CHAPTER 5. My true mate

Hope's POV

I stood stiffly, my feet bound to the floor like anchors had been wrapped around my ankles as my brain struggled to keep up with what was happening. Everything was fast-paced and it greatly boggled my mind.

One minute I was hunched over the chopping block about to see what was after life, now I was standing between two guards who shared my confusion, as to what was happening.

“What should we do now?” One guard asked, I turned toward the other guard, eager for some sort of command that will warp me into reality, but he shrugged disappointedly.

My eyes danced toward the throne once more and locked with Orion's eyes. His eyes burned with the inferno of disdain and hate. I could feel it, even from such a distance, how much I repulsed him.

His heated gaze sent a ripple of shivers down my spine. I averted my gaze toward the floor, unable to hold his gaze. How was this possible? How was he my mate?

I would have believed the possibility of it years ago when we were younger if someone told us that we were fated to each other, but now? Was the goddess playing a cruel trick on me? Did she want me to die?

I pondered as the guard gripped my arm again leading me away from the theatre. My vision was immediately blocked by a soaring tomato that landed squarely in my eye, splattering its juices over ny face. The force of the projectile made my head cock to the side.

“Traitor!”

“You will never be our Luna!”

“Off with her head!”

The discordant chants of the crowd pulled me into a violent reality that it would never work out between me and Orion: they would never accept me. My eyes prickled with a familiar sensation but I wiped off the tomato from my face, masking my hurt with a blank expression.

The beautifully adorned walls gave way to the stone mesh with jagged finishings as the guards led me back to her cold cell. The hollow hall echoed as the sound of footsteps filled the entire place. The guards stopped and turned toward the direction of the sound.

“Alpha asked me to take her to the pack house,” the guard said. My eyebrows knit in confusion as the words sank in, take me? I asked in my mind.

“Now?” The guard holding my left arm spoke.

“Yes.”

No! I screamed in her mind. I didn't want to be near Orion or his family at the moment. The hateful glare he had given me was burned into my brain. He wasn't the Orion that I knew and loved to play with, he was someone different.

“Okay,” the guard handed me over and I darted behind, pouring the desperate salvation I meeded into my eyes. I would choose my cold dank cell over being in that house for a minute.

The guard led me as we quietly passed the large doors to the pack house and up the stairs. The beautiful scenery of the home reminded me of how wealth felt like as my eyes scanned the hall leading past a cluster of paintings on the wall till we came to a halt at a door.

“Your room, ma'am,” the guard said casually, no hint of mockery underneath his voice. I scrunched my face: the same man who I was sure had spat on me and ridiculed me, called me ma'am like it had always been routine. He bowed and walked away.

I shook my head and entered the lush room that had lilac pastel walls. The suave furniture complemented the colour palette in the room, displaying the aesthetic taste of the person who designed the room for me.

The bed looked so soft and I wanted to do nothing more than dive on it, but my gritty palms told me I needed to shower first. I turned to my right and approached the first door which turned out to be the bathroom.

I spent over an hour in the shower, somehow, I wished that if I spent that long then the bad memories and everything will swirl down the drain with the warmth of the water, but no such luck. I tied the towel sturdily over my chest and exited the bathroom.

The lights flickered on as I opened the adjacent door which was a walk-in closet that simply took my breath away. I gasped as I sighted the clothes dangling in various directions but arranged in gradients. I ran my fingers through the different textures of the fabric, but couldn't help a question that gnawed at the back of my mind:

How were they able to get enough clothes and prepare the room in such a short amount of time? The questions came but the answers were absent.

I pulled a drawer and sighted a pair of pants that looked comfortable to wear, coupled with a hoodie. The texture grazed smoothly against my bruised body, easing my pain.

As soon as I closed the door, the entrance to the room slammed shut.

“What the fuck are you doing in my room!?” The lady shouted startling me in the process, my eyes flinched as I stared at the lady with white hair.

“I'm so-sorry, I didn't…the guard led-”

“Will you shut the fuck up? Who asked you speak while I'm speaking, you filthy wench?” The lady thundered in anger.

I squinted as I recognized the lady's face: she was the same lady who was sitting beside Orion.

“Baby!” The lady whined and opened the door.

“No-no, I'm sorry, please,” I apologized quickly, my heart pounding my her chest like a drum during a parade. I wasn't ready to face Orion, I wasn't prepared to see him.

“Yeah, babe?” Orion walked in, his eyes glued on the lady. She pointed at me and slowly, his gaze followed her direction and landed on me. His face morphed into irritation causing him to grind his teeth in annoyance.

“What are you doing here?” He spoke calmly but his tone was laced with so much venom.

“I-”

“She told me she wants to take my place, that since she's your mate that she will take over my room and replace me in your life,” the lady cut in sharply, leaning on his chest and heaving.

My mouth hung open as my eyes bulged in shock.

“That's not-”

“Shut up! How dare you? How dare you walk in to my girlfriend’s room and try to take her place? You think I don't know what you're up to?” Orion seethed in anger.

“You will never be my mate, Hope. My true mate is Kaia and I will never accept you,” he spat out venomously as he revealed Kaia’s neck.

He locked eyes with me and I felt everything go still: the pounding of my heart sounding erratic in my ears, he held my gaze as he sank lower and finally wrapped his teeth around Kaia’s neck, marking her as his mate.