CHAPTER 005

Sophia's pov

The vibration of my phone beneath my pillow was what pulled me out of sleep. Whoever was trying to reach me had clearly been calling for a while. When I finally answered, the voice on the other end jolted me fully awake and instantly changed everything.

“Sophia,” the voice said, sending a chill down my spine. Only one person whose voice always manages to frighten me.

“Hi, Dad,” I responded, my voice unsteady. He always had a way of making me feel uneasy.

“Where are you?” he asked, as if he didn’t already know exactly where I was but I was sure he did. He knows everything.

“Uh, nowhere really… just out,” I lied, unable to admit the truth. “Not right now,” I thought to myself.

“Wherever you are, I want you back in this house immediately,” he said, his tone icy.

“Yes, Father,” I replied softly before the call disconnected.

“What a disaster,” I thought. “I have to get home fast,” I told myself as I sat up.

Sitting up, I realized it wasn’t just Felixo beside me, “Fernando is here too.” The sight made me feel even more guilty about leaving, but I had no choice. It was my father, I had to obey his instructions.

20 minutes later

I stood outside my front door for a few minutes, paralyzed by fear over what might be waiting for me inside. Then, just as I was about to reach for it, the door opened on its own.

Clara sat silently, her eyes cold as they followed me in, but she said nothing. Claire, however, didn’t hold back. As soon as she saw me, she jumped in.

“There she is, Father. Ask her! Ask if she didn’t lure both of them into running away with her,” Claire said, nearly frantic.

“I didn’t seduce anyone,” I shot back immediately. “I swear, Father, I didn’t!”

“But you did run off with them,” Claire accused.

“I was trying to get away, and he must have followed me,” I said, glaring at her.

“Who must have followed you?” Father asked, finally directing a question at me.

“Alpha Felixo,” I answered, lowering my head.

“So it wasn’t both of them just Felixo,” Father said, turning to my sisters as if that somehow made the situation less problematic.

“Yes Father, Fernando didn’t run off with her, but based on what he told us, he wasn’t far from doing the same,” Claire added, glaring at me. “And he did not talk about continuing our packbinding

“Alright,” Father said as he rose and walked over to me. “The pack binding will continue,” Father declared with certainty. Sophia, you understand what’s at stake here. This Mafia alliance is crucial for our family and our pack. You will reject the Alphas so we can proceed with a more organized agreement,” he said, his large frame towering over me.

I was stunned, my father was really asking me to reject my mates just so my sisters could have them.

“No!” I responded firmly. The strength of my reply, and how confidently I said it, took everyone by surprise, myself included.

“Where did I find the courage to speak like that?” I wondered to myself.

“What did you say?” Father asked, with narrowed eyes, silently daring me to repeat what I had just said.

“I said no father. I will not do…”, before I could complete my sentence, I saw Father’s raised hands standing high in the air and before I realized what was going on, I had been flung to the other side of the living room. Father had given me the slap of my life.

The skin of my face reddened as I felt the stinging pains that were inflicted by the slap I had just received. My whole life flashed in front of my eyes.

“Father doesn't care about me. He doesn't even see me as one of his daughters. To him I'm just a piece of furniture, something he can dispose of whenever he wants,” I thought, looking around me and realizing the power Father wielded over my life. “He owns me”.

Overwhelmed by the hostility, I fled, hoping to escape the pain of my family's betrayal.