6: A Leap

ROSHIDA

“Won’t he get mad when he finds out?”

I looked at her, confused at what she was talking about.

“Who is that you speak of? Last I checked, I didn't owe anyone my whereabouts. So who cares if he finds out?”

I wanted to leave the pack back to mine today. It has been a while since I'd been away from my family and I wanted to go see them again. At least to let them know I was doing fine.

“I don't think you want to wear that.”

She looked down at her dress.

“What? I like this dress. Why don't you want me to wear it?”

“It’s not me. We have places to be today. Just trust me. Wear something else.”

Today was going to determine a lot. That was why I needed to go see my parents first. I needed their good luck to go with me.

“You know, I'm proud of you. For standing up to them. I didn't think you'd be able to do it. What exactly did you say that got them so mad like that? ”

That's right. I hadn't told Sophia that I'd decided to divorce. It was something that just slipped out in the heat of the moment and I'd gone a long with it.

At this point, it seemed like the best option. Divorce him and let Kelly have him. I wasnt losing him because he wasn't a real man.

That's why I had to take charge of my own life sknce he had done so with his.

As I came down the stairs, I met Grace and Fiona in the living room. Not paying any attention to them, I walked past them.

“Where are you going dressed like that? You think you can just stand up and leave this house when you please?”

I turned around to look at them.

“Who am I supposed to ask permission from? You? That's so stupid. Let's go, Sophia.”

I'd like to see them try to stop me from leaving the house.

“Wow, you really told her. I really thought you were going to trade words with her.”

I didn't have time to banter words with any of them. The journey was far enough.

We made it back to our pack. My heart broke when I saw what had become our once great kingdom. It was now a shadow of itself.

The buildings were beginning to look run down and it was only a matter of time before people began to slowly forget that there was once a pack like this.

This was not what my father planned for himself. But I was going to fix it.

Their graves were in the mansion. Behind the mansion actually.

My father had built a place for him and my mother to be laid to rest side by side. He said he wanted to be with her even in their deaths. My brothers had been buried there too.

The door had been sealed shut since no one was going to be around to look after them. It also helped avoid people coming to loot their graves in search of gold and jewels.

The last time I was here, I cried and cried until Sophia had to carry me away. That was a day after my mother's burial before I was whisked away to that dungeon.

“Hey mum. Hey dad. It's been a while. I'm so sorry I haven't been able to come back to say hello. There's just been so much going on. Mum, I don't want you to blame yourself for anything that's happening now. You were just trying to help out like all mothers do and I appreciate that.”

If either of us had known that Felix was a gold digger, we would not have gone ahead with it.

“But today, I'm taking a bold step to rid myself of that leech forever. I need your guidance. I'll make sure that he doesn't get a dime from anything. You can trust that. I miss you guys so much, each and everyone of you.”

I just stayed there and stared at their graves like it would make them come back to life.

I wish I could have my family back. Anything to have my family back. They were worth so much more.

Sophia placed her hand on my shoulder.

“We have to leave now, Roshida. You said we have somewhere else to be.”

That's right. If we didn't need it now, I would have to go back tomorrow to see him. I heard that it was a hassle just to finally get him to see you because of the amount of people who needed his attention.

I just hoped that there won't be a lot of people there today.

“Where are we going? Would you tell me now?”

“We’re going to see the Lycan King.”

If I stayed in that house and did nothing, then I won't be winning any time soon.

If they were making moves, it was only normal for me to make moves as well. Surely, they didn't expect that I would sit back and watch while they tried to humiliate me.

“What did you say? Why didn't you tell me earlier?! I can't go to the Capital looking like this!”

I looked at her.

“You look just fine. I did tell you to change your dress though. You're fine, I'll be in and out before you know it.”

I could still hear mumbling behind me about how she hated me.

We made our way to the Capitol and went to the waiting area.

The hall was filled with people and I cursed under my breath.

“You have got to be kidding me. This is exactly what I was avoiding.”

The fact that more people were coming in after us didn't make things any better. There was so much noise in the hall and I knew we were going to be here for a very long time.

I just looked around completely confused about what to do until I felt someone tap my shoulder.

It was a man and there was a mask over the bottom half of his face.

“You can go write your name over there.”

He pointed behind him and truly, I saw people standing in a queue to write their names. That line was equally long and when it eventually got to our turn, I saw that we were the three thousandth people to be here.

Before I could turn around to look at him, he had disappeared.

As we walked over and fought to make our way to write out names, we were the three thousandth people to be her.

“Do you see the numbers? We'll be here for the whole day.”

Now, I'm thinking I should have come here before going to our pack. Maybe we would have been done by this time.

Sophia and I found a place to just stand and watch as we didn't want to be caught up in the field of humans.

I didn't know how we would know when it was our turn but somehow, we would figure it out.

We had been standing for so long that my legs were beginning to hurt.

As if that was not enough, the guards came and told us that we had to go outside because we were making a hell of a noise.

I wasn't even talking but oh well…

Now we weren't only standing, we were standing in the sun.

The fact that we hadn't eaten all day didn't make the journey any better.

“Can we come back tomorrow? We don't even know if we'll get to see him today. There are still so many people before us.”

She had a point. If it was just me, I didn't mind staying all day until they called for me. But I had to consider her.

I looked at the watch on my hand.

“Let’s stay till it's three. Then we'll leave. Just a few more minutes.”

I was very tired too and I wanted to go home but when I thought about the house I was returning to, it didn't seem very appealing either.

Just then, We heard a guard's voice.

“Roshida Clark of Ràven Claw Pack!”

I turned to Sophia.

“Will you do fine without me or you want to come with me?”

She gave me a look.

“Are you crazy? No thank you. I'm not appearing in front of the Lycan King with a gun to my head. Have fun. Hurry up.”

I laughed at her cowardice and made my way through the rough crowd and met up with the guard who was waiting for me upfront.

He led me back into the palace and up two flights of stairs.

“The King will see you now.”

My heart was beating as I walked behind him. Was I wanted to do this or would this just make things worse?

The large wooden doors fell back and I took a deep breath, taking long strides towards the throne.

His throne was huge and his eyes were set on me as I closed the distance between us. The queen was to his side and the both of them stared at me like I had done something wrong.

I bowed.

“Your majesty, it's an honor to be here. Thank you for seeing me.”

“You say you are Alpha Clark's daughter from Raven Claw?”

I nodded but remembered who I was speaking to.

“Yes, my King. My father is the Late Alpha. I'm Roshida Clark.”

I stayed with my head down for a moment before I heard his voice.

“You may rise. You're such a grown young lady now. I knew your father. He was my very good friend. A very good man himself. Very loyal.”

My dad knew the Lycan King?

He turned to the Queen.

“Her father and I used to work together before I became King. At the time, I even proposed a marriage for her and our son but things didn't work out.”

A marriage?!

So I would have been betrothed to the future King?

I had no idea that they were that close.

”I had no idea, My King. My father never told me about anything.”

“Of course, after a while, war broke out and we lost contact. And then, I became King. I met you when you were just a little girl. So full of life. I'm very sorry for the loss of your family. You were all so nice.”

All I could do was nod. He was speaking very freely. I had expected to come here and be very formal but now, he was speaking like an uncle.

A guard walked past me and handed the King a piece of paper.

“I see here you're asking for a divorce from your husband on account of bringing another woman into your home. You married Felix? I had no idea he was married. And to you of all people. How did that happen?”

I explained to him what happened before my mother died and also explained to him why I want a divorce.

He looked back at the paper.

“I see. Normally, the time given for a divorce is after one year of marriage. It says here you've barely been married for five months. Three months infact. That's too soon. But I can help you in another way. I can make sure that he and the other woman never get married. He will listen to an order.”

I didn't care if they got married. That was not my business.

I just wanted to be free from him. Him not marrying her would just make him disturb my life even more. I didn't want that.

“My King, if I may. I do not wish to be married to him any longer. If he wishes to marry her, then I am fine with it. I just wanted to be rid of him and live my life. That's all.”

Whether or not he doesn't marry Kelly, it doesn't make him a better person.