Chapter 3

ADIRA

Richard's words play over and over in my head like a broken record on repeat. I want so much to believe that this is nothing but a dream but sadly it wasn't. It is really happening.

I swallow when I realize that the man standing in front of me is not my Richard anymore. He is not the same man that I fell in love with. He is now a shadow of the man who I once loved. Richard has never truly loved me because if he did, he would never have willingly arranged for me to be sold as a sex slave to a man like Alpha Conan.

All these years, I thought that he was the best thing that had ever happened to me but I was wrong. He couldn't even defend me from all those people when I was accused of stealing neither did he believe my words. Instead, he joined them to point fingers at me and as if it wasn't enough, he is here to send me away.

Staring at him, the tears that I have been holding in for so long eventually fall from my eyes. I must’ve been so stupid to have thought that a worthless, orphan omega like me would find love with an Alpha’s son. I must've really dreamt of being Cinderella but only in my case, the glass slipper didn't fit. It never belonged to me.

"What did I ever do to deserve this from you Richard?" I ask, my voice filled with pain but he doesn’t seem to care. Has he always been like this or did I ever notice the red flags and chose to ignore them.

I know what happens to girls that are sold out to Alpha Conan not to mention the horrible things that he does to them. They are used as trophies and to satisfy their own pleasures. They almost never make it out there alive which would also be my fate if I'm given to him.

"Every night I slept in that cold cell..." I start, stifling my tears. "I kept on telling myself that you would come for me. I knew that you were upset but deep down, I prayed that the love you had for me would be enough for you to see past all the lies that were told against me."

The more I speak, the more the angry tears wouldn't stop falling. Each word breaks something inside me and I feel my heart chip away. I have grown up to love this man but he has never really loved me as much as I did.

"Aren't you asking for too much?" He mutters, staring at me with nothing but pure disgust. "Who would want to ever love you after everything you had done?"

"My family has been nothing but kind to you. My mother treated you like her only child. She practically raised you after your parent's death." He yells at me, eyes full of rage.

"And how did you choose to repay her kindness? By stealing from her and as if it wasn't enough, you lied to my face as well." He went on to accuse me. I couldn't bring myself to counter his words because he has already formed an opinion about me. There's nothing else I would do that would change that.

"I should have known all those years not to expect anything more from a worthless and ungrateful omega like you." He spits at me furiously.

"There's nothing waiting for you here and my family have done enough to help you throughout the years. The best you can do right now is to repay us and you can only do that by becoming Conan's slave so pack up and get ready to leave."

"No." I reject, as I shake my head vigorously. Richard stares at me in disbelief like I've grown another pair of heads. "I never did anything wrong and you have no right to force me on that man. I will not let you treat me like trash anymore, Richard."

I wipe the tears off my face aggressively. "Whatever we have or had between us ends right here and now so you can as well give up trying."

Picking up a coat from the stand, I wrap it around my body and turn to leave when the door pushes open and Diane walks in.

The mere sight of her makes my blood boil. She is pretty much the very last person that I want to see in this pack. I can forgive everyone for what they did to me but I'll never be able to bring myself to forget what she did.

"Where do you think you're going?" She inquires with a snort, her hands fold across her chest. "Do you really think that you can run away from here?"

"No one is going to accept you in their household after what you did. Word going around in every pack is that you're a thief who stole from Luna. If Richard doesn't want you then who will?" She goes on to say.

I can feel the anger slowly rising up in my chest as it settles there. The more she speaks, the more the rage builds up and sizzles inside me.

"Just accept your fate as his sex slave. Trust me, it'll be better than anything you've ever—" she is saying when I hit her across her cheeks. She staggers and falls to the ground.

"You don't know anything about me Diane so how could you accuse me of stealing?" I stalk towards her as she tries to scramble away from me.

At that moment, the memory of being locked up in that cell floods through my mind, the pain of their accusations, their betrayal against me and the hurtful words they have said to me came rushing back in, hitting every nerve and firing every synapses in my body. 

I strike Diane again and just as I am about to give her the third blow, Richard grabs hold of my arm to stop me from hurting her. I slowly turn to look at him, my eyes darkening in rage. It feels as if something has taken over me. My vision blurs, the room shrinks, and all I can see is Diane's face, contorted with malice. 

Richard lets go of me almost immediately and takes one step further away from me.

"Adira, stay back." He warns but it only seems to infuriate me. I raise my hand to strike him when Diane jumps in to protect him. I try to stop myself from hurting her but I can’t do it. Whatever I was feeling in that moment was too strong to control. Without giving it much thought, I grab her and throw her across the room. She crashes into the nearest wall and goes unconscious.

"D-Diane!" Richard stutters as he rushes to her aid. He picks her up in his arms and tries to wake her up but she doesn't budge.

"Wake up Diane. Please wake up." He pleads desperately. "What have you done to her? What did you do?" He screams at me and I slowly feel myself snap out of whatever that took control over me.

"What have I done?" I mumble to myself as I stare at the unconscious Diane and angry Richard that was trying his very best to revive her. Did I actually do this?

"Guards! Guards!!" He screams at the top of his voice, alerting the warriors. Realizing what was about to happen, I hurriedly dash out of the bedroom. I can't afford to go back to that cell or be a sex slave. Life anywhere will definitely be better than any one of those options.

"There she is!" I hear the familiar voice of the guards as they spot me. They run towards me and I am instantly full of dread. "Get her!"

I break into the nearest room as I try to navigate my way out of here but just as I am about to make a run for it, I bump into someone that resembles a huge wall. I almost fall to the ground but a huge pair of hands grabs me by the waist and pulls me closer in an attempt to rescue me.

Something tingles inside me when my nostrils catch a whiff of his cologne. Whatever smells this nice was divine and heavenly. For a second there, I have forgotten that I am being chased by warriors to be locked away.

I try to pull away from his strong clutch but he only holds on tighter, causing my stomach to tie up in knots. Before I can understand what was going on, he grabs me tightly by my neck as I struggle to breathe through my mouth.

"You're finally here." His strong, deep and masculine voice resonates through my ears, leaving me mesmerized despite my current situation. Who is this man? What exactly is happening to me? What is this unfamiliar feeling settling down at the pit of my stomach? Why am I suddenly yearning for this strange man?