Chapter 11-The sting of betrayal 

SERENA'S POV

Pain. Feeling ashamed. Confusion.

It was everything I felt at once. Everything happened so fast that I didn't see it coming.

My cheek ached from the slap but the empty uncaring expression in Derrick's eyes hurt even more. 

He didn't even stop her, he just stood there staring at us as if everything was like a movie

He didn't speak at all. Touching my face with my palm against the burned imprint left behind made my breath hitches in my throat .

The woman who hit me came even closer , her eyes blazing with rage. She spit out in a venomous voice .

“How dare you address the Alpha by his name, you lowly servant?.”

Alpha? My brain whirled. Was the Alpha Derrick? I stepped back, my vision going fuzzy as the realization hit me hard. Everything made sense now including the weight of the hatred in her eyes.

This was new.

How I'm I supposed —

He didn't tell me.

 However, why had he not informed me? Why had he allowed me to think he was just Derrick? Desperately looking for an explanation in his face I turned to him.

 But he didn't give me any. Didn't feel like I was there

His quietness was overwhelming. 

I felt as if a crushing weight was pressing down on me from the excessively thick air in the office and I was covered in shame.mynhewrt bled and I felt like the most hated person ever that even the moon goddess herself had forsaken me.

My heart was beating frantically in my chest as I ran down the hallways, through the corridors hoping thst I remembered the room I came out from, tears streaming down my cheeks. The woman's words trailed after me like razor-sharp blades cutting through me. 

Who does she think she is? She actually thought she was worthy?

A pitiful nobody. Derrick how could you allow such nonsense?

I kept running.My vision was blurry as my feet banged against the chilly stone floors. Despite my sobs choking me and my lungs burning I didn't care. All I needed to do was leave—from him from her and from this anguish. 

I exploded into the night through the enormous doors. The cold harsh air struck me but it didn't make my chest pain go away. 

I stopped, I had forgotten the room I came out from, I turned again, took a bend and ran until I came to the half opened door.

Only when my legs finally gave out did I collapse to the bed, my body shaking with sobs. I let the tears fall and let them drown me as my fingers curled into the wet blanket. 

What could have made me so foolish? I had never asked Derrick's true identity. He had led me to believe that he was just another person, just another wolf. He wasn't now.

He was the Alpha and I was just a nobody, a servant. That's the name she gave me. That’s what he allowed her to call me. 

More painful than the slap was the memory of his silence. He didn’t defend me. He try to stop her. 

 He had allowed it. My mate.

My breath shuddered as I pressed my forehead against my knees. 

 When I thought I had found peace and then it shatters.

 I covered my mouth in an attempt to suppress the sharp sob that ripped through me.

I had been so stupid to think that I was important to him even for a moment. 

I froze at the sound of the door opening.

My heart was thumping again as I wiped at my tear-streaked face. I raised my head.

“Serena.” 

It was Derrick. 

Pain sliced through my chest as anger flared. He stepped into the room  and I scurried to my feet, stepping back.

His face was expressionless and I wanted to yell at him to leave, to return that slap to him but instead I looked away.

There was something unreadable in his eyes, the same eyes that had once given me a sense of security. 

But I didn’t care. I was done reading between the lines. I'm done looking for significance in a man who merely watched me be degraded. 

“What do you want?”

My voice came out hoarse raw from crying. He took one step. 

I backed off a step. 

“Serena let me explain—.”

“Explain what?”

I snapped my voice trembling. “That you lied to me? That you let her slap me? That you let her call me a servant like I was nothing? Which one needs explaining?”

His jaw tensed. “You’re not nothing. “

I smiled, a thin smile that didn't really spread across my lips.

“You sound so ridiculous. You literally made me feel that way, Derrick.”

 I shook my head, my hands clenched into fists. 

“You could have said something Derrick. You could have stopped her. You could have defended me.”

“I hate this but it's not as you think it is.”

“Yes it is!” I shouted. It’s as simple as standing up for someone that is your mate.”

The words hung in the air between us heavy and suffocating. He looked away exhaling slowly. 

“Serena, I have responsibilities. There are rules and expectations—”

 I let out a humorless laugh. 

“Right. And I don’t fit into them do I?”

Silence. And that was my answer. A sharp pain sliced through my chest but I refused to let him see me break again. 

“ Why did you hide your identity?” I asked, almost yelling. “ It's so disheartening.”

He swallowed hard. “I know.”

I nodded a bitter smile curling my lips. “Then it wouldn’t have hurt this much.”

His eyes darkened his body. “Serena—”

But I shook my head. “No. I’m done listening.”

 I looked out of the window.

My thoughts were fighting in .y head and I didn't want to do this, I should rather let go than ask but I did 

“Did you—”

“Yes.” He said. “ that you are my mate.”