Slapped by the Past

Maeve's POV

Standing in the lavish foyer, I fixed Nora with desperate, pleading eyes. I silently prayed to the Moon Goddess that a shred of maternal instinct would compel her to agree to help save Dad. The sprawling, opulent hallway felt suffocating as I waited for her answer. But before Nora could open her mouth to reply, a high-pitched, arrogant voice I knew all too well shattered the fragile moment.

"Seriously? You came crawling to beg at my house?"

I stood frozen in disbelief. My heart hammered against my ribs as Sadie and Gideon casually walked through the grand doorway. They looked right at home, stepping into the human villa without a care in the world. I whipped my head back toward Nora, waiting for her to defend her own flesh and blood.

Instead, Nora’s face lit up. She smiled at Sadie with a doting expression, brushing past me. "Maeve, this is Sadie," Nora announced enthusiastically, introducing the rogue as Conrad's beloved daughter. She looked between us, blissfully suggesting, "You two are about the same age. I am sure you can become good friends."

The cruelty of the twisted fate slammed into me like a freight train. I couldn't breathe. Sadie's father, Conrad, was the exact man who had stolen my dad's fated mate, destroying my family from the inside out. And now, in a sickening parallel, his daughter Sadie had successfully stolen my mate, Gideon. They stood there, basking in their ritzy life, turning me into a literal clown.

Sadie wasted no time. She seized the golden opportunity to humiliate me in front of everyone. She scoffed at Nora’s suggestion, crossing her arms. "Friends with her? Never going to happen," Sadie declared, branding me a common thief right to my mother’s face. She cast a disdainful look at my worn clothes. "You better go check your valuables. See if anything has gone missing."

Without a second of hesitation or maternal defense, Nora's expression hardened. She didn't question Sadie. She scrutinized my worn, exhausted appearance from head to toe with deep suspicion. "What is going on?" Nora demanded bluntly, accusing me of thieving on the spot. "Are you stealing now, Maeve? How did you end up like this?"

The traumatic, buried memories flooded my mind. I saw the image of Nora heartlessly packing her bags, letting go of my tiny hand, and abandoning me when I was just a little girl. The old wounds ripped open. Staring at the woman who gave birth to me, I felt crushing disappointment.

"You take the malicious word of a rogue over your own flesh and blood just like that?" I asked, my voice trembling with raw hurt. "You didn't even bother to ask me for the truth. Are you even my mother?"

Nora’s eyes flared with defensive rage. Instead of apologizing, she pointed a manicured finger at me. "Watch your tone!" she snapped. She began heaping praise on her new favorite. "Sadie has always been a sweet, honest girl. She never lies. But you? You grew up with a severe lack of parental control. That is exactly why you picked up bad habits."

Her sheer audacity snapped my patience. I shot back fiercely, taking a step toward her. "Parental control? You use that phrase, making it sound as though I chose not to have a mother to set me straight!" I screamed, brutal honesty tearing from my throat. "Wasn't it you who selfishly walked out on me and Dad?"

Shamed and rendered speechless by the raw truth, Nora fell into a tense, flushed silence. She turned her face away, clearly hating that I brought up her dirty past with Sadie present.

Sick of the sight of her, I cast a brief, desperate glance toward Gideon. He stood unresponsive and silent like a stone statue, offering zero comfort. Sadie caught my look and escalated her attack.

"Can you kick her out of the house?" Sadie demanded, complaining directly to Nora. "Throw her into the streets. I do not want her in my house."

Acting as if Sadie were her true, biological daughter, Nora affectionately agreed to the rogue's demands. "Of course, sweetie. I will tell her to leave if you don't like it." Nora turned back to me, plastering on a hollow, fake apology. "Maeve, I am far too busy planning Sadie's upcoming grand wedding. I just don't have the time to allow you to stay."

Heartbroken by the stark reality of my own mother ditching me yet again for the daughter of the man who ruined us, I fought against the hot tears stinging my eyes. I stood tall, refusing to let them see me break.

"I never had any desire to stay in your house anyway," I declared. I glared at Sadie, adding with pure venom, "And I would never stoop so low as to be friends with a disgusting homewrecker. Don't sweat it."

"Nonsense!" Nora raised her voice, loudly scolding me. "How dare you insult Sadie right in front of her powerful fiancé! Do you know who he is?"

I slowly turned my head and stared right at Gideon's impassive face. "Of course," I replied with dripping sarcasm. "He is the great Alpha of the Iron Fang Pack. I hadn't expected him to eagerly tie the knot again so soon."

Confused by the thick tension, Nora turned to Gideon. "Alpha Gideon, who is she to you?"

Gideon finally spoke, his face a mask of chilling ice. "She used to be my Luna," he replied, ensuring everyone in the room heard him. "But I am going to officially reject her very soon."

His cold, clinical words effortlessly reduced our years of passionate romance and deep connection to nothingness. Disheartened but refusing to break, I issued him a dark warning.

"You better keep your word and finish the ceremony quickly," I told him, holding his gaze. "Because if you fail to reject me, Sadie will permanently carry the shameful title of the homewrecker."

Sadie let out a malicious chuckle, openly mocking my impending, humiliating expulsion from the pack. "You act all cocky, but you are out. I advise you to start worrying about ending up homeless on the streets."

I glared back at her with fierce, untamed hatred. "I wouldn't end up homeless even if I walked away with nothing!" I roared at the top of my lungs. "It doesn't matter if you somehow claw your way into his pack. To me, you will always remain a shameless, pathetic bitch and a filthy rogue!"

"Shut up!" Nora roared.

She cut off my tirade, stepping forward, and slapped me hard across the face. The sharp sting radiated across my cheek as my head snapped to the side.

Nora stood over me, her chest heaving with misplaced, righteous rage. "Apologize to Sadie immediately!" she commanded.

"No way!" I roared back through tightly gritted teeth, tasting the metallic tang of blood in my mouth.

Boiling with unchecked anger at my defiance, Nora raised her hand high into the air, fully prepared to smack me a second time. But suddenly, a large, powerful hand shot out and clamped down on her wrist, stopping the strike mid-air.

Gideon stepped forward, eyeing Nora with an icy, lethal glare, and issued a chilling Alpha command: "Apologize to her."