SIX - Taking It In

SAGE

How could they do a thing like that to me?!

Who on the face of the earth—will consciously reject their child like they all of a sudden no longer matter?

As I paced the room I was brought into the moment we reached the pack, these and many more thoughts were running around in my head.

Wrapping my hand around an answer was also an impossible thing to do, and for once, it dawned on me that the people I called ‘family’ hated me so much.

How dare they?!

Rage was an understatement of how I felt at this very moment. And for all that I knew, there was only one thing stopping me from running away from this pack and heading back to the Moonclaw Pack to carry out a well-deserved revenge on them.

Especially Eleanor.

That bitch.

I would rip her heart out of her chest if I could. Why wouldn't I? She had finally become a thorn in my flesh and only one thing stopped me from dealing with her.

It was the unavailability of my wolf. Something had happened to Silver.

Something I had yet to decipher.

And there was no way I would be ignorant of the fact that it was none other person than Eleanor who had hurt Silver.

The way she had looked at me.

With happiness.

A genuine one.

The kind that showed nothing but her hate for me.

Damn them!

Damn that family.

Now this?

A marriage I did not in any way see coming.

To none other person but an ugly Lycan prince, according to what I have heard.

Stopping in my tracks, I heaved a sigh.

I walked out of the room in seconds, heaving more sighs while these thoughts did not for once, stop running around my head. I was almost having a headache.

I was too young for all of these.

Did my parents for once think that I wouldn't love to have a good life like every other person? Human and wolf. Why would they then do this to me?

Stopping in my tracks, I looked around.

“My lady?”

From behind, a woman called. I turned around and looked carefully and there was a maid.

“Is there something I can do for you, Lady Sage? Why are you out of your chamber at this time?”

I looked around the hallway, stopping at her face.

“Is there a rule in this pack stating we're not allowed to come out of our rooms at night?”

“Not at all. I just—”

“I am not headed out—” Tired of hearing her voice, I cut her short. “I'll remain in the living room for some time.”

I started walking again, catching up with the staircase that left me wondering if this was the same route I passed when I was being taken to my room hours ago.

I was so angry that I couldn't even notice the settings of my new home.

But, in a short while, I was walking down the stairs. It didn't take long to catch up with the living room area, while I looked around and didn't stop until I caught up with a couch I believed I liked more.

Why did I even come out here?

Wasn't it better I stayed back in that room and thought about my life?

Starting from how I had been pushed away from the place I call home, and even how I lost my wolf, down to my fate of getting married to the most ugly man I would ever meet in a few hours. How ugly did he look?

But why did I bother about Silver?

Eleanor had done what she had done to her and now that she was gone—no longer existing, shouldn't I be happy that I get to live the life I've always wanted?

It also meant that my family would have accepted me if they knew that Silver was gone before I left for this pack.

There was just no way they would end up handing me over to the man who had come to take me.

That man who I had a nasty feeling about.

And then, the ugly man I was supposed to be married to in a few hours, will never get to see me because it would be Eleanor who would be his bride.

It was supposed to be so from the onset, after all.

My life could have been much better.

More than just better but look at me.

“My lady?”

Again, the voice of a maid snapped me out of my thoughts. From where I was seated, I looked up to meet her gaze. “What is it that you want, maid? Do wolves in this pack get to have moments to themselves at all?”

She bowed. “Forgive me, my lady—” mouthing, she looked at me once more.

“I just needed to know if you needed help with something. I have arranged your room for the night, but I don't know if you would love some food before you retire for the day.”

“I don't want to eat. Thank you.”

“How about water, my lady?”

“I want nothing from you, maid. You can now leave me to my thoughts, I beg of you. It's enough that I'm getting married to an ugly man from this pack tomorrow. I need some time to myself.”

“Ugly?”

I looked at her.

Was she one of those people?

One of those people who knew the truth but chose to tell a lie.

“Do you have something to say? Go ahead and defend the Prince if you deem it fit. He's your Prince, after all, and may have sent you to make a good impression about him.”

“I'm sorry.” She turned her back and walked away. Something I wished for since a long time ago. Heaving a sigh, I made up my mind to not think again.

This was my fate, after all.

On the brighter side, it was good to leave that pack.

The sight of the people who didn't hesitate to remind me that I was a piece of trash.

But what was waiting for me in this pack?

A scent I was certain I recognized, filled my nose. I

I snapped out of my thoughts, looking around and catching his gaze. There was something about the man. Something I couldn't lay my hands on. And may not.

Why did he look so handsome?

Why wasn't I getting married to this man instead?

Why not the Lycan Alpha? Why the Prince?

“If you asked me, I'll say it's late to be out of your chamber, Sage. Is everything okay with you?” He was standing above me, staring down and walking around the space before settling on a couch far away from mine.

He was handsome.

I could see that even in the dimly lit room.

Why was life so unfair? And why was I attracted to him instead of the man I would be married to in a few hours?

A man I should have seen by now.

Well, who gets attracted to an ugly man?

“I want to be here,” I said as I adjusted on the couch. “Am I also not allowed to walk around the pack, Lycan Alpha?”

He let out a laugh.

One I should find disgusting.

What was funny?

“My name is Knox, Sage. You can call me Alpha Knox. Please, don't call me that. And why are you not asleep? I mean, shouldn't a woman like you be having dreams about tomorrow by now?”

“I should, my lord. But how can I dream of a wedding when I have not the slightest idea who the groom is and what he looks like?”

“It's not supposed to be done that way, Sage. Not when it involves a Lycan Prince. It's different if it was an Alpha like me. I have all the rights in the world to talk with my wife-to-be before that day.”

Everything he said—was sounding like a lie.

Like he didn't want me to see how ugly the Prince was before the wedding. This way, I don't get to plan my runaway from the Pack.

“Are you listening to me?”

“Yes.”

He got on his feet now, heading in my direction.

“One of the maids said you're yet to be asleep so I thought I should come see for myself. At least to know if there's a problem, but it doesn't look like it.”

Of course. Did he expect me to confide in him like that? How possible was that, even?

“I am fine, Lycan Alpha. Thank you.”

He started walking away, stopping in his tracks the next moment. What did he want this time around? It was my turn to look in his direction.

“I forgot to say that your outfit for the wedding has been provided. It's hanging on the bed in your chamber. After looking at it, you should hang it in the closet before retiring for the day. Have a good night, my lady.”

A good night?

Forgetting my worries, I jumped on my feet.

Hurrying through the stairs, I caught up with the hallway that led to the door of my room, while I walked into it—beholding the beauty lying on the bed.

It was beautiful.

More than beautiful, in fact.

Shutting the door, I walked closer—taking a seat on the bed as I wondered how it would fit.

But was it worth it?

For all that I knew, I wasn't getting married to the man of my dreams. So why was I happy? It was so bad that the people of this pack could not show him to me, but have chosen to lie that it was their way of doing things.

I didn't want to wake up the next day.