Page 56 of His Rejected Fated Mate

Troy softened his words. “The week before we broke up, he told me that I had to end things or he was going to make you disappear.”

I blinked. “Disappear?”

He nodded. “Martin always reminded me that I was just a high schooler and he was a council member. He held all the power.”

I felt my stomach dip at this because I’d heard Martin express those same words. He would always tell me to let him know if I needed help. He was a council member, and he had the power to make things happen.

I told Martin everything. I’d been honest about everything with him, feeling that he was a guiding light in my life. But all that time, he had just been calculating. Waiting for me to feel like I didn’t belong. It was like a nail was being slammed into my coffin as I stood there. “So you ended things.”

He frowned. “I didn’t want to lose you, Elize. I figured if I ended things, you would still be around. I could still see you from a distance.” He shook his head. “I think he planned to have you leave anyway.”

I felt tears burning, but they were out of anger. I wanted to scream at him that he should have tried hard. But I knew Martin. He was so persuasive and had a way of making you feel things.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “If I could turn back time and change things, I would, Elize.”

I quickly wiped at my eyes and forced a sob back. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

He frowned. “Because I knew it would crush you to know the truth.”

“But I deserved to know the truth!” I snapped back. “Instead, I went years believing he was on my side, Troy! I spent my entire youth thinking he was looking out for me.”

It made sense. Martin was around more often those few weeks before I moved. I never thought about it. He always said he just had time to hang with the family. But it made sense. My parents’ sudden uneasiness and how Martin seemed to walk taller. And how easily my parents let me leave. I always thought that if they truly cared, that would have been the moment they put their foot down.

I ran a hand over my face, my hands shaking with rage. “You should have told me!”

His shoulders sank. “Elize, I wanted to. You have no idea how badly I wanted to. But I didn’t know if you would believe me. He had everyone wrapped around his finger. He still does.”

I stiffened. The thing was, I wouldn’t have believed him. Martin was such a pillar in my life. I would have thought Troy was lying. Troy probably could have said anything, and I wouldn’t have believed him.

He pulled himself up. “Elize.”

I took a step back and shook my head. “You should have tried harder!” I felt my body shaking as I slammed my hand onto the table. “You didn’t try hard enough!”

“I did try,” he stammered. “I looked for you after everything. You stopped coming to school, and I couldn’t find you anywhere. You literally just disappeared. Your parents wouldn’t tell me anything. I even went to Martin and begged him to tell me where you went. No one would tell me!”

My eyes widened as he ran a hand over his face. “I did look, Elize. I was fine with the fact that I would never hold you again. I was fine just watching from a distance. Jesus, I could live with myself. I’d hate myself, but I could do it. I could watch someone else hold you and be there for you. Fuck, I could be that fly on the wall for the rest of my life. But I could not never see you.”

My stomach bottomed out.

His face shifted into hurt. “I looked. I looked everywhere for you. I tracked you by scent, and I couldn’t find you. You have no idea how much I tried.”

He leaned onto the counter. “I made bad decisions after you let, Elize. Terrible decisions that I can’t take back. I just didn’t care about anything anymore.”

I swallowed. “What do you mean?”

He glanced at me. “I became an alcoholic. Got into fights and was asked to leave the pack.”

My mouth dropped. How had I not known this?

“The Alpha of this pack took me in. He told me to get my shit together. That if I continued down this road, I was going to become someone you would never want if you did return, and that hit hard. Because I didn’t even recognize myself anymore.”

I bite hard on my cheek to stop myself from saying anything. I didn’t know what to say. I had thought he had moved on. I told myself he’d found someone better.

I could see the desperation in his eyes. “Elize, I cared about you more than even myself. So, when I tell you that I tried, know I mean it.”

I felt a lump form in the back of my throat. My voice cracked now. “You got kicked out of the pack?”

He nodded. “Riley had it expunged when he became Alpha, but yes. I did many things.”