Episode 2
1188 Words
Ariana
Pain I'd never felt before coursed through my entire being, and I fell to the ground, letting out a blood-curdling scream.
I was sure all the werewolves, in human form or not, turned their attention to us.
A sob made my entire body shake as the pain from the rejection caused the bond between us to tear. I could literally feel every thread woven to form the bond break.
Tears dropped onto the grass. I raised my gaze at him. “You can't do this. You can't just reject me. Surely, you can't be so cruel as to leave me to endure such pain.” I cried, trying to let him see reason.
Instead, he looked on. He was seemingly unaffected by the bond breaking, which was odd. He was supposed to be as affected by this as I was. Or was it because he was an alpha?
Another wave of pain ransacked my bones, and inside me, my wolf let out a howl. My body trembled.
“You're such a pathetic sight.” At that, he turned to leave. My mate turned to leave, stomping out of the field.
I didn't know what hurt more: his rejection or the fact that he left me on the grass, naked and in pain.
Another wave of pain ran through me, and it took all of my willpower not to collapse on the ground. I hit my fist against my chest, pounding at the pain I felt, hoping, wishing, and praying that it would go away.
Pity from the other werewolves around me filled the air, and I somehow regained a few of my senses. I hated pity.
During my breakdown, someone had wrapped a blanket around my body. I clutched it around me, trying as much as possible not to dwell on the pitying looks as I stood to my feet and pushed myself out of the field, going in the opposite direction from where Alpha Kian had gone, the tears from my eyes entering my mouth.
And as I stepped further and further away from him, the tear of the bond intensified.
****
For hours, I was on the floor of my bedroom, silently sobbing and reminiscing over and over again about the scene of the rejection.
I let out a quiet sniff. Why had he been so cruel to me?
Holding my knees to my chest as I lay on the wooden floor, I couldn't help but wonder when the pain would go away.
“Honey.” My mother's voice came with a knock on my locked bedroom door. “Your father and I know that something bad happened to you. We can smell it. You need to come out so we can talk about this.”
I didn't have the nerve to tell my parents that the mate they had always promised would find, love me, and treat me like the princess they thought I was had rejected me. That was why I had plastered a smile on my face when I got home, told them everything was fine, and headed straight to my room.
But I think I forgot they were werewolves who could smell emotions.
I almost let out a curse. “I'm fine, Mum. There's nothing to worry about,” I said as I forced a chirpy tone into my voice.
“Nonsense.” This time, it was my dad who spoke, and I could hear the frustration in his voice. “You have five seconds to open this door, or I'll pull it down this instant,” he snapped.
I let out a sigh as I got to my feet. He would do it. I knew how many times I had to replace the lock on my door—twelve times. It's been twelve times. I wasn't ready to get another fixed again.
I let them in, and they coerced everything that happened at the bonfire from my mouth while clutching my chest in an attempt to numb the pain.
Tears rolled down my mother's cheeks while my father fumed with anger, his nose flaring.
“I will kill him.” He got to his feet, his eyes thunderous. “He's Alpha Rian, right? Our pack rival's alpha. I will f*****g kill him for hurting my daughter.” He moved to leave the room.
“Honey.”
“Dad, stop.”
Both my mother and I called out to him. He halted.
“Dad, he's an alpha. A very strong one at that, at least from what I've heard. You don't stand any chance against him, and you'll just end up dying,” I said softly to him.
My father's hands fisted at his sides, a sign that he was restraining himself.
I winced when a spike of pain rummaged through my body. I tried but failed to school my features. It was so intense that I let out a scream.
“Oh, my daughter,” my mother wept while she hugged me as we sat at the edge of the bed. “Honey, what should we do? She can't leave like this. The pain is only going to get worse with time.”
My cries were muffled as I rested my head on her shoulder.
I heard my dad sigh, and I could picture him running his hand through his thick brown hair as he spoke. “The only way she can survive is if she buries her wolf instincts.”
I jerked up. “What?!” My eyes slightly widened, my fist still on my chest. “What do you mean, bury my wolf instincts?”
“I mean live like a human, Ariana. Push down everything that makes you a wolf and bury it under a lock in your heart.” He slowly turned to us, the hardness around his eyes softening. “I can't see you in this much pain, Ari. You need to get away from everything and everyone that connects you to being a wolf. Then and only then will you be able to live free of the pain.”
****
“Goodbye from Eclipse Hollow,” the sign at the edge of the bridge read as I walked past it, feeling a sense of dread wash over me.
The concrete bridge spanned a flowing river that could only be seen by supernaturals. My feet took me forward as I clutched my backpack tighter.
The weather was overcast, with dark clouds looming overhead, threatening rain. It hadn't been difficult to come to a decision at that instant, especially when the pain felt like it was going to split my chest in two after my father had said those words. Anything. I would do anything to ease the pain.
As I walked farther away from the town where I was born and raised, and from the people I've known all my life, I could feel the pain slowly seeping away.
Relief flooded through me.
But as I took my final step on the bridge, I heard someone.
“Ariana.”
It was loud. It was clear. But why did I look back and not see anyone?
- Writer
