~Celine~
After the pack meeting, I advised Kilhan to call, I started getting hate stares from almost everyone in the house.
I was grateful that Kilhan and his mother weren’t part of them, but still, I hated that they now hated me more than before because I accused one of them.
Walking down to Kilhan’s chamber, I kept my head high as I promised myself to ignore whatever others thought about me.
Getting into his chamber, I found him discussing with Drex. He looked up and smiled as soon as our eyes met.
“Perfect timing for you to show up.” Please sit, baby,” he said to me, and I nodded in curiosity as I settled on the chair.
“Drex, please tell her what you’ve told me.” He added, and I turned to look at Drex.
“What’s going on?” I asked anxiously.
“Words are flying around the house as we speak, and these are from the pack members. They say they don’t trust you and they can’t deal with you after everything that has happened.” Drex explained, causing me to sigh.
“I noticed. I’ve been getting stares from them lately.”
“Stares?” Kilhan asked. It was his first time hearing it because I kept it to myself.
“Yes. After the meeting about Mrs Anna’s coma, they look at me with so much hatred.”
“You can’t blame them, Mrs Celine. You practically accused one of us of poisoning the Alpha’s mother. Someone who has cooked for the house for decades. Of course, they’d stare.” Drex answered.
“I’m truly sorry about that, but I didn’t mean it that way at all. I was just trying to help… to stay at alert. Mrs Anna said the meal did something to her, and I thought it was only sensible to investigate because maybe there is a mole among us.”
“There are no moles, baby. No one new has joined the pack of the house. I know everyone as I know myself. But I understand you were just trying to be cautious.” Kilhan responded.
“I guess I shouldn’t have said anything. What can I do to make them trust me again? To show them that I am not the real enemy?” I asked, looking at both of their faces.
Kilhan looked at Drex and gave him a reassuring nod. He breathed in deeply and looked at me again.
“I think an apology should stop all these. You should apologize to everyone in the pack and maybe they can drop the hatred.” Drex uttered.
I raised my brows in surprise and looked at Kilhan to see that he wasn’t shocked by what I had just heard.
“But I did nothing wrong. I basically just asked her questions.” I replied in awe.
“I know, baby. But apologizing to them will make them understand that you are not against them and that you just wanted the best for everyone.” Kilhan further explained.
‘So I am apologizing to Betty too? When all she has done is get on my last nerves?’ I wondered in silence. After a few minutes, I nodded.
“Okay. I’ll do it.”
“Great! Thank you, baby.” Kilhan uttered, and I let out a faint smile.
“I’ll call for another meeting as soon as possible,” Drex uttered, standing up as he headed out.
I breathed out deeply and watched Kilhan move closer to me. He sat next to me on the chair and reached for my hand.
“Baby, you were and you’re still doing the right thing, okay?” He uttered in a calm voice, and I shook my head.
“I don’t think so. I should have believed you when you said you believed she wasn’t poisoned, but I didn’t listen. I kept on insisting on opening an investigation, and now, this is where it has landed me.”
“Your intentions were pure, darling.”
“Only you know that, Kilhan. The pack doesn’t. I’ll apologize to them, and hopefully, things can go back to the way they used to be.”
“It will. I promise.” He lifted my hand and planted a soft kiss on it. I swallowed hard and placed my head on his shoulder as I began to cook my apologetic speech in my head.
*
I stood in front of the pack members, my heart thumping against my chest as they kept their unwavering gazes on me. I tried to imagine what was going through their minds.
While I stared at them like I had forgotten the speech I had prepared, I felt Kilhan’s touch behind me. I looked back and I saw him smile softly at me.
This somehow made everything I had practiced rush back into my head. I clenched my jaws and turned to look at the pack members again.
“This meeting was called to address the situation that came up during the last meeting. Mrs Anna said that the meal must have done something to her as she didn’t lose consciousness immediately. Whereas, we were told she slipped into a coma when she heard the news about what my late father did to Alpha Kilhan.
“At this point, I smelled betrayal, and I’m sorry I did. I come from a family where betrayal seems to be the norm and I’m just so done with that. At that point, I totally forgot it wasn’t my family we were dealing with. Because there were inconsistencies, I was forced to believe someone tried to hurt Anna.
“I was wrong, and I am very sorry about that. I shouldn’t have looked at you all like I looked at my lying and evil father. You all accepted me when Kilhan brought me home, even though you knew me from nowhere.
“This means a lot to me and it will never be taken for granted. I plead with you all to forgive my actions and I promise, it will never happen again.”
After speaking, there was an awkward silence, and I raised my head to look at Betty, who seemed to have been carefully following my speech right from the very beginning.
“And to Betty, I am very sorry for pointing fingers at you. It was very young for me to do that. I’m sorry.” The words stung my throat as they came out of my mouth, it hurt my pride so much, but I was willing to do anything to be acceptable again.
After saying all these, I proceeded to sit, and Kilhan stood up. “Does anyone have anything to say?” He asked, and almost immediately, Betty stood up.
I clenched my jaws, trying to brace myself for whatever she was about to say.
“I… I am sorry too.” She uttered, and my eyes widened in shock. The same way everyone else’s. They all turned to look at her, acting like they heard wrong.
“Lately, I know I’ve been pretty annoying and aggressive. But believe me, I did all that because I care for my Alpha and everyone else in this pack.
“Your arrival in this house caused so many things. It hurt our Alpha, so you can’t just expect me to accept everything you do. We both have the best interests of the pack in heart, we just seemed to have carried them out in a pretty bad way. And for this, I’m very sorry too.” She uttered, and for the first time since she stood up, she looked at me.
“I’m tired of fighting, Celine. We are the only females in this house. We should stick together, not be against each other.” She uttered, keeping our eye contact.
As much as I was surprised and moved by her words, I couldn’t shake the feeling that she just said that for the people and didn’t truly mean it.
“Yes, you’re right,” I responded as I stood up again. ‘Now you’re agreeing with the enemy. What else could go wrong?’ Kiara uttered, but I ignored her.
“We should stick together, like sisters,” I added, and for the first time in a very long time, Betty smiled at me. I unconsciously raised my brows in awe.
‘Is this a dream? One doesn’t just change overnight. This isn’t normal and every fiber in me feels it.’
“She’s fake!” Kiara yelled in my head.