Final Decision

“I have a right to make my own decision, Father, just as your daughter has made hers.” Daphne's voice resounded in the room with echoes.

“And what is your decision, child?”

“I will stay back in my Father's—”

“Why is that?” Luna Whitmore questioned. The way she looked at Daphne reflected nothing but hate, but at the same time, there was Daphne who didn't care what the woman thought of her. “Tell me why you should stay back in this pack when so many lives are at stake?”

“Mother,” Daphne spoke. “Your daughter is the one who should be there, not be.”

“My daughter is pregnant. But there's you and you're not pregnant—” Luna Whitmore fought back. “You're not with a child. A child in Ophelia’s stomach is the reason she cannot go.”

“But I am married!” Daphne shouted.

“What marriage?”

The Alpha stepped in once again.

A slight chuckle ran out of his mouth.

He looked at Adrian, his daughter before Daphne who moped at him. “A marriage where the husband no longer loves you? Because if he does, you won't see him sleeping with your sister.”

“I—”

“That's enough, Daphne—” he cut her short. “You've been given more than enough time to handle this by bringing up a suggestion and you cannot bring up any. You're going to The Howling Abyss Pack and that's final.”

The weight of his words weighed on Daphne. She had become speechless at this point, reminiscing the hatred these people have for her.

“You're going to The Howling Abyss Pack,” Alpha Edgar repeated. “It's in a few days, Daphne. So you must get ready and put on a smile when you're called on that day. Do you understand?”

Did he really ask her if she understood?

What did she understand that was happening? Fresh tears rolled down Daphne's face as she looked at everyone in the room. She leaned on the wall and fell to the floor, sobbing quietly, realizing how much hatred her own family had for her.

Shouldn't Adrian be by her side?

Shouldn't he console her? Should he not speak up on her behalf? Daphne took a moment to look at him, shaking her head in disbelief at everything that had happened in less than a day.

“We're done here.”

That was Alpha Edgar's voice.

Daphne looked up.

He was looking at her, more hatred added to the previous one as he gleaned at her.

He looked around the room and pointed at Adrian. “You must take full responsibility for this child. I shall have the time to speak with you later.” He turned and walked towards the door.

“I am right behind you, Father, Mother,” Ophelia’s taunting tone hit Daphne. She walked towards the door but stopped in her tracks so that she could meet the piercing gaze of Daphne who moped at everyone in the room with hate in her face.

“Do you have something to say to me, sister?” Ophelia joked. She walked closer. “I was thinking you would love to thank me for giving my position as wife to the dangerous Alpha to you—” She chuckled as she walked to the door again. “You gave me the Princess throne, or rather, I took it from you, and now that I think about it, we are even because you're taking my post from me.”

Daphne did not speak.

“I thought as much—” Ophelia did not stop. “Have you ever wondered what wonderful wife you will make for the Alpha?” She opened the door and walked out, shutting the door behind her, leaving two people in the room—Daphne and Adrian.

“Get out—” Daphne stood up.

Adrian, still naked, wrapped the duvet around him once again. “Can we talk?”

“Get out of my room!”

Throughout the night, Daphne did not stop crying. It was a good thing for her that her cheating husband did not return to their bedroom.

On the other hand, Daphne did not stop thinking about how much she lost the very moment Alpha Caius killed her parents in the deadly war.

If only they were alive, she would not go through this. She would not be subjected to being a second choice for a deadly situation like this. The dangerous Alpha Caius will not get a chance to get close to her, just as she was about to be.

The thought of being sent to a man who was responsible for the death of her parents made her shout at the top of her voice. He was the most dangerous man she would ever come across, and she didn't want to have anything to do with him.

She was not the one he asked for.

It was supposed to be Ophelia.

Why were they doing this to her?

What was she going to do?

Who would fight for her?

Adrian could do that, but he wasn't. Now that she thought about it, she realized also for the first time since one year of their marriage that he did not care about her just as she thought.

Perhaps, he thought he was doing her a favor.

He was, or wasn't he? Daphne had been a weak Omega wolf from birth and was bullied by so many people—not until she was married to Adrian who she believed came to save the day.

He was the least of her problems.

What to do was something she did not stop thinking about. And at the end of the day, Daphne dozed off on the bed with a tear-dented face.

The next morning, she did not feel better. Rather, she felt worse, especially at the realization of what would happen in a few days. She had only a few days to spend in this pack before she would be taken away to The Howling Abyss Pack.

All against her wish.

Time was slipping away.

She needed to act fast.

Fear gripped Daphne, over and over again.

The future ahead of her was not one she would like, not for any reason. As a matter of fact, it was a traumatizing one she didn't want to taste. Unless she acted fast, she would be trapped in the same future she was running away from.

Throughout the new day, Daphne wrestled with her thoughts. There were no answers coming. Time was slipping away. She needed to do something, but she didn't know what it was.

Suddenly, an idea popped up.

Run.

She needed to run.

There were no other options left for her.

Despite the memories, she could not stay back anymore, even though this was her Father's pack. After all, she had been dismissed by Alpha Edgar and his wicked wife, including their daughter and even her husband.

As she thought about it, it began to sink in.

There was no future for her in The Mistwood Pack. She didn't have a child she should care about. There was no one that cared about her existence on the face of the earth, talk more about The Mistwood Pack—why then should she stay back?

Escape was her only chance at freedom.

And she would take the bull by its horn.

She would leave The Mistwood Pack as soon as possible, giving back Ophelia the position they thought they'd given to her.

The thought of this brought a smile to her face. Escape was her only chance at freedom, Daphne repeated these words in her heart all day.

She didn't know where she would go.

The Mistwood Pack had always been her home. She never saw a reason to leave, and now that she did, she didn't know where to go.

No matter what, there was danger—whether she stayed back in the Pack or not.

If she stayed back, she would be taken to The Howling Abyss Pack to birth children for the dangerous Alpha Caius.

Children who would end up being monsters. Children who would be worse than their father. She could not stand that—Daphne would rather have an animal eat her in the wildest forest.

Preparing her heart for the journey ahead of her, Daphne made up her mind to leave The Mistwood Pack as soon as the next morning came, before the day would break completely.

She didn't have to go with anything.

All she wished for was to leave this Pack and everything that belonged to it. Alpha Edgar and his wretched family could have it for all she cared.

As Daphne lay on the bed later that night, coming to terms with the night being her last one here, she wondered whether or not she would be caught when she was ready to run away.

As soon as the next morning arrived, Daphne seized her moment. She wasn't certain if it was morning, but one thing was certain—the Alpha, his entire family, and members of the pack were asleep—an opportunity to run away.

As she walked out of the room, she wondered for the first time since the other day where Adrian had been spending his night.

Where else?

It had to be with Ophelia, but she didn't care.

As a matter of fact, their union would no longer happen in a few days. Alpha Caius will come for his wife and she will be nowhere to be found.

A mischievous smile appeared on Daphne's countenance while she walked through the hallway, heading into freedom.

Before anyone could stop her, Daphne made her way through the hallway. In moments, she caught up with the Pack's main gate and a final look back at the pack before stepping out.