~Like a Slave~

[Valerie]

I expected to feel indifferent and maybe feel like I had felt before discovering he was my mate, but no, my life was never easy. Therefore, when our gazes clashed, all I felt was longing and hurt. He stared back impassively as if silently reproaching me for creating a scene during the Challenge. I looked back defiantly. But I still felt what I had felt that night near the cliff before rejecting him… the yearning… the pain. I didn’t know why but Goddess Diana had a way of reminding us mortals that we had the opportunity to feel the love that she had felt once for a shepherd boy, that we were given the opportunity to at least fulfil our love and be with our other half as long as we breathed. However, we let go of the opportunities, sometimes due to situations and sometimes…

“What are you doing outside?” Dad’s voice made me tear my gaze away from Clyde. I shifted my attention toward him. “I was getting bored.” I hoped no one noticed our stare-off. But then I glanced at Viola,