Guilt
1115 Words
DESMOND POINT OF VIEW
Selena sat on the bed, her arm stretched out as the nurse wrapped a thick white bandage around the bleeding bite mark. She winced slightly, hissing under her breath, but her face held more irritation than pain.
“That b***h got teeth like a dog,” she spat, cradling her hand like a precious gem. “Serves her right.”
I didn’t answer. I stood near the window, my eyes glued to the sight outside.
Diana was on her knees.
The guards had her arms chained above her head, tied to the post in the training yard. Her skin, pale before, was now painted red with angry lashes. Blood trickled down her back, mixing with dirt. Every c***k of the whip echoed into the sky, and with every sound, she let out a cry that made even the wind pause.
She screamed again. Her voice wasn’t strong anymore. It broke like thin glass. Weak. Fragile. Disgusting.
But Max didn’t think so.
“You cheated our mate, I hate you.”
I gritted my teeth. My fingers curled so tight my nails dug into my palms.
“Shut the f**k up, Max,” I growled and slammed my hand hard on the table beside me. The wood cracked under the force. The nurse flinched. Selena raised her brows but didn’t speak.
“I chose Selena. Don’t question me,” I muttered under my breath, low enough only Max could hear.
But he didn’t stop. He never did when it came to her.
I closed my eyes.
Three years ago, I still remembered the first day I saw her.
I was younger then. Cold. Starving. Filthy. My ribs poked through my skin, and my body reeked of blood and survival. I had just finished fighting another rogue for a piece of meat behind the market stalls. My knuckles were torn. My lip was busted. I had nothing left to give the world except my anger.
Then she came.
Fat, plumpy and well dressed .
She looked like she didn’t belong in that hell, yet there she was. She walked toward me, holding out bread and clean water like some kind of saint. She should’ve walked away. I was dangerous. Unstable.
But she smiled at me like I was worth something.
And that was when the mate bond hit me.
I felt the pull.
The spark.
The heat.
Everything.
And I hated it.
I hated her.
How dare the moon goddess pair me with an ugly mutt? She ruined me just by existing. I wanted to reject her right there, spit in her face and walk away.
But I didn’t.
I saw something else.
Opportunity.
She was the Alpha’s only daughter, born into privilege. I was a nobody. A mistake. But when I realized who she was, what name she carried… I didn’t reject her.
I let her follow me around like a fool. She looked at me like I hung the damn moon. Cooked for me. Washed my wounds. Fought for me when others mocked me. She even gave up her position once just so I wouldn’t be punished.
Foolish girl.
“You should’ve let her die when we had the chance,” Selena said, breaking through my thoughts. She stood now, her bandage secure, her heels tapping the floor as she walked over to me. “You knew she’d get in the way. But no, you kept her like some charity case.”
She wrapped her arms around me from behind and leaned her head on my back.
I didn’t move.
I watched Diana again.
She had slumped to the side, barely able to hold herself up. Her lips moved, whispering something only the gods could hear. Her eyes, half-lidded, still burned with fire.
Even now.
Even broken.
She still fought.
Max growled again, thrashing inside me. He hated this. He hated me.
“We were hers. You ruined it.”
“Shut up,” I muttered.
Selena moved around to face me, her hands tracing my jaw. I turned my head slightly, looking at her.
“I love you,” I said, forcing the words out like they were truth.
She smiled.
“I love you more.”
I kissed her forehead and held her hand. We stood there together, staring out the window like royalty watching a peasant’s punishment.
I remember the night I met Selena, the night the council started digging through the pack funds, I knew something was off.
The books were messed up already—half the money was in my own pocket.
One wrong question and I was finished.
Then Selena walked in, calm like sin.
She opened the books, didn’t flinch. Tore out three pages and tossed them into the fire.
“Blame the charity Diana started,” she said like it was nothing.
“She’s careless. They’ll believe it.”
I stared at the flames, breathing for the first time.
At the meeting, she cried soft in front of them.
Said Diana was too kind, always forgetting receipts.
The elders nodded, not one of them looked at me.
Under the table, Selena touched my knee. Sharp. Sure.
That was the night I realized she wasn’t just pretty.
She was sharp where I needed blade.
She never asked if I did right or wrong.
She only asked, “Did it work?”
With her, I didn’t need to pretend.
Didn’t need to explain.
Selena doesn’t love goodness. She loves power. And that’s why I love her.
Diana screamed again.
This one sounded different.
Max roared in my chest.
“She’s dying. Stop it.”
But I didn’t.
I clenched my jaw, willing the sound to fade.
A knock broke through the silence. One of the maids entered, head bowed low.
“Alpha,” she said softly, “the Lycan King is here.”
I straightened.
The words struck something in me. This was the moment. The alliance. The position. Everything I worked for was right outside that door.
Selena was already moving. She reached for my suit jacket and helped me fix the collar, brushing off imaginary dust from my chest. Her fingers adjusted my tie with gentle care, her eyes bright with ambition.
“You look perfect,” she whispered.
I nodded once.
Arm in arm, we walked toward the door.
But just before I stepped out, I looked back.
Through the window.
Diana was still alive.
Barely.
Her body was limp now. Her breathing shallow. The guards hesitated, waiting for my order to stop.
For a second—just one brief second—my fingers twitched. My tongue rolled back a command I didn’t speak.
Max howled inside me, but I walked away.
- Writer
