Mated to My Intended's Enemy novel Chapter 134

Chapter 134: Chapter 134 Another Alpha

Freya

I was nursing my second whiskey when my phone lit up with Elena’s name flashing across the screen. Three weeks since I’d walked out of Stone Lake Tower, and the world hadn’t stopped turning. Funny how that works.

"Where are you hiding, you beautiful disaster?" Her voice spilled through the speaker, familiar and warm like summer rain.

I couldn’t help but smile. "My apartment. Where else would I be?"

"Unacceptable. I’m standing outside your door. Let me in before your neighbors think I’m stalking you."

The line went dead before I could respond. Sure enough, seconds later, a rapid knock echoed through my apartment. I opened the door to find Elena Kane—Jasper’s sister and my best friend since college—standing there with two overnight bags and a determined glint in her eyes.

"You flew back from Paris?" I gasped as she pushed past me into the apartment.

Elena dropped her bags dramatically on my floor and spun around, her blonde hair whipping around her shoulders. "You quit the pack, slapped my brother across his stupid face, and thought I wouldn’t hop on the first flight back?" She pulled me into a fierce hug. "Eight years of your life, Freya. Eight years."

"Elena—"

"No." She pressed her finger against my lips. "No sad faces. We’re going out. You’ve been cooped up in here doing what? Crying? Planning world domination?"

I sighed. "Just... processing."

Elena surveyed my apartment—the empty wine bottles, the stack of resignation paperwork, the half-eaten takeout containers. "Well, you’ve processed enough. Get dressed. We’re hitting Crescent Moon."

"The nightclub? I don’t think—"

"Not a request." She was already rummaging through my closet. "You need tequila, dancing, and possibly a deliciously bad decision with a handsome stranger."

Two hours later, we were ensconced in a corner booth at Crescent Moon, the bass pulsing through my bones as Elena pushed another shot toward me.

"To freedom," she declared, lifting her glass.

I clinked mine against hers. "To not giving a damn anymore."

The tequila burned pleasantly down my throat. Elena watched me with that piercing gaze so similar to her brother’s, yet infinitely warmer.

"You know," she said, leaning forward, "I always thought Jasper would wake up one morning and realize what was right in front of him." She shook her head. "Then that Mia person shows up again, and suddenly my brother turns into this... puppet."

My chest tightened at the mention of his name. "It’s the mate bond, Elena. You can’t fight nature."

"Bullshit." She slammed her glass down. "Mate bond or not, he shouldn’t have treated you like disposable garbage. You ran that pack better than he did half the time."

"He’s still your brother," I reminded her, though the defense felt hollow even to my own ears.

"And that’s why I can say with absolute authority that he’s an idiot." Her eyes sparkled with mischief. "You should see what’s happening at Stone Lake now. Complete chaos. Timothy’s trying to hold things together, but no one knows where anything is, Jasper’s schedule is a disaster, and Mia—" she rolled her eyes dramatically, "—keeps trying to redecorate the executive floor in pastels." 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Despite everything, a laugh bubbled up in my throat. "Pastels? In Jasper’s office?"

"Pink and mint green," Elena confirmed with wicked glee. "She says the current decor is ’too aggressive and masculine.’"

We dissolved into giggles, and for a moment, it felt like old times—before I’d fallen for Jasper, before everything had gotten so complicated.

"I still can’t believe you’re actually done with Stone Lake," Elena said, her voice softening. "I mean, I’m proud of you, but... it was your home."

I twirled the lime in my empty glass. "It stopped being home when I realized I was just convenient. Useful until I wasn’t." My wolf stirred restlessly inside me, still mourning the loss of pack bonds. "What about you? How long are you staying before jetting back to Paris?"

Elena’s expression shifted, something secretive dancing in her eyes. "About that... I’m not going back. At least, not as a Stone Lake wolf."

My jaw dropped. "What?"

"I’m filing withdrawal papers too," she announced, a defiant tilt to her chin. "I’ve been thinking about it for months. I hate pack politics, all those stuffy meetings and traditions. I want to paint, travel, live on my own terms." She grabbed my hand. "And now that you’ve gone and shown it can be done..."

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