chapter 15

A sombre mood arrested the vicinity, a heavy blanket of horror and fear covered the atmosphere. The room was tense, cottoned with a sense of suffocation. Sabrina, though I had not known her well enough, did not deserve to die the way she did. Certainly not because of me.

"What is wrong with you?'' I spoke slowly, tears cascading down my cheeks as I looked at him, his back still facing me. His parents were still standing across the entrance, his mom, sobbing quietly as Lucas' father held her.

"How could you be such a monster?'' I shouted, fist clenched as I moved forward. I watched as his back tensed, his shoulders clenching before he slowly turned to face me. This time, despite the overwhelming fear I had for him, my anger and disgust for what he had done and who he was compelled me to speak up.

"I told her,'' he said, quivering his head. "She did not listen.''

"She is your sister!'' I spoke, feeling the guilt choke me. I have no family, no one to call a loved one. I have not been spoiled with the chance of forever having a mother and father who'd support me. Yet, my mate treats his family like they are villian.

"She has been for two hundred years, nothing has changed.'' He argued, as he began approaching me. "You're soft-hearted and w...''

"Weak!'' I finished the sentence.

"Weak.'' He mirrored. "But being weak isn't a bad thing. I will protect you little one.''

His form slowly began retracting, his eyes slowly began flickering back from black to gold. His breathing was normal, his shoulders fell, and he looked at me, no longer with urgency and anger. The tension in the room lessened, and was replaced with a sense of satisfaction.

I stared at him, feeling the anger boil inside me. There she was, lying in a pool of blood with her tongue pulled out. Having been killed without a care in the world. By a monster who demands respect but commands fear.

"You are a monster, Lucas Morretti.'' I let out in a firm voice. "A monster in human form.''

His lips arched to a smirk as he stared at me, slowly closing the distance between us.

"I am your monster.'' His words were pumped with pride. Yet they scared me. No part of me would ever resonate with this behavior. What if...What if my child becomes like him?

The very Thought of giving birth to a monster like him paralyzed me. I haven't lived my entire life as a slave just to give birth to an enslaver. Is this what life has reduced me to? Is this the circle of life that kept on punishing me? did I not deserve any happiness or to take a breath from all this nonsense? Why did the moon goddess hate me so much?

“ You are my mate. I understand why you are scared and I understand that as a werewolf, things like this don't happen so easily. But this is the way of our family. Sabrina was out of line. she disrespected you which was equal to disrespecting me.’’

I didn't understand why he bothered to explain to begin with. He had already made it clear that he hardly ever explained himself nor did he repeat himself after giving a command. The truth is that I was tired. not just of him but of putting on this Facade. I didn't want to keep covering up anymore. I did not want to keep pretending to be something I'm not. I am not happy. I am not free. I am not his mate, I am his slave.

“ I do not want to be with you.’’ I spoke mustering all the courage I could get. I met his eyes. And they were filled with emotion. that same amount of emotion that he claimed he didn't have. He didn't know where to go from here. I didn't know how to do this or how to go about it. This is foreign territory to me. Not just dealing with a lycan but dealing with an impossible person who didn't listen to reasoning. A person who could easily break me in half.

“ I will kill for you Elara Moore. I would wipe out Nations and packs just for you. I would burn down villages for you. I would take out anyone you want me to. I will give you all the joy in this world. Not under the clouds for as long as I can but under the clouds of anything you want. I will make the impossible possible, for you little one. But there is only one thing that I will never give you, and that is freedom from me.’’

The air was dense. his words sunk into me creating their own commandment. a testament of this new reality that I was forced to live in. What has two the most is that I knew he was being honest. I knew he meant what he said. this wasn't the kind of dedication or love that I wanted. Suddenly I regret all the sleepless nights I cried myself to sleep begging the moon goddess to give me a mate. This was a curse. A condemnation meant to enslave me and lock me in a pit of fury and suffering for the rest of my life. Is this what I desired so much? Why was the idea of a made so glorified among the Wolves? Why did I have to be mated to him?

I walked towards his parents. His mother, who still seemed hesitant and unsure of whether or not it was safe to go and sob by her daughter's body. His father, who looked at me with so much anger and hatred yet hesitated behind his eyes. I stood between both of them. I turned back to Lucas who was staring at me with so much condemnation.

“ Your father was right. This baby is not yours. I slept with alpha Matthew Gale before I slept with you. And he was much better than you. Your father was right. I'm only here after your power. I knew that the two of us would meet before we even mated. I do not love you Lucas Moretti and I have never desired to carry your child. if this was your child in my tummy I would have gotten rid of it a long time ago.’’

“Stop it!’’ He gritted, clenching his fist as he bowed his head.

“ I cannot bring a monster like you into this world Lucas. Look at you. look at what you do. look at how you rule your people. Look at the monster you always become. your own parents are afraid of you. You just killed your own sister. all of that for a stupid little girl who doesn't even like you.’’ I spit, watching his expression. He avoided my eyes as he hung his head. Every word I attered felt like a knife to my chest. Every profanity hauled at him was an insult to him. It felt like the more I tried to hurt him, the more I hurt myself.

But this was important. Not just for me but for the world itself. I wasn't going to bear the burden of people losing their lives just because of me. And after this I understood that there wasn't a thing in the world that Lucas wouldn't do for me. I did not want to be the reason why the werewolves lost their lives. I was better off without him. I was better off finding for myself and being on the run. I was better off being nothing but a simple pack reject. A bullied omega. When I was worthless, no one cared about me. Not as much as to ask how I was doing. Now he seems to read the situation and snap heads. Now he pulls people's tongue out and puts their heads from their bodies. I cannot live like this.

“None of it is true. I may not know what you look like when you're telling the truth but I do know what you look like when you're lying, Elara. YOU ARE LYING!’’

His Alpha voice is surfacing. it wasn't him who was talking anymore. And the tone of his voice suddenly came from the core of his very own being. I believe I was talking to the beast now. The Beast inside him that always seems to take control of him. the very Lycan wolf that makes him the most feared man amongst other wolves.

"Hi, I'm Elara.'' I staring into his lost eyes. "My wolf would like to meet you.''

I was talking to the monster behind the curtain.

Finally. Who better to plead my case to than the temperamental murderous Lycan wolf.