A Gift

NOVA’S POV

“How long did you think you could hide from me, you worthless piece of trash?” he snarled at me, lunging at me to strike me.

I lowered my head, squeezing my eyes close to avoid his fury as his hands drew closer to me, but then, the strike never landed. I felt his body still over me, his large figure casting long shadows on me. I slowly opened my eyes to find him gazing at my stomach, his expression unreadable.

“What the hell happened to your stomach?” he asked, his face contorting badly.

I swallowed hard, recalling the plan I had made with Bastian and his wife, the healer. “I… lost the baby,” I said to him, avoiding his gaze.

“What?” he exclaimed, his eyes widening. “You lost my child?” He thundered, his voice shaking. “How the hell did that happen?”

I almost choked out a laugh. Was he seriously asking me that question?

“How dare you lose my child?” he flared, ridding me of my response. He bent over, his fingers wrapping around my neck and choking me.

“You know the only reason I wanted to marry you was because of that child, and now you have lost it. I will have no option but to do away with you. You are now useless to me and I can do as I please with you, you dirty piece of shit lowlife omega.”

His saliva sprayed all over my face as he spat those words at me while my hands clawed at him to let me go. He didn’t; instead, he tightened his grip around my neck.

The doors to the throne room flung open, announcing the presence of his new Luna, Aubrey. Only then did he finally decide to let me go.

I have never been more relieved by her presence.

“They finally found her,” she griped as she drew closer to me. “You thought you could get away, didn’t you?” she spat at me, her face dangerously close to mine as she doubled over to look at me, that expression of disgust now etched on her like a second face.

“I wasn’t trying to get away,” I said, refusing to cower under her scrutiny. “The soldiers left me for dead after they flogged me. If it weren’t for…”

“You still have the guts to talk back at me after you had stolen my precious piece of jewelry,” she bawled. “The ring my mother gave to me before she died.”

I rolled my eyes internally.

There it was again. The drama.

I thought she would have lost the act by now, but I was obviously wrong.

“I wanted to be wed with that ring, and our marriage ceremony is in two days, and we haven’t found the ring.” She flashed me a vicious scowl, shaking my body vigorously. “Where is it?” she snapped at me. “Where did you hide it, you worthless piece of trash?”

I gritted my teeth, trying to curtail the residual ache from the whipping I got a few days ago. “That ring doesn’t belong to you,” I shot back, irritation rising in my tone. I was done dealing with her and her antics. “You are just a liar parading to have something that isn’t yours.”

She scoffed. “You have to be kidding me. Are you saying that a piece of precious jewelry like that belongs to a riffraff like you?” she said, folding her arms around herself as she bore holes into my head with her eyes.

“Yes,” I replied, my voice firm.

She burst into laughter, Alpha Ethan joining her. “Are you even listening to yourself, Nova?” she said, her lips curling upward in disgust. “You are nothing but a lowlife omega without a penny to your name. Who would believe that someone like you would own a precious jewelry like the one you stole from me?”

I lowered my gaze to the ground, composing myself. I didn’t want to say anything that would get me in more trouble than I already was in. “It belongs to me,” I said softly, raising my head to look at them. I couldn’t believe that I was ever in love with someone like Alpha Ethan. A lifetime ago, all I wanted to do was to please him, but now, the sight of him only made my stomach churn vigorously. He was a despicable man, and I was finally seeing him for who he truly was.

“It was a gift,” I added.

They burst into laughter again. “Oh, Nova. Who would have possibly given you a gift as expensive as that ring? Do you have any idea how such precious stones cost? Who would give it to you as a gift? The rats in your shabby room?” Everyone present burst into laughter at her statement, while I chuckled dryly. Aubrey would have had a failed career as a comedian if she had chosen to pursue that path.

“I don’t have to tell you who gifted the jewelry to me,” I said to her, my fury at her continued lies simmering beneath the surface of my poised expression. “But I have proof that the ring belongs to me and not you.”

Her chin lurched backwards as though in shock at my assertions, but she quickly recovered, easily making her expression with an amused tone. “You have proof?” she asked, barely hiding her sarcasm.

“Yes, I do,” I replied, standing my ground.

A dry chuckle escaped her, but I could see the cracks in her expression. I doubt she would keep up this act for long. “Let’s have it then,” she said, moving her head in a comical way that almost made me laugh. “What could you possibly have as proof that the ring you stole from me is indeed yours and not mine?” The rest of the people present in the room fell silent as they awaited my response.

I took a step forward, closing the gap between Aubrey and me. “You said the ring was a family heirloom?” I asked, holding her gaze firmly.

“Y-yes,” she stuttered. I chuckled. I just got my first proof that she was lying.

My grin widened. “Then you should know if the ring was part of a set or that it came alone,” I pressed on, enjoying the scene as it unfolded before me.

She glanced at Alpha Ethan before turning to face me, her throat working to find me a response. “It came alone,” she lied, and I knew I had gotten her. I laughed out. She turned to the Alpha again, expecting him to do something, but he, too, was interested to find out how this would play out. “I don’t remember,” she continued. “My mother gave it to me a long time ago. I must have lost the rest of them.”

“Indeed,” I said with a scoff. I pulled out the box of jewelry Alpha Draco had sent to me through Bastian, and I picked out the ring. Bastian had found it for me and had slipped it to me as the guards led me to the alpha. “Is this the ring you claimed that I stole from you?” I asked, lifting the ring for all to see.

She lunged at me, trying to yank it off, but I quickly hid it away from her. “Yes, it is,” she shrieked, her scowl deepening. “Guards, grab this thief. She had the ring all this time, and she had us turning the pack house upside down to find it.”

The guards marched closer to me. “Wait,” I screamed, stopping them from grabbing me this time. “She said this ring came alone, but…” I pulled the necklace that came with the ring and showed it to everyone in the room. “…this is the necklace and the earrings that came with the ring. It is obvious that she is the one lying and not me.”

“Grab her,” Aubrey screamed. “Get me those pieces,” she barked some more. “Someone like her is unworthy to have them in her possession.”

They held me in place and took the jewelry from me. I struggled with them but only failed to get the pieces from them. They took the pieces to her, and she examined them.

“Do they belong to you, my love?” Alpha Ethan asked, after staying mute for a long while.

She swallowed, cracking her neck. “They looked like mine,” she said, and I almost let out a loud snort at her response. “I must have lost mine or kept it somewhere I had forgotten about.”

“Yeah, right,” I scoffed, my voice barely above a whisper. She drew closer to me. “I am sorry for the misunderstanding, Nova. It turns out that you were right all along,” she said, sporting a wicked grin. She stretched to hand me back the box, but just before I could take it from her, she let it go, and the pieces fell crashing to the floor. A ripple of gasps rose from everyone present in the room, including me. I stepped back, my eyes widening in horror as I glared at the shattered pieces beneath my feet.

“You, b…” I screamed, lunging at her, but the guards behind me held me back, their grip tight on my arms.

“I am so sorry for my carelessness, Nova. I am sure you can understand and forgive me for ruining your precious jewelry.” She glanced at the broken pieces glittering on the floor. “Now that I have looked closer at the pieces, I have realized that they are nothing but fake pieces. There is no way they could have been mine in the first place.”

She flashed me a compensating smile, twirling the pearl-shaped pendant of her necklace around her fingers.

“Those pieces were a gift to me,” I screamed at her, my fury barely contained.

“A gift by whom?” she asked, her tone dripping with condescension.

“By…”

“By me,” I heard a deep voice say from behind me. I turned around, my eyes widening as I locked eyes with the last person I thought I would see at that moment.