Chapter 1 Asked for

"What is my offense that you must treat me like this, Andrew?" Cecilia's voice trembled with frustration, her eyes blazing with pain and anger as she confronted him.

Andrew Blackwood, the man she'd once admired from afar, stood before her with his arms crossed, his expression unmoved. Those deep, golden-brown eyes she'd dreamed about as a girl now looked right through her, cold and detached.

"You have no right to question me, Cecilia," he replied, his voice smooth and calm, as if her accusations meant nothing to him.

The words struck her harder than she expected, yet she remained standing, swallowing down the ache in her chest. Their marriage was little more than a shadow, an arrangement that had drained her heart dry over the past two years. She had thought it might bring her some measure of peace or connection, but it had only shown her the depths of her loneliness.

A bitter pang of longing twisted inside her as she looked at him. She was trapped in a marriage that felt like a cage, and yet, inexplicably, she still cared for him, still yearned for a connection that would never come.

"Andrew," she said quietly, desperation bleeding into her tone, "is there truly nothing between us? Not even a shred of respect?"

He glanced at her, a fleeting look of annoyance flashing across his face. "I gave you my answer, Cecilia. I don't owe you any explanation."

Her heart twisted painfully at his words.

The previous evening, Cecilia listened to Andrew whispering while sleeping, saying the name of a different woman, Vivian. She attempted to suppress it from her thoughts, convincing herself it was merely a dream. However, Andrew brushed off Cecilia's inquiries with icy apathy when she approached him, cautioning her never to inquire about his personal affairs.

Now, Cecilia found herself standing there, trying to maintain composure despite his cold-hearted cruelty.

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The following day, Cecilia left for her appointment with the doctor, feeling the heavy burden of her reality weighing on her. Leaving the clean hospital room, her thoughts were consumed by her diagnosis. Her illness was progressing, and with every appointment, there was no improvement in her ailment. Time was slipping away, and each day in this empty marriage only seemed to highlight her isolation.

The hallway is busy with nurses and rolling carts, but Cecilia hardly notices any of it. Then she smells something familiar and her heart stops. Since birth, they all develop a specific scent that strengthens when they mate as a way to locate each other. Cecilia has been told that her smell is lavender. Andrew always smells like wood and vanilla in bourbon, her favorite perfume.

So why is she smelling him there? She cock her head to get a better scent. Yes- he is in the hospital, and close by.

Not just him, but a different scent too, familiar and horrifying all at once. Cecilia's heart drops into her stomach. She feels her skin prickle and a low growl erupts at the base of her heart.

And then, she saw them.

Andrew stood by the entrance, his hand entwined with another woman. She quickly brings her hand to her mouth, stifling for air. Is that Vivian? Is she back in the pack?

But that's not what caught her attention. Cecilia stared open mouth at how Andrew's touch on Vivian's hand was gentle, his fingers trailing over her skin in a way that spoke of an intimacy Cecilia had never known with him. They stood close, his face softened as he whispered something to Vivian that made her laugh, her eyes lighting up with a warmth that was painfully absent from Cecilia's life.

Cecilia's breath caught in her throat, her heart constricting as she watched them together. She knew of Vivian, knew that she and Andrew had a past, but seeing them like this, out in the open, was a blow she hadn't prepared for.

All the nurses stop to stare at them, and it is no wonder. Together like this, they look like a couple in a magazine, so deeply in love that everything else is simply an outward display around them. Cecilia dodged behind a plant and casually took out her phone to look too busy. It's not a good sign when a flock of medical professionals gather around something.

"So lucky to have Alpha Andrew as her husband," One of the nurses said, pupping gum into her mouth. The rest of the nurses murmur in agreement and Cecilia waits to smell Andrew refute their statements, but when the silence continues her jaw drops in shock.

The image of them together burned itself into her memory as she forced herself to turn away, swallowing down the bitterness clawing at her throat. She had long since given up on the fantasy of a loving marriage, but seeing the evidence of his affection for another woman brought the reality crashing down in a way she hadn't expected.

She walked away quickly, her heels clicking against the tiled floor, trying to keep herself from breaking down. She hoped he wouldn't find out she had seen them. She didn't want him to know the extent of the pain he had caused her.

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At Blackwood's estate, Cecilia lay still on the bed, waiting patiently for Andrew to come back. The door slowly creaked open, and Andrew walked in. Cecilia washed him as he scanned the room realizing the romantic gesture that she had set up for him. Cecilia can't tell if he likes it or not and she could kick herself hoping that he does.

"Do you think you can just disappear whenever you want, Andrew?" Cecilia's voice was low, laced with barely restrained frustration as Andrew walked through the door, his steps slightly uneven, a faint smell of whiskey clinging to him.

Andrew paused, blinking at her in mild surprise, as though he hadn't expected her to be awake at this hour. He straightened, regaining his usual composed posture, his golden-brown eyes fixed on her. The faint glimmer of warmth in his gaze caught her off guard; this was not the cold Andrew she'd grown accustomed to. "Why are you still up?" he asked softly, his tone lacking the usual edge.

Cecilia hesitated, feeling her guard waver under his rare gentleness. "I... couldn't sleep. I was waiting for you." She felt vulnerable admitting it, but there was no point in pretending otherwise. She was tired of all the unspoken truths and withheld emotions that colored their marriage.

Without saying a word, Andrew slips his hand around Cecilia's waist and cups her body into his. He presses his warm lips against the curve of her neck. And rather than melt into him as she usually does, she went cold at the realization he was never interested in her.

He stepped closer, his gaze softening as he reached out, his fingertips brushing her shoulder. The unexpected tenderness made her heart race, a confusing thrill sparking within her. He leaned closer, his warm breath fanning her skin as he murmured, "You shouldn't lose sleep over me."

Before she could respond, he lowered his head, his lips finding the curve of her neck, igniting sensations that were both familiar and longed for. His touch grew bolder as he gently drew her into his arms, his kisses trailing along her collarbone with a tenderness she hadn't felt in years.

Cecilia's pulse quickened as his lips met hers, his hands tracing her waist, igniting a fire that she hadn't felt in a long time. Her heart yearned to believe, just for a moment, that this was real and he truly wanted her. She could feel herself giving in, her hands wrapped around his shoulders as his breath faintly fell on her ear lob, making Cecilia's heart skip.

But just as her desire began to overwhelm her, a flash of memory jolted her back to reality. The memory of him holding Vivian's hand at the hospital, the warmth in his eyes as he looked at another woman the way he had never looked at her. Her heart clenched painfully as the betrayal came rushing back, and a surge of anger replaced the desire she'd felt moments before.

In a swift motion, she pushed him away, breaking free from his hold, her breathing uneven as she took a step back.

Andrew's eyes darkened, his expression hardening as his wolf growled.

"What's wrong with you?" he demanded, more curious than concerned. He hates to be disturbed, and Cecilia is not in the mood to fight. Before she can think of an excuse to say something, his phone buzzes, and his eyes light up. He leaves the room in a hurry, but not before he leaves the room, Cecilia sees the caller ID.

Vivian. Cecilia's stomach swoops again

She glared at him, her hands clenched tightly at her sides as the anger she'd been holding back finally surfaced. "Don't pretend this is real, Andrew. I saw you today at the hospital with her," she whispered, her voice trembling with fury.

His expression shifted, the warmth draining from his face as a cold, unreadable look settled over him. "And?"

Cecilia's heart ached at his indifference, the realization cutting deeper than any words he could have said. "And... why? After everything, why would you even pretend to care about me?"

For a brief moment, a flicker of something almost like regret passed through his eyes, but it vanished as quickly as it had appeared, replaced by an impenetrable wall of cold detachment. He straightened, meeting her gaze with a look of finality that sent a chill down her spine.

"I want a divorce."