He Left Me in a War Zone for His Coworker

A rival pack invaded, putting our entire pack in danger. Everyone was scrambling to evacuate. I waited outside the office for an hour, but Ethan never showed up. I mind-linked him, but he still didn't answer. The fighting was getting close, so I had no choice but to call him. A woman's voice answered instead. "The pack is under attack. Ethan didn't think I'd be safe getting to the safe zone on my own, so he's taking me there." "Oh, and he said you should get there on your own. He isn't picking you up today." She hung up before I could say another word. My heart sank. If I'm not his first choice, then I don't want this anymore. Chapter 1 A little after three in the afternoon, the pack issued an emergency alert. A rival pack was attacking, and the evacuation had started. All public transportation shut down. Everyone had to get to the safe zone on their own. My coworkers paired up. Anyone who didn't have a car rode with someone who did. Someone offered me a ride, and I smiled and turned it down. "Thanks, but I'm okay. Ethan's coming to get me." By five, I could hear the fighting. I called Ethan. No answer. An hour earlier, I'd asked where he was. He'd said he was almost here. Now an hour had passed, and he still wasn't here. The safe zone was almost an hour away by car. It was already too late to get there on foot. I was the only one left in the building, and the fighting was getting worse. I texted Ethan again. Nothing. After a few more calls, someone finally answered. I blurted out, "Ethan, where are you?" A woman answered, sounding confused. "Sienna?" I froze. "Where's Ethan? Why do you have his phone?" Maya Reed laughed as she spoke. "Ethan's driving. He's taking me to the safe zone. The roads are bad, so he can't pick up. "You know it wouldn't be safe for me to go by myself, so I asked him to take me. "Eth isn't coming back tonight either. With another pack invading, it'd be way too dangerous for him to drive back. "Oh, you're probably almost at the safe zone by now, right? He said he texted you and told you to get there on your own." The air smelled like gunpowder and blood. Everyone else on the street had fled to the safe zone. I stood there like an idiot, still imagining Ethan coming back for me. My heart ached. For the past two years, I'd worked at the company believing Ethan and I would soon seal our mate bond. Once we did, I thought even my parents might finally stop fighting our relationship so hard. But for those two years, he'd given all that tenderness to a new coworker instead. Now I finally saw him for who he was, and whatever I'd felt for him was gone. The silence stretched out before she spoke again. "Bad signal? Hello? Are you still there?" "I'll be there soon," I told her. There was a soft laugh on the other end. "Just make sure you get to the safe zone. Eth and I are almost at ours too." In the background, I could just make out Ethan's voice. "Put on my jacket so you don't get cold." Maya laughed. "It's still summer, Eth. It's not that cold." I hung up without saying anything. It was summer, and I was freezing. I couldn't stop shaking. I went back through our messages to be sure. There was nothing telling me to go on my own. Maybe the fighting outside the walls had knocked out the signal, and his message hadn't come through. That meant he'd sent one message and never checked his phone again. He hadn't thought about me at all. It hadn't always been like this. I was the daughter of the Red Hill pack's Alpha, and Ethan and I had met by chance when his family came to our territory on business. Those three years had been happy ones. He took care of me. When we were together, he could barely take his eyes off me. When we were apart, he was always on his phone, texting me and replying the second I messaged him. Ethan used to say he couldn't bear to keep me waiting, even for a second. Now Maya was the one he couldn't bear to keep waiting. I could've been living a life of comfort and luxury. Instead, I'd given it all up to come to the Goldstone pack and be with him. I never imagined this was how things would end. I looked at the smoke rising nearby and regretted all of it. Chapter 2 My parents were the Alpha and Luna of the Red Hill pack. They'd never approved of Ethan as my mate. We'd had a huge fight about it, and I'd left with him for Goldstone without their blessing. I closed my eyes and reached for our link. When the link opened again, I heard my father's worried voice. "Sienna, we heard a rival pack attacked your territory. Are you okay? Are you hurt?" "I'm okay." They kept going. "Are you still with Ethan?" I thought about it before I answered. "Mm-hm." My mother's voice came through, urgent. "Your father and I talked it over. If you'll come home, we'll give you our blessing. We'll arrange the mating ceremony ourselves." Talking to them made me feel a little better, so I settled into the reception room and started scrolling on my phone. Everybody was posting pictures of their food from the shelter with captions like, "Evacuating, but at least our Alpha's keeping us fed!" I looked at all those bright, mouthwatering photos, and my stomach growled. Only then did I remember I hadn't eaten dinner. But the office was empty, so I tried to ignore my hunger. While I was scrolling, a coworker texted me. "Sienna, is that your mate?" He sent me a photo of Maya with her arm hooked through Ethan's. The table in front of them was covered in food. Her caption read, "His cooking is so good, I can't get enough of it." I typed back, "Not anymore." Glass shattered somewhere down the hall. I rushed out of the reception room and saw that the shelling had reached the building. Several windows had been blown out by the blasts. Smoke came pouring in. I ran back into the reception room and shoved the couch against the door and window. It looked like the end of the world out there. I took out my phone and called Ethan again. The phone rang and rang. Just when I thought he wasn't going to answer, he finally picked up. Before I could say anything, Ethan said quickly, "Sienna? Hang on a second. I'm a little busy right now." I was scared, and the words tumbled out. "Ethan, I'm still at the office. The shelling's getting closer. The windows are shattering. I'm so scared. Can you stay on the phone with me?" All I could hear was noise on his end. I had no idea what he was doing. After a while, his voice came back. "What? I can't hear you. Just stay in the safe zone. I'm busy right now. I have to go." A second later, Maya's voice came through, sounding hurt. "Eth, is there anything you're not good at? You're amazing at video games too." Ethan sounded resigned. "You went easy on me, that's all. If you hadn't, I wouldn't have won that fast." "Then will you cook for me again tomorrow?" "Okay, okay." I pushed down my fear, but the ache in my chest hurt even more. I couldn't lie to myself anymore. Everything I'd given him over the years meant less to him than a coworker he'd known for two years. I clenched my fists until my nails dug into my palms. I stayed silent for a long time. When my phone slipped to the floor, I didn't even pick it up. After a while Ethan spoke up again. "Hello? Sienna, are you still there?" When I didn't answer, Maya said, "It's probably just a bad signal. It's fine. "Eth, come on, let's keep playing." Then the call ended. The shelling continued outside. Smoke reached the window, and I stood there frozen, my face blank. I barely got the words out. "Ethan, I regret all of it." The shelling drowned out my words. Chapter 3 The fighting lasted three days and three nights, and in the end we won. Early the next morning, I left the reception room and went to my desk. I was already sitting there when the repair crew arrived. My coworkers came in, talking about how lucky they'd been. "Those three days were terrifying. Good thing we got out early, or I don't know how we'd have gotten home." Then someone noticed me. "Sienna, how did you get here so early? Isn't the safe zone pretty far away?" I smiled a little. "I never went." They were stunned. "What? Ethan didn't come get you?" "No. He was busy driving Maya to the safe zone," I said plainly. The office went quiet. Maya's name was clearly displayed on the nameplate at her desk. Someone asked carefully, "Then where did you spend those three days?" "The reception room," I answered flatly. Nobody felt like chatting after that. The office stayed silent. When I'd first started there, Ethan had announced in front of everyone that I was going to be his mate. Maya had been hired at the same time as me. Back then, his face would darken whenever he talked about her. He said she was hopeless, couldn't get anything right, and had to be walked through every step. But little by little, she'd gone from calling him Ethan to calling him Eth. Now he smiled whenever her name came up. It hurt every time I saw him look at her that way. He used to look at me like that. For the past year, she'd been there every time I went looking for him. He'd turned me down for her again and again. They'd even skipped the last company outing, both calling in sick. Everyone knew the company was run by Ethan's father, Gerald Shaw. No one needed to spell out why those two had called in sick together. ... Right before the end of the day, my phone rang. It was Ethan. "Sienna, I'm coming to get you. I'm almost there." That surprised me. He almost never picked me up anymore. I went outside, and sure enough, he was waiting in the car. When I got closer, I saw Maya in the car too, and it clicked. No wonder she hadn't come in today. She'd been with him. "Sienna, Ethan and I came to pick you up." Ethan spoke up beside her. "Want to go get seafood? Maya recommended the place. She says it's amazing." I looked at him, and my voice came out cold. "Ethan, did you forget I hate seafood?" That embarrassed him, but he kept going. "There's something else I wanted to tell you. "Maya wants me to go to the park with her on Sunday. Can we celebrate your birthday that night instead?" He looked guilty. I hadn't expected him to remember my birthday, but at this point, it didn't matter whether he remembered or not. "Fine," I said flatly. Then he drove off with her. Watching them leave killed the last of my feelings for him. Then I mind-linked my father. "Dad, you never wanted me to be with Ethan, did you? You said you wanted to introduce me to an Alpha's son here in Goldstone. Ask him to come by on Sunday. "Come with Mom. I miss you both." His excitement rang through my head. "Good, good. Sweetheart, I'm so glad you feel that way. Your mother and I will start packing right now. "I told your mother. She's overjoyed." Chapter 4 On Saturday afternoon, the company announced a mandatory team event at the biggest hotel in Goldstone. It seemed odd, but I went. I opened the door to a dark room, and then the lights came on. "Maya, congratulations..." Everyone stood with party poppers raised, but no one set them off. I didn't understand. "What are you all doing?" Ethan quickly pulled me aside and switched the lights off again. "Keep your voice down. It's a surprise party for Maya. She's about to get promoted." My voice turned icy. "So this whole thing is for Maya, and everyone had to show up for it?" He was listening for the door to open and didn't notice my tone. "Yeah. I had my father set the whole thing up. It took a lot of work." I laughed. "Ethan, I don't want to see you again." The party poppers and cheers drowned me out. As Maya came through the door, I walked out. First thing the next morning, my parents told me they'd arrive that afternoon and we'd have dinner with Caleb Thorne. Caleb was the son of the Goldstone pack's Alpha. I said yes. When my parents arrived at my place, a big, solidly built man stood behind them. He stepped forward quickly and gave a polite nod. "Hi, Sienna. I'm Caleb." I gave him a polite smile. "Hi." We were ordering at the hotel restaurant when Ethan called. I didn't pick up, but he kept calling, and in the end I answered. He sounded rushed. "Sienna, where are you?" I didn't want to respond, but he wouldn't leave me alone, so I sent him my location. He hurried over soon after, his clothes rumpled. He saw my parents at the table and stopped short. Then he pulled me aside. "What's going on? Why didn't you tell me your parents were here? I thought you weren't even talking to them." I looked at him coldly. "It's none of your business." He ignored me. "What's all this talk at the office? Why is everyone saying I dumped you for Maya?" I scoffed. "No, they've got it wrong. You and I aren't together anymore. "Whatever's going on between you and Maya is none of my business. I don't want to get involved." Maya had been watching from the side, and she burst into tears. "I never tried to come between you two. They're spreading lies about me." Then she grabbed onto Ethan's leg. "Ethan, I swear I never made a move on you. But now everyone's talking, and if these rumors keep spreading, I'm going to lose my job. The company won't want someone with this kind of scandal attached to their name." Ethan tried to calm her down. "It's okay. None of this is your fault. I'll have my father clear everything up when we get back. At worst, they'll just hold off on your promotion for a while." I watched the ridiculous scene without a word. My parents came out. My father gave Ethan a hard look. "Are you done?" Startled, Ethan stumbled back and stepped on Maya's dress. "If you're done, go home. We're trying to eat." Then my father clapped Caleb on the shoulder. "You dare pull this stunt in front of your future Alpha? You've got some nerve." The color drained from Ethan's face. Maya didn't dare make another sound. She quickly got up and bowed. Caleb saw the cold look on my face and said to Ethan, "Stop bothering Sienna. I like her, and she doesn't want you anymore." Then we went back into the private room. Ethan stayed outside with a blank expression. He didn't move for a long time. Finally, he managed to speak. "No. This can't be happening..."