Chapter 15
Calhoun’s POV~
My shoulders slumped the second I saw her step in. Not Elodie. Not even a glimpse of her, not even a single chance to fix what I’d broken. Just Carmela, striding in with that ugly, twisted expression. My chest turned sour, and I sank back into my chair, staring past her like she wasn’t even there.
Her face was red, like she’d been hit. I didn’t need anyone to tell me what had happened. She’d overheard. She knew. That heat in her eyes, that sharp glare, I recognized the storm.
She rounded the table, slowly, and planted herself in front of me. Her voice cut through the office. “Seriously? Calhoun? Seriously? Elodie, again? What the fuck is wrong with you and her? Tell me the truth, you have a thing with her? Why do you keep mentioning your Gamma’s name every single time p>
I didn’t move. Didn’t blink. Didn’t answer. This moment wasn’t hers. It wasn’t for her. My spirit had already left my body the second I realized it wasn’t Elodie. Nothing made sense anymore. Carmela was air, annoying, meaningless air but I wanted her gone all the same. I sighed, slowly, deep, and frustrated. She didn’t care. She still pressed on.
“Calhoun! Answer me! Are you into her?!” Her yelling grew desperate.
I parted my lips, tried to speak, but nothing came out. My voice had abandoned me. I closed my mouth again, sighing, again, and again.
Then she lost it. Her hands knocked over the chair beside her. Tears streamed, her words spilling. “Elodie is a nobody! Why the hell are you still clinging to her? You love her? She’s a gamma! Not even up to wash my feet! Is she the one that has caught your interest now? I knew it right from the moment I saw her. She always wanted to be in your pants! But she’s gone now, Calhoun! Why can’t you get your mind off her now p>
I didn’t flinch. Didn’t react. Her rage, her accusations, they were not meaningless to me. She had always expected me to bow, to panic, to care. Not today. Not now. Not anymore. I watched, distantly, coldly, as her fury consumed her, my chest tightening at the thought of Elodie instead of her.
Carmela’s hands flew across my desk, pushing papers, knocking pens and folders to the floor. She screamed, cried, banged her fists against the wood. And I remained eerily calm. Watching. Waiting. Detached. She stopped only when she noticed I wasn’t panicking, that my gaze had pinned her like prey.
“Calhoun…for the last time…do you love this girl? Do you?” Her voice trembled, sobbing now. “Answer me! Be a man for once and own up to your feelings p>
I looked at her. Really looked. She expected fire, rage, maybe even an apology. But she got nothing. My gaze was cold, merciless, empty of anything she could understand.
She fell silent at last, exhausted, tears streaking her face.
I let a low, dangerous rumble escape me, my voice barely more than a growl. “Carmela…answer me this, would you p>
She stiffened, frozen in place, before giving a stiff nod. Good. That hesitation told me she knew she was already cornered. I leaned forward slightly, tilting my head, and let my words drop like a guillotine. “What if I love Elodie? What if she’s the woman I want to mate with…have as my Luna? Spend the rest of my miserable life with? What if she’s the woman I want to fuck…forever? Mother of my pups? What would you say p>
All the color drained from her face so fast I thought someone had switched off the blood in her veins. I studied her, trying to remember what had ever captivated me in the first place. Her beauty? Her arrogance? Her temper? She wasn’t even close to Elodie’s. Not even in the same league. And yet, here she was, trembling.
Tears began to streak down her cheeks, and I could see her lips moving, but no sound came out. Her shock left her voiceless. I rose slowly, rounding the table until I was standing directly in front of her. She flinched, a small, pathetic recoil that made my chest tighten with disgust.
“Do you know what you’ve done?” I said, voice cold, sharp as steel. “Do you even realize? You yelled at my staff, chased them off, deleted emails, important emails, that cost this company massive losses. You’ve turned into a bitch who makes everyone’s life miserable. Do you even know how much damage you have caused since you came into my life p>
Her face went pale. I didn’t care if she went into shock, if she fainted, or if her stupid little world collapsed.
“But why in hell would you think you could keep setting Elodie up? Not once…not twice…again and again? And I had been blind, thinking Elodie was the one causing trouble. How dare you p>
“I-I…Calhoun, I…no, I didn’t—” Her voice was shaky, incoherent, stammering like a frightened animal. “I…never…wanted…I p>
I slammed my hand down on the table, cutting her off. “ANSWER ME, YOU BITCH!” My roar echoed in the office, reverberating through the walls and her bones.
She dropped to her knees, crying, those crocodile tears that had once softened me, made me stupid. But not today. Not ever again. I leaned closer, forcing her to meet my eyes. “Look at me,” I commanded, and she shuddered but obeyed.
I let the revulsion in my voice drip like venom. “You’re right. I am in love with Elodie. Always have been. Never you. She owns my heart. Every promise I made, every touch…every time I fucked you, it meant nothing to me. Do you understand that? How dare you ever think otherwise? How dare you look down on a woman pure and loyal, while you…you—” I spat the words at her face like fire, “—you are nothing p>
Her shock twisted into rage. She screamed, pointing at me, shaking her fist. “Nothing? She’s just a filthy gamma! And so what if you fucked her? She’s a gamma! She’ll never want you! She’ll never p>
I didn’t let her finish. My hand shot up, connecting hard with her face. She staggered back, screaming, tears now turning to shrill panic. My five fingers had left their mark on her face, and I saw the fear in her eyes, the fear she had never known in all her pampered life.
“Calhoun! You hit me? You…you’re hitting me over a gamma? Over your side piece? You liar! You said you loved me only!” she shrieked, collapsing to the floor, sobs wracking her body.
I stepped toward her, slow and dangerously, letting her tremble under my shadow. She shut down, pressing back, shrinking. I stopped just before her, and with a sneer I spat on her. “Bitch! I hate you with every fiber of me. You made Elodie suffer. Now it’s your turn. Every humiliation, every bit of misery, I want you to feel it all. You will apologize to her. Every single second of agony you forced on her…you will pay p>
Carmela went white, her eyes wide with a fear I had cultivated over years, but today it was cold, unfeeling, and ruthless. She had crossed the line, and I was no longer the man who allowed foolish pampered women to think they could toy with my heart or hers.