Rejected By Fate, Bound By Blood

Chapter 6: His greatest lie

Alaric

"What do you think you are doing?" Zamira said as I pushed myself off the bed, trying to walk toward the door.

"I know she's here," I replied.

"I can feel it.

I need to see her.

I need to talk to her."

"And tell her what exactly?" she asked, and that was actually when I stopped.

I was beginning to feel a little better, but at the same time, I still felt horrible.

I felt so much worse.

It felt like my insides were melting and turning into mush or something.

"What exactly do you plan on telling her?" she asked again.

I walked back to my bed, slowly sitting down.

"I love her," I finally said.

And Zamira's expression remained the same.

No reaction, nothing.

She just nodded like she understood exactly what I was going through and how I was feeling at that moment.

"I know," she said in a low voice, extremely calm.

"I know exactly how you feel.

But you loving her doesn't change the fact that she is cursed.

She is going to jeopardize everything your family has worked for.

Do you seriously want that?"

"No," I said, shaking my head quickly.

"I don't want that.

Not at all."

"Then you need to forget about her."

"Alaric," I heard Ash's voice.

"Don't do this.

Do not do this."

He was trying so hard to convince me, but none of it was working because my mind was already made up.

"Take me to where she is," I said again.

But this time, I wasn't going there to ask her for forgiveness or anything like that.

And I did not have to explain myself because it felt like Zamira actually understood exactly where I was coming from.

And she knew immediately what to do.

She nodded, and immediately I got back into my outfit.

My robe and cloak rested against me.

And I carried myself the same way an Alpha should.

But I did not feel like an Alpha.

I did not feel all-powerful.

Instead, I felt like a very weak protector because I had promised her I would protect her.

I had promised her I was going to be there for her.

But instead, I wasn't.

Zamira didn't walk into the dungeon with me.

Instead, she just stood outside.

She took my hand in hers before I walked in.

"I'm going to be here.

If you need anything, just call, and I'll be right here with you, okay?"

"I know that.

Thank you," I said again because she had been here with me all night, and I really didn't expect her to be.

She only smiled at me then.

I walked in.

This place was disgusting.

The walls seemed so slimy, covered in stains.

I didn't even want to know where they had come from.

She was locked in the last cell.

And when I got there, Vaelora just sat there, her back pressed against the wall.

She didn't say a word.

And I just stood outside the cell, staring at her.

"vaelora," I said her name, and I wasn't sure what I had expected.

Maybe a reaction.

Anything.

I didn't know why I wanted her to understand so badly.

I didn't want her to see me as the bad person.

I wanted to explain everything to her, to get her to see things from my own point of view.

But how exactly was I going to do that when I had already hurt her this much?

"Did you come to gloat?" she said, still unmoving in the deepest part of the dungeon.

"No."

That was the only word I could actually push myself to say.

"So what exactly are you doing here?"

Her voice was cold, and I actually deserved that.

But I knew Vaelora more than she even knew herself, and one thing was completely certain.

She was hurting.

That was why she sounded like this.

And that was the same pain I was going through.

But Zamira made one thing very clear.

I couldn't show it.

I couldn't act like I cared.

But seeing her like this, not being able to protect her, not being able to help her, practically being the reason she was in this situation like this, it broke me into a million pieces.

At that moment, I wanted to break.

I wanted to tell her everything was my fault and I was so sorry.

I wanted to tell her how much I loved her, how much she meant to me.

But the moment I opened my mouth, I couldn't form the words.

Nothing came out.

And that was when I understood I was never going to be able to pick her over my pack.

And no matter how I did not want that, I had to come to the realization that that was the only way.

"Did you even love me at all?"

That question came out of the blue.

"I never did."

The moment those words left my mouth, I felt something inside of me die.

"There's nothing to love about you, Vaelora.

You are just an abomination that the Moon Goddess forced down my throat.

How exactly do you want me to love something like you?"

"So you refer to me now as something, huh?" she asked, still in the dark.

"That is exactly what you are."

"What wrong did I ever do to you, Alaric?"

"Nothing," I screamed in my head, but the words never left.

All of it stayed inside of me.

I couldn't risk it.

I just could not.

"You kept pretending, telling me how much you loved me.

Why didn't you just let me go from the very beginning?"

"What fun was it going to be if I did that?

Messing with you was always the highlight of my day.

Seeing you act so obsessed around me, seeing you pour out your feelings for me...

It was pathetic."

"Stop... Stop right now."

But I didn't.

No matter how Ash pleaded with me to stop, I did not.

I just kept going.

When I was sure I had done enough damage, I turned around and walked away.

But the explosion that came from behind me instantly made me stop in my tracks.