Chapter Seven : Almost, Never Enough

Chapter Seven

Vaelora's POV

Pain shoots through my entire body as he dumps his entire weight on me.

Snapping my eyes shut and taking a deep breath, I raise myself up a bit and push him further onto my shoulder, passing him a quick glare before banging my fist on the gate.

“If you keep doing that, you're going to lose your knuckles very soon.”

I ignore him, blowing cold air on my fist before raising it to the gate again.

“Are you just stubborn or something?” He asks and this time, I turn to face him.

“How about you keep quiet and let me get you in? I could leave you out here for dead, you know.” I warn, turning back to the gate.

He mumbles something under his breath but again, I ignore him.

My teeth chatter as we wait for the security to get the door. The torn dress is now hanging loosely on my body and if I don't find a way to cover up, I'll freeze to death.

I hear footsteps and exhale, grateful that someone finally decided to get the door. A young man that seems to be around the same age as the one with his hands on my shoulder, slides the gate open and cocks a brow at me but before I can speak, he looks up at him and quickly moves out of the way, concern written all over his face.

“Thank you, Brandon.” He says as we walk.

“You know him?” I ask curiously, stepping over a stone in front of me.

“This is my packhouse, Willow.”

I halt and push his arm away from my shoulder, letting him fall down to his knees.

“Ouch!” He cries out, placing one hand on his injured leg before looking up at me.

Crouching down to my feet, I stare straight into his eyes and lift my lips up into a wicked smile.

“If you call me Willow one more time, I'll leave you out here to freeze to death.”

Another wave of cold hits me and I shudder, rubbing my hands together.

He stares at me for a long minute before chuckling. “Okay, Vaelora. I won't call you that again. Now can you please help me get inside? You're cold too.”

“Why, thank you for stating the obvious.” I eye him, shooting out my hand for him to take.

He takes it but what I don't expect is him dragging me down with him as he pulls me in.

“What the hell did you just do that for?!” I snap at him, standing up from the cold ground immediately, anger blazing in my eyes.

He smirks, and before I can open my mouth to speak, two other men including Brandon, the one we saw earlier, comes rushing to his side, helping him off the floor.

One of them stands in between me and him and I shift back, suddenly aware of my surroundings and slightly afraid.

“It's okay, Carl. She's with me.” He says, tapping the one staring daggers at me, on the shoulders.

He backs away quickly and nods. My brows are furrowed in confusion, my eyes darting between him and Carl, wondering what's going on.

“I think you should come in or else, you'll be the one needing a defrost.”

I don't say anything as I try to wrap my head around why I didn't think of the danger of helping a man in the woods. I don't even know his name.

My eyes widen and as I open my mouth to speak, he beats me to it.

“Ulric. Chief warrior of the NightMoor Pack.” He shakes his head at me. “You need to be more careful, you know. The woods are not safe.”

I nod, swallowing back my words, shame hitting me hard in the guts.

I'm so stupid.

“Do you want to come in?” He asks and I shake my head, tears brimming in my eyes.

“I- I need to go look for my friend.” Before he can respond, I dash into the mansion and rush up the stairs, tears flying down my cheeks and blurring my vision.

As soon as I get upstairs, I see Maya outside, her face is red and swollen as she tries to make a call, placing the phone over her ear.

“Maya.” I call out in a whisper.

She slowly turns her head, taking me in from head to to toe before rushing over to me and enveloping me in a tight hug.

We stay like that for a minute, sobbing into each other's shoulders before breaking it off.

“Come with me.” She says, dragging me down the

Once we get to the bathroom, she pulls me in and locks at the door behind her before staring up at me.

I look away, not wanting to meet her eyes.

We both stay silent for a while before she decides to break it.

“I need an explanation.” She says, leaning the door.

I bite the inside of my cheeks and exhale, slowly raising my head up to look at her in the eyes.

“I tried to shift again.”

Another wave of silence engulfs the room as she continues to stare at me.

“I almost did it, Maya. Almost. Never fully.” A tear rolls down my cheek as the words leave my lips and she pulls me in for another hug, rubbing the small of my back soothingly with her thumb.

“I'm so sorry Vae.”

I sob hard into her chest, barely able to breathe out as my heart breaks again. The pain I felt in the woods is coming back in folds and if I don't cover up or get home very soon, I'll probably lose my consciousness.

I pull away from Maya's hug and chuckle sadly, wiping a tear from my cheek.

“I have a pretty sad life, Maya.” I say, turning to the mirror and staring at my horrible reflection.

She doesn't respond but I can feel her burning gaze on my back as she stands backing the door.

“You should cover up. Hold on, I'll go get Matt and see if we can find you a dress. You stay here and don't go anywhere, okay?”

I nod and with a reassuring pat to the back, she unlocks the door and steps out.

‘I’m sorry.’

Blair's voice penetrates my thoughts and I chuckle, not taking my eyes off the reflection on the mirror.

Strands of hair are sticking out of her updo and her lipstick is now smudged. The pretty dress she wore earlier is now a flimsy piece of clothing clinging to her chest down to the middle of her thighs to cover up her nakedness.

“I see why anyone wouldn't want me.” My heart cracks as the realization hits me and in that moment, I don't blame him.

Maybe I deserve it after all. Why did I ever think I deserved someone like him? An alpha being mated to a weak orphan like myself?

Joke of the century.

With shaky hands, I wipe away the tears from my eyes and tuck the strands of hair behind my ears, straightening my dress with my hand before walking towards the door and twisting it open.

All the air leaves my lungs, my body going rigid as I bump into a hard wall.

I rub my forehead and look up, about to cuss when I see him.

He's staring at me. His eyes are colder than I saw in his hall and I can see his jaw tightening. My chest constricts with a strong pull, a desire I've never felt before and at the same time, flashes of him choosing his Luna floods my head.

It hurts.

“Sorry.” I say and look away, my feet firmly planted on the floor.

For a minute, he doesn't say anything. I ball my hands into fists as tears threaten to spill out of my eyes again.

No, I can't let him see me cry.

“What's your name?” He asks, his voice devoid of any emotion just like his eyes.

I pull my bottom lip in between my teeth and take them out. “V-Vaelora.”

‘mate.’

I shut my eyes, biting hard on my lips as a tear drips to the floor and I open them back, still not looking up at him.

“Look up.” He orders and I instinctively do as he says.

He fixates on my face and even though I want to look away, I can't. In fact, all I want to do is run into his arms and stay there forever but I can't.

He doesn't want me.

“Vae?” Maya calls and I break our eye contact but he doesn't look away.

I step away from him and walk to Maya who is now looking at me with confusion written all over her face, Matt standing behind her.

“Let's go home. Please.” I whisper to her, taking her arms as we descend the stairs.

“Are you okay?” She asks with concern

dripping from her voice.

“I just want to go home.” I respond, shaking my head at the sad reality of my life.

I clamour for a home but I don't even have one.