Vanishing

~DAHLIA

If looks could kill, I would be dead right now.

The force of Zayden’s anger hit me like an avalanche, and I swallowed a tearful lump.

I wasn't eavesdropping, at least not intentionally. I was actually just passing through, and Edda had managed to open the door right at that moment.

Maybe I should have ran immediately I saw how enraged Zayden was. But his conversation with his grandfather floated into my mind, and I couldn't move. How could I, when he had said such despicable things about me?

‘That orphaned Omega? I'm sorry, but that is totally ridiculous. You know that I cannot get married to her.’

Zayden stormed out of the room and towards me.

‘Because she is an Omega! She is beneath me, and I will not stoop as low as getting entangled with a girl like her. Dahlia is nothing but a charity case to this family, and you have to stop trying to make her into someone she's not!’

Tears sprang into my eyes and I remembered how harsh he had been, how cold. How utterly unfeeling. He hated me.

Zayden hated me so much. How could I have missed the signs? How could I have been such a fool for a long, long time?

‘I don't give a shit about Dahlia. She might be a good person to you, but she is nothing to me.’

And to think that I was madly in love with a man who saw me as nothing. A man who didn't even remember what my name was unless it was mentioned.

“How dare you, Dahlia? How fucking dare you?” he snapped, gripping my arm tightly.

I tried to ease myself out of his grip, my heart pounding as I flinched at the contact, but I couldn't shake him off.

“I didn't do anything,” I responded, my words coming out weakly.

Edda shook her head as she stepped closer.

“Really? Stop lying, Dahlia. We both know that you're the one who went to the Grandfather and fed lies about me to him. I didn't even do anything to you, and now you're the reason why I am leaving the Pack house!”

I shook my head, even as tears streamed down my face. I hadn't done anything. After I fled the guest room where that faceless stranger had forcefully had his way with me during the Pack celebration, I had been too depressed to do anything.

Shame filled me whenever I remembered what happened in that room. I could not shake the feeling that I was now…ruined. Dirty. So I became quieter.

But even though I tried not to show it, the Grandfather had noticed that something was wrong. So he asked questions, but there was no way I could have told him the truth.

How could I tell the man who raised me that I had been defiled by someone I didn't know? Would he even believe me?

So I said nothing, and told him I was fine. But trust Grandfather to jump to conclusions. And now, here I was, with that terrible knowledge in my heart and the man I loved glaring at me like I was a demon.

“See? She cannot even say anything. Which means that she is guilty!” Edda snapped again, and her sharp voice jolted me out of my thoughts.

Zayden growled, and my wolf flinched at the magnitude of his anger. He leaned closer until he was staring directly into my eyes.

“I don't know what you are up to, Dahlia, but you better back the hell off now. I don't care about you. I will not be getting married to you, and the sooner you understand that, the better for us all. Stop trying to ruin my life with your antics!”

The hatred in his voice was unmistakeable, and it made me shudder with fear. Edda shook her head and eyed me as she spoke again.

“I am leaving the Pack house because of you, filthy Omega, but I'll have you know. This is not over. Zayden is mine. And if you know what's good for you, you'd leave.”

Then she roughly pushed me away and walked down the hall. Zayden looked as though he wanted to say something that would like shatter me into pieces, and make me feel even more horrible than I already was, but he just spat at me and rushed after Edda.

As I watched them leave, my heart sank.

I walked back into my room, and thoughts circled around in my head.

Zayden would never love me. Never. Not after what just happened.

I really should have known that his feelings for Edda would never change, and I felt pretty stupid for ever thinking that he could love me back.

To him, I would never be more than an Omega. He had made his feelings about me abundantly clear.

And if he, if anyone in the pack, ever found out about the strange man who had taken the last of my dignity, if they discovered that I had been defiled, I would lose even the tiny shred of respect I had left.

And there was no way I could let that happen.

Which left me with only one option.

I had to leave.

I mean, I have no choice than to leave now.

No one knew about the abomination I had gone through, but there was still the possiblity of people finding out.

Now that I still had a tiny shred of dignity left, I should leave.

Besides, Zayden had already made it very clear that he would never love me anyway.

There was nothing left for me here.

With my mind made up, I made my way out of my room and walked down to my grandfather's study.

“Come in,” he said gruffly as I knocked. I took a deep breath before I pushed the door open.

My adoptive grandfather sat up as I walked in.

“Dahlia. Is anything the issue?” he asked, worry coating his words.

I shook my head, blinking back tears at how obviously concerned he was about me. In a world where everyone hated me for being an orphaned Omega, having one person who cared enough about me to be worried was really nice.

Too bad his care wasn't enough to make me stay.

“I am fine, Grandfather. I just…I have something to say,” I said as I sat down.

His brows furrowed into a frown.

“What is it, my dear?”

I took a deep breath before I spoke. What I was about to do would probably make him disappointed in me, but I was too hurt, too angry at myself. Even if I wanted to stay, I could not.

Not after what happened with that stranger.

“I would love to go on a vacation. For the summer. I…I need some time alone,” I said softly.

His eyes softened as he stared at me. “Is Zayden causing you any trouble?” he asked.

I couldn't tell him I was running away. He'd try to stop me, or worse, he would ask why. And there was no way I could tell him what really happened.

So I shook my head. “No. I just…I just need a change of environment for a while. Just for the summer.”

My adoptive grandfather stared at me for a long while before he eventually spoke.

“Okay. Go. Have the vacation. Enjoy yourself for the summer. But don't take too long before you come back home, okay?” he implored.

I nodded, rapidly blinking back the tears in my eyes. “Yes, Grandfather. I'll come back home.”

But as I walked out of his study, my heart twanged at the fact that I was betraying the man who raised me.

I wasn't coming back here. Once I leave, no one in this Pack would see me ever again.

I was going to disappear completely.