Chapter 3

 

I couldn’t move. I was numb all over.

Everyone refused to look me in the eye except Alec who was glaring at me with his elbows on the table and his hands clasped over his face. I didn’t know why he had that kind of expression but I was sure he enjoyed watching me being tortured in front of my Dad and his new fiancee—my little sister, Irina.

“Oh, before I forget, I bought something for you, Irina, dear,” Dad said to my sister happily, changing the cringing topic so badly as if seeing me standing in front of them was sickening, “I want to see you try them!”

Didn’t he just buy her new dresses the other day?

“Oh, Dad! Sure!” Irina was extra excited now that the burden of the family was no longer hers to suffer. She leaned closer to Alec and touched his chin with the tip of her finger, her eyes were like sticky honeydew when she flirtily blinked at him. “Can I go with Dad, love?”

“Sure,” Alec smiled at her and held her hand. Their sweetness to each other gave a wrenching feeling in my stomach.

Irina looked at me and sneered like a donkey, “Congratulations on your coming engagement, dear sister.”

I shuddered. Unfortunately for me, I couldn’t do anything to her no matter how much I wanted to slap that expression off her face. She was our father’s precious girl. And I am no one in this house. Just a weak, pathetic, Omega who was still lucky to have a home in a pack full of hypocrites.

And I hated myself for being weak. For being helpless.

A sob emerged from my throat as soon as Irina and Dad went out of the room, pretending as if what they did wasn’t a horrible thing to be given to a person like me with the status nearly of a slave. An Alpha for an Omega? It was an insult to the man and I didn’t know what came into Dad’s mind why he let Irina decide for a very trivial thing like this. That’s how I realized how Irina could easily manipulate Dad’s thoughts and soon, she will be leading this pack together with Alec.

That gave me more reason to escape from this place.

I was about to leave the room as well but a strong hand stopped me from going and pulled me so violently I almost landed against his body.

“A-Alec what are you—”

“Tell me why you accepted it!”

He forced me to look at his glinting red eyes, his voice sounding so sharp and angry. I winced. I didn’t know what happened to him! Why did he suddenly get mad like I did something terrible when it was the opposite of what happened?

Why does he take so much pleasure in hurting me?!

Terrified as I saw how his jaw tightened, my heartbeat went fast, and my breath turned rough as he squeezed my hand, intentionally hurting me. I tried to shove his hand away but Alec was too strong! He refused to let go and the first thing I thought was to scream.

But his eyes turned dark and the fear in me paralyzed my entire body.

“Answer me, d*mnit!” he growled ferociously it shook me.

“I-I had no choice—”

“Oh really?” he hissed scornfully and the disdainful look on his face hurt me more than the pain I felt on my wrist, “Why didn’t you refuse, Holly!?”

Then I felt something snap in me and my hand suddenly stopped trembling, my eyes turned sharp, and my lips curled against my teeth, shaping into a snarl, “Refuse?! I couldn’t even remember the last time I made a decision of my own in this house, Alec!” I swallowed hard, suppressing myself not sobbing in front of him, “I had to accept it to get away from this g*dd*mned place!”

Alec scoffed. Like What I said to him was kind of funny to his ears, “You wanted to leave this–this place? This pack? You are f*cking delirious to think that way, Holly! Alpha Randalf is already generous with you! You know you are only just an illegitimate child with no wolf! No one will ever accept you for being that way!”

His words were like massive punches in the gut that made me dizzy. Yes, I am an illegitimate daughter and Randalf Ambrose was not my real father. But Dad was an amazing father to me before Irina was born. After that, he changed until I was no longer worthy of his love and affection. My mother died of sickness and left me until everyone decided I was old enough and could do some housework and eventually, treated me like a slave.

But I remained strong. I never gave up hoping that someone would come and save me from this place. Away from my adoptive father and my abusive and cruel sister.

My mistake was I believed in too many fairytales and let Alec shatter my dreams into pieces.

I shoved his hand away from me and his eyes widened, baffled at the defiance he never thought I was capable of, “Yes! Maybe I am an Omega! A slave! But I’d rather be married to a cruel Alpha, or any wild beast out there just to get away from this place! Just to get away from you!”

Before Alec could recover from the shock after I yelled in his face, I half-ran, half-walked through the hallways straight to my room, and slammed the door shut, not wanting to see any of them. Trembling and shattered, I leaned against the door for support but my knees were too weak to go anywhere. I cried, my back sliding down the old wood until I was sitting helplessly on the cold, concrete floor, feeling so defeated and miserable.

I was scared. I heard so many things about the man they wanted me to marry and I just didn’t want to think that there could be a place much worse than the Ambrose Residence.

All I wanted was my freedom. To find a place where I could truly belong. To find someone who will cherish me and make me realize my worth.

But after Alec denied me so many times in front of everyone, it made me believe that happy endings never truly exist and life could only be worse as long I stayed in my Dad’s house.

I had to be brave and accept the fate that was waiting for me.