Failed Rejection

***WARNING! ATTEMPTED RAPE!***

As long as I sacrificed myself to that marquess, everyone; the eastern commoners, my family, Helios and other residents of the Eastern capital would live happily?

You disappoint me, Helios.

What about me?

Shouldn’t I enjoy the marquess’ wealth as a werewolf from the eastern capital?

Helios’ words seemed to simplify what I have to do, when in reality, it was not.

Helios had already kissed Isabella. Who said he couldn’t do the same and much more again? What if something happened to me in Powell family? What if Isabella encountered her actual fated mate in the future? Would Helios still have the power to divorce me?

There were many uncertainties in Helios plans that I couldn’t trust his words no matter what. This also made me realize how I appeared in Helios’ eyes.

Like a pawn to be used and discarded, the same way she-wolves have been generally treated in the werewolf kingdom.

She-wolves don’t have the power to decide for themselves. The only duties of a she-wolf were to enhance her beauty, get married with her fated mate, birth his pups and manage the family. A she-wolf has no power to decide for herself. Only her fated mate or the he-wolf in her family could make the decision.

Helios has always been aware how much I despise such norms for she-wolves, and yet, he was doing the same as other noble he-wolves.

Deciding my life, when I have expressed how I longed to decide my own life to him.

Goodbye Helios.

At this moment, I came to a decision.

‘’I, Athena Lancaster of the Lancaster Earldom rejects you—urgh!’’  My words were abruptly cut off as Helios’s face immediately change and he swiftly wrapped his fingers around my neck.

‘’How dare you?”’ He whispered at first, his voice cold. ‘’How dare you reject me, Athena?!’’

‘’U-Urgh...’’ My breath was strained from Helios’s grip, still I managed to sneer at his wretched face. ‘’Y-You d-deserve i-it, Helios!’’

He deserved my rejection and so much more!

‘’I deserve it?’’ Helios scoffed lowly at my words. ‘’How ungrateful you are, Athena.’’ He flung my neck aside and my weak body swayed to the ground.

‘’Let’s hear what you say after this, Athy.’’

My eyes grew wide as I watch Helios shifted up my skirt and spread my left leg wide apart, positioning himself in between.

‘H-Helios’’ I exclaimed hoarsely as I realized what he wanted to do. He wanted to force himself on me, the same way my father had done to my mother.

Was I going to have the same fate as my mother?

Absolutely not!

‘’This is normal between us, Athy.’’ He shuts me off as he unfastened his leather girdle. ‘’If you want to reject me, birth my pup in the future as the marquess’ pup.’’

‘’No!’’ I struggled and thrashed around to escape, but Helios had already locked me down to the ground.

This was Helios, my Helios?

No, he wasn’t the Helios I loved.

He was a monster and wretched, like other nobles.

Tears pricked my eyes as I felt him caressing my leg inappropriately.

‘’Young master Arundel, The Earl requests your presence.’’

Helios suddenly paused touching my legs, and I was relieved to hear that my father was calling for him.

‘’......’’

Without a word, he got up after a moment, and adjusted himself. When our eyes met briefly, I swiftly turned my head to the other side, away from him. I couldn’t look at Helios the same way again, even if the mate bond was still drawing us together.

Not when he had attempted to do that.

‘’We’ll see each other soon before the wedding, Athy.’’ I sensed his gaze at the back of my head, and ignored him. It wasn’t until I sensed I was alone that I turned my head back, and struggled to seat up against the wall.

‘’How could he?’’ I gritted my teeth with tears pooling around eyes, feeling the tingles on my legs.

An evidence of Helios’s touch.

He knew how much I despised such act, yet tried to do the same with me.

Don’t cry, Athena!

I told myself, blinking my eyes to stop the tears.

Don’t you cry for that filthy swine!

****

Much to my relief, Helios did not come back to the dungeons. I had prayed to the moon goddess to keep him away, and she must have heard my prayers as I didn’t even catch a glimpse of him.

Time passed, but I didn’t know the exact date of the day. All I knew was that I have been waking up, eating stale bread and sleeping. The cycle continued until I was dragged out of the dungeon by maids under my stepmother’s orders, and locked inside a bedchamber.

That’s right.

I was locked and trapped.

The bedchamber wasn’t my small bedchamber I had in the servants’ quarters, but one comparable to Isabella’s bedchamber.

Maids only entered the room to wash me up in the morning and night under my stepmother’s orders.

She ordered them to wash me up, and the maids did exactly that, though their reluctance was clear on their faces. They intentionally overlooked the scars on my body and scrubbed my skin harshly in the cold bathing water.

In their words, the Earl and Countess had ordered to wash the scent of a lowly blood in preparation for the marriage.

This continued for some time until I couldn’t take the pain anymore and retaliated at one of them. Of course, the maid threatened to report my misbehavior to the countess, and I allowed her.

Only for another maid to replace that maid.

Since then, the maids had carefully tread around me. Though I have been assaulted by the servants for a long time, that did mean I endured foolishly without having my small revenge against them.

My family needed for me the marriage with old marquess. They would definitely want to make me as satisfied as possible by giving me a luxurious room and adorning me with beautiful gowns as comparable as Isabella’s until the marriage.

A mere maid’s dissatisfaction was nothing to them.

*Knock*

*Knock*

‘’Come in.’’ I answer without looking at the door

‘’The Earls calls for your presence, second young lady.’’

I paused and looked up from my illegible scribbles to the maid by the door.

‘’Father is?’’

After trapping me inside this room for the marriage, he was finally letting me out?

‘’Yes.’’

‘’I’ll be there soon.’’

‘’As you wish, second young lady.’’

I furrowed my eyebrows at the uncomfortable title as the maid left me alone. It seemed my family was determined to treat me like an actual young lady of the Lancaster family before the marriage.

They must have assumed that I would be glad with the noble treatment after all these years. Although I detested their hypocritical actions, I didn’t call them out on their plans.

If I wanted run away from the old marquess, my body needed to be strong and healthy. My family was already helping me with that by giving me the noble treatment.

Why could he possibly want?

I closed the empty notebook I had requested for to pass away time, and swung my legs over the edge of the bedframe. Without further thoughts, I stepped out of the room, just to find three maids and knights already waiting outside the door.

They surrounded me as the leading maid who had reported father’s order, guided over the dining chamber where my family dine together.

‘’Oh my, I didn’t recognize you at first, little sister.’’

Lies.

I inwardly sneered at Isabella’s exaggerated act of shock as I passed through the doors of the dining chambers. It wasn’t my first time dressing up as a young lady. For her amusement, Isabella had sometimes invited to her tea parties where her circle of eastern young ladies would tear me down with their words, and elevate Isabella to the skies.

She had the maids force me in her gowns, just for the young ladies to recognize me in them, and start claiming that I have stolen another of Isabella’s belongings again.

Even the gowns I have been wearing since I was dragged out of the dungeon belonged to Isabella.

‘’What do you think, mother? I didn’t know little sister is quite a beauty.’’

‘’You’re right, Isabella.’’ I met the indifferent gaze of my stepmother ‘’She does appear beautiful.’’