The Promises and Curse
1138 Words
CHAPTER TWO
The Promises and Curse
She's...what?
I stared, unblinkingly, while I tried to figure out what was really happening. I was vaguely aware that the pack was in uproar, with people screaming congratulations to Nathan and Sofia, but I still couldn't fully comprehend it.
Someone jostled me in their haste to give Sofia a congratulatory hug, and my eyes finally met Nathan's. The look I gave him was filled with hurt and betrayal. A tear I had been holding back with all my might dropped, and I wiped it away before anyone else noticed.
Surrounded as he was by a crowd of happy pack members, it took a short while before Nathan could make his way towards me. Meanwhile, I was stuck in place, unable to move.
He took my hand in his immediately he got to me, and tried pulling me in for a hug.
I shoved him back, ignoring the pleading look he gave me.
"Tessa," he pleaded, staring at me imploringly.
"You cheated on me?" I asked icily.
He immediately shook his head in denial, running a hand through his hair. "I didn't. I... Tessa..."
"Well?" I pressed, barely able to keep my voice from quivering. All the memories we had together began flipping through my head, taunting me. The memory of the solemn oath we swore under a full moon like this. An oath that bound us to each other, no matter the machinations of fate. An oath that should have prevented Nathan from mating with anyone else but me.
An oath that Nathan had broken. Long before this night.
A smug voice rang out clearly. "I don't think it's cheating if he did it with his own mate."
Nathan turned to Sofia with something akin to horror on his face, but not quite.
I gave her a glare that should have legitimately killed her.
"This isn't your f*****g business, Sofia. Stay out of it."
Her smile didn't falter.
"It's mine and Nathan's business," Tessa said. Not yours. So maybe you should stay out of it."
"Sofia..." Nathan croaked, still staring at me with guilt written all over his features. "Maybe you should stay out of this for now."
Maybe?
She huffed, but said nothing more, choosing instead to watch with the rest of the pack members.
Nathan glanced around at our audience, and cleared his throat.
"Can we... "Can we go somewhere private?" he asked lowly.
I scoffed. "Why? You humiliated me in front of everyone, and now you want to explain yourself in secret? How could you, Nathan?"
"I didn't...I..."
"You what?" I screamed suddenly. "How else can you explain this, Nathan? You got a woman pregnant when you were with me! We were getting married!"
A snigger sounded from one of the spectators, and I whirled around angry, fury blazing in my eyes. One thing I never stood for was disrespect from my pack.
My eyes landed on the woman who had laughed, and I growled at her.
"You find this funny?" I snarled.
She bowed her head in submission, recognizing that I was close to losing it.
"I'm sorry, Tessa," she murmured. "But it's just... I don't see why you're so angry. The Moon Goddess has done a beautiful thing. She..."
"To hell with the Moon Goddess!" I yelled.
The pack suddenly fell silent. Everyone knew I didn't put any stock in fate, or believe in the Goddess, but I had never openly denounced her like that.
I was past caring. Any deity who would rip away the man I loved like this, just to give him to someone else to amuse herself, didn't deserve my praise.
The woman swallowed, then continued bravely.
"You can blaspheme all you want," she said. But it won't change what's happened. You were foolish to think you could make your own fate and force Nathan to be with you forever. The Moon Goddess has shown you that she knows better. You should..."
Before I knew what I was doing, I growled menacingly, and took a step forward, eyes flashing. The itch in my fingertips told me my claws were itching to come out, to rip into this woman, and then Sofia.
A big body blocked her from view, and I bared my teeth at Nathan.
"Tessa, calm down. I..."
"You what?"
"It was a one-night stand, I promise you," Nathan begged. "I would never betray you by..."
"But you did!" I screamed. "You betrayed me, and you betrayed the oath you swore to me!"
"Your oath doesn't matter!" Sofia was suddenly by Nathan's side again, holding on to him possessively. "And don't try to say he betrayed you, because he didn't! Nathan obviously recognized that there was a bond between us even before the full moon. No one can say that we weren't meant to be, least of all you! I don't care if you're the Alpha's daughter. You do not direct fate!"
"She's right," another pack member said, coming to stand beside Sofia. "Sofia's pregnancy is a blessing by the goddess. We..."
A shout interrupted her at the very back of the crowd, and everyone turned to stare.
"Scott's back!" someone yelled.
And just like that, I was forgotten, as people scrambled to catch a glimpse of the returned pack warrior.
I could hear my heart tearing to pieces. Unable to take it anymore, I turned, and forced myself to walk out of the clearing.
I'd barely made it three steps before a loud, deep growl stopped me in my tracks. The hair on my arms raised as I shivered.
The growl sounded again, this time right behind me, and I turned slowly, blinking back the tears that had almost spilled.
The man that stood behind me towered over me, and looked like every woman's answered prayer.
His eyes were wide in wonder as he stared at me. I stared back emotionlessly.
"Scott," I forced myself to nod in greeting. I might be falling apart, but my training as heir to the pack would not let me ignore the man whose return everyone was talking about. I swallowed past the lump in my throat. "Welcome back."
Whatever I thought his reply would be, it wasn't what I got.
Scott stared at me for a long time, while the whispers of the pack fell away around us. I found myself getting lost in his green eyes, almost forgetting the pain that had me in a choke hold.
Scott reached out slowly, and brushed his fingers against my cheek almost reverently. Apart from the sudden urge to press my face to his fingertips again, I felt nothing. Scott, however, looked like he had felt all there was to feel.
A familiar feeling of horror began climbing in my gut again as Scott kept staring at me.
"Mine," he whispered. “Mate.”
No.
- Writer
