Chapter 4
1117 Words
CHAPTER 4
Lucia'S POV
The air was cold against my tear-streaked face as I sat outside the palace gates with my arms wrapped tightly around myself.
My body trembled, not just from the chill, but from the unbearable ache in my chest.
I had cried until there were no more tears left, but none of it changed the truth, Xander had rejected me. My mate, the man I had loved with every fiber of my being, had thrown me away like I was nothing.
I bit my lip, trying to hold back another sob. How had everything gone so wrong?
"Pathetic."
I heard a cold voice say, that voice was very familiar and it made me look up instantly.
My heart skipped a bit as I saw Xander.
He stood over me, his face devoid of emotion and his blue eyes colder than ice itself. He didn’t look at me with love or even regret, just indifference.
"Why are you still here?" His voice was sharp, cutting through me like a blade, "I thought you would have left by now."
"Xander…" I swallowed hard, my voice barely a whisper, "Please… tell me this isn’t real. Tell me you didn’t mean what you said in there."
"You're still clinging to hope?" He scoffed, "I thought you were smarter than that, Lucia."
I flinched terribly.
"I don't want you anymore," he continued with a cold tone, "I used you. That’s all you ever were to me, something to use until I got bored."
My breath caught in my throat. I just wish the ground would open and swallow me up.
"Y-You’re lying," I choked out as tears filled my eyes again, "You told me you loved me. You said you wanted to be with me."
"And you believed that?" He let out a humorless laugh, "You were just a distraction."
A fresh wave of pain crashed over me as I heard that.
"How could you, Xander?" My voice shook, "I trusted you."
"Then that was your mistake." He replied with an icy glare.
I clenched my fists. "You weren’t always like this. I didn't know you were such… such a monster."
"A monster?" His expression darkened as he took a step closer, towering over me, "You want to know what’s truly monstrous?" He curled his lip in disgust, "The idea that I could ever be mated to an omega. And not just any omega, a traitor’s daughter."
My heart shattered all over again.
"Xander…" My voice broke.
"Leave," he ordered, his voice dripping with finality, "Get out of this pack. You don’t belong here."
And with that, he turned and walked away like I had never meant anything to him, like I had never even existed.
I pressed my hands to my chest as if I could hold my heart together before it completely crumbled. The pain was just so unbearable.
I sat there frozen in place, until the sound of slow footsteps approached.
A sick feeling curled in my stomach before I looked up to see it was none other than Rhea.
She stopped in front of me with a smirk playing on her lips as she lifted her head mockingly. "Oh? You’re still here?"
I didn’t answer.
She let out a small laugh. "I guess you needed to hear it one more time. Xander doesn’t love you. He never did."
I dug my fingers into the dirt beneath me.
"You saw it for yourself, didn’t you?" she continued, her voice filled with fake sympathy, "The way he kissed me? The way he chose me?"
She crouched down slightly and she then dropped her voice into a whisper, "You were just a placeholder. A temporary amusement."
Tears burned my eyes, I felt so useless.
"Let me remind you of the piece of advice I gave you earlier," she said sweetly, "Just leave, Lucia. You have no family here. No one wants you and no one will ever want you."
I forced myself to meet her gaze. "You’re threatened by me, aren’t you?" I said hoarsely.
Rhea’s smirk wavered for a brief second before she recovered.
"Oh, Lucia," She sighed, getting up, "You really are delusional."
She turned to the guards standing nearby and waved her hand dismissively. "Get her out of here. She’s an eyesore."
The guards stepped forward with hard facial expressions.
I didn’t wait for them to touch me before I pushed myself to my feet and ran.
I ran past the palace gates, past the jeering voices, past the pain threatening to consume me. I didn’t know where I was going but I just ran.
I finally got into the woods, the trees stretching endlessly around me as my vision blurred with tears. My legs burned with pain and my breath came in ragged gasps but I didn’t stop.
I couldn’t stop just yet.
By the time I finally slowed down, the sky had turned black as it had gotten really late. The only sounds I could hear were my uneven breaths and the distant howls of wolves and owls.
I was lost. Completely and utterly lost.
Just then, I heard a rustling sound behind me which sent a chill down my spine, causing me to turn sharply.
My eyes widened as I saw five men step out from the shadows, their eyes filled with something predatory. They were bandits.
My stomach twisted in fear as they circled around me.
"Well, well," one of them sneered, "Look what we have here."
"A pretty little thing, all alone in the woods?" Another chuckled darkly, "You must be lost, sweetheart."
I took a shaky step back. "S-Stay away from me."
"Or what?" One of them laughed, "You’ll cry?"
Terror gripped me as one of them lunged towards me. I tried to fight but I was too weak and exhausted.
They grabbed me roughly, yanking me backward. I struggled, kicked, and clawed but it was useless.
"Let go of me!" I screamed.
Instantly, a sharp slap landed across my cheek, making my vision blur.
"She's feisty," one of them chuckled, "I like that."
I resisted harder, but they tightened their grip. Then I screamed again as loud as I could.
"Stay still would you!" Pain exploded in my skull as one of them slammed something on my head and my body crumpled to the ground, the taste of blood filling my mouth.
Everywhere began spinning, and as I was about to pass out, I saw a shadow of a man moving in the distance as if he was coming to save me.
He was tall and had broad shoulders and before I could properly make out his face, my head hit a hard rock.
Everything instantly went black.
- Writer
