I Gave Up the Fifth Chair, But the Alpha Regretted Everything

We were having Full Moon Festival dinner at my apartment. The three guys I'd grown up with arrived with nothing but cheap beer and their friend, Chloe Sutton. Chloe said the smell of raw, bloody meat made her sick. I'd spent all day preparing 12 grilled dishes for the traditional feast. I was setting down the last platter of roast venison when Chloe got a text. She turned to us and asked timidly, "Mia just got kicked out of her pack, and she has nowhere to go. Can I invite her over?" Before I could say a word, Ethan Walsh pulled my chair away from the table. "Aria, don't you have border patrol tonight? You might as well head out now." Liam Porter leaned against the doorframe and laughed. "You eat your own cooking every day anyway. Missing one meal won't kill you." Chloe waved her hands, flustered. "No, forget it. I'll just tell Mia to go hunt in the woods by herself." All three men rushed over to comfort her. "Who sends a guest back out into the cold?" My fated mate, Caleb Mercer, who was also our pack's Alpha, cut off a piece of lightly charred venison and put it in a food container for me. "Be good. I saved you your favorite part. Heat it up later if you get hungry. And lose the attitude. A future Luna should be more gracious." I stood there in silence. They sat around the table I'd bought with my own savings and ate from the dishes I'd picked out so carefully, as if everything belonged to them. So they knew perfectly well you didn't turn away a guest who'd come a long way. They had just forgotten whose apartment this was. I didn't scream or cry. I just reached over and took the spare key to my apartment from Caleb's belt. "None of you are staying here tonight." Caleb's face froze. Even I could hear how cold my voice was. This was my apartment. I was never the one who should have been shown the door. Chapter 1 Caleb watched me pack the roasts into containers, one after another. He frowned, and I felt his Alpha authority rise with his irritation and press down on me. "Are you done, Aria?" His broad frame filled the kitchen doorway. "We're just letting someone who's having a hard time stay for a bit. Chloe's friend has nowhere to go. We can't leave her out there alone. You should be more gracious." I sealed the last container of venison steak in black pepper sauce without slowing down. "Take your food and get out of my apartment." All three of them froze. In 20 years, I had never once thrown them out. Ethan's face darkened. He started to step forward, but Caleb put out an arm and stopped him. Caleb took the bag of food. He swallowed, his expression tight. "Aria, we'll talk when you've calmed down." The three werewolves escorted Chloe out of my apartment, hovering protectively around her. Just before the door closed, Chloe looked back at me with red eyes, as if she were the rogue being driven out of the territory. Half an hour later, Chloe posted an update on the pack's social feed. In the photo, the four of them were gathered around Caleb's big leather couch, eating the meat I'd roasted. The caption read, "Thank goodness someone was willing to give me a place to belong on a cold Full Moon Festival night." Caleb had replied with a wolf-head emoji. The kind mates send each other. I gripped my phone so hard I nearly cracked the screen. A place to belong? That's supposed to be my place. When I got hurt on hunts, Caleb never left my side. He cleaned and bandaged my wounds himself. Ethan once faced a challenge from another pack alone just to protect me. Liam used to slip me rare little things he'd gone to great lengths to find, just to see me smile. Now they sat together eating food I'd cooked with my own hands and listening to Chloe talk about how hard her life was. Then they handed her everything that used to be mine, as if she had every right to it. They didn't even try to hide it from me. Rage surged through me, and my wolf let out a low growl. They were the ones who had pushed me out. It wasn't until one in the morning that Caleb finally reached me through the mind-link. Babe, I'm keeping the platters and the grill at my place for now. Come by tomorrow and wash them. And make Chloe some herbal tea for her hangover while you're at it. She drank way too much of that cheap beer. I didn't answer. Early the next morning, someone pounded on my door. Through the peephole, I saw Ethan. Two plastic bins full of greasy dishes sat at his feet. Every dish they'd taken the night before was back. Not one was missing. I opened the door, but I didn't step aside. Ethan yawned and ran a hand through his messy hair. "Good, you're up. Caleb says you're off border patrol today, so he wants you to wash these. We're grilling in the woods behind the hill tonight, and we'll need them." I glanced at the grease-caked plates. "Whoever used them can wash them," I said flatly. "Okay, that's enough, Aria." Ethan's voice sharpened. "We spent half the night calming Chloe down. She cried until her eyes were swollen. And you? You shut your door and slept like a baby." "Why was she crying?" "Because you scared her, acting all cold like that." I was so angry I almost laughed. They'd sat in my apartment eating the food I'd cooked, then tried to kick me out. And somehow, Chloe was the one who'd been wronged. Ethan shoved the bins toward my door. "There. Delivered. I've got things to do. I'm taking Chloe into town to buy fresh meat. She can't tell good meat from bad, so she'll get ripped off if she goes alone." A werewolf who can't tell good meat from bad? Ridiculous. And he believes her. I kicked the bins back toward him. "Perfect. Take these with you. She can learn to wash dishes while she's at it." Ethan hadn't expected me to refuse. His face soured. "Aria, throwing a fit won't get you anywhere. We've known you forever. We know you talk tough, then cave two days later." I looked up at him, my eyes cold. All the anger I'd swallowed for so long was finally rising to the surface. "So that's why you all think you can trample my boundaries and get away with it?" He opened his mouth to argue, but I had already shut and locked the door. Before long, Caleb called. "Do you really have to make things this ugly?" He sounded irritated. "Ethan brings your dishes back first thing in the morning, and you won't even let him in. You're going to be Luna. Can't you be a little more gracious?" "Why are you dumping your dirty dishes on me?" Caleb paused, then softened his tone. "It's only a few plates. How long would it take you to wash them? By the way, where are your tent and grill? Liam's coming by to pick them up later." I walked into the storage room. A full set of expensive camping gear sat inside. Last month, I'd suggested camping deep in the woods for the Full Moon Festival. All three of them said they were too busy. They hadn't been busy. I was just the wrong person asking. Now that Chloe wanted to go, they suddenly had all the time in the world. "No," I said coldly. "It's just sitting there collecting dust. Chloe wants to see the fireflies in the woods. We only need it for one night," Caleb said. "If she wants camping gear, buy it for her yourself. You don't get to use my things to impress someone else." That was the end of Caleb's patience. "Aria, will you ever stop? You missed one meal yesterday, and you've been sulking ever since. Anyone would think we kicked you out of the pack. Chloe's parents died in the last border war. What's wrong with us looking out for her?" I'd heard that excuse too many times. Every time they shut me out, they brought up her parents. I didn't buy it anymore. Chapter 2 I hung up, took pictures of everything in the storage room, and listed it on an underground market site. In under half an hour, a bounty hunter had bought the brand-new grill. By the time Liam arrived, the storage room was half empty. He stood in the doorway and stared at me like he couldn't believe it. "You'd rather sell it to hunters than lend it to us?" "Yep." I taped up the last shipping box and looked at him. "Hunters pay in gold. All you guys ever do is take." Just then, my phone buzzed. Frank, my landlord, texted, "Your lease is up next month. Still planning to renew for two more years?" The apartment sat right on the line between the human side of town and werewolf territory, close to where Caleb ran pack business. I'd been waiting for him to move in. For three years, I'd spent an hour and a half traveling between the forest and the city every day. I typed back two words, "Not renewing." Then I started sorting through everything in the apartment. Caleb's shirts took up half my closet. His razor was in the bathroom, his combat boots were crammed into my shoe rack, and even my study was full of his blades. He always said we couldn't live together until he'd officially marked me. But little by little, his scent had taken over my space. And me? I'd never truly been part of his inner circle. That was when Chloe sent me a photo. It showed a large bedroom that had just been furnished. The bed was made with the charcoal silk sheets Caleb and I had picked out together. On the nightstand sat the moonstone lamp I'd bought him. Her message read, "Aria, you have such good taste. Caleb said the rogues trashed my apartment, so I should stay at the Alpha house for now. You don't mind, right?" I stared at the moonstone lamp for a few seconds. I'd chosen it for Caleb's house myself. He'd said we'd move in after the Full Moon Festival. Once everything was ready, we'd make it official with a marking ceremony before the Moon Goddess. Now another woman was living in the house meant for his Luna. I didn't answer Chloe. I called Caleb instead. It was loud on his end. It sounded like pack warriors were moving heavy wooden furniture. "Babe, have you finally come around? You're the pack's future Luna. You're supposed to look out for pack members who need help." I cut him off. "Why is Chloe living in the Alpha house?" "The wards on her apartment broke. I can't let her sleep on the street, where she could be attacked at any moment, can I?" "You promised. That's supposed to be our home after the marking ceremony." Caleb sighed, sounding impatient. "It's just for a few days. Stop calling it 'our home' every other sentence. You're acting like I've already marked you." Liam's careless laugh came over the line. "Seriously. You're not even mated yet, and you're already marking your territory." Ethan chimed in from nearby. "Aria, you've got a safe apartment of your own. Chloe really has nowhere to go right now. Can't you tell what actually matters here?" I held the phone while they all piled on. My mind went back to the day we toured the house a year ago. Caleb had pulled me along to measure the bedroom, his dark eyes bright with plans for our future. He said we'd put two moonstone lamps beside the bed: one for him to read pack files by, and one for me to read by. Now the other lamp was probably sitting next to Chloe's bed. I took a deep breath and tried to stay calm. "How long is she staying? A week? A month?" "We'll see once her place is fixed." Caleb lost patience. "Why do you need every little detail? Nothing's going to happen between me and her. If you can't trust me, why are we even talking about bonding?" I let out a cold laugh. It was always the same. Instead of answering my question, he blamed me and threatened to call off the marking. In their eyes, there were endless reasons I wasn't gracious enough or good enough to be Luna. If I fell that far short in his eyes, I was done with this relationship. "Then let's call it off." Caleb was quiet for two seconds. Then he let out a low scoff. "Here we go again. Yesterday you threw a tantrum and kicked everyone out, and today you're threatening to call off our marking ceremony. Call me when you've calmed down. I don't have time for your drama right now." He hung up first. He was probably sure I'd regret it before long. My phone buzzed again. It was a confidential message from Magnus, the Alpha King of the North. "The post of commander of the Royal Guard is still yours if you want it. I'll ask one last time. Can you report for duty in three days?" Six months ago, Magnus had asked me to go north and command an elite Royal Guard unit. It was a senior position, and it came with territory of my own. I'd turned him down. Caleb had said our marking ceremony was coming up soon, and he wanted me by his side. I'd worried he'd feel guilty, so I never told him I'd turned it down for him. Now there was no reason to tell him. I didn't hesitate this time. I replied, "Yes." I confirmed my route north. Then I took every photo of us off the bookshelf and threw them into the fireplace, one by one, until nothing was left but ash. A notification from the group chat popped up on my phone. Chloe had posted a picture of a table piled with grilled meat. Caleb, Ethan, and Liam grinned as they raised their glasses. Her caption read, "Thank you to my three big brothers for being my safe haven." Caleb tagged me in the group chat. "Okay, that's enough. We're all coming to your place for dinner tomorrow night so we can talk face to face. Chloe wants your honey-glazed grilled fish, so remember to go fishing in the river valley first." I pulled up my itinerary for the North. In three days, I'd be gone. Chapter 3 Before I left, I sorted everything in the apartment into three piles. I packed everything I owned. Caleb's things went into boxes, along with everything the other three had left here over the years. I stacked it all in the hallway outside my door. Ethan's forgotten tactical gloves. Liam's steel dagger. The black shirts and combat boots Caleb had crammed into half my closet. I went through it piece by piece. I didn't miss anything, not even what they'd tossed into drawers. I used to think all this stuff meant we were close. I'd thought that leaving their things at my place meant they trusted me. That they saw it as a second home. I'd even secretly hoped that once Caleb and I were officially bonded, this would become a real home for us. Looking back now, it was laughable. They were just used to me taking care of them. They dropped by whenever they wanted to eat, sleep, or get work done. It had never occurred to them that I might get tired of it. The building manager called to ask whether all that stuff was supposed to go out with the trash. I looked at the overstuffed boxes, my fingers slowly curling into a fist. None of it meant anything to me anymore. But I wasn't going to clean up after them one last time, either. "Could you leave it all at the front desk, please? They can come pick it up themselves." Soon Caleb's furious voice slammed into my head through the mind-link. You left my clothes with the building manager? His accusation made my temper flare. He didn't even ask why I'd done it. He just accused me, as if I were something he owned. I didn't throw anything away. It's all packed neatly. Every last piece is there. Aria, are you that bored? We're coming over tonight. What's the point of putting stuff by the door? I turned and looked at the empty closet. His clothes used to fill it. I'd iron his shirts and polish his combat boots ahead of time, then line everything up just the way he liked. Whenever he came over, anything he needed was within reach. To him, that was just how things were supposed to be. Now the closet was empty, and every trace of him was gone. I let out a long breath. The weight I'd carried for so long was finally off my chest. I won't be here tonight. But Caleb only went quiet for two seconds before he answered, sounding impatient. Border patrol again? Then marinate the meat before you go. We'll light the grill ourselves. Ethan wrote in the pack group chat, "Honey-glazed grilled fish, venison steak with black pepper, garlic rabbit. Chloe's stomach has been upset lately, so go easy on the spices." Right after that, Liam sent me a little money on Venmo. The amount was pathetic. Liam added, "There'll be six of us tonight. Here's money for the meat. We'll settle up afterward." Caleb replied with a laughing emoji and wrote, "Why are you sending her money? Aria doesn't need your pocket change." I stared at the message. After all these years, what am I to them? A friend? Or an on-call cook and maid? The group chat kept buzzing with talk of what drinks to bring. Nobody asked why I wouldn't be there. Somewhere along the way, I'd become the one person in the group nobody would miss. From now on, I don't need them either. I didn't reply. I just left the group chat. Seconds later, Caleb messaged me privately, "Seriously? All we asked was for you to make dinner. So you leave the chat and wait for someone to beg you back in?" Everything I'd held in for so long finally boiled over. I don't need any of you to add me back. I'm choosing to leave your little clique. I cut off the mind-link between us and blocked his number. At two in the afternoon, Frank brought some people by to see the apartment. The new tenants were a young werewolf couple who had only recently bonded. When the girl saw the big kitchen, her face lit up. "This kitchen is huge. I can finally cook for my mate." Her mate shook his head, his eyes soft. "Nope. You cook, I clean. I'm not letting you do it all yourself." The girl laughed and gave him a little shove. "You'd better not slack off, then." It was such an ordinary thing to say. Standing off to the side, I felt my throat suddenly tighten. So some people understood that a big meal didn't just appear on the table. And some people cared how hard their mate worked. They didn't treat everything their mate did as part of the job. But after all I'd given Caleb and the others, all I got back was one menu after another, as if feeding them were my job. I was done trying to earn anyone's approval by giving and giving. Once I'd signed the move-out paperwork, I turned back for one last look at the door. Caleb had once said that after our marking ceremony before the Moon Goddess, he'd use this place as a second base for pack business. Ethan had said that if he ever got hurt in a fight, he could come here to recover. Liam had said that when we all had pups someday, we'd stay in this neighborhood. Even Chloe had laughed once while we were chatting and said this was where we'd make memories as friends for the rest of our lives. They'd painted those futures as full of fun and laughter. But in every one of them, I did all the giving, and nobody asked what I wanted. Chapter 4 On my way to the station, Chloe called me. I didn't want to answer, but she kept calling. Finally, I picked up. "Aria, please don't get the wrong idea about me and Caleb," she said timidly. "Maybe I should move out of the Alpha house tonight? I don't want to get in the way of your marking ceremony. I know you've never liked me staying there, but I really don't have anywhere else to go." I closed my eyes. Here we go again. It was the same routine every time. First she played the victim, then she left the choice to me. If I showed even a little annoyance, I'd look like the one who couldn't stand her. I'd always swallowed my irritation and comforted her for Caleb's sake. But today, I didn't even have the patience to sit through her act. "Okay. Move out tonight." The line went dead quiet. I spelled it out, slowly and clearly. "Move out tonight. If the wards on your apartment are broken, stay at a hotel. If you really have nowhere to go, ask your three big brothers to help you. "You're a grown wolf. You can't wait around forever for someone else to protect you." Then Caleb's voice came on the line, angry. "Aria, did you really have to talk to her like that? Chloe already apologized. What more do you want?" This was the man I loved. All he ever did was blame me. But I wasn't backing down this time. I gripped the phone, and my voice rose before I could stop it. "Caleb, listen to me. I'm done cleaning up after all of you! You want to live in the Alpha house? Go ahead. You want grilled meat? Make it yourselves. You want to take care of Chloe? Then do it yourselves. From now on, your problems have nothing to do with me!" After a moment, Caleb said coldly, "You're ready to throw us all away over something so small? Aria, when did you get so unreasonable?" That was when it finally hit me. To him, I was a bird he'd trapped in his hand. Whether I was hurting or fighting back, he thought I was only playing games. If I wanted to leave, I was throwing a tantrum. If I got angry, I was being petty. I didn't even bother explaining. I hung up and blocked that number too. Before the train north pulled out, a string of texts arrived. Ethan asked if I'd caught the fish from the river valley yet. Liam asked me to pick up two bottles of moonfruit wine on my way. Caleb's text was as condescending as ever. "Be back by seven. We'll wait for you this time. Happy now?" I looked at the screen. I couldn't even be bothered to feel disappointed anymore. They always thought that if they gave an inch, I'd give in as I always had and go back to doing everything for them. But this time, I wasn't looking back. I wiped the tears from my eyes and turned off my phone. The train pulled out of the station. I was finally free. Meanwhile, the others arrived at my apartment. Caleb held a bag of live fish, and Ethan and Liam carried wine. Chloe trailed behind them. They stood at the door, laughing and chatting, waiting for me to let them in and start grilling. Caleb rang the doorbell. Once. Twice. Three times. Still nothing. Ethan glanced at the door and laughed. "She can't still be mad, can she? She's really holding a grudge this time. We're the ones who got kicked out, and we haven't said a word." Caleb's smile faded. Unease crept over him, and he tried to reach me through the mind-link. But the mind-link was dead silent. He stood there stunned for a few seconds, then tried calling. A recorded message told him my phone was switched off. Caleb's smile froze. The easy look vanished from Ethan's face too, and their instincts went on high alert. "You don't think she actually left, do you?"