Chapter 7
1095 Words
Arlenna's POV
I cried through the night. Not the soft kind of crying where the tears slide quietly down your cheeks and leave you feeling hollow.
No!
Mine was the loud, ugly kind. The kind that steals your breath and twists your insides.
I wrapped myself up with my duvet, grabbing it tightly like it could hold me together. But nothing could.
Not even sleep, which refused to come, no matter how hard I begged for it.
Morning came too quickly. The first thing I heard was the harsh sound of my door flinging open.
The second was my mother’s voice, sharp and loud as usual.
“Wake up, you spoilt brat!”
The duvet was yanked off me with one hard pull, the minute she stormed into the room.
Dhe threw the curtains wide, flooding the room with sunlight that stabbed at my tired eyes.
Not like I asked her to.
“Please, Mother, I…”
“Please?” she spat, cutting me off before I could even form a sentence.
“You have the mouth to demand anything? Or is it because I didn’t break your head last night?”
“Get up now! Nimara will be here any moment.”
“Nimara?” My voice was hoarse from crying. “I… I have no business with her.”
“You’ll be following her to get her wedding dress,” she said without even looking at me. “She’ll be needing it by the weekend.”
“Weekend?” I blinked, confused. “I thought… I thought the wedding wasn’t until next month.”
“Don’t question me!” she snapped. “After Orion’s wedding, you’re next. Before anyone notices you’re with a child. We have to pin this on someone if you’re not ready to tell us who the father is.”
“Mother, pl—”
She didn’t let me finish. She turned so fast, marching up to me with a lot of anger in her eyes.
“Why did you just have to be as useless as your father? Why?! Why?!”
Her voice broke a little then, and I saw it, something that looked like hurt behind her rage.
But I was too broken myself to care.
“Wouldn’t it be better if you just told me why you hate him so much? Or at least tell me who my father is?” I asked.
“I already told you—he’s dead!” she snapped. “I can’t believe I wasted all these years raising you, thinking someday I’d be rewarded for all my sacrifices. But what did you do? What did you do, Arlenna? You poured it all away!”
She started pacing then, her arms flailing. “How do you even tell Alpha Erik you’re still a virgin? How?!”
“I… I don’t love Alpha Erik,” I whispered.
She froze.
“So where is the one you love, hmm? The one who implanted a bastard inside you?” she asked. “Where is he?”
She turned in a slow circle like she expected him to walk out from behind the furniture.
“Cause I see no king. I see no Alpha. So where is he?”
I stayed silent. My arms wrapped around my belly like I could hide the truth there.
“Don’t tell me he’s a lowlife,” she growled. “Because I swear, I’ll kill you and the bastard myself.”
I said nothing.
“You think I married Orion's father for love? I just can't believe you're my daughter.” Mother said as she placed her hand on her forehead.
“We can’t lose Alpha Erik, Arlenna. We just can’t.” She sighed heavily. “Now stand up and freshen up. You’ll be going to pick a dress with Nimara and don’t say a word to anyone about the bastard in your belly. Understood? No one must know. We’ll pin it on someone suitable for you.”
And with that, she was gone. The door slammed shut behind her.
I didn’t move. I didn’t even breathe for a few seconds. Then I collapsed back onto the bed, with tears filling up my eyes again.
So this was it.
I was to go to the mall with Nimara, my future sister-in-law. The same woman marrying my stepbrother.
The same man who happened to be my mate. The father of my child.
What a mess.
What an unforgivable, heartbreaking mess.
"Wow," I whispered to the ceiling. "Just wow."
No one prepared me for this kind of pain.
The kind that feels like it’s slowly burning you alive from the inside out, the kind that leaves you hollow and aching at the same time.
And yet, I had to get up. I had to dress up and pretend. Pretend everything was fine.
Pretend I was just another girl helping her future sister-in-law find the perfect wedding gown.
Pretend like I hadn’t spent a night tangled in the arms of the man she was about to marry.
I walked to the shower, dragging my feet like they carried stones.
The cold tiles beneath me didn’t bother me. Nothing did anymore. I let the water run and washed myself quickly, not because I wanted to go with Nimara, but because I didn’t want mother barging in on me again.
I didn’t want her screaming, calling me useless, dragging the little energy I had left into the pit.
I scrubbed my skin harder than necessary, as if I could wash off the pain, the regret... and him.
I came out and dried myself in silence, dressing quickly. My hair was still damp when I stepped out of the room and there he was—Orion.
I froze.
"Ho... how are you?" he asked.
“Mother said you’re getting married this weekend."
He nodded. "The earlier the better."
I just walked past him without saying a single word.
"Arlenna!" he called.
But I didn’t stop.
I reached the stairs and paused when I heard laughter from below. I took a deep breath before walking in.
"Arlenna!" Nimara yelled my name as she sighted me. "You’re coming with me to pick my dress."
I forced a smile. Just enough to pass. Not enough to care.
I looked at father, who sat by the fireplace. The moment our eyes met, his smile vanished.
Mother stood beside him, her smile tight and fake as always. She acted like everything was perfect.
"You’ll be coming with me to pick my dress," Nimara said excitedly.
"Why?!" a voice behind me asked.
- Writer
