Chapter 4 - Gave up

Alina's Pov: 

I had always imagined Darius fighting and drawing his fangs. I had never seen him on the battlefield fighting before. 

And today, he did that. Not to protect me. But to hurt me. 

"I—" He tried coming close to me but I stepped back, terrified of what he would do next. Would he try to kill me because of Claire? Was he so blind as to see that all this was just a game that she was playing? 

She was trying to separate us and unfortunately, Darius was falling for it. 

It was then that I understood what she meant by not allowing me to steal what belonged to her. She wanted Darius.

But he was my mate!

How could she be so covetous?

“I was trying to—” 

Before he could finish his sentence, I ran off to my room. My shoulder hurt. My heart hurt. Everything hurt. 

I stood in front of my mirror, staring at the blood dripping from the wound and soaking up my dress. 

I thought he loved me so much that he would never yell at me, or hurt me. But looking at my bleeding shoulder, I knew I had been wrong. 

I sat on my bed and tried cleaning the wound but it hurt so much. I hissed several times in pain and ended up achieving nothing. This was the wrong time to be an Omega. Unlike other wolves, I didn’t heal fast because I didn’t have enough spirit power. 

Was I going to have my wedding with an injured shoulder? 

Speaking of which, what wedding? Darius and Claire's parents were hellbent on not allowing Alpha Kain to marry their beloved… Even threatening to run away with her if I didn’t do anything. So, what else is left to wed? 

Still deep in thoughts, the door of my room was opened gently. At first, my heart skipped a beat when I saw it was Darius. But a princess didn’t need to be afraid of anyone. I was never supposed to show my fears to anyone. 

He walked in and a look of regret hit his face when he saw the tissues soaked with blood on the table beside my bed. 

I looked away from him, not saying anything. 

I felt betrayed by the one person who was supposed to have my back no matter what.

“Alina dear,” He called out in his sweet velvety voice, the one I fell in love with when I first heard it by the water fountain. He was still a warrior back then who was devoted to serving and protecting the pack at all costs. But now, I didn’t recognize him anymore. 

“I’m sorry for what happened. I never should have done that. My anger consumed me and I hurt you.” He sat beside me. “Can I tend to your wounds?” He asked. 

“No,” I replied without having to think about it. “Just leave.” 

But he proved stubborn and opened his ointment. It was the same one he used whenever he got injured. It helped to heal wounds faster, but it hurt like hell. 

As he applied it gently to my wounds, I groaned.

“Sorry,” He soothed. 

Everything he did reminded me of the past. When I cut myself while peeling oranges on a sunny afternoon, he lovingly applied the same ointment to my wound and promised to always protect me from danger. 

"I'm very sorry, Alina, for what happened. But you have to apologize to Claire." 

He was about to coat my wound with the ointment when I pushed his hand away. He was surprised when I did that. 

"What have I done now?" 

In that rage, I stood up, accidentally knocking over the ointment bottle. It broke and its content spilled to the ground. 

"The two of you didn't start yesterday, did you?" 

"What are you talking about? What does that have to do with apologizing to your sister for hitting, pushing, and injuring her?" He stood up too, his voice louder than normal. 

I scoffed. I had been the stupid one all these time. 

Three months ago, I noticed Claire and Darius were getting too close for comfort. I just thought it was family bonding. I thought since he was already mated to me, I had nothing to worry about. 

I should have known right from the start but I wanted to keep trusting him. If I was going to spend the rest of my life with him, I needed to trust him, right?

I had been living an illusion. 

"Just get out. I don't want to talk to you until you come back to your senses." I turned my back to him. Whatever he said after didn't matter. All I wanted that moment was for him to leave. 

"Fine..." 

Whether he ran or flew or slid out of my room, I didn't care. All I cared about was the clicking of my door. As the sound came, I released the breath I hadn't realized I was holding.

Being around him these past days had been nothing but an emotional torture. 

But he was bound to come out from whatever spell he was on after our marriage. If he wanted to run away, he would have done that a long time ago. It meant he was still serious about us. 

I was already taking off the straps of my dress when I remembered one important thing. 

Alpha Kain. 

I had told him Claire would visit him later. I quickly draped a blanket over my shoulders to cover my wound and rushed out of my room. I ran toward his quarters, hoping I wasn't too late. 

Before I could knock on the door, it opened. 

I stepped back in fear, thinking it was the Alpha. When I saw it was his attendant, I calmed down a bit. 

“Miss Alina, good of you to disappear from the party. Unfortunately, you haven’t kept to your word.” He said so many heavy words with a light smile. I didn’t know whether to feel threatened or relieved. 

“Please, let the Alpha know I’m sorry about that. The bride… She…” I didn’t think of an excuse to give him because I had rushed down in a breeze.

“The Alpha values people who keep to their words. And right now, I don’t know what he thinks of you but I'm pretty sure he’ll never trust you again.” 

“Oh.” I stepped back, my eyes falling to the ground. 

Why did that hurt? 

I held the ends of the blanket, tightening it around my upper body. 

“I’m really sorry. But rest assured, you’ll be leaving here with a bride.” I turned and left before the remaining pieces of my pride would be shattered into nothing. 

I headed back to the house, hoping to get some rest. I’d had a really long day and just wanted to sleep. 

But as I walked past the living room, I saw the trio. Claire and her parents. My father had never seen me as a daughter. He only thought of me as the child of a woman he was never supposed to marry. I was nothing short of a mistake in his sight. 

“Mom, Dad, please,” She sobbed. “I don’t want to marry that monster. He’ll kill me.” 

“Don’t worry, my love, we won’t let any of such happen. On the night before the wedding, Darius will take you somewhere far away, even the Alpha cannot trace you.” Her mother reassured her, while wiping her tears. Her father stood by her, patting her shoulder. 

“I’m sorry we had to come to this conclusion, my daughter. I tried talking to the elders to appoint someone else to take your place. But there’s no one of equal status to you.” 

“What about that daughter of yours?” Lady Agatha asked spitefully. “Why wasn’t she even chosen in the first place? She’s the oldest. How could she stand by and let her younger sister be humiliated like this?” 

“She is also the future Luna of this pack. Do you want me to get into trouble? Who would rule if she marries him?” 

“My daughter can rule, alongside Darius. They’re strong. Are they so blind that they’re going to let an Omega take over the pack? She’s only as good as a slave here. If not for her mother's legacy…” 

My heart broke over and over again. Nothing I ever did made them see me for who I was. For the past twelve years, they had been looking at me through the lenses of their hatred for my mother. 

I stepped out of where I stood, my hands letting go of the blanket. 

“You don’t have to worry yourself about running away. It won’t work. The Alpha is going to track you down anyway.” I sighed for what I was about to say next. 

“You wicked girl,” Agatha stood in front of her daughter, shielding her from me. I wondered what she thought I was going to do to her. Didn't she say I was Omega? 

“You’re responsible for this. What? Do you want to rat us out to the Alpha?” 

“No. It’s a warning. Never try to defile Alpha Kain. The marriage must still go on, no matter what.” My expression remained the way it was. 

“You insolent child! You—” 

“I will marry the Alpha.”