Chapter 25
Chapter 25
Khew
It carries a tone of something, not disgust or uncertainty, but something that’s cold, piercing and direct.
Briefly, I feel a loss in my body that’s so followed by the most unwanted, prickling sensation inside my chest. That discomfort spreads to every inch of me
Even that pales to the sheet pain in my body, more than the bruises on my skin. More.
1 feel guilty even without being as if I’ve done something terribly wrong. There is not even a word for that feeling, nothing that can describe it at all.
Before I can even have the slightest thought, the door to the library opens. The men that stand near the door jerk at the sound of it Aron nuns and moves away from me, not even sparing me another glance. As if I’m invisible to him.
Moments pass. Aron greets someone in an almost cold, stern voice that doesn’t even seem like his.
There’s a slight chuckle, like a snake in the room
“You should’ve told me you were coming. The voice is familiar, and I soon realize who it belongs to.
Alpha Elias.
“We wouldve prepared for your arrival to town.”
Aron chuckles and nears him. “All the better I did come unannounced, then. But I wasn’t sure myself. Didn’t want to trouble you, I guess
Their voices travel around the room, making its way through the empty corners and shelves. The others behind Aron give way, clearing the space between the Alpha and the other man.
“Nonsense. D’oro. Your visit will always be a delight for my pack, The way Alpha Elias speaks to him is so different, so welcoming that the sound of his words is somewhat jarring. “But what were you doing here? The party is outside.”
I quickly slink further toward the wall, hiding myself from the men completely, trying to disappear from their sights. But Alpha Elias still sees me and for a moment, his face scrunches with confusion.
“Ah. I hear Aron’s voice deepen, I was just having a little talk. It so fascinating how you spare runts within your territory, let them roam freely around the house. I didn’t understand this philosophy of yours but at least now, I do
Runts.
There are a lot of things you don’t understand,” Alpha Elias laughs but there isn’t any humour in his voice. “This little housemaid, do you have an interest in her? I mean she’s not so pretty-”
Aron doesn’t take that lightly.
The air changes entirely.
My gaze drifts to Aron’s broad, dark frame that he offers to Alpha Elias. His entire body tenses, his stance changes from relaxed to irritated and tight. His face is darker than the shadows.
“The female?” Aron’s tone holds an edge, only one I’m not very familiar with, one I’d never want to be on the other end of ever again. His list clenches. “She’s insignificant. There’s something else I want to discuss with you.”
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23:03 FRI, 11 Apr
Chapter 25
Aron heads forward toward the door. “Outside. There’s a certain issue at play and I’d love to discuss it.”
The whole library sounds as if nothing has ever taken place here. There are footsteps followed by the sound of doors shutting close. The latch squeaks before going silent.
I’m all alone, standing among the silence and the books and everything that has been left behind. My feet are shaky as I slide down onto the cold floor, my knees unable to support my entire body.
My mind is clouded as if everything isn’t real.
I close my eyes.
Everything had ended so fast. I had not even imagined such thing could happen. It was so fast, no traces left behind at all.
I clamp my mouth tight, but I can’t get this sick feeling to subside.
The guilt lays heavy against my stomach.
That means he doesn’t need me and that’s just fine. This is what I wanted, wasn’t it? He rejecting this mating bond and not paying me any notice. It’s easier that way, isn’t it?
It promises that there is not and will be someone waiting in the corners to come out. Yet, the sharpness and the suddenness of it makes it difficult to grasp. As if someone’s plunged the knife through the back of my heart and proceeded to twist.
There’s an aching pang right through the centre, too. I hold it tight, hoping the stab of pain will go.
And it does.
At least for a moment. It lessens little by little. Before I know it, it dissolves until I’m only left with the heaviness in my chest. I stare up to the roof.
So, now whart
Will he be gone? No more letters? No more of him trying to contact me? Nothing?
I rise on my shaky legs.
Part of me has already made peace with it. An odd, easy acceptance. I inhale and exhale again before I go out and get back to my job and find Ethel and ask if there’s anything I can do.
Anything would help at this point. Anything could be better than thinking of Aron and everything that just transpired
between us.
His scent is still there, everywhere through the hallway. It stings me like small needles.
I follow down into the main part of the kitchen and find Ethel. She’s with a few more of the staff and they are all–excited, happy. Or at least they appear to be.
“Ah, Rhea, Ethel spins around. “Where did you disappear?”
“I took a break. I murmur under my breath.
“Right,” She doesn’t say anything about it. “Well, did you hear?”
“What?”
“The Alpha took a mate amongst the eligible she wolves,” Ethel says gleefully, “She’ll become the Luna soon.”
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23:03 Fri, 11 Apr A·
Chapter 25
“Oh, I make a face I could hardly hide. That’s good. I suppose?”
Tr’s great, Ethel interjects I was so sure that he was never going to look for a mate. Considering how long he had been
single for
I keep my expression plastered on the same.
“Could we prepare her a room! Perhaps on the west side of the packhouse?” Nyla inserts herself into the conversation. “It would be most ideal and appropriate, after all, our future Luna of
“Yes, but this has to be arranged once the mating has been completed. And that hasn’t happened yet. We need to have patience”
I’m left in the quiet, doused in an unnatural calm. Ethel and Nyla chat on, making a considerable amount of plans in their head. They are quite excited about it all. And while I should have as well, I found myself to be far removed from everyone
When Ethel alone for a moment, I go back up to her and ask in a low whisper, “Could I go home earlier today?”
Her face tenses, “Why? Is there something wrong?”
“I just—I just don’t feel well I haven’t been feeling well and I think I’m falling sick”
She stares back at me, “Yeah, I have been noticing that since you arrived here. Did something happen last night?”
“No. Nothing
“Alright. You can take your leave early. It will be fine. And let me kn press further. Instead, she lets me go.
if you’re feeling well to come tomorrow.” She doesn’t
as my bag is in my hand and 1
I give her a hasty, weak smile and head out of the kitchen, into the staff corridor. As soon as change out of my clothes, I head outside from the back and leave from the gates.
My steps are fast, they rush across the pavement. Everything passes as a haze, everything from the dark storefronts and closed comers to the faint lights at the end.
I almost sprint, there’s a twisting deep inside my chest, and something I cannot escape from. And it hurts.
Aron has rejected me. And I’m glad it has come to this, but it hurt. It hurts a lot more than I was prepared to deal with.
Behind me, I hear a loud bang and when I stop to turn around, I see fireworks. They erupt one by one from behind the pack house, far away into the night sky. Shimmery sparks glow, falling slowly onto the dark gray and black atmosphere.
I breathe through my clenched chest and turn away again.
My feet know the path to my house, having taken this route for years and years. But I’ve never taken it this hastily, this anxiously.
The pounding keeps coming back to me, the knot in my stomach tightens.
It feels strange
Everything feels strange.
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