From the ground where she kneeled, Quinn looked up at the man who stepped confidently through the crowd, stopping in front of her. “Stand up, Quinn…”
He offered her a hand, but Quinn neglected the act of taking it. Instead, her jaws clenched tighter as she used her own strength to gather herself to her feet.
Jeo withdrew his arm daintily and looked around at his people. “Apologize…and by the end of the day, her home should be filled with as much food as you threw at her.”
The people who had been shouting ferociously at her bowed their heads in solemn and in fear. “We are deeply sorry…” They hummed in unison.
Quinn didn’t utter a word of acceptance to them, because that apology was not as loud and meaningful as their curse words were.
“Good.” The man gestured towards Quinn. “Now Come…follow me, I have something to discuss with you.”
Quinn did as told, following him out of the marketplace and onto an empty and quiet road. Her eyes lingered on his back and her mind to a time when her arms could wrap lovingly around it.
“Are you hurt?”
His voice was passive, holding no concern or sympathy.
“No.”
“I’m sorry this happened to you…it was never supposed to happen.”
“T…Then was last night supposed to happen?” Quinn fought hard to not cry at her own words, her heart was surfacing, but she still felt like she couldn’t breathe. “Was everything that happened last night supposed to happen?”
“Quinn…” Jeo turned to her, those eyes that used to look at her with love, were now dark and clouded with nonchalance. “I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but I’ll be honest in order to give you the closure you might need. Nothing that happened last night was a mistake or unintended. I really wanted that rejection…it wasn’t a sudden act, everything I did last night was what I wanted to do for a while now.”
Quinn scratched her arm and then her head, not knowing what to do or say… She had been aware of his change of heart, but hearing him say it, made the reality feel like a godforsaken nightmare. “Why didn’t y-you tell me? Instead of going behind my back, Jeo…why didn’t you just tell me?”
“Because you’d do this…your face would look as pitiful as it does now, and your eyes would fill with tears, and you’d cry and beg me not to leave you. I did my best to avoid that, but in the end, I still had to watch you pitifully cry on that podium like a baby.”
“A b-baby…? What…?”
“Never mind that. Let’s not walk the long way to the office, I’ll say what I have to say here.” He straightened his shirt and then shoved his hands into his pockets. “This pack has always lacked a beta. The spot was yours from the beginning since you’re the only one here with the blood of a beta as well as the strength of one. It’s time for you to fill it. You’re no longer luna, the least you could do is ensure yourself some significance since the pack is already looking down on you.”
“And if I refuse?”
“If you refuse, then there’s absolutely no reason for you to be here. I will kick you out and have you rot as a rogue.”
“A rogue…?” Quinn wanted to cry, but she laughed instead. “I guess you really don’t care about me anymore…everything we’ve shared for the past three years must’ve meant nothing to you. Don’t worry, I’ll fill the spot, I would rather not leave this pack without getting to watch you suffer like I did last night.”
She was weak…but in moments like these, she had to appear strong.
“I know you’ll regret this Jeo, and when you start crawling like a worm behind me, begging to rekindle the bond you’ve ruined…I will not take you back.”
Quinn twisted on her heels to walk away, but froze at the words he said next. “I loved you and I might still do, but I will not regret this…”
Her heart…It shattered again, and her eyes broke out in tears she would not let him see. She clenched her hands, feigning strength as she marched away from him. She hated this…but most of all, she hated him!
He said he wouldn’t regret this, but she’d make sure he does…and when that happens, she’ll leave him and this pack behind and search for her own happiness. She couldn’t be the only one to suffer…he’d scarred her pride, she had to scar his too.
Before Quinn made it to the marketplace, she made sure to dry her eyes of tears. These people did not deserve to see her cry…not after what they said and done.
As she walked through the usually noisy and crowded place, she realized it was significantly empty. Only a few people stood at their stands and when they saw her, they all turned their backs. What? They couldn’t call her useless anymore because she was their beta?
Shaking her head in disbelief, she confidently walked past them all, heading in the direction of her home; not the one she shared with Jeo for three years, but the one her father had built years back when he was mated to her mother.
Quinn shoved the door open and went in, meeting her father, who waited anxiously in the living room. “What did he say?”
Kathrine was beside him, looking up with a set of curious eyes.
“He said that I must be his beta or else I’ll be exiled.”
“What?! That little piece of sh*t! Does he not know that you two were practically raised together? How could he ask you to be his beta the day after he rejects you?”
“It’s okay, father.”
“It’s not, the previous alpha Gale used to ask me to babysit him, when he goes out with his mate…and I was left with him and you playing in one space. After all of that, he dares to treat my daughter this way? It’s not fair, to any of my children. He neither deserves Delilah nor you.” He stood to his feet, running his hand through his half grey hair. “I’m going to speak with Gale…we’ve been friends since we were kids, there must be a way to control his son.”
“Father…stop this. Don’t go ther~”
He walked past her. “I’ll be back…perhaps in the evening.”
Quinn watched him as he went, sighing when the front door slammed shut. She hoped he doesn’t cause any trouble because of her. She twisted back around, now facing her mother who still sat on the couch. She didn’t say anything, and neither did Quinn.
When the silence became too loud, Quinn laughed awkwardly. “I’ll just head into my room…have a good one, mom.”
And she did not hesitate to walk away, hiding in the closure of her room. The laugh she faked hurt her lips…did her mother know about this before it happened? The fact that Delilah was in love with Jeovanni… Or was it hard for her to believe too?
Quinn walked towards her mirror, looking at herself. She looked like a mess, no, she was a mess. Her hair was messy, her eyes were red and puffy and her neck…the mark that had been on her neck…
It was nothing but a burn now, a scar that she wanted to get rid of.
Her shaky fingers drifted across the tainted skin. The trace of Jeo was now gone, and all that was left was the reminder that it had been there.
