00004

Nyxana

I was woken up by a knock on my door. My eyes fluttered open and I quickly scrambled out of the bed to rush to the door. As I opened the door, I saw a maid standing there.

“Good morn—”

“Get dressed and come downstairs. The farewell party for Princess Rayne will start soon.” My mouth parted and she pushed the clothes that she was holding into my hands. Roughly.

“O….h Alright then. I'll get dressed.” I flashed a warm smile at her, but she did not return the smile and just kept a straight face. I expected her to walk away, but she still stood there. “You can go.”

“I have to wait for you. You will be coming with me.”

“There is no need for any of that. I will come with grandmother instead.” I relayed as Azmera was the only person that liked me here and she was the only one that I was also comfortable with, so I would wait for her to come get me.

“You have to come with me. Prince Kael’s order. And make it quick, time is running.” She snapped and I slowly shook my head before going into my room. I got into the luxurious bathroom and had a quick shower before getting dressed quickly. The dress was very uncomfortable and I did not like it one bit.

I did not dare to voice that fact out. They already hated me enough. After I was done with everything, I opened the door and the maid was still standing on her spot. It was such a hassle walking with heels and I could feel my legs hurting already.

She took onto my appearance as she looked at me from head to toe. Then she turned and began to walk in a direction. I silently followed behind her and she led me down the stairs and straight to a hall.

“Go inside.” She pushed the door open and from where I stood, I could see that the hall was filled with people and the atmosphere was tragic. The place was awfully quiet and everyone was standing paying their respects to Princess Rayne.

I swallowed, nervously taking a step into the room. The moment I stepped in, all eyes fell on me and I did not fail to miss the judgemental gazes. I was tempted to run out but I couldn't and my legs kept moving. They kept staring at me as if I was some sort of abomination, one who had come to ruin their lives, like I was the murderer who took their joy away from them.

I ignored it and focused on getting to the front. I wanted to say my goodbye to Rayne as well. I had almost gotten to the front when I felt a strong hold on my wrist and I was pulled away to a corner. I winced as I looked up to see the angry face of Kael.

“Where are you going to?” He demanded.

“To bid my farewell to Rayne?”

“And do you think that you deserve to do that? You killed her!”

“I did not. And you asked the maid to bring me here.” if he did not want me then why did he call me out?

“That was for other purposes.” my mind reeled. “Go back upstairs to the second floor and wait for me in the last room on the right,” he instructed and my eyes narrowed at him.

“W..w…”

“Don't start asking stupid questions. Go there. I will join you soon.” I should have refused, but Kael was already pissed at me, and I did not want my brother to hate me more than he already did, so I did what he wanted. I went to the room.

The room was a lot simpler than the one I slept in. There was only a single bed and the adjourning bathroom and that was all. I waited for about 20 minutes before Kael finally walked in.

“Kael,” I called in relief, but Kael had this cold look on his face. He locked the door with a key and I wondered why. “I’m sorry for what happened with–”

I did not get to finish when he slapped me and I did not get to recoil from that slap when I felt something come down on my skin. A whip. Pain shot through my body and I looked up at him in shock.

“Kael, what are you doing??” I asked in horror but he gritted his teeth hard as he hit me with the whip again and again. I tried to run, but he chased me and flogged me. Every new hit of his was harsher than the last.

“Do you think that you can just come here to take my sister’s place?” I cried as he landed a kick on me and I fell to the ground. My skin was burning and everywhere was hurting so much. “You can never be Rayne.” whip. “You can never be my sister.” whip! “You will always be the lowly and useless omega that you are. A begger, a rouge, a thief, you don't belong in this pack Nyxana and I will send you back to where you are coming from.”

“Kael, please stop,” I begged but he never stopped hitting me and some parts of my body were already bleeding. I wasn't just some weak omega, I was an omega who knew how to use her fists. Wandering for years had sharpened me. But I would hurt Kael if I tried to fight back and hurting him would only make my situation worse.

“You will regret coming into our lives.” He landed more blows on my body, kicking me as well and it did not look like he would stop until he killed me. I had to leave. Every hit of his burned into my skin and it was aching more knowing that my brother was responsible for this.

I did not stay around for him to actually kill me. I managed to stand and began to run around the room. I ran to the door first and when I pulled on the knob, he laughed. “No one is coming to save you. I will see to it that you get buried alongside Rayne. I promise you.” The look in his eyes said that he would really do that. That was why he locked the door.

I stood by the door, looking around the room for any means of escape. My eyes landed on the window and a new ray of hope shone on me. Kael was about to land another powerful punch on my stomach but I dodged his attack and ran towards the window.

“You will die if you jump. We are two floors away.” There was a mocking tone in his voice and he was right. The height was far and could kill someone if they jumped. But I was not just someone. I was Nyxana and I had jumped heights that were far higher than this before.

I placed my leg over the window and Kael’s eyes widened. “Nyxana, come here right now!!” I ignored him and placed my other leg over the window.

“Nyxana!” He called running toward me but I jumped before he could get to me. I landed safely on the ground and I began to run the moment I did. I would not wait around for Kael to come and finish off from where he stopped.

I ran, maybe with the intent of going back to my old home. But my other pack was far from here. My body was aching but that did not stop me from running. I ran to wherever my legs carried me and did not stop until I found myself in the forest. I did not stop even at that. I panted, my heart beating so fast. I just wanted to get away from everything.

“Move!!” I called out when my eyes suddenly landed on the person standing in front of me. I was running so fast and couldn't change my route and I could not stop my legs as well. He was not also fast enough in getting out of the way. I bumped into him the next second and the impact sent the both of us flying to the ground.