16: Finally, the truth
16: Finally, the truth
Sophia’s POV
I looked at Dianne to Alexander, expecting Dianne to laugh out loud and tell me it was one of her silly games but the room was as silent as a graveyard.
“This is another of your jokes right?” I asked her and she sneered at me and stood up from the chair. I looked at Alexander and he cursed out loud and left the room, leaving me with Dianne.
My heart was hurting so much. When I thought I had finally found a chance at love, this came to me, crushing me more than I could ever imagine.
The tears began to leak from my eyes even when I told myself I would never cry over a man. Heck! It was so hard to be strong, to shoulder all the blame and all.
Dianne walked over to me and rested a hand on my shoulder as if she cared about me. I didn’t have the strength to tell her off. I looked up at her and found glee nestled in her eyes. She was feeding off my grief. It made her happy to see me sad. Not like I had expected anything different but it was a huge slap to my face how I had thought everything would finally be okay.
“You should go pack your things and go with Alpha Ryven now. I heard he would be leaving today,” she said and smiled, her eyes crinkling at the edges.
I shrugged her hands off my shoulders and glared hard at her but it only made her smile more. “This is what you’ve always wanted. Happy now?”
“Of course. What do you expect? Alexander would be mine now and I wouldn’t have anyone to compete with me even if you were never a competitor to begin with,” she said and laughed in my face which made me more bitter and hurt.
I felt my legs almost give out under me from shame and mockery but I refused to let her see the end of me in my shame and distress. It would only give her more reason to mock me and rub it in my face.
“Well, good for you. I would be leaving for good. Take care of yourself,” I said and made to walk away but her words stopped me.
“You didn’t believe Alexander wanted you back, did you?” She asked me and her face was replaced with a serious expression. It made my heart lurch in my throat. I didn’t want to hear it. She was a liar
who wanted to break me into as many pieces as possible.
“How do you mean?” I heard myself asking her out of curiosity and she smiled and picked at her nails, circling me. I stared at the ground, my heart beating in my chest at what she had to say.
She stopped behind me and whispered in my ear, her breath ticking me. I wanted to run away from her, go to my room, wake up, and find out it was all a bad dream. That Alexander was hale and hearty and was still relentless in making me his mate and Luna.
“It was a bet he made with Orion about getting you back. You know how boys are. Not to wound his ego, he went for you.”
“Alexander would never do that. I knew he wanted me back with the look in his eyes,” I said and clenched my fists without looking at her. She scooted away from me and walked to the door laughing. She stopped when she got to the door frame.
“Suit yourself,” she said and walked off and I was alone in my world which had crumbled around, leaving me to pick up the broken pieces and hurting myself terribly in the process.
I looked at her retreating and a nurse walked into the room. I spun on my heel to prevent her from seeing me in my sorry state. This belongs © NôvelDra/ma.Org.
“Where is he?” She asked me and I swallowed, hoping my voice would come out strong.
“He’s gone,” I said and she gasped which made me turn around and look at her. I was intrigued and looked her in the eye, not minding how she saw me. It was already a known fact that I was a maid in the pack. So what exactly was I afraid of?
“Is anything the matter?” I asked her and she gulped audibly.
“Nothing. You should leave. I will report it to the doctor about Alpha leaving.” She said and hurried out of the room and I knew something was amiss.
However, I reminded myself that it was not my business what happened to Alexander. He sold me off without batting an eye. His mate and soon-to-be Luna. The thought of it made me clench my fists and I walked out of the room.
I was ready to go to Alpha Ryven. He had always shown me love and I knew he would be good to me but my heart didn’t beat for him. Maybe I was thinking too far into this and he only wanted me
for waft? The more I thought about it, the more I became confused and felt something wasn’t right.
Why would he trade over a piece of land for me - a worthless individual? There was more to the story than meets the eye and I won’t stop until I find out what it was.
I was on my way to his house when I met Dianne’s mother walking toward me. I stopped to greet her with a smile and she returned it with a smile of hers that did reach her eyes.
“Can we talk?” She asked me and I could detect a bit of anxiety from her. She looked to the ground and up at me again, smiling.
“Sure. Is everything okay? You don’t look fine,” I said and walked towards her to place a comforting hand on her shoulder. But I stopped myself and remembered we were not that close. She had only shown me love maybe because she had been guilty about the way Dianne treated me. But she had been nothing but an angel to me.
She filled the void of the loss of my parents in my life, making me feel like the mother I never had.
Dianne’s mother looked around as if expecting someone to spring up on her. “Let’s go somewhere quiet,” she said and took my hand in hers, walking towards the woods.
All of a sudden, I felt nervous and wanted her to begin to spill but I had to redirect her. We got to a tree and she looked around, making sure no one was with us, and let go of my hand.
“I heard,” she said and looked down at her hands before wiping them on her thigh. She was nervous which made me nervous.
My throat closed up from too many emotions. For a while, I had forgotten about my situation, how I belonged to someone else now and would be leaving the pack. I wanted to leave the pack for a very long time but I couldn’t because I was still a child. And now the opportunity came but I was afraid of what the future held for me in Alpha Ryven’s pack.
“Yes,” I said and looked away from her. My eyes stung with unshed tears and I knew I would miss her. Miss Dianne’s mother.
“Do well to take care of yourself. I know this pack has not been good to you when you were here and you would never miss it but I do hope you find the happiness you deserve,” she muttered with a voice thick with emotion and turned me so I was facing her.
I saw that her eyes held tears also and I was happy about her in my life. She was the only person who cared for me in the pack. She pulled me into a hug and I cried into her shoulder.
We pulled apart and she looked at me “I hope you can forgive Alexander for what he did in the past. I know your mother would have never wanted you to hold a grudge against another person. It wasn’t his fault as he was not thinking straight at that moment,” she said, rubbing the back of my hand in a circular motion.
My brows drew together in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
She sucked in a breath and pulled her hands away from mine. She looked a lot like Dianne but was the angel sent from the moon goddess to guide me in the wicked world.
“I thought you knew. We should forget about what I said earlier,” she said and I stopped her from walking away from me. She avoided my eyes and looked up at me sharply, a pleading look in her eyes. “Please.”
I shook my head, “No, I deserve to know. I won’t know I have to forgive him if I don’t know what I am forgiving him for,” I said trying to reason with her as my heart beat fast in my chest. I was tired of being kept in the dark. I deserved to know. And I had a terrible feeling what I was about to know would change my life forever.
She licked her lips as hesitation danced in her eyes and I took that as the perfect opportunity to try to convince her more.
“Whatever is in the past, I’m sure I can forgive him. And it won’t be much of a big deal.”
Dianne's mother bit her lips hard while her hands trembled. I held her hand and looked straight into her eyes and she sighed.
“I know you didn’t kill Rudolph,”‘she said and I waited because I knew she had more to say because of the way her lips were opened with a distant look in her eyes. She stayed like that for a bit, not saying anything more and I was drenched in curiosity
“If you knew, then why didn’t you come to my aid? Why didn’t you come out to defend me?” I asked her and backed away from her. I couldn’t believe that she would do that to me. When everyone ridiculed me and hurt me, she kept mute when she knew the truth. Her words would have gone a long way in helping me because she was the Beta’s wife.
A sad look crossed her face. “I’m so sorry Sophia. I tried to do so as my conscience judged me day and night but I couldn’t go against him. He would have killed me if I said anything.”
“Who's he you speak of?” I asked her and I had a duck feeling I knew who it was. There was only one person in the pack whom she would be afraid of and that is Alexander’s father. But why would he kill Rudolph and pin the blame on me?
“I’m sorry Soph. But I can’t tell you. I’m afraid he would come for me also,” she said with tears in her eyes. I walked up to her and held her hands.
“Please. I need to know so I’ll forgive him in my heart and move on even if he made my life in the pack hell,” I said and she hesitated and looked around us.
There was no one in the thick forest but she drew closer to me, “It was Alexander,” she whispered and I looked at her in the eyes to find her dead serious. She was gripping my hands so hard but I was unable to feel with the tremors in my heart
“Alexander?” I asked her and she nodded her head and hugged me. While my bones were stiff from shock and betrayal.