Chapter 2

Elara

If the facade of the Mikaelson mansion looked spectacular, the interior of the house was like being inside a fairy tale. The house was a complete spectacle of luxuries and eccentricities.

Everything combined perfectly in such a way that I was afraid of breaking something.

However, I walked calmly, ignoring Theo and Lauren's grimaces of disgust, and sat down next to them in the dining room of that mansion. The Omegas lined each wall at the side of the table and stared straight ahead like mannequins. None of them moved unless Lauren ordered them to.

I found that distasteful.

“Where's Tracy, Denisse?” asked Lauren.

The Omega walked over to her right.

“Tracy hasn't wanted to leave her room, ma'am,” the Omega said in a whisper.

I immediately understood that my presence made them uncomfortable, but I said absolutely nothing and concentrated on seeing the silverware perfectly lined up on the table. I realized, much to my surprise, that the silverware was made of a gold alloy.

“Go get her, tell her she has to come down,” Lauren said, and Denisse left. “Liz, serve dinner.”

The tone in Lauren's voice was repulsive to me.

I hated people like her, classist.

People like that not only ordered feeling superior, but they truly believed the world revolved in their hands because of the power they held. It was disgusting to see that the Omegas were afraid of her.

“You think our cutlery is awesome?” asked Theo with disdain, and I looked up to stare at the mocking expression on his face. “From what we heard, you're nothing but a rogue half-breed. You think if you steal cutlery like that, you'll be able to get anything when you pawn it off on some sleazy hovel in The Nothingness?”

Lauren laughed as if what that asshole Theo had said was the funniest thing in the world.

I wanted to stick the knife in his neck.

I was about to say a scathing sentence when a scream pierced our ears.

The three of us didn't get up immediately.

Denisse ran up to us, and her expression was one of complete terror.

“Tracy swallowed three bottles of sleeping pills,” Denisse said.

Lauren's reaction was to scream, while Theo was the living image of worry. My good side, the one that was trained in medical knowledge, went on guard. Lauren and Theo ran in a hurry and up the stairs.

I followed them and could see a dressing room door wide open and Tracy on the floor.

Lauren screamed again and went over to Tracy. Theo went to check on her, but I could see the signs of clear respiratory depression. Her rib cage was not expanding properly, she had excessive sweating, and she was pale.

I walked into the room and went over to check the young blonde's pulse.

“What do you think you're doing?” asked Theo hatefully.

“I'm trying to take her pulse,” I said calmly. "She's not breathing well; there's a clear decrease in her breathing caused by the barbiturates she took. We need to check her and get her to a hospital quickly."

“Tracy, daughter...” said Lauren with tears in her eyes.

Theo looked at his mother, and I took the opportunity to check Tracy's pulse in the common carotid artery. I looked at my watch and counted the pulses. Theo saw me frowning, but I ignored him. As the minute ticked by, I cursed through my teeth.

“She's bradycardic; she's about to go into cardiac arrest,” I said, and Lauren yelped in disbelief.

“You're lying,” Theo said, and I looked at him seriously.

“I'm not lying if you want to take her pulse.”

Theo did, and I could see the exact moment when Tracy's breathing stopped.

He froze, so I tossed him aside, took his pulse, and prepared to do CPR.

I climbed on top of Tracy, placed one hand on the center of his chest, just above the sternum, and then placed the other on top and interlocked my fingers, just as I had learned.

“When I tell you, give mouth-to-mouth to inflate her lungs,” I ordered Theo.

He looked at me with wide eyes but surprisingly nodded.

I started compressions on Tracy's chest, downward and hard, sinking her chest about five centimeters. I went through the process of 100 compressions per minute until I started interspersing them with Theo's mouth-to-mouth breathing.

Within six minutes, Tracy started breathing again.

“Let's get her to the hospital right away,” I said, and Theo carried his sister.

I grabbed a bottle of barbiturate that was on the floor and ran after them.

We got into a van I hadn't seen parked outside. Theo drove with his desperate mother beside him, and I was taking Tracy's pulse. Theo drove awfully fast.

When we arrived at the hospital, Theo put Tracy down, and I gave the report to the doctor on call.

"She took three containers of this barbiturate, had respiratory depression and bradycardia, then her heart stopped, and I had to perform CPR. At the sixth minute she reacted with bradycardia again," I explained everything to the doctor as I handed him the empty bottle.

He and the nurses took Tracy to the vital emergency area.

A nurse took us to the waiting room, and the three of us sat down to wait. I kept silent while Theo tried in vain to calm his mother, who was just crying inconsolably. I didn't know how long it was before a tall, white, brown-haired man with the same mole on his nose as me appeared.

Lauren immediately took refuge in his arms, and I knew immediately that he must be Beta David.

“Our little girl tried to kill herself,” Lauren said painfully.

“And it's all been the fault of this half-breed's appearance,” Theo said immediately, and I raised my eyebrows.

Beta David looked at me, and the man froze as if he had seen a ghost.

I frowned at her reaction.

“You're Elara,” the Beta said, and I nodded.

“She's the spitting image of your fucking mistress,” Lauren said with disgust.

My heart stopped for a moment.

It was then that I understood why Max had been specific in saying that my DNA match had been with the Beta. I wasn't Lauren's biological daughter; I was just the Beta's daughter. I was a product of his infidelity with a half-breed Omega.

I had suspected it because of my lineage; however, knowing the truth was like a reality check.

This couldn't get any worse, I thought wryly.

“I don't give a shit about this half-breed; my sister tried to kill herself because she can't stand the idea of the half-breed taking what's hers,” Theo said hatefully.

I knew I had everything to lose when the Beta gave me an annoyed look.

I stood up in a hurry but looked at Theo.

“I didn't come here to steal anything from anyone, least of all Tracy,” I said firmly. “If I was, I wouldn't have given her first aid or saved her life.”

Lauren gasped angrily, and I walked away from the craziest family I had ever met.

Why did I agree to come to this place like this? I thought angrily.

I left the hospital to find my way to the house, but I was in such a hurry that I didn't notice where I was going. I accidentally bumped into someone, and we both ended up on the floor. The man cursed between his teeth, and I sighed.

I carefully stood up and picked up the papers that had been scattered on the floor.

“Excuse me,” I said with embarrassment and held out the papers to the man.

When he looked up, I realized it was the same young man who had kept me from touching the roses. I smiled kindly at him, and he arched an eyebrow, then stood up and took the papers.

Something about him looked different; his hair was styled in a different way, and I could have sworn it was longer. However, his baggy clothes were what stood out the most, as was a small scar on his left eyebrow that I hadn't seen before.

“You should be careful where you walk; this is a hospital, not a catwalk or an athletic track,” he said teasingly, and I was surprised.

The kindness with which he had treated me before had gone down the drain.

“I'm sorry,” I said more gently. “I didn't mean to.”

“Unintentional people are what the world is full of,” he said mockingly and approached me in a predatory manner. “You should be more forward about it and not walk around like an oblivious spoiled brat.”

He almost kissed my lips, and I couldn't stand it.

“Don't come closer!” I exclaimed angrily and pushed him hard, but it was like pushing a brick wall.

He grabbed my hand, and the same current I had felt before shook us again, but this time he opened his eyes in stupefaction, and I pulled my hand away.

“Who are you?” he asked crudely.

“That doesn't matter to you because you can swear I'll stay away from a bipolar freak like you,” I spat angrily and walked away quickly.

I didn't understand why my body had completely heated up.