Bound To The Beast

Daphne walked into the room, her breath catching in her throat at the sight before her—Adrian and Ophelia tangled in a moment of passion.

On her matrimonial bed!

The air was thick. It wrapped around her lungs like an iron fist, almost choking her to death. Her vision blurred as she struggled to process what she was seeing, though she wished she couldn’t.

Adrian was supposed to be her husband and Ophelia, her step-sister even though things didn't work out well between them, but what happened to staying away from her husband?

The air around her felt suffocating.

Her hand went to her burning chest and she realized how in the act the both of them were, the more reason why they didn't hear her walk in.

A raw, broken cry escaped Daphne’s lips.

Adrian heard it immediately, his body going rigid.

He froze, and his eyes widened with shock.

He opened his mouth to speak but no words came. Daphne could see Ophelia, but there was no look of regret on her countenance. Instead, she adjusted on the bed with a smirk on her face.

Adrian cried. “It's not what you think.”

“Oh—” Daphne snapped out of her thoughts. With a painful smile on her countenance, she walked further into the room and shut the door. "What the hell did you just say to me, Adrian? Screwing my sister in our bed isn't what I think?”

“I can explain.”

“Then explain!” Daphne's voice—was filled with rage and devastation, she shouted at him with her might. “Adrian! Tell me why you’re in our bed with her! Tell me why you thought this was okay!"

Adrian jumped off the bed, stark naked. He clutched the duvet like a shield, his lips parting, then closing—like a man searching for an escape.

“I—” he began to stutter.

“I can explain this. It's not—”

“Oh, please!” Ophelia shouted. “Spare me those already, Adrian. You're not trying to keep us a secret when we have been caught already.”

Adrian looked away.

That told Daphne something.

“What is she saying, Adrian?”

“Isn't it obvious, sister?” Ophelia smirked. “Your beloved husband and I have been having an affair right under your nose. We've been hiding all along but now you know the truth, or don't you?”

Hiding all along?

Right in her matrimonial bed?

Daphne did not understand. She wasn't going to. Her hand went to her burning chest and she tried too hard to take it all in—their betrayal especially.

With her pounding heart, she looked at Adrian. “Tell me she's lying. And tell me now or never.”

“It's not a lie.”

His words shattered what little was left of her.

This time around, two of her hands could be seen on her chest. For support, Daphne leaned on the wall, hot tears running down her face as she looked from Adrian to Ophelia once in a while.

She was not done with processing the pain when the door swung open, revealing the faces of Alpha and Luna Whitmore—questioning looks on their countenance as they moped at three of them.

“We heard shouts from this chamber and thought we should come to check what's happening. Can somebody tell us what's going on here?”

“Glady, Mother—” Daphne let go of the wall.

She looked at her step-parents before pointing at Ophelia. “Your daughter here has been having an affair with my husband under my nose.”

“Oh, really?” The Alpha, seeing what this was about, shut the door. He walked alongside Luna further in the room and then he let out. “No one must make a noise. The members of this Pack must not know what's going on until we're done.”

What?

Daphne looked at four of them.

Was that it?

Was that all they had to say?

What happened to scolding their daughter?

She had expected outrage, fury, and not her step-parents looking at Ophelia with concern on their countenance. What was wrong with them?!

“Can you say something?!” She shouted.

"Daphne, don’t be selfish.” The Alpha let out. “Your sister deserves love too."

What? No.

He did not just say that, did he?

“Relax, Daphne. She's your sister. You should treat her like one, don't you think so?”

Did they really say that?

She looked at Ophelia who was smiling, obviously not ashamed of what she had done.

“I cannot believe this.”

Her hands clenched at her sides, nails biting into her palms. If she didn’t hold herself together, she might tear this whole room apart

“I cannot believe you're saying these things to me, Mother, Father. I cannot just believe it.”

"Your husband isn’t a fool, Daphne. He knows he chose Ophelia for a reason.”

Everyone looked in the direction of Adrian who stood by the corner, his hands holding the duvet so that it did not fall off. “Maybe you should face Adrian and leave our daughter out of it.”

As their many hurtful words cut through the air, Daphne stiffened. They weren't even angry at Ophelia, which shouldn't be so. Or maybe it should be so, knowing fully well that Ophelia was a spoiled brat who was never scolded.

But she didn't expect this.

She didn't expect them to take sides with Ophelia. Not in this case. She didn't expect them to not care about her feelings—she wanted them to take her side this once and acknowledge her pain.

“Don't misunderstand us, Daphne darling.” Luna Whitmore let out. “We're not saying what Ophelia has done is not wrong, but don't you think you are to blame for not satisfying your husband in every way? He'll not love our daughter more than you if you did what you should have done as his wife.”

Betrayal upon betrayal.

What to say, Daphne didn't know.

How to react, she didn't know.

Everyone in the room had turned their backs against her, even when they shouldn't.

“Think about it, Daphne.”

“Think about what?!” She snorted. “My husband and your daughter are having an affair and you ask me to think about it. Is this a joke?”

Ophelia called. “Father, Mother, Adrian.”

Four pairs of eyes fixed on Ophelia, Alpha Whitmore asked. “What is it, darling?”

"Since we’re all being honest today, there's something else I have to say—I’m pregnant." She looked at Adrian and let out. “I'm sorry it's coming out this way but I was scared to tell you.”

Adrian's reaction was immediate.

Shock, fury, with his eyes almost popping out of their sockets. He shouted at the top of his voice. “You're joking, aren't you? What is the meaning of this? How can you say this to me?!”

“Why are you shouting? There's nothing wrong with getting pregnant, is there?!”

“What do you mean by that?” He shouted back. “We had an agreement, Ophelia. You're not supposed to get pregnant for me and you know this. How can you come up with this news all of a sudden when you've always known?!”

Ophelia stretched lazily across the sheets, her smirk deepening as if enjoying the show.

“There's no need to go by that agreement any longer, Adrian. All this while, it's because you didn't want to get caught and now that you're caught, there's no need to be mad about a child the moon goddess has decided to bless you with.”

“No, Ophelia—”

“Yes, Adrian!” She cut him short like he was a kid.

Something Daphne would never have done.

“Your wife is barren!” She shouted.

"Shouldn't you be thanking me? I’m giving you the one thing she never could—a child." As she asked, she glanced at the Alpha and Luna who didn't look like they were happy with the news.

Instead of joy, Alpha and Luna Whitmore's faces darkened—a deep, tense silence filled the room as the Luna spoke. "No. This is a disaster. Ophelia, you cannot be pregnant. We won’t allow it.”

Ophelia blinks, shocked to hear them say that.

Were they not the same people supporting her a while ago? Did they not talk to Daphne like it was her right to have an affair with Adrian?

What then happened?

Doubts flickered in her eyes. “What the hell are you talking about, Mother?” She looked at her Father. “What is Mother talking about? Why can't you two be happy for me? I'm having a baby.”

“We're not saying it's not a good thing to have a child, Ophelia—” Alpha Whitmore spoke. “Your mother is only saying the child is not accepted—will not be accepted because you're not supposed to be pregnant.”

“You confuse me—” Ophelia, for the first time, got off the bed. She was not as naked as Adrian who still covered himself with a duvet. “What are you talking about? What's going on?”

“There's something you need to know, Ophelia.”

“Something like what, Mother?”

Alpha and Luna Whitmore exchanged glances. They looked around the room before facing Ophelia who needed more than enough answers.

“Can somebody speak already?”

Alpha Whitmore walked forward. “There's something you must know, my child.”

“What is it, Father?”

“Alpha Caius of The Howling Abyss Pack has chosen you as his future mate, Ophelia. That—that child ruins everything.”

“What?!”

Daphne smiled.

She was winning, after all.

“What do you mean, Father? You sold me?”

“No, my child. We didn't sell you. You know Alpha Caius cannot be refused. The last war from many years ago can happen if he is refused and our lives could be at stake. He is a deadly man.”

“And you sold me to a deadly man!”

For the first time since her discovery, Daphne was happy—Ophelia’s perfect little world was about to collapse. The moon goddess had shined her light upon her and this was the time to get back at Ophelia for everything she's caused her.

Including her marriage.