CHAPTER 7

Liam's POV

I took a deep breath as the huge doors to my father's chambers swung open.

I got a look inside.

My father was already seated at the head of the table with my brothers by his sides.

I released my breath as I walked into the room and took my seat beside Elijah.

“Good day, father”, I greeted. He picked up the cup in front of him and drank from it without doing as much as acknowledging my presence.

“Are you imbeciles?”, he asked angrily as soon as he slammed the cup on the table.

All three of us were silent as he breathed angrily.

“I asked you two not to accompany your brother to rescue Leila yesterday. You disobeyed my direct instruction.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Henry frown slightly.

“With all due respect, father, the only reason they were able to come back alive is because we went with him.”

My father immediately turned to Henry and gave him a very stern gaze. The latter swallowed nervously and lowered his eyes immediately. 

“And you. You're such a fool”, he said, pointing at me.

I bowed my head slightly, making sure not to meet my father's eyes. 

“How dare you call your mate a whore?”, he said angrily.

I sighed and blinked angrily, but not so my father could see.

That damn Leila. I don't understand why everyone else seemed to care so much about how she felt, but it was always causing unnecessary problems for me.

“From now on, it's your responsibility to take care of her until she recovers fully from her injuries.”

I frowned and slowly looked up at my father.

“Father, please. I'll do anything else”, I pleaded.

“I agree with him. I would like to be the one to nurse Leila back to help.” It was Henry, the simpering idiot.

At least he was smart enough to agree with me.

“I don't care about whatever you guys wanted to do. This is what you're going to do because I have said so”, father said with an air of finality.

I threw my hands up in surrender and leaned back on my chair.

“Your wish is my command, Alpha”, I said.

My father then turned his head to Henry and raised an eyebrow at him. Henry sighed and nodded lightly.

“Good. You all can leave now, and you better not fail me this time around”, he said.

I saw Henry glare at me as we all stood up and left my father's chambers.

As soon as we left my father's hallway, Henry pulled me aside.

“You better take good care of her.”

I frowned deeply at his tone. It sounded like he was instructing me.

“Too bad you can't take care of your sweetheart yourself, right? Unfortunately, you also can't tell me what to do”, I said as I shook his hand off my arm.

He stepped back in defeat, but then looked back at me with new determination in his eyes.

“I might not be able to nurse her back to health, but I will be monitoring you. I will let father know the moment I smell foulplay”, he threatened with a smirk on his face.

I shifted away from him and huffed in frustration before storming off.

How dare he threaten me?

I walked into my room and slammed the door angrily.

Everyone seemed to have forgotten that Leila was never one of us to begin with.

She was just a stray that my father had found at the ruins of an old pack.

I hated how everyone else seemed to prioritise her, and how my father even preferred her.

It was not fair. I was his son and I had never received that much attention or favour from him in my life.

Some part of me could feel it too. She was special and different from the rest of us, and I hated it so much.

It was that stupid mate bond. It was trying to make me see her in a good light, but I knew her for exactly who she was.

As soon as I remembered the mate bond, I felt my chest burn up with anger.

Leila was supposed to let go of the mate bond so that I could stop feeling this way about her, but for some reason it was still affecting me.

I wondered why she couldn't simply let go of the bond. I had never been nice to her in the past, so I saw no reason why she would want to be my mate, as if my two brothers were not enough for her. 

Maybe I just needed to be meaner to her and she would hate me.

I smirked wickedly as the idea came into my head.

I quickly changed into a more comfortable and homely outfit before stepping out of my room.

If my father and Henry wanted me to.nurse her back to health, then that was exactly what I was going to do.

As soon as I reached the door to Leila's room, I reached out and knocked gently. No answer.

I tried knocking again, and there was still no answer.

I sighed impatiently and opened the door anyway.

When I got in, the room was empty. I stared around in confusion for a while before smiling mischievously. 

I did not know where Leila had gone to, buy I liked the idea of being alone in her room.

I quickly walked to her bedside table and pulled open her drawer.

“Interesting”, I muttered under my breath as I saw a bunch of lace underwear in the drawer. Who knew Leila had taste?

I quickly shut it and opened the second drawer. It was just full of combs and hair clips.

I rolled my eyes at how boring her life was.

I walked to the bed and gently sat on it, looking around the room.

I patted her pillow softly and lifted it up.

There was a small wooden knife beneath the pillow.

It looked weathered and old, but it seemed to have been properly carved.

It was a curious thing to see under her pillow, and I reached out to grab it.

However, before I could get my hand on the knife, a door in the room opened.

I turned around to meet the direction that the noise came from.

To my dismay, it was not the entrance door that was opened, it was the door to the bathroom.

As I looked, I saw Leila standing there, also startled and stunned, but most importantly naked.