Chapter 7

Darius

I closed the door behind me, my jaw aching from how roughly he had used me. My skin tingled with reserved shame that burned at the base of my chest. I felt helpless, it felt like I wasn’t in control of my body any longer and there was nothing I could do. Was this punishment for hearkening to my desire with Luca? For unlocking that forbidden path?

I sighed as I wandered down the hall, I didn’t want to retire to the quarters, I wanted to take out time to bask in the shame that had befallen me. It was like I had woken up in an alternate universe, different from what I was used to.

Everything had happened so quickly, one minute I was in my pack, the Alpha and the commander and next minute I was getting duped by an illicit lover interest. I scoffed, I had been so stupid, so blinded to everything that he did that I didn’t even stop to harbor the thoughts that he could betray me any day.

With him, I felt at ease, there was this peace that flowed through my veins whenever he was around and I yearned for that peace away from my pack. The forced marriage constantly tugged at my heart strings because I knew I couldn’t go through with it, worse off, I didn’t what to put her through that process of having a love less marriage.

Then her death, and the crest, the arrest and now here? It felt like I had fallen from grace with a twinkle of an eye. Now I was condemned to being a slave? A slave! My eyes prickled with tears that I was never going to shed, I can’t spend the rest of my life being in bondage here, I need to break free.

I need to leave this place even if it means becoming a rogue. I can’t continue to suffer such torture and humiliation. A thought in the back of my head told me that I wasn’t going to do it. Now that the goddess had played a joke and Kael is my mate, how then was I going to leave? Leaving would mean that I would be hurting myself, wrecking my wolf and condemning us to perpetually lust after him.

I walked down the hall and up the stairs, admiring the expanse of the entire building. Here, it felt like I had been stripped bare, I didn’t even know how to behave or carry myself like the Alpha I once was. I fingered the edges of the paintings as I walked toward the end of the hall and rounded the corner.

I had nowhere in mind, but my room wasn’t an option. Just as I turned the corner, I spotted the sole door at the extreme of the hall that was marked for some reason. There markings must have been the one that pulled me toward it and not the fact that my curiosity go the better of me.

I leaned against the door, listening to the noises from within. There was a croaking sound and some shuffles before a long gas rang out. My brows quirked and confusion riddled my nerves. The fuck is happening? I balled my fist to knock and the lewd scene of two people having sex crossed my mind.

I turned to leave when the gasp came again, like someone was struggling to breath. I turned and held the knob, it opened on its accord and the large spcae came into view. It was Alpha’s room, where Kael’s father was. My eyes widened and I stood, frozen on the spot as I scanned the room till my eyes landed on his father who was staring back me.

It felt like I had been petrified by Medusa’s snakes and I couldn’t move. His hand was stretched toward the bed side table where a pile of instruments where, syringes as well. He was heaving, his eyes bulging like he was running out of breath. What the fuck do I do and where the fuck was the nurse that always seemed to stare too long Kael like he was the last piece of meat and she was a fucking barbari- calm down, Darius.

I said to myself, taming the surprising feeling of jealousy that was rising within me. I broke free from the spell and rushed toward his bedside, yanking the various instruments for him to see, his hand shifted from the table and pointed toward the bathroom.

I gulped, my heart racing. He was dying, each breath he took sounded like it would be his last if he was allowed to take a few more. I stumbled into the bathroom, raked across the en suite, searching for any signs of medicine till I latched on the mirror cabinet.

I rushed in when I heard the door open. I paused, going oddly still and leaning against the wall. My heart pounded like it was parade and it was fourth of July. A tight knot formed in my throat, holding everything I wanted to swallow.

If I was caught here, it would be a problem. I wasn’t even supposed to smell a feet from this room, so how would I explain being he-

“Alpha?” The light voice rang and I peered to hear more. There was…nothing to hear. The ragged breaths were gone like he had been healed.

“Alpha!?” The voice came again with more anxiety. My heart dropped when I fixed the puzzles together. He was…dead? The door slammed open and there was quietness before the footsteps drained into the hall. I peeked in and there was no one there. I peeled out of the bathroom, the Epipen still at hand while staring at the deceased, it felt like there was nothing I could but stand by and watch.

The door slammed open and the parties froze, their eyes scanning the room till latching of with mine. He stared his father and then lock eyes with me. He didn’t need to say word for me to understand how livid he was.