Bearclaw Valley judgement day

Laurel watched with a dry mouth as he just left, and she thought that her rise to being an Alpha couldn't be sullied any further. Where she had been excited to tell Indra the news moments ago, she now felt torn apart, knowing that it would never be the way she wanted it. She frowned grumpily as he left, hiding behind a façade even now. Her breathing stopped when he turned around to look at her. What was he going to say? Had he changed his mind?

The truth was far less poetic. His words were so full of audacity that Laurel didn't even know how to respond for a split second. She wanted to scream at him, pin him to the ground, get mad, tell him what an asshole he was being...

"You have some nerve to call me out on anything, asshole," Laurel ended up saying, her face filled with a haughty glare, that then turned derisive at her next words. "If you don't get out of my fucking sight right now, I might just change my mind and force the crown of Alpha from your cold grip." It broke her heart, but she knew she could not show vulnerability now. He knew what she felt because she had told him, and yet he still stomped all over her heart. To once more throw her heart on the line was impossible -- it had been one moment of weakness, but she wouldn't do it again. Instead she would keep telling herself that he was nothing but a worthless asshole, just like her dad, until her heart would stop bleeding for him.