Chapter 05: Burning Bridges

CELIA’S POV

“Nice to meet you Celia,” Ronan said with a small smile, as he took my trembling hand into his.

“Um… ni..nice to meet you too Ronan,” I greeted, trying to keep my voice steady.

His expression remained cold. He looked so passive, like he was just meeting me for the first time, that if I hadn’t known better, I would have believed that we were strangers too.

But I did know better. And that made it worse.

Beside me, my mother’s eyes burned into the side of my face. I knew that if I turned back to her, she was going to see through me and suspect something was wrong. And so I stayed silent, trying to look as stoic as possible and hoping that she didn’t suspect us at all

I spent the rest of the day in my new room, unpacking my small luggage in the walk in closet. The room itself was definitely bigger than the living room and kitchen of our old house combined. The walls were painted a light pink and the bed sheets felt so soft that if I laid there I knew I would fall asleep immediately.

This place was everything that I had never had and it made me terrified like I was never going to belong here.

I had just taken a shower and changed into my comfortable clothing when I heard a knock on the door.

I walked to the door, about to open when Ronan stepped in, closing the door behind us. 

“Hey strange… sorry I mean step brother,” I greeted awkwardly, feeling my heart race in panic.

“Drop the act,” he said suddenly, glaring down at me coldly.

I blinked. “What act?”

He leaned closer to me, and his scent filled my senses suddenly. He smelled so good, like wood and chocolate at the same time. 

“You knew exactly who I was when you showed up at that bar,” he said suddenly and my obsession with his scent stopped immediately.

“What are you talking about?” I asked in confusion.

“Don’t play dumb,” he said, still glaring down at me. “You knew I was the Alpha’s son, and you thought sleeping with me would earn you a shortcut into this house in case your mother’s plan didn’t work.”

“Excuse me?” I said in surprise

“You used me,” he said, his voice colder now. “Both of you did and I don’t know what game you are playing, but I’m warning you now to stay the hell away from me.”

His words hit like a slap. I took a step back, my breath catching in my throat.

“Wait a second? You think I planned to meet you at the bar that day? That I stood in the rain on purpose and ordered shots next to you just so I could look like some damsel in distress for you to come and save?” I scoffed, barely believing it myself.

“I have to admit, you are a pretty good actress that is why I slept with you, because I felt so bad for the cliche story you fed me about your boyfriend and best friend.” 

“You are such a jerk,” I said, feeling anger reverberate through my body. “You really think I knew who you were? You were just a guy at a bar, a stranger that I made the mistake of entertaining.”

He didn’t react to my words, he just continued to look down at me with that stupid expression of his. 

I wasn’t sure what hurt me more. The fact that I had given my virginity to him or the accusation that he had just thrown in my face.

“Don’t worry,” I said coldly, glaring up at him. “You are not in any danger of me coming near you again.”

“Good. Keep it that way,” he replied then he walked out my room, slamming the door shut behind him.

As he left, I felt my hands still trembling with rage.

Just who the hell did he think he was? 

Just because he was the son of the Alpha, the future heir to the pack didn’t mean he got to treat me that way. 

But I knew why he had assumed those nasty things about me. Vivian, my mother, had earned a reputation for being a ‘loose woman’ in her younger days. So every time she dated a new man, or wore something too tight, people talked. Being her daughter made me look like some desperate gold digger too.

And now, it has followed me here. 

I tried not to think of Ronan’s harsh words that night, during Alpha Theo and Vivian’s private engagement party in the mansion’s ballroom. 

Even dressed in a nice dinner gown, I still felt like an imposter among all of them. Everyone else looked elegant, with their diamonds and their fancy clothes while I stood by the party snacks, contemplating whether to reach into my dress and scratch the itch on my back

I felt like a misplaced extra in a movie about royalty.

Ronan stood not too far from me with a beautiful blonde girl on his arm. I almost hated how good they looked together. 

An asshole like that didn’t deserve such a beautiful girlfriend.

“Is this her?” I heard a female voice whisper, I turned back only to find Ronan’s girlfriend standing behind me.

“Hey,” I smiled at her awkwardly, stretching out my hand. “I am Celia.”

“I know who you are,” she replied, looking at my outstretched arm like it was infected with a virus.

“You must be so relieved,” she said, her smile seeming cold and assessing.

“Why?” I replied, confused on where she was getting at.

“Oh that, the Alpha is engaged to your mother. That means a girl like you will know what it means to have nice things for once in your pathetic life.”

What the actual hell? Why were all these rich people so freaking rude? 

I clenched my fists. “I may not have grown up in this kind of place, but at least I have manners.”

She stepped closer to me, her eyes narrowing and then scoffed. “Manners are for people like maids or poor people like you.”

Her words made the people around us laugh and I frowned, looking between Ronan and his bitchy girlfriend, feeling the urge to tell about what me and her precious boyfriend were doing barely a night ago.

But I calmed my anger, sighing deeply. “If you keep talking to me like that, I am actually going to lose my poor manners.”  

She only scoffed at me and grabbed a glass from the nearby table and then poured its contents all over my dress.

I gasped in shock, as people turned to me, equally surprised by what had happened. 

“So go on then,” she said, stepping closer to me with a cold smile on her face. “Let’s see you lose those manners.”

“You little—” I lunged toward her, but Ronan suddenly grabbed my arm.

“You heard what she said to me!” I said, raising my voice in anger, but Ronan’s expression was dismissive

“Just stop,” he hissed under his breath. 

“Haven’t you already embarrassed yourself enough?”

I found Vivian glaring at me from the corner of the room where she stood with Alpha Theo, like she wanted me to stop causing a scene.

Around me the looks were the same, people stared at me like I was a dirty creature to be washed away and tears stung my eyes.

 I yanked my arm free from Ronan’s grasp and ran out of the ballroom, ignoring the stares. the whispers, and the laughter following after me.

I didn’t stop running until I was back in my room.

They were right, I thought as I stood in my room, shaking in anger. I looked around my beautiful bedroom once again, taking in the silk bedsheets and new dresses that had been arranged in my closet. 

I didn’t belong here. 

I had known it even as I arrived here but I hadn’t expected to get a reality check so fast.

Wiping away my angry tears, I took off the stupid dinner gown, not caring whether I ripped and then I went to my luggage and put on my simple jeans and a shirt. 

They were right, I thought as I stared at my reflection in the mirror. I was a lowlife, who didn’t belong to this. 

Angrily, I packed my bags and stormed out of the room, dragging my luggage behind me. If they didn’t want me here, then I was just going to leave. 

As I reached downstairs, my eyes landed on a golden statue of a wolf on the settee that was probably worth more than my entire life savings.

I looked around the living room, making sure I was alone before I grabbed it and stuffed it in my luggage quickly.

They already thought the worst of me. Since I arrived here, I have been called cheap, poor and pathetic.

Why not add one more name to my resume? 

It wasn’t like they needed the gold anyway, and I needed money to survive, far away from this place.

With that thought in mind, I walked out of Alpha Theo’s mansion, hoping never to see these people