Sheila,” I said, voice firmly.

“You have to believe me, Lucian,” she said. Even with the tears, there was a harsh edge to her voice.

Her perfect façade was cracking.

“You have to believe me!”