CHAPTER TWO.

                         Ella

I sat on the bed, taking an uninterested glance at my wristwatch. Like I had been doing for the past few hours. 

It was a bright new morning, and it had dawned clear. I glanced at my floor-to-ceiling windows and sighed. My room was dark, and I basked in the serenity it had to offer. I needed it.

I hadn't gone to the date last night, and if anything I dreaded heading downstairs. Scratch that, I dreaded having to face my father.

'Brace yourself, Ella. You've decided to leave, and that's the biggest decision you've ever made.' Wolfie's voice disrupted my thoughts, making me sigh.

That was right. If things boiled down to the worst, I was definitely going to leave the pack. 

A loud bang at my door made me jolt, my eyes automatically widening.

"Alright, here goes nothing," I muttered under my breath.

It was my angry-faced father at the door. "Father, I can explain..." I didn't get to let the words out, when a deafening slap echoed. 

My hands flew to my cheeks, leaving them there, as I threw a look of disbelief at my father. My heart turned cold, and I blinked back my tears. I spotted the lithe figure behind my father's, and my eyes narrowed. 

"Did you just slap me, Father?" I whispered, my voice cracking.

"And do you think I can't do that over and over again, Ella? You seem to overestimate yourself so much. To the point where you'd go against my orders." My father growled slamming his hand at the wall.

"Father..." I whispered and cried. This was the first. He had never hit me before. Maybe that was why the pain stung so much. Maybe that was why my heart felt like it had been stabbed by a thousand needles.

"You should be grateful that I'm trying to set you up with a mate! Haven't you disgraced yourself enough, Ella?" My father spat, disgust written over his face.

I didn't respond. I couldn't. As I stared at my father, who looked nothing more than a stranger at that moment, my heart turned numb.

"You'd better get a mate, before the week runs out, else you'd get ready to bid this pack goodbye. I can't fathom how in goddess's name I gave birth to a disgrace like you!" He fumed.

I jolted. The disgust in his tone could clearly be sensed. To think there'd be such a day when my father would say such words to me.

"To think that your sister has a mate." My stepmother threw in, and I felt my blood boil over.

"Oh? I had no idea she was." With glazed eyes, I turned to my stepmother, garnering all the self control I could, not to wrangle her neck.

"Head downstairs in an hour, Ella." And with that, my father walked away. My stepmother didn't tag along.

"And I'm assuming you have something to tell me?" Masking my emotions as I've always learned to do, I spoke.

She didn't say a word, taking a few steps toward me instead.

"I knew you overheard my conversation last night," she began.

I didn't flinch. I didn't know what games she was getting at, but I was pretty sure she was testing the waters. 

"What are you talking about?" I retorted calmly.

I noticed the surprised look which crossed her eyes at my words, a look that wiped off so quickly, it almost seemed like an illusion.

"Nevermind." She waved her hand and made to leave.

"Are you hiding something?" I called out coldly. She didn't stop.

....

I pulled up the curtains, once I was in my room, and sighed as sunrays poured into the room, illuminating it.

It was designed according to my taste. The floor-to-ceiling windows had black pull down curtains, made of crepe material. The walls had ornate designs on them, just the way I wanted them. And at a noticeable corner of the room, hung a beautiful portrait of me. 

Without thinking, I dragged myself up, and over to where the portrait was hanging. With one swift swing at it, the portrait moved from its position to the floor. The delicate frames shattered into bits. Observing the mess I'd made, my heart calmed a bit.

The portrait had been given to me as a birthday present, from my father. Recalling his words earlier on, the tears poured out fast.

To think that my father thought of me as nothing more than a disgrace.

It was dark when I finally opened my eyes again. I sat up, a dull ache in my chest. I'd fallen asleep on the floor, close to the destroyed portrait. My heart skipped a beat. Had I slept all through the day?

As I forced myself up, a strange numbness wrapped itself around my heart, and I  felt thirsty. Ignoring the button I could press on, and a servant would be right there in my room, I decided to get a drink myself.

The hallway was brightly illuminated, as I stared down at it, from the staircase. The trip to the kitchen was usually a short one. However, I suddenly felt like I had lead tied to my legs.

I grabbed a drink and headed upstairs again. However, noises from the living room halted my steps. For whatever reason, I felt that the subject of discussion was related to me. When I drew closer and heard them, I realized...I wasn't wrong.

"She's in her mid-twenties, and without a mate! That's unheard of. She's a disgrace." A voice that was unmistakably my stepmother's said. My heart skipped a beat. Trust them to talk about the issue of me being without a mate.

I could never understand the ignited hatred my stepmom; Gwen, had against me. The feeling became mutual over the years though. I hated her as much as she hated me.

Afraid that I'd flare up if I continued to listen, I turned to leave. However, my father's voice suddenly sounded, in his characteristic manner. Calm, yet firm.

"She has until the mating ceremony. If she isn't mated after then, I'd take action. She must leave the pack." He said.

That did it. With blinded vision, I rushed up the flight of steps that led to my room. 

I didn't care less about their discussion. However, I knew I needed to get out of there before I lost it.

My father's words reverberated through my mind, again and again. Take action? Of course, that was what mattered to my reputation-inclined father.

'Wouldn't you call her first?' Wolfie suggested once I was in my room.

'I was about to.' I whispered, a cold and angered look covering my face.

Taking my phone from the stand, close to the bedside table, I scrolled through it and finally tapped on a dial button.

A few rings and the person at the other end of the line picked up. 

"Hey, bestie..." A gay voice sounded from the other end.

I took a deep breath, in an attempt to steady my voice.

However, when I spoke, my voice sounded parched and cracked. "Can you come pick me up at the airport? I'd be coming over to Germany." I  whispered, more to myself than my friend.

Perhaps sensing that I wasn't in the best of moods, Lila didn't ask questions. And the goddess knew I was grateful for it.

 "Of course, of course," Lila replied calmly.

"See you then." I breathed and hung up quickly before I could break down.

As I packed my clothes into a bag, one of the few things I had ever bought myself, I took in the beauty of my room once more. Perhaps, I'd never return. Perhaps, I would. The air suddenly seemed suffocating. It was a place that held many bitter memories. One I would never forget in a hurry of course.

One thing I knew for sure, the relationship between myself and my father was definitely treading on a thin line. It had always been that way. Has there been a loving relationship between us at all?

There had never been..... Never.

***

Three hours later, I  stirred from my dreamless sleep, as the air hostess announced our arrival.

"All passengers should tighten their seatbelts, please. We'll be landing soon." Her firm voice sounded over the microphone.

I looked through the windows, at the clouds. I'd taken my first step to liberate myself.

Once I cleared my luggage and walked over to the entrance to the airport, I spotted my friend, Lila Amato standing close to a red Lamborghini. It was hard not to. She always stood out. Despite my sour mood, I shook my head. I could trust my friend's showing off skills. She was dressed in grey-colored fitting pants and a shirt, with black grey boots. She also had a big sunshade on. An epitome of beauty, she was.

"Hey bestie," Lila smiled, as I walked over to her. She engulfed me in an embrace. The warmth almost made me tear up. How long has it been since I saw her?

"Didn't think you'd get here so fast," I remarked, and I meant it.

"I had to. You sounded..... troubled. I called Vincenzo to come pick you up..." she rambled off, however, I wasn't listening. My heart had begun racing, at the mention of her father's name.

"..In case I didn't get here as fast as I wanted. His reply wasn't guaranteed, so I had to drive over myself." Lila finished off with a chuckle.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled, trying to sound calm.  Lila helped me put my luggage in the car boot.

"Not your fault, at all. It's Vincenzo's." Lila's friend waved her hands, as she refuted my apology, in her mild German accent. However, I noticed the weird look which crossed her face. A sullen look.

I shrugged, my external demeanour seeming nonchalant.  My friend was probably the only daughter who called her father by his name so casually. 

Finally getting into the car, and leaning on the backrest, I  closed her eyes and tried ignoring the effect Vincenzo's name had on me. The way it always made my heart skip. 

"Going to a restaurant, and grabbing something to eat isn't a bad idea, is it?" Lila asked as she turned on the ignition.

"Not at all," I mumbled beside her, from the front seat.

"It's a German restaurant though." Lila chuckled, as she began driving. I caught the teasing look which she threw at me.

"Drive Lila. A restaurant is a restaurant." I groaned with a tongue click. She chuckled lightly, however, she said nothing.

I diverted my attention to the sight through the window, as we drove on. 

Was my decision to come over to Germany a good one? It had to be. Even if it wasn't.....at this point, I  didn't care.