Chapter 3

AURORA'S POV.

Even though it’s hard, I calm myself and let the men lead me away from my bedroom without resisting. 

I still don't know what is going on.

This couldn't be because I refused to get married to that stranger. Are they taking me back to the hall to have been married at gunpoint? 

That's preposterous.

Why is my father so desperate to have me married to someone I don't even know? What is wrong with him?

If he hates me so much. If he wants to get rid of me so much, he can just say so and let me leave his house. He doesn't have to go these lengths. It honestly makes no sense to me.

When we get to the flight of stairs, I'm shocked to see my father and Crew standing in the living room. My sister, Rhea, is nowhere to be found.  Both of them are frowning and that makes me feel sick in the stomach.

For eighteen years, they have been in control of everything I do. From what I do, to what I eat, what I say, who I talk to, where I go, which is nowhere. They have dictated everything I do and to be honest, I have always hated it, but had no choice but to obey because I was a minor. But not anymore.

I'm eighteen years old.

I am now an adult and I'm not going to let them dictate my life for me anymore. 

I won't marry a stranger. I'm going to leave this house and if possible this pack as a whole and start up a new life somewhere else. I refuse to be their puppet.

When we arrive at the living room, the guards push me towards my father. Before I know what's going on, my father's steps forward and strikes me hard across my cheek. The sound of the smack fills the entire room and I scream as my head sways to the side as a result of the impact of the slap. Out of shock, I instantly raise my head up to look at him and to my greatest dismay, another hot smack comes landing on the other cheek. 

I burst into tears.

"Dad, why are you hitting me? I didn't do anything wrong!" I say shaking my head to get the haphazard strands of hair away from my face. My hands are cuffed behind my back so I can't use them to get the hair away from my face.

"All you ever brought in the household was bad luck!" He curses furiously. I'm so confused that I don't even know what to do.

"Dad what happened? Why am I being arrested? Why are you mad at me? Why are you hitting me? Please tell me what's wrong."

"What's wrong is, you killed your sister, you murderer!" His accusations make my bones buckle. I swallow my stomach. My heart goes erratic.

"What?" I ask almost breathlessly. My heart is beating so fast that I'm scared it might shut down soon. My eyes are spinning, my head is spinning, the world is spinning and I can't breathe. 

"No! I did not kill my sister. I would never do a thing like that. Wasn't she at the hall just a while ago? What do you mean by…" my words are cut short by another heavy smack on my right cheek. I quickly look up at my father and he's fuming with rage.

I'm still confused and angry and devastated.

My sister can't be dead.

And even if she is, I didn't kill her.

The activities of that day replay in my mind like a movie trailer. My birthday was going just fine, until I found out he was trying to marry me off to someone I don't know. A complete stranger. I also found out that my boyfriend, Crew, has been cheating on me with my older sister. Now he’s telling me she’s dead and I killed her. I don't know how I feel at this point in time.

Suddenly, the door to the living room bursts open and the most magnificent smell I have even perceived in my life hits my nostrils. I avert my gaze to the door and my heart stops when I see a young and extremely good looking man barge into the living room with an eternal frown masked on his face. He has both fists clenched by his side like he wants to fight us all in here.

Even in my current predicament, I do not fail to acknowledge the fact that he is  gorgeous and angry about something.

“Mate!” My wolf, Lena, screams in my mind as she sprints on all four hooves. My pupils dilate in utter shock. I blink one, two, three, ten times, but when I focus my gaze on him again, Lena still chants the word “Mate.” Flowers are blooming in my stomach and soft petals ticking every inch of my nervous system. It is the strangest phenomenon.

“Who among you here killed my brother?” His voice thunders throughout the living, making the walls tremble. The flower petals in my nervous system wilt instantly like a dark spell has been casted upon them. 

He’s looking at all of us, expecting a response, but I have none to give him.

“Answer me!” He roars at the top of his voice. I tense as an unexpected jolt rockets up my arm. I look at his face and my heart starts beating fast again. Just the sight of him drives the butterflies in my stomach nuts.

I’m feeling everything for this man at once. Lena says he is our mate. I can feel the mate bond. I feel a strong connection with him, but I don’t think he feels the same because of the deadly look he’s giving me right now.

"She did!" My father who’s standing in front of me accuses me. I look up at him in pure shock, the fear and pain in my heart turning into something dark and bitter.

Anger.

A tear threatens to fall from my eyes, but I blink hard to keep it at bay.

I’m done crying over this issue. 

"Dad, no! I didn't do anything!” I firmly deny the accusation and turn to look at my mate. He has a dangerous look on his face. "I don't even know who your brother is. I didn't kill anyone."

"Don't listen to her, Alpha. She killed your brother and ran away."

"No! I did not!" I scream at the top of my voice, shooting my father a deadly look.

And Alpha?

Why the hell did father just address him as Alpha?

“Aurora, if you deny the truth one more time, I’m going to teach you a lesson you will never forget!" My father’s words are dark and full of unspoken threats.

"But I did not do it!”

"Yes you did and I will prove it!" Crew, who’s standing next to him, throws a duffel bag at him and he zips it open. He starts taking out bloody clothes and a dagger and throws them on the floor. They are very bloody. 

My eyes shoot wide open. I am lost and confused and scared.

"These are her personal belongings. Her clothes, including her very own dagger. It has her name engraved on it. You can check! We found them near the corpses of my daughter and your brother. After she killed them, she came home to get her things and escape and that's when we caught her. Crew here is an expert in carrying out autopsies, he did so on your brother and my daughter, who is her sister and their injuries indicated that she was the one who killed them!" Father explains and I'm utterly and completely dumbfounded.

“No.” Is all I can say as I shake my head. I have so many words I want to pour out but they have been stitched to my tongue, leaving me speechless. “No!”

"Don't be fooled by her looks, Alpha Lucien.  She is a very strong Omega wolf. She is more powerful than everyone of us in this room…well… except you of course, because you are a true Alpha. It was easy cake for her to kill your brother and my daughter." Father explains confidently and I can’t believe he’s the same man who hugged me a few hours ago and said sweet words to me.

"Please Alpha, I didn't do it. I swear on my life I didn't kill your brother. I didn't kill my sister either. Please don't listen to my father. He's lying." I strongly deny the accusation, but the look on his face shatters my heart into a million pieces. He doesn’t look the least convinced by my pleas.

He takes two steps forward, his eyes trained on me. I melt like butter under his gaze.

"Do these clothes and the dagger belong to you?" He asks between his teeth and I look at the items on the floor, my heart hammering in my chest.

They are mine.

The clothes, the dagger… Mine.

This was all perfectly orchestrated.

I turn back to face him.

"Alpha Lucien, I swear on my life I…"

"Yes, or no!" His thunderous voice rudely cuts me off.  I creep towards him, tears stinging in my eyes, but I blink hard to stop them from spilling down.

That will be a sign of weakness.

I am not weak.

"Alpha Lucien. I swear I didn't do it. I don't know why my father is lying against me, but what I know is that I didn't do it. " I firmly defend myself, making sure not to let the tears fall. 

Does he feel the mate bond too?

I highly doubt that because he's looking at me like I am an abomination. After seeing the stuff my father took out of the duffle bag, he must surely believe him now.

My mate thinks I'm a murderer!

"You still haven't answered my question." He says with a stern voice. His eyes bore deep into mine. I can feel the heat of his gaze inside my body. It's frying every organ inside me and if he keeps looking at me like that, I'm going to drop dead on the floor and turn to ash. "Those items, do they or do they not belong to you? It’s a yes or no question." His eyes lack any ounce of warmth as he stares at me.

"Yes." I swallow the needles in my throat. "Yes, they do." I reply with a trembling voice as more tears well down my cheeks. My eyes are glued on my mate whose face has gone darker than it was when he got in here a while ago. 

He looks murderous. 

If he believes the lie that I killed my sister and his brother, then I'm doomed.