CHAPTER EIGHT

NEILLA'S POV

The following morning breezed in with the skyline illuminated by the rising sun which infiltrated through the sheer curtains that hung on the window facing my bed. My eyelids were heavy, swollen from the bitter years I'd cried from the previous night.

Throwing the blanket over my tired form, I turned away from the light, feeling very reluctant to rise up to start the day. Matteo had taken me home, breaking the law for my sake in order not to have me witness the rites coming to an end.

There came a knock on the door. I flinched at first, then burrowed further into the bed as shame washed over me again.

The knock came once more and I turned deaf ears to it. Soon, it grew insistent, the short raps turning into loud bangs against the wooden door.

"I know you're in there right now, Neilla. Pretend all you want, it won't change the fact that what happened yesterday was in fact a reality. Fucking get over it bitch."

I sprung up from the bed in shock. That was Mirald, Matteo's girlfriend and mate.

Yup! He had a mate and no, we weren't enemies tearing each other's heads out. Weird as it might sound, we actually went along pretty well.

I admit that I had a tiny bit of a crush back then on Matteo, the way his unruly hair blew about in the breeze and his blue eyes twinkled and shone in the sunlight. His dimpled smile and attentive nature. I was beyond heartbroken to find out that he wasn't my mate. She was the new girl working in the shelter for orphaned pups.

It didn't help that the feelings I had for Matteo wasn't reciprocated since he merely saw me as a little sister to pester and Mana Sylveon treated him like her son. I squashed whatever feelings I thought I had and squared my shoulders to focus on other things, throwing all of my weight actively behind for distraction.

Now, we were really close friends thanks to her free spiritedness and her equal passion for the pups. If the other matrons didn't know me from the start, they'd have concluded that she held way too much compassion for those little ones.

"Don't let me break down this door." Her warning pulled me back to reality as I threw the covers off of me, moving towards the door.

I plastered a huge smile on my face immediately I yanked the door open to reveal a glaring girl behind it.

"Hi, Miraldina." I bit out between clenched teeth, stepping aside to usher her in with a sweeping motion of my free hand while the other held the handle.

"What happened to you? You look like you woke up in a freakin' dumpster! Why are you doing this to yourself?" She half yelled, stomping her way over so she could close the door herself since I was standing like a frozen friggin' bimbo.

"I'm fine." I muttered more to myself, angry that she could read me like an open book. I walked back to the bed, plopping down on it with a huff.

She drew near, placing tenderly a hand on my forehead then gently placing two fingers underneath my chin in a bid to make me look at her.

I found compassion in there alright. She was looking at me the same way she would those little hopeless pups but this was way more intense. She was peering into my eyes as though searching for answers I had none to offer.

"If this is entirely about Rylan, the whole paleness and dull brown eyes, then there's something more to it."

I drew my head back, breaking the eye contact and standing up to put my bed in order. It was, all of a sudden, looking like an eyesore. "There's nothing wrong, Mirald. You're overthinking these things."

I heard her sigh behind me as I proceeded to pull the curtains open, allowing the sunlight swim in and light up my room. Still, my mood was dampened even though I wished the sun could somehow lift my spirits the way it touched every other place.

"I never would have thought in a million centuries that Rylan would openly embarrass me like that, picking another as his Luna even when the rest of the kingdom regard us as mates already." I blurted out, feeling weary from bottling up my feelings.

"You know--" Mirald began.

"My wolf has refused to talk to me despite all pleas. She blames me for pushing away our mate. I've tried more than a few times to explain the point here. I just want to wake up and see that all of this that have happened is a nightmare." I folded another blanket, absentmindedly placing it on the bed.

"I've done everything he asked me to. Read books I never even had any initial interests in. All for the sake of the mate bond which he took and rubbed into the mud." I was pacing the room back and forth now, anger fueling my pain. "He had every audacity to introduce her to me and attempt to make me a second option when I'm his mate, Mirald. His bloody mate."

"Neilla, calm down."

"I thought we'd be perfect together, a beautiful match made to last. A match designed by the creator herself." My vision started to have a slight tinge of yellow. The angrier I grew, the more curses slew from my lips.

"Neilla--"

"What?!" I snapped. My chest heaved up and down as anger blazed through my chest like a fiery tornado. Then I came back to my senses when I saw the look in her eyes. She looked disappointed.

"Mirald," I began hesitantly, "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, you better be." She eyed me up and down before exhaling. "Look, we need to get you out of this room and in front of those kids. Okay? Before you do something stupid like jumping out the window with the curtain wrapped around your neck because some idiot broke your heart."

For the first time since yesterday, a smile broke out on my face. I poked her head playfully. "Careful there. He's still your alpha."

She scoffed with a roll of her pretty eyes as she started to rummage in my wardrobe for an outfit for me. "My alpha is dying. He isn't my alpha yet. He's still an acting alpha and until he becomes crowned, I'm not going to be a loyal dog."

I grabbed a pillow and aimed it for the back of her head. She spun quickly around with an angry look. "What was that for?"

"Your dog jokes are annoying. You forget you're also a dog, you silly mutt." I feigned anger but couldn't keep the straight face as we burst out laughing.

She returned back to her self-imposed mission; finding me an outfit since I was bad at assembling them together and that was her area of specialization. Plus, she was my friend. "That smile suits your pretty face, Reneilla. Let it remain there, giving your dull eyes glow."

I sighed, plopping back down on the bed. "Is it that obvious?"

"I tell you that even the pups will notice that their fave is not in a good mood. You know the younglings are more in tune with their emotions than we adults are. You don't want to get them worried, okay?" She turned to drop a purple hoodie that said 'purps rule'.

I think they meant pups, right? Well, that's what I make myself think anyway since I loved taking care of those cute little bundles of mischief and trouble.

A grey sweatpants followed next, along with a grey headband to hold my hair in place. Mirald then danced along to the tune of her whistle as she stopped in front of me.

"Today's going to be a very busy one for us as I think there are new intakes. According to Lenora, some of those kids were adopted yesterday after the fresh attack on more of those homes closer to the border. Some were wounded physically, while some scarred for life."

I gasped, taking in the news and failing to keep myself from creating a mental image out of her words. A slight tremor of fear coursed through my spine, chilling and raw. My vision of the background started to blur and my stomach turned and churned.

This is not good, I thought, dashing straight into the bathroom to throw up whatever I had left in my stomach.