Chapter 4

*Comeback to Me*

Elara's POV:

"You're awake," his hoarse voice said as he walked toward me. "Why did you stand under the rain? You should have just gone home instead of making yourself sick from the rain." Harden scolded, his slender fingers held my chin, pushing my face to the side as he inspected me. It felt awkward. What if the Luna arrived? She would misunderstand the scene. I slowly stepped back, letting him know I was uncomfortable with this.

In self-realization, his hand hung in mid-air for a short while, clenching into a fist before he dropped it by his side. I could tell he was annoyed because his mood instantly changed. He was not the same person who cared if I was drenched in the rain a while ago.

"Why did you come here, Elara? I thought I already told you that Caitlin is my mate. You should stay away from our lives," he said.

"I didn't come here by choice. You made me come," I told him.

He tittered, "How?"

"My father."

"I never believed that there will come to be a day where you hate me so much that you arrested my sick father. Why, Harden?!"

"Don't raise your voice at your Alpha!"

Remembering his position, which was far different from mine in the pack, I became a little withdrawn, squirming.

He moved away, going back to the window and lighting a cigarette. "If you're here because of that, then leave. As the Alpha, I must punish traitors, no matter who they are."

"But my father is no traitor. For the past few years, you know the condition he's in. He has no access to high-end information and has been reduced to just an Omega. How could he betray the pack?"

"When you get to meet him, ask him that. You can leave."

"I know why you're doing this. It's because you want to punish me." I said, feeling desperate.

I got down on my knees, ready to beg to save my father. It felt terrible to show my weakness to someone I shouldn't, but I had no other option.

"Listen, Harden, if you want to hurt me further, please do. Do that, but spare my father and the condition he's in. He's already sick. What more do you want from him?" Witnessing his silence, I became more desperate. I forgot our boundaries and then crawled to his feet, holding his legs. "What more do you want to do to a man who has been bedridden?"

"I didn't ask him to sell information belonging to our pack. And if you don't believe me, I'll show you." He called on his beta, and after a few minutes, Derrick, his beta, appeared in the room. He handed Harden some papers before leaving.

"Look here, this is how serious the crime your father has committed is." He threw the papers at my face, and I bent to pick them up. The first one was a map, a map belonging to the territories of the pack with marked areas.

"Do you see the marked areas? These are places where our warriors are stationed to protect the entire members of the Scorpio pack. Your father marked out all of them, having worked closely with the Alpha before now. He wants the mountaintop Lycans to invade our pack."

I couldn't believe it. My father hardly left the house. How could he know all the warrior stations? And just like he could read my thoughts, he responded, "The security formation hasn't changed for years. Your father made a plan. Other papers show letters they wrote to your father, and the ones he wrote back."

A tear slipped from my eye. The weight of the crime was more than what I could defend. Whoever planned all this took so much time because there were barely any loopholes.

"There's only one way to save your father," he revealed.

"What is it? I'll do anything."

"My father hasn't heard the news of what happened, and I can help you clear his name without having to involve the elders and my father. I will do that if you come back to me." His words stirred something in me, anger. My hands clenched into fists, and I began to doubt if I heard him correctly.

"Huh?" I asked.

"You heard me. As the Alpha of our pack, I am allowed to keep any woman I want aside from my mate." He paused for a while, rephrasing his next words before speaking. "Although Caitlin is my mate and I'm not supposed to feel anything for anyone else, I still want to keep you. Do you want to know why?"

"I'm not an item to be kept," I shunned him.

"Don't be difficult, Elara. It's the only way you can save your Father."

"You rejected me, and it's fine, I accept. But I would never stoop so low as to become your mistress. I'm not like the other women, Alpha," I said, a bitter smile on my face. What did he take himself for? He might be the Alpha, but it didn't mean I'd place my soul on the ground for him to trample on.

"Find someone else."

"It's fine if you don't want to be with me, but then your father will be hanged on the gallow by this weekend. And as descendants of the traitor, you and your mother will be sent away as rogues." I looked at the grim expression on my face. He didn't look like the person I knew. This Harden was someone else. He paced back and forth, his steps restless. One moment, he clenched his fists, the next, he ran a hand through his hair in frustration. His brows furrowed,

"Don't do this, Harden. My family don't know anything about all this. I've told you my father is innocent. He would never betray the pack. The Scorpio pack has been my family ever since my birth. Punish me instead." I suggested. "I'll go in front of the elders and tell everyone that I sold the pack out. Let my father go, Harden. He's innocent!"

"You want to sacrifice yourself in your father's place? That's interesting." He turned quiet for a while, his mind roaming, and then he spoke. "You hate me and can never agree to be with me. Then I'll suggest something better. I'm sick of having to see your face, Elara. You're not understanding." The smile on his face showed how much he'd changed. The Alpha I knew was the most compassionate person who had promised to never want to see me hurt. He promised me that he would always protect me, including the things I loved, which included my family.

"You have to choose between yourself and your father. If you want to save your father, I'll cast you out of the pack, never to return."

I was sick of having to live here and being treated like a slave. It's better I leave than remain here. Anyway, he promised he was going to save my father. After much inward deliberation, I made my final choice.

"I choose to leave, but you have to keep your end of the bargain."

"So you'd rather leave the pack than be with me?!" He said with a surprised expression on his face.

"I never expected you to change so much. I don't feel like I know you anymore," he sniffled. "If I find you anywhere near the borders of the pack, I'll kill you with my own hands, Elara. I will."

After the deal with him, I went back home to pick a few things that I would need and put them in my sack in preparation for leaving. I didn't bother to bid my mom because she never cared about my existence, but my only regret was that I wouldn't see my father before leaving. I was on my way out when my eyes caught something on the table—my father's ring. I need something to hold close to my heart since I would never be allowed anywhere near the pack again.

I picked up the ring, holding it in my hand while memories flooded my mind. My father has always loved and cared for me. While he was still the beta of the pack, I was given a princess treatment, and he took me to the Alpha's home whenever he was free, but everything changed after he got cursed by the pack witch while trying to save the Alpha.

I spent the next 42 hours trying to cross the Scorpio Pack's borders. They'd expanded their territory over time, making it like a confusing maze. Finally, I made it through. The other side looked strange and new to me. Even though I was tired, I kept going. I just wanted to be far away from them. Ahead was a big road that split their area from where I wanted to go.

I jumped onto the road without thinking much. I was rushing, and everything felt chaotic. Suddenly, a loud horn blasted. A car was coming straight at me, its bright lights blinding me. I froze in fear, ready for the crash. I closed my eyes and shut my ears, waiting.

There was screeching from the car's tires and the driver shouting. Somehow, the car stopped just before hitting me. I took a deep breath, feeling so tense and the yellow Ferrari was the last thing I saw.