CHAPTER 3: A DECISION THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING

SORAYA’S POV

"You look beautiful!"

I turned to the familiar voice and smiled at Geraldina, Rosalind's daughter.

Rosalind was my late mother’s best friend and was like a godmother to me. Apart from the former Alpha Dorian’s father, she was one of the few people who had genuinely loved me.

But Dorian’s father was now late, making me remain with only her and her daughter as my hope in this cruel world.

She and Geraldina now lived outside Redclad Pack as lone wolves.

Back when I was a child, Rosalind had worked as an Omega cook, always standing up for me whenever I was bullied. But Dorian’s mother had hated me enough to frame her for stealing a golden pendant, getting her banished along with her daughter. Stripped of their status, they were forced to leave.

Fortunately, they found a way to start over without turning rogue.

And now, after running from Redclad Pack, I had found my way to them.

"Thanks to you, Dina," I said, tugging at the knee-length dress she had made me wear.

"You needed this, Soraya," Rosalind added, her voice thick with emotion. "You’ve been crying for two weeks. It’s time to go out and breathe."

Two weeks… That’s how long I had been drowning in betrayal, locked in my grief. Two weeks since Dorian left me for my best friend, Elara who was now carrying his heir. And I had nothing… nothing to make him choose me.

"I’m sure your mother is happy watching over you," Rosalind whispered.

Her words sent a tear slipping down my cheek. If only I had met my mother…

The only thing I had of hers was the necklace Rosalind had given me on my twenty-first birthday, the day I married Dorian. She had said it belonged to my mother, but I didn’t even have a picture of her. Omegas weren’t granted such luxuries.

"Please, don’t cry! You’re ruining your makeup," Rosalind soothed, pulling me into a hug.

"Mom, you’re making it worse!" Geraldina scolded, prying us apart. "She finally agreed to a girls’ night, don’t send her back to her room!"

I wiped my tears as Geraldina fished a tissue from her red handbag, dabbing my face before fixing my makeup.

"That’s not needed, Dina."

"It is, Aya," she insisted, combing my dark-amber hair behind my shoulders.

Everyone always said my dark-amber hair and amber eyes were rare. Even Rosalind and Dorian had thought so. But Dorian… he never liked looking into my eyes, saying they made him feel like I could see right through him.

Maybe because he had been hiding his affair with Elara all along.

Shaking the thought away, I focused on Rosalind’s past words. She had once told me my mother had dark hair and brown eyes. Yet here I was, with amber eyes, dark-amber hair.

But I didn’t know my father. Even Rosalind knew nothing about him, my mother had never spoken to her about him.

"Now you look incredible!" Geraldina declared, grabbing my hand.

"Be safe, girls! And come home early..." Rosalind’s voice trailed behind us as Geraldina hurried me out the door, waving off her mother’s concerns.

As soon as we got into the cab, I asked, "Where exactly are we going?"

"You’ll see," she replied with a sly smile.

This girl was a schemer.

I didn’t press further. I needed this night, needed to escape the pain for a while. For weeks, I had been nothing but a mess, pretending to be strong when, in reality, I was breaking apart. Tonight, I would breathe.

When the cab finally stopped, I stepped out, my stilettos clicking against the pavement. My eyes widened in shock.

"A club?!"

"Yes, girl! You’re letting it all out tonight. And tomorrow, I don’t want to see you crying again because you will be starting to work with me on my ice-cream shop!" Geraldina declared.

“Really? You will let me work with you?” I asked,  pulling my hand away from her. I still couldn't believe that I was indeed going to start afresh.

Rosalind worked in a hotel while her daughter owned a small ice-cream shop, all thanks to her mother's savings.

Thank the goddess for Rosalind and her daughter.

“Yes, now stop making it seem to be a big deal because it isn't.”

I rolled my eyes but let her lead me inside but not after murmuring a thank you to her.

The moment we entered, the place overwhelmed me, flashing lights, pulsing music, strippers twirling on poles while men threw money at them, couples making out without a care, and groups laughing, drinking, and dancing like nothing else mattered.

Maybe clubs weren’t as bad as I thought.

We found seats at the bar, the music so loud I had to shout, "Does your mom know we’re here?"

"Of course not! She’d never let us come," Geraldina smirked.

“Now you will be in trouble because I will tell her when we reach there." I played along and she pointed a finger at me, her blue eyes on fire.

"Try it, and I’ll disown you as my sister."

Her words made me pause.

Geraldina saw me as a sister.

Without thinking, I pulled her into a hug.

“Well, I know I can be insistent and pushy sometimes but I hate it when you cry. Because I consider you as a sister I never had." She continued after we broke the hug, staring at anyone else in the club but me.

Geraldina was the one who forced me to come here and she was also the one who made it possible for me to get out of my room.

So of course,  she could insist. But I was grateful for that.

I smiled. "And I love you as my little sister."

Geraldina was three years younger than me, and like me, she had no father in the picture.

Wow!

Seemed like our mothers were something else.

"Now, let’s enjoy the night!" she announced, ordering wine for me and a stronger drink for herself because she knew I had never drank before.

We drank while talking as Geraldina made sure I laughed, and for the first time in weeks, I felt lighter.

Then, she excused herself to go to the restroom but not after making  sure the bartender knew not to serve me anything stronger than wine. I finished my glass and was about to order another when my gaze locked onto something, someone.

My heart stopped.

Dorian.

And Elara.

Goddess.

What were they doing here—in a lone wolves’ club?

And… since when did Dorian like loud places?