The Alpha's Plot Twist

Chapter 1

“Plot twist: everything goes exactly as planned.”

Criss Jami

According to Murphy’s First Law, anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Drop a bagel on the ground, and it’ll land with cream-cheese side down. Try to make it to work on time, and you’ll hit every stop light on the way. Buy yourself a cup of coffee, and it’ll spill all over your brand new white blouse.

These are all perfect examples of Murphy’s First Law…as well as all things that happened to me on the worst Monday morning of my life. I won’t call it the worst day of my life – just the worst Monday of my life. The wasted bagel, tardiness, and the ruined blouse weren’t even the kickers – just the setup for the main act.

After I’d ruined my shirt with boiling hot coffee on the way into the office, I’d managed to convince my boss to let me run across the street for a replacement. She’d pursed her lips and raised an eyebrow, but the desperation in my eyes must’ve swayed her – that, or she just didn’t want to stare at the giant coffee stain on my shirt all day.

And this is the part where things really started to go awry. I’d speed-walked across a busy downtown street in heels that were definitely going to leave blisters, and walked up two flights of stairs to my boyfriend, Aiden’s, apartment. I was fortunate that he lived so close to my job, and that he kept a spare key under the mat.

Granted, I’d always told him that it was a bad idea to leave the key there. It was far too obvious, and any burglar with at least two brain cells would check there. He’d dismissed my concerns at the time, and now, I was secretly thankful. I could sneak in while he was at work, grab a hopefully-not-too-wrinkled work shirt from the pile of clothes I’d left there, and be on my way.

Unfortunately, Murphy’s Law was really kicking my ass that Monday.

The door unlocked with a quiet click, and I began my search for a replacement top. I started with the discarded clothes on his expensive white couch, but just as I began to rummage through, there was a muted thump and a rustle from the bedroom.

Is he here? Usually, he’s at work by this time…but maybe he took the day off.

He might’ve overslept.

I abandoned the clothes and headed for the bedroom.

I opened the door, and called out, “Aiden? You the –”

The words – as well as my heart and stomach and every other major organ I can think of – got wedged in my throat.

My original assumption had been correct. My boyfriend was in the bedroom.

But he wasn’t alone.

I let out a gasp of horror as I got an up-close look at my boyfriend’s toned (and very naked) body entertwined with some leggy (and very naked) blonde that I didn’t recognize.

And I think you can fill in the gaps as to what activity they were doing in his bed.

The two must’ve heard my gasp because they froze, their bodies still twisted together, and Aiden turned to face me. At the sight of me, he also let out a gasp of horror, and immediately began scrambling to get off the blonde. “Oh, fuck.”

I didn’t bother waiting for him to get dressed. I wheeled around, and began speed-walking to the door as fast as I could in four-inch heels.

My stomach was already twisting into knots, and I was glad I hadn’t eaten that bagel this morning. It would’ve ended up all over Aiden’s polished hardwood floors.

He’d cheated on me.

My boyfriend had cheated on me.

The same man who kissed my forehead at night and told me I was the only woman for him had cheated on me. Clearly, that second part meant jack-shit to him.

As I made my way to the door, I snatched up an extra work blouse lying over the side of the couch.

Aiden might’ve messed up my morning – and probably my foreseeable future – but I’d still come here for a reason.

Unfortunately, Aiden, who wasn’t bogged down by high-heels, caught up to me just as I made it down the first flight of stairs.

“Babe! Wait!” He shouted, “Elsie!” When he got within reaching distance, he grabbed my arm to stop me, but I shook him off immediately.

The stairwell to his apartment was relatively cramped, but I put as much space between us as I could. “Don’t touch me,” I hissed. My eyes burned, but I willed the tears away.

I wasn’t going to let the cheating asshole see me cry.

To his credit, Aiden listened and put his hands up in surrender. “Elsie, wait,” he said, “Just let me explain.”

I swallowed down the betrayal long enough to say, “Explain? You want to explain why I just found you naked in bed with another woman?”

He opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off. “No, you don’t need to explain,” I said sharply, “Let me guess. You’re going to tell me it was only a one time thing, she didn’t mean anything, you love me…or some variation of that BS. Well, don’t bother. Even if I believed any of that – which I don’t – cheaters are three times more likely to cheat again if they’ve already done it. I’m not going to stay in a relationship where I’m three times more likely to get screwed over again.”

I waited for the apology, but to my surprise, Aiden closed his mouth, nodded, and said, “Yeah, you’re right, Elsie.”

I hadn’t been expecting him to concede so easily, but I hid my shock with a sharp, “Is that it then?”

When he didn’t immediately reply, I began turning around.

“In case you’re wondering,” he suddenly called out, his voice cold, “It wasn’t a one time thing, she did mean something, and I don’t love you. I thought I did, but I don’t.”

I whipped around, my face like stone to hide how his words stung. I’d been ready for begging or at least some half-assed apology, but not the sudden coldness. “What?”

His eyes flashed with anger. “You know, when we first started dating, I used to think your bossy, independent thing was hot…until I realized that’s all there was to you.” He let out a humorless chuckle. “Your name is actually quite fitting when you think about it – you’re an ice queen. If anyone tries to get close to you, you freeze them out. You’re cold. You always have to be logical. You never just feel. Even after you find me in bed with another woman, you’re still spouting off statistics to me. Still so fucking logical. I didn’t plan to cheat on you, but after months living in your sub-zero world, I just needed to be with someone…warm.”

Whatever I thought was going to come out his mouth, it wasn’t that.

My legs felt unsteady and my hands were shaking…with what, I’m not sure. Anger, sadness, betrayal – it was all starting to blend together into a dangerous combination.

But I wasn’t about to let him see me break.

So, instead of crying or letting my knees buckle like they wanted to, I swallowed down all that emotion and said, “I’ll mail your things back to you.”

And with wobbly knees and a trembling lip, I turned around, and marched back to work, the replacement shirt still clutched in my hands.

The anger and the betrayal melted into numbness as I made my way back, although I cursed Murphy’s First Law in my head the entire time.

It was, at the time, the worst Monday of my life. However, what I didn’t realize then, was that it was also the start of something that would change my life forever.

My life was about to take the biggest plot twist in the world – I just didn’t know it yet.