His Wolfless Bride

CHAPTER 8: Tears

MARGUERITE’S POV:

Rough, painful sobs reverberate across the hallway. I inch my heavy eyes open, then pull myself out of bed. As I follow the sobs, a prickling sensation nibbles through my skin. The sobs are bringing me to Captain Haile’s bedroom.

Captain Haile is crying? He was fine before I fell asleep. What happened?

The urge to comfort him pelts me. I knock, then wait. His sobs steadily peter out, but I don’t feel any movement from him at all. So, I knock again.

“Captain Haile, open the door.”

I stand still without getting a response. That triggers anxiety to slither in. He won’t cry about small matters, what just happened must be something tremendously bad. Is it his demotion? I don’t think it’s that bad to make him cry. But if it’s not it, then what is?

After some time of silence, Captain Haile finally speaks.

“Just go back to bed. I wanna be alone.”

“But Captain Haile….”

“Leave me alone!”

His roar amplifies my anxiety. He has never shouted at me before and it’s frightening me as to why he would do that now. My heart thuds loudly in my ears, competing against his insistence ‘leave me alone!’. Though my intuition is pulling me away from his locked bedroom door, my stubbornness is pushing me back.

I can’t just leave him, especially at whatever he's going through right now, but at the same time, I have to give him the time and space he needs. In the end, both my intuition and stubbornness butter up each other. I stop forcing my way inside his room, flump down next to his bedroom door and wait until he’s ready to talk.

Through the small window at the end of the hallway, the darkness of the sky is soon replaced by the brilliance of the rising sun. Still, Captain Haile refuses to get out of his room or to even unlock his door. Understanding that he isn’t prepared to share his pain with me, I stand up and walk away. I don’t wanna disturb him anymore, I know he’ll talk later. Besides, I also don’t want Emelia to see me not doing anything.

I head downstairs to do some cleaning, but before my hand could reach for the broom, knocks echo on the main door.

“Coming!”

I jog towards the door and when I open it, two uniformed women, Ivy, a sick-looking one, and Cree, a stout one, appear in front of me.

“Yes?”

The thin and ridiculously pale Ivy says, “Marguerite, right?”

I roll my eyes at her. How dare she pretend it’s the first time we met when she's been one of my bullies since way back when. Both women maintain deadpan expressions on their faces, which I find odd. Normally, if I show some kind of attitude to them, I’d get hit or insulted. I wonder what changes this time? Captain Haile? Of course he is! Maybe they already know that Captain Haile and I got the Main Alpha’s blessing last night for our wedding. I giggle at the thought. Now that I’m soon to be Mrs. Haile, none of these women will dare prod a finger at me.

“Can we come in?” Cree asks.

I glance over my shoulders. The living area is empty, so they might. But considering it’s my uncaring future mother-in-law’s house and not mine, they might not.

I steer clear of answering Cree's question and ask my own question instead. “Why do you wanna talk to me?”

Cree raises her arm, emphasizing the papers she’s holding. She says, “We’re here to make you sign some documents.”

Excitement sparks in my chest, which progresses to my voice. “Is that some kind of a formal written blessing from Alpha Marcellus?”

Though none answers, their knitted brows and muddled stares are more than enough to let me know that I’m wrong.

Their confusion confuses me. My eyes clench, then wrinkle. “What have I done again? Are you asking me to sign a death penalty or what?”

Ivy responds, “These are important documents prepared by the Main Alpha.”

From wrinkled, my eyes widen in surprise. If it’s not about my wedding to Captain Haile, then why would Alpha Marcellus have someone like me sign such documents? I take the papers from Cree so that I could better understand what’s going on, but before I could read a single word from any of the papers, Ivy starts explaining what the documents are for.

“The first page is about your promotion as a Delta. It will take effect as soon as you sign it.”

My hands quiver a little as I try to quietly reiterate what I just heard. I’m going to be a Delta? But why? I’m not yet married to Captain Haile? Our wedding must come first, then he’ll petition for my promotion. Once it’s granted that’s the only time I’ll be asked to sign a promotion paper. Well, that’s what I know based on what Captain Haile told me a few months back. Maybe the rules have changed? So, if the rules really did change, why didn't Captain Haile tell me about this?

Though it’s not showing on my confused face, my heart is clapping in joy. The next set of words that come out of Ivy’s dehydrated lips turns up my excitement.

“The second document that you need to sign is land title ownership. The Main Alpha is granting you a sixty square meters of land near the river banks in the western part of our territory. Once you sign the land title, the ownership transfer will take effect immediately. In addition to that, the Main Alpha will also build you a house in that land area, depending on the design you prefer.”

Now, my happiness is explicitly present on my face. As I try my best to think of why this is all happening so instantly, Captain Haile’s sobs from last night prick my ears and jab my heart. My grin fades and so does my happiness. All this in exchange for Captain Haile’s demotion? I can’t accept that I’m the only one who’s happy while Captain Haile is brawling with his pain all by himself.

I push the paper back to Cree.

“You haven’t signed it yet,” she says, surprised.

I veer my gaze at my skirt and respond, “I won’t sign it. Tell Alpha Marcellus that I appreciate his offer, but I won’t let him demote…”

“Good morning!”

Captain Haile’s voice echoes from behind me. I excitedly look around and the first thing I see are his still swollen eyes. He ignores the concern on my face. He yawns and stretches his arms sideways, pulling his shirt up and revealing his lower rock-hard abs.

“Why are they here this early?” he asks.

“Uhm… they’re asking me to sign some documents,” I reply.

Needless to explain what the documents are about, Captain Haile's smile almost recedes, but he quickly widens it to avoid worrying me more. Seeing him hide his pain and pretend that he’s alright just to make me happy is so upsetting. It’s heartbreaking, actually.

He walks past me, opens the door widely and motions for Ivy and Cree to come inside. While Ivy and Cree are settling themselves on the long wooden chair, I pull Captain Haile to the dining area, which is just a few feet from the living area.

“Can we talk first?” I whisper.

“Alpha Marcellus is waiting for those documents. We’ll talk later,” he responds.

When he takes a step back, my anxiety doesn't shy away from being heard. “I won’t sign those documents. I know you don’t wanna be demoted, so…”

“I won’t be demoted. Don’t worry.”

His smile completely disappears. His face, serious as hell.

I’ll be promoted and get a house and a lot, without him being demoted. All is good, right? But something deep within my soul screams at me that nothing is good about all of this and Captain Haile is very aware of it.

I force my legs to move when Captain Haile motions for me to sit beside him in the living area. I could feel the heaviness of my chest when I slump myself into the chair. That heaviness becomes intense when Ivy hands me a pen while Cree positions the paper on top of the wooden table in front of me. I only realize that my hand, that’s holding the pen, is trembling when Captain Haile tenderly squeezes it. Behind his despondent eyes is Umber, who’s avoiding my gaze. What’s going on? What are they hiding from me?

“You need to accept Alpha Marcellus’ offer. It’s for your own good,” he says.

Irritation and confusion entwine. Their fusion outshines my anxiety. I forcefully pull my hand away from Captain Haile’s grip, then I toss the pen on the table.

“Tell me everything I need to know. And let me decide for myself whether I want to sign the papers or not.”

By the look on Captain Haile’s face, he’s not ready to give me what I’m asking from him. So I angle my view towards Cree and Ivy. They both straighten their backs as they direct their sight at me.

“If I become a Delta and get my own house and lot, what will happen next?”

Their guilt-free eyes are so distinct that pressuring them for a response is useless. They, too, don’t know what Captain Haile does, giving me a reason to veer my glare at Captain Haile.

He looks away and says, “Thanks for coming here. Tell Alpha Marcellus that I’ll deliver the documents to him myself. If there’s nothing else, you can now go.”

As soon as Cree and Ivy leave, I don’t waste time bombarding Haile with the questions that are bothering me.

“Let me ask again and I demand you to be honest with me,” I say. “What will I regret after signing these papers?”

I jolt when Captain Haile slides his body from the chair and kneels in front of me. He rubs his palms on my arms, but the warmth he’s professing isn’t enough to calm down my anxiety. When moisture gathers in his eyes, my eyes moisten too. He hasn’t spoken anything yet, but I can already sense that what he’s about to tell me is nothing short of a catastrophe.

“I’m sorry, Marguerite.”

First line and a tear is already streaming down my cheek. Can I handle more of what he’s gonna say next? Even though I know I can’t, I don’t have the strength to stop him from speaking.

“I accepted Alpha Marcellus’ offer. I’ll marry Alpha Naomi and become one of his Betas in exchange for your promotion and your own place to stay.”

Pain and dismay and anger boom inside of me, distorting my ability to control myself.

“Wrong!” I yell. “You accepted his offer because you wanted the promotion! My promotion and my house and lot, which I never asked from you or from anyone, is just your way to compensate for your guilt!”

Captain Haile lowers his head as his tears fall down too. I cup and lift his jaw so I could look him in the eyes again, then in a much softer voice, I say…. No, I beg, “Please, don’t do this to me, you’re all I have. If you leave me, I’ll have nothing.”

“But if I don’t leave you, I’ll lose everything.”

That freezes me. My miserable heart sinks to my feet. I don’t wanna believe that that offensive revelation comes from the only person who’s never insulted me before and who promised to love and protect me.

“Marguerite, our relationship isn’t the end for you. You’ll move on from this and you’ll find someone better than me,” he says, tears continuing to fall down from his eyes.

How can this not be the end for me when I have nobody to turn to anymore?! How can I move on if I already lose my reason for living?! And how can I find someone better when I've already found the best?!

I haven’t recovered yet from everything Haile is telling me when he heartlessly aggravates my pain to the extent I’m not aware possible.

“I, Haile of the Crimson Crystal Pack, is now rejecting you, Marguerite, as my mate.”