"Thank you and hope you have a great day." I said halfheartedly, biting on my cheek as the woman herded her three kids out, knowing they knocked over several items in the isles and I'd have to pick up after them.

Then again, anything was better than standing behind the cash register and having an endless barrage of entitled people complaining to you all day.

Especially those horrendous people who bought something from another store and then claimed they bought it here. And of course, they demanded a refund for a nearly empty paint can and ripped wallpaper roll that they somehow bought from this small convenience store.

It had taken everything in me to not just snarl and snap at the man. I had to grit my teeth as I pointed out that, yes, even though he still had his bill, it was from the hardware store just around the block, not this small store that sold mostly food and daily supplies.

And for whatever reason, the bastard had snorted and had told me to go to the hardware store to get a refund back then for the items he'd trade in here.

Only after several long minutes of refusing to give the man a refund and having Marvin basically tell the man where he could shove his empty paint can, the annoying human finally left.

Marvin had given me a firm clap on the shoulder, praising my self-control cause I could tell even he had issues holding his wolf back.

"I'll look over the register for a moment." Lydia said, pushing me gently to the isles with a wink. As if she was doing me a favor by letting me do the cleaning.

At least it wasn't the sick from that kid last week, who had been running up and down the isle whilst chugging his drink. Thank the gods that I had just clocked out and luckily, Marvin had waved me away.

As I rounded the corner, I already felt the scowl on my face at the boxes of undoubtedly cracked eggs, plus the bags of ripped flour.

You'd think those entitled assholes would clean up behind themselves.

Then again, those stuck up bastards would just sneer past their noses as they looked down at someone who was actually working.

Sighing I went about cleaning the gooey eggs, muttering to myself as I wrung out the mop. Fucking humans and their better-than-thou attitude. Fucking wolves with their over-inflated ego.

Speaking of over-inflated egos, it had been a while since I had seen or heard of the Alpha. From what I had picked up, he had taken off towards the Council after a border patrol went wrong and one of their men got killed.

His betas were left in charge of the pack until he returned but I had a vague idea that Alpha Curtis had left specific and strict to follow orders behind.

I already knew that Marvin was keeping track of my every move and reporting back to his superiors. Undoubtedly Alpha Curtis was trying to find for any infraction of the rules, a reason to kick me out of his territory and deal with Ellie like he saw fit.

A snort escaped me while I stood up, grateful that I only had a few minutes left before my shift was over. Then I'd pick up some food from the local store and retrieve Ellie.

My mind wandered to a few days ago, where the little pup had been dancing between my legs as I had retrieved firewood. She had tried to help to the best of her abilities, though it had been hilarious when she had tried to carry some branches in the house.

Her little wolf had refused to shift back and had stubbornly been trying to get the branch in the door. Frustration was clear on Ellie's little muzzle, as she knew the branch was too big to fit in the doorway.

And yet her pup had stubbornly persisted with growls and angered yips, until the branch had broken. The pup then proceeded to prance in the house, head proudly raised to show of the broken branch as if it were a trophy.

The doors opened once more, signaling the arrival of a new costumer. I turned around to give them a, hopefully, polite smile in case they needed some assistance.

The second I turned around, my heart froze painfully, acid filling my mouth. I didn't even hear the mop and bucket clattering on the ground, didn't feel the grimy water slushing over my feet and soaking my shoes.

All my attention was on a pair of hauntingly familiar eyes that were looking at me with a mix of joy and pain.

How dare he? How dare he look at me like that, as if he just found out what happened to me? As if he wasn't the reason why I got exiled and nearly mauled to death?

I shot him the foulest glare I could muster, not even caring that both Marvin and Lydia could see me, that I could potentially lose the job for being so hostile to a costumer.

"What happened dear?" Lydia asked, snapping me out of it as I sent her an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I dropped the bucket and mop... I was clumsy."

I caught Lydia's glance at my heavily scarred wrist and scarred hands that, even after surgery, were still slightly malformed before she flashed me a genuine smile.

"Oh, never mind that. I'll take care of this, it's your time to clock out anyways. Boss' orders." She added with a wink as I sighed in relief before shooting Marvin a grateful look.

He didn't need to be a genius or know my history to realize what we were, or had been. And judging from the way his eyes flitted quickly between both of us with growing worry, Marvin was anticipating a fight in the middle of his little store.

Instead of reacting to Max's slightly hurt look as his eyes followed my every move like a lost puppy, I shouldered past him, making sure that I shoved against him with force.

I didn't give a shit that it was childish or petty. The growing anger in my body was more than I could handle and I was more than a little surprised when even my wolf snarled at the mere sight of our former mate.

Never had I even thought that I'd see Max again, and on the small chance that it happened, I had assumed that my wolf would've fallen head over tail for him once more.

Thankfully my wolf was more than eager to defend both of us, as it too had been wounded gravely by the rejection. Hell, both of us were still hurting.

How long had it even been? Years? I changed mindlessly in the locker room, letting my mind wander. Years since the rejection, since I had been cast out and forced to fend for myself, gravely wounded.

And I realized that, not once had I actually felt a need to return to Max. Like Drake had explained, the bond that brought mated pairs together, that made them long to be in one another's company, wasn't there anymore.

Instead there was an anger and bitterness that swirled in my stomach, threatening to push up whatever I had eaten today, which wasn't a lot to begin with.

When I pushed open the door to our employee locker room, I bit back an annoyed growl when Max was still standing there, looking around before he glanced at me.

"I'll see you next time Marvin." I said with a nod to my boss, not wanting to give away any sliver of information that Max could cling onto. As if I needed him to linger around like a lost pup that needed me.

Marvin nodded and added "Take care." Gruffly, giving Max a pointed glare that conveyed his untold warning. After all, Max wasn't a part of this pack, and I had explicit permission to be here.

So how the hell did he find out where to find me? I very much doubted that either Drake or Tristan would've told anyone where I was, least of all Max of all people.

I froze, a low growl slipping from my throat when fingers wrapped around my wrist as Max leaned closer, "Kyle, we need to-"

Anger exploded through my veins as I yanked my hand loose from his grip, unintentionally hurting my already aching bones.

"You need to get the fuck off of me. Don't fucking touch me!" I snarled, shoving him out of the doorway so I could leave. Instead of heading my warning or at least step back to allow me to move past him, Max did the opposite.

He went to grab for me again, this time his fingers finding purchase around the heavily scarred wrist he had broken before.

There was a flash of realization in his eyes as soon as his fingers wrapped around the scars, eyes flitting down and filling with something akin to remorse at the sight of the multitude of scars crisscrossing my skin.

I didn't give him a chance to say anything else. I didn't want to hear his fake, weak-willed apologies that were only meant to make him feel better, because at least he apologized.

No, instead I spun around on my heel, using the momentum and all the combined anger of my wolf and I to plow my fist straight into Max's face.

I could hear a satisfying crack the second my fist impacted, along with a little yelp of pain and surprise before I was released.

He landed on the floor with a thud, clutching at his face as blood began to well from his lips and , hopefully, broken nose. It was a small injury compared to what that bastard and his pack put me through.

"Don't. Fucking. Touch. Me." I hissed at Max's crumpled form before I stomped out of the store. How the hell did he find me? Did someone recognize me and told Max where to find me?

And why would he even want to find me? Last time I had seen him was when he had turned his back on me. The moment when he had let his Alpha deal with me in whatever way he saw fit.

I hadn't even heard from him over the link when I had begged him for help, for a chance to explain the situation. Instead he had slammed the link shut, most likely severing our mating bond at that exact moment.

Because I knew that, if Max had given me a chance then, we could've possibly worked things out. I had still been willing to fight for our relationship.

But that burning realization that he was the reason why I was mauled and nearly murdered, all because of what, a simple misunderstanding? That burning betrayal was more than anyone could stomach.

It had made my wolf recoil in disgust and pain, the physical wounds that had been screaming in pain were drowned out by the emotional pain as the rejection had hit us full force.

My claws dug into the palms of my hands as I fought to control myself. All I wanted to do was to get as far away as possible from Max.

If I was back at Drake's pack, I knew for a fact that Drake wouldn't allow Max anywhere near me without my explicit permission.

And in that moment realization hit me, anger pulsing so strongly through my form that I felt the hairs in my nape elongate in a partial shift.

Alpha Curtis.

That fucking chihuahua of an Alpha had most likely done some digging to get me out of his way. He'd only need to contact Max's pack and inquire about me to realize what happened and give Max a hint as to where I was.

He probably knew that right now, I just wanted to shift and run all the way back to Drake's pack and forget Max ever existed in the first place.

I felt the growing need to punch something, someone but knew I couldn't. Most likely Alpha Curtis would already hold my assaulting Max against me.

The only thing I could do, was try and convince Ellie to move with me to Drake's pack as soon as possible. Hell, my feet were already picking up the pace to get our food and then to pick up the little pup.

Because I was going to inquire Molly if she would be interested to move to Drake's pack along with us. Ellie was bonding with her as well and the more people she knew and loved came along with her, the better and easier the transition would be.

And there was a small part in me that hoped, when Ellie decided on moving with us and I had informed Drake of the decision, that I would be allowed to punch that fucking Alpha in the face.

Fuck all these meddlesome packs that stuck their noses where it didn't belong!