Free An Alpha's Path by Carrie Ann Ryan Page B

and…”
     
    “Go.”
     
    “Kade.” Her whiny voice pleaded. Kade wanted to throw up.
     
    “Tracy, I don’t care about you and Grant. If you have a problem, go see Jasper. That’s his job. But leave me the fuck alone. You wanted Grant? You have him.”
     
    “And you have nothing.” Tracy’s sneer only confirmed his own shortcomings. It wasn’t anything new.
     
    “Goodbye, Tracy.”
     
    “I’m glad that human left you. You aren’t even worthy that piece of shit.”
     
    Kade leapt off the porch and had Tracy on the ground, gasping for breath before she could blink.
     
    “You may call me names but you will not dishonor Melanie. She is mine.”
     
    “But…” He pressed down harder on her windpipe.
     
    “I love her, Tracy. You will respect her.”
     
    Her eyes widened and she nodded before Kade released her. She scrambled up, not bothering to wipe the dirt from her dress and ran.
     
    You chose the right woman, Kade. Tracy isn’t worth anything. Mel will come back. She will see reason.
     
      Kade let out a pathetic half-laugh. No, Mel made her choice. Kade was just the one who had to live with it.
     

     

     
    ****
     

     

     
    Ben and Jerry’s Karmal Sutra ice cream was manna. The creamy caramel and chocolate fudge ice creams surrounded a thick column of caramel goodness. Mel sighed in ecstasy as she let another spoonful melt on her tongue, the flavors cascading in an almost orgasmic symphony.
     
    And this was as good as it got. Ice cream and the Discovery Channel on a Saturday night. No men or sex for her. She was the fucking idiot who walked away from her mate and left him. Now she faced four hundred freshman three days a week teaching them general chemistry, though they could care less. When she wasn’t banging her head against the chalk board explaining once again that energy of light is inversely, not directly, proportional to it wavelength, she was again stuck behind a lab bench. With her new title she now called the shots but she still didn’t have a passion for it. She really didn’t give a crap about the radioactive nuclides and alkali metals in different silicates and soils. She’d lost her passion. No, not loss, she’d left her passion with Kade.
     
    Her door opened without an announcement and Larissa strode in, an angry look on her face. After the match, and her dismissal of Kade, Larissa drove her home in a silence that scared the shit out of her. Her best friend wouldn’t even look at her, nor speak. When they arrived at her home, Larissa sat there, a sad look on her face and waited wordlessly for Mel to leave. That was the last time she saw her and it’d been almost a month. Mel braced herself – this wouldn’t be good.
     
    “You pathetic human. You are sitting here eating fucking ice cream and watching the god damn TV? What the hell is your problem?”
     
    “Larissa…”
     
    “Shut up, I’m not done yet. You left the perfect man for you because you didn’t know him? Why couldn’t you have just talked to him? Is that such a foreign concept? For such a smart girl, you sure do make the worst decisions.”
     
    Shame flooded her. She knew she made the wrong decision, but how could she go back to him? She left and walked away. He didn’t want her back. Why would he?
     
    “I know you’re miserable. I can feel it pulsating from you. Why are you still here?” Larissa sat down on the couch in an inelegant plop, exhaustion, and clear bewilderment on her face.
     
    Mel broke down in gut wrenching sobs. She knew she was an idiot, but she couldn’t go back.
     
    “Oh baby.” Larissa moved to her side and enveloped her in her arms. Warm scents of apple pie and earth filled her nose. Mel dug deeper, salty tears running down her face, staining her best friend’s shirt.
     
    “Shh, it’s okay. We can fix this.” Her witch crooned in her ear, comforting her.
     
    “I don’t think I can, Larissa. I think I screwed up bad.”
     
    “Don’t worry, just cry it