Chapter 3

I don’t know how much time passes before I feel myself being shaken, until they finally manage to wake me up completely. — Get moving, Alpha Darius wants to see you. — He’s a man. He steps away from me as soon as he sees that I’m conscious again, and I have to force myself to get up, which takes the rest of the little strength I have left.

I follow the Omega, but there’s thunder and lightning in the night sky; a storm is brewing, and the first raindrops fall on me when we’re halfway to the Alpha’s mansion.

I make my way through the night, still covered in mud, though it’s already dry, like a crust on my skin, and now I’m being washed by the rain that’s starting to fall, gently at first.

When we reach the mansion, we enter through the servants’ back door, and they take me up to the second floor via the side stairs, to the Alpha’s office. Darius is already there, looking out the window at the storm, which is growing stronger with every passing minute.

The Omega leaves as soon as I’m inside, soaking wet. I stand in the middle of the enormous room and wait for him to give me an order.

— I had to leave my own celebration to deal with you. — It’s obvious he’s angry, but he’s no longer as furious as he was a moment ago. — How is it that the goddess granted me a mate without a she-wolf? I’m the Alpha of Silver River; I need a strong she-wolf by my side. You’re just a simple Omega without a wolf.

He turns and looks me straight in the eye. — What did you do to confuse the bond? I don’t know what you’re referring to, which is why I’m not answering. You must have done something, Sabina. The goddess couldn’t have granted me this bond. You must have used profane magic.

I gently shake my head; I won’t accept blame that isn’t mine. If the goddess has granted him this bond, only she knows the reason, and if he decided to reject what the goddess has bestowed upon him, let him face the consequences, but don’t drag me into this.

— My mother asked for mercy on your behalf, though as far as I’m concerned, you won’t receive any. But to give her some peace of mind, I can grant you voluntary exile, so sign this and don’t make a scene. — He walks over to her desk and picks up a pen, offering it to me, and I know I have no choice.

If I don’t sign, what will she do to me? I don’t want to know. It doesn’t matter; it’s the best thing that could happen to me. I wasn’t planning on staying after what happened at the ceremony.

I’ll leave here and stay away from any pack, though as an Omega without a wolf, no pack would consider me a threat, but that also reduces my chances of being accepted into another one, especially since I was rejected by my mate, an Alpha.

I step forward and take the pen; I’m about to sign when he grabs me by the jaw, hard enough to hurt me. — Are you really going to sign without putting up a fight? Do you really think you can just walk away like that? I don’t know where I find the strength, but I strike his arm and break free, stepping back a little.

— Isn’t that what you want, Darius? You want to live out your fairy tale where the powerful Alpha gets his beautiful plastic queen, and they live happily ever after. What do you expect me to do? Crawl after you every day while you and Diana walk all over me? You made a decision live with it, Darius.

— Where’s the good girl who never dared to talk back to me?

— You loved coming home and acting like such a kind gentleman. You knew what they were doing to me, didn’t you? You enjoyed it, too, I don’t doubt it now. You were just pretending to be kind for your own amusement.

He scoffed. — Did you really think I loved you?

— No. — I never believed it, I didn’t want to daydream, but I thought you were a decent man, kind by nature, just as a good future Alpha should be. — I just thought you were a real man, not scum.

His look of surprise pleases me. Now that he’d exposed himself, he expected me to keep acting submissive, but back then I was genuine, he was just a vile, lying bastard, and I won’t let that slide.

— How dare you insult your Alpha? — He grabs me again, this time by the neck, worsening the marks I must already have from what happened at the ceremony.

The pen falls onto the desk, and I have to hold onto his arm, otherwise I’d fall onto the desk, since he’s on the other side, and I’m hanging over it.

— You’re no longer my Alpha. You’re demanding that I sign the exile order; I’ll sign it, and I won’t be your problem anymore, nor will you be mine.

He keeps squeezing, but I see indecision in his eyes, not because he doesn’t want to let me go, but because he doesn’t know how to deal with me. So now I’m more than a burden, more than the wolfless omega he rejected in front of the whole pack. What does he want? He humiliated me in front of everyone, and now he’s undecided.

He lets go of me, but I know this isn’t the end. He won’t let me sign so easily. I don’t know what he wants, but I’m not willing to stay and find out, because I’ll probably end up dead.

— I can’t believe you didn’t love me. You were always so sweet and helpful. You always hoped we’d be mates, admit it.

— I was helpful because that’s what they demanded of me at home. When we had guests, I had to play the role of the self-sacrificing, kind, and helpful legitimate daughter, who acted as a servant out of a sense of duty. — He thinks he knows how they treated me, but he doesn’t know even half of what the family did to torture and humiliate me.

— If I made a mistake, once the guests left, they’d whip me until I lost consciousness, and sometimes even longer than that. Diana would take her revenge on my unconscious body; she enjoyed torturing me whether I was conscious or not, it really didn’t matter to her.

I can’t stop the tears from falling, because remembering only brings me pain. Escaping wasn’t an option, because if I left without anyone’s permission, they’d send executioners after me to kill me for treason. Now that Darius himself is offering me exile, all I can do is accept and flee as fast as I can, or stay and die.

— You’re lying! — He says through clenched teeth.

I turn around and unzip my dress. I reveal the horrors I’ve endured since I was six years old. He doesn’t make a sound, but when I turn back after adjusting my dress, I can see the surprise on his face.

— Why didn’t you ever say anything?

— What would you have done? What would anyone in the pack have done? I’m just a simple Omega. Worse than that, I’m a simple Omega without a wolf. Less than trash. No one would ever have helped me, and if I said anything and the family’s reputation was tarnished, it would only be worse. It would get me killed for good.

I laughed.

— Maybe I should have. All of this would have been over a long time ago.

I pick up the pen again, sign the two documents, and take my copy. I won’t be left without proof of what they forced me to sign.

— Get out of here, you filthy Omega! I’ll give you half an hour to get out; if you’re still on my property by then, I’ll have you torn to pieces.