Chapter 14: Offered on a Silver Platter Part 1

Lilac’s P.O.V

Hope…

It shouldn’t even exist in my vocabulary.

‘This is why strays shouldn’t be picked up from the streets in the first place.’

Krimson’s words still rang out loud and clear in my mind, even though he hadn't said it loud enough for everyone to hear.

But that didn’t make a difference. It was clear enough for me. He could’ve said ‘I hate your guts’ in a thousand other languages and it wouldn’t have hurt this much…not as much as those words had.

Alpha Krimson knew exactly how to cross all boundaries. Knew exactly where to shoot so it hurt the most.

I backed away from the crowd as Alpha Killian and Alpha Elijah followed Krimson out of the room, followed by Beta Luca. Now that the drama was done, people seemed to go back to their usual chatter, not caring that my world was just being ripped apart.

I couldn’t give voices to the screams inside my head; to the tumultuous racket inside my heart…the sound of it breaking into a million pieces over and over…remained inside the cavity of my chest.

“Well, well, well!”

I closed my eyes tightly at the sound of that voice, like a thousand nails on a chalkboard. Fisting my hands, I turned around to walk away, but was hauled back with a hand on my upper arm.

“You still have the audacity to stay in the pack? After all the trouble you just caused?” Serena scoffed, her face looking menacing as she stared down at me in her twelve inch heels. “Alpha Krimson has been way too lenient on you. But maybe things will change after tonight.”

“You’re far too invested in her life, Serena.”

Startled at the new voice, Serena let go of my arm to turn to the speaker, as did I. Surprisingly…it was Tawin; Gamma Somchai’s little brother.

“Your father was looking for you, by the way.” He tilted his head to the side, pointing towards the exit with his thumb. “Something about a missing jewelry?”

Instantly, I had the minor satisfaction of watching her face pale as she didn’t waste another minute in running after her parents. But that was hardly a win. Serena had everything she could ever ask for…

“Thank you.” I told Tawin, who I assumed was Liam’s best friend since they were always hanging out together. “For helping out just now.”

“Liam asked me to keep an eye on you for him.” Tawin shrugged his shoulders, his suit a dark cherry in color that went really well with his dark golden skin tone. “He’ll be back soon. Do you want me to walk you back to the Soup House? Or should we wait for him?”

To say that I was touched by the unexpected gesture would be an understatement. It was completely unexpected and it left me bemused. Why was Liam suddenly being kind to me? Why was he letting his friends keep watch over me like this?

“It’s okay,” I managed to tell him. “I can go back on my own.”

“Liam might get worried.” Tawin told me, following me to the counter as all the eventually started to leave the room. “He told me to get you home first.”

No one in this pack has ever done anything nice for me without reason…was that why it was getting so hard to believe that Liam might actually be genuinely worried about me? Or maybe he was just following his father’s orders?

“Where is he now?” I asked Tawin suddenly. “You said he was coming back again?”

“Oh…um…Aisha was feeling sick, so he went to drop her off at her house.” Tawin looked a bit uncomfortable as he told me the whole story…and I don’t know why…but I felt my stomach drop at the mention of Liam dropping off Aisha.

“You probably have other commitments.” I shook my head, trying to not get his words get to me. “And I still have to finish cleaning up the mess I made. You can leave first. I’ll tell Liam that you insisted on staying.”

“You sure?” His brown eyes looked at me suspiciously for a second.

“Yes. I’m sure.” I gave him my best smile.

Shrugging, Tawin waved me goodnight and headed out of the party himself.

A sigh escaped my lips as I watched him leave.

I didn’t know what to feel anymore. My emotions seemed all over the place, but still, I had to continue on doing my work like nothing was wrong with my life…like the man who was supposed to be my biggest support…my only pillar…didn’t just insult me so deeply in such a hurtful manner.

He never cared.

“Hey, stop day dreaming!” Kaleb was the one who handed me a broom as he came to stand next to me. “Get the mess cleaned up before Alpha Krimson shows up.”

I nodded and took the broom from him and began cleaning up the glass shards on the floor. The rest of the cleaning would be done by the clean-up crew that Krimson usually hires after every party, but since I was the one who made this mess, it was mine to clean.

But before I could finish up, I once again felt that shove of violent power as the tiny hair on my nape stoop in attention.

My eyes snapped towards the entrance once again and just in time to watch Krimson walk in through the door.

His eyes were on me even before I could avert my gaze and that had me freezing in my place once again. Because he was fuming. His red eyes were sparking fire and as he came towards me with long strides, his body rigid with tension…I dropped the broom from my hands, half expecting a slap or a kick.

But instead he grabbed onto my hand roughly and began hauling me after him without any questions, not caring that I almost fell with the force with which he hand yanked me forward.

He kept on walking, his strides long enough that I had to run to catch up to him. I didn’t wait to see what the others in the room would do or say, because I was too busy trying to catch my breath and keep standing as I ran after him.

Krimson didn’t stop even after I was dragged out of the Pack Hall, where the party was being held. Instead, he took me into the elevator and we went up to the third floor of the pack house where some of the guests were staying for the night and we finally stopped in front of a room to the furthest corner of down the hallway.

“Go in.” He snapped at me, finally releasing my hand that was now aching from his rough handling. “Go in, get on your hands and knees and apologize to Alpha Elijah!”

“W-what?” Stunned, I looked up into his red eyes, not understanding at all as to what was happening.

“Are you fucking dumb or are you deliberately testing my patience?” Within a second, his face was inches from mine as my heartbeat skyrocketed at the close proximity. “You caused a commotion and dropped your tray onto Alpha Elijah! I’ve been tolerating your presence in my pack, Lilac…but if it affects my business, I will not stand for it.”

“What a-are you talking about?”

He didn’t know anything…not the fact that Alpha Elijah touched me inappropriately…not the fact that I’ve been humiliated multiple times…not the fact that each word out of his mouth felt like an arrow straight through my heart…

“I won’t repeat myself.” His voice was deadly calm as he looked down at me. “Apologize to Alpha Elijah…now.”

I didn’t realize just how badly my legs were trembling until Krimson turned me towards the door with a hand on my shoulder and I almost fell over.

Scoffing, he turned and left without a word and before my mind could process everything going on around me, the door in front of me sprang wide open and Alpha Elijah came out of the room in nothing but a bath robe, his hair wet and a smile on his face that just didn’t seem right.

“Ah! As promised!” He smirked, looking me up and down in a way that made a chill run down my spine. “Alpha Krimson never fails to deliver.”

Wait…what was he saying? Was he implying that…did Alpha Krimson just serve me up to this man on a silver platter?