Alpha Ares

No Longer Mrs. Cooley: The Architect's Return

Xiao Xiaosu

I went to the City Clerk’s office for a routine copy of my marriage license to finalize a trust fund audit. I expected a simple piece of paper, but the clerk’s pitying look told me my entire life was a lie. "The license was never finalized, Ms. Oliver. In the eyes of the state, you are single." The three-hundred-guest wedding at the Plaza and the Vogue features meant nothing. My husband, Gray Cooley, had intentionally filed the documents with a "procedural defect" so he could discard me without a legal divorce. Moments later, an iCloud invite titled "Our Little Secret" popped up on my screen. It was a photo of my best friend, Brylee, holding a positive pregnancy test at our Hamptons estate. Gray’s text to her was the final blow: "Happy anniversary, babe. This baby is the best gift. Once the trust unlocks today, we’re done with the charade." I soon discovered they were even stealing my career, reassigning my architectural masterpiece to Brylee while preparing my eviction notice. Gray's mother called me a "barren mule" in a leaked recording, mocking the infertility I suffered after saving Gray’s life in a construction accident. I wasn't a wife; I was a three-year placeholder used to secure his inheritance. How could the man I bled for treat me like a disposable prop? How could my best friend carry his child while pretending to comfort me through my darkest moments? The betrayal burned until it turned into a cold, hard stone of fury. I didn't cry. Instead, I walked into the penthouse of the Barretts, the Cooleys' most powerful rivals. I signed a marriage contract with Kane Barrett, the man the tabloids called the "Beast of Wall Street." "I want a wedding," I told his father, my voice steady and lethal. "Bigger than the one I had with Gray." If they wanted me gone, they would have to watch me become the woman who owns their world.

Modern Revenge Divorce

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“Wake up! Wake up!”

“Isn't it too early?”

I ask Athena groggily. I wonder why Athena's so preppy in the morning. Athena is my wolf. I've had her since I was sixteen.

Which was weird because everyone else shifts at eighteen. Each time I try shifting in someone else's presence, I feel my bead tighten around my wrist and stop my shift.

I remember my first shift. I was terrified. I thought it wasn't supposed to happen until two years. I had no one around me to help me through it. I was alone.

It happened when I was taking a breather by the little pond I found. It wasn't as painful as everyone claimed it would be.

I haven't mentioned it yet to anyone. Not even my adoptive parents. It's bad enough I'm taller than all other girls my age, I can't become the pack freak who shifted at sixteen.

“It's our birthday! Yours but we are one so it counts as ours”

I startle awake. Eyes wide. It's my birthday. Technically, it's the day Jules and Damon found me. I was about 2 months old when they found me and took me in as their own.

“It's our birthday today. You know what this means”

“WE FIND OUR MATE TODAY!”

I say with Athena. Okay now I'm excited. Hopefully my mate adores me the way Damon adores Jules, my adoptive parents. The thought of it alone sent me into a state of euphoria.

I take a quick shower and head to the living room. Mum and Dad live two blocks away from the Pack House.

“Happy birthday sweetheart”

Dad hugs my shoulder and kisses my head. I love his head kisses. I smiled so wide I was afraid I'd split my cheek in two.

“Thanks dad”

Mom and Ashley walk in at that moment.

“Happy birthday baby”

Mom kisses my cheeks as she hugs me. I watch as Dad's eyes come alive as she walks in. To this day, she's still the most beautiful woman to him.

“Big day huh. You'll be getting your first shift and hopefully meeting your mate in the pack.”

Mom says as she sits next to Dad. He wastes no time wrapping his arms around her and kissing her head too.

“Morning Dad”

Ashley voiced. I won't say we don't get along but I can't also say that we do. We are at a stalemate.

“Morning princess. Won't you wish your sister a happy birthday?”

“She already has you both fawning over her. What could she possibly need to hear from me again”

“Ashley! Would it kill you to be nice”

Dads face twisted. He doesn't like Mom angry. And he certainly doesn't tolerate anyone that makes her angry. That includes us. He gives Ashley a look that spells ‘fix it before I fix you'.

“Arrrggghhh fine. Happy birthday Ares”

“Thank you. It means so much to me that Mum and Dad made you say it.”

I said with a saccharine smile that I know she hates.

“Good. Can I leave now? I'm meeting up with My friends”

“Sure princess”

“Thank you”

Ashley is a year older than me. She still hasn't found her mate yet. My birthday is probably a reminder of hers. She went round the pack and couldn't pick up his scent after she shifted into her wolf. When she shifted back and still couldn't pick up his scent. She bawled her eyes out. I had never seen her cry so much.

“Can I leave too? I'm hoping to go sightseeing around the pack”

“Is that what we are calling it now?”

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