Chapter 45 Chapter 45
Dahlia smirks and stepped forward. Her footsteps light on the floor. No wonder I didn’t hear her arrive or has she been here for a while?
“Eavesdropping, Ailsa?” I tried to retreat but Dahlia blocked my path. She grabbed my wrist and yanked me close, her lips brushing my ears.
“You shouldn’t be here” she whispered. I tried to pull back but her nails dug into my skin. She sniffs me like a dog sniffing bone.
“Lucian finally fucked you. I hope you enjoyed it because it’s going to be the last time”
“Let me go now. You have no right to grab me like a criminal”
“You’ve become a talkative just because you slept with Lucian. You think Lucian can protect you? You think just because he touched you, you matter to him?” my heart slams against my ribs. I didn’t like that she could tell Lucian and I had sex, last night.
“Let me go” I tried removing my hand from her grasp. She smiled.
“I could make here very unpleasant for you. I’m sure you heard what those people were talking about, the elders want you dead and they’ll stop at night till you are. One word from me and they’ll know who you really are and where you come from” panic rose up.
“You don’t….”
“I do” she said, her whispers were sharp. “But not yet, I’ll use your secret to my advantage and when the time is right I’ll strike. First, you’ll keep quiet. Second, you’ll do exactly as I say. Third, you will learn your place” she let me go, shoving me back. I stumbled back, my hands clawing on the wall confused as ever at what just happened. She stepped away slowly, smoothing her sleeves.
“I’m not scared of you, Dahlia. You are just pained that Lucian chose me over you” I spat out and she laughed.
“It may seem as though you won but I have something that can destroy, you better keep quiet or everyone would know, understand? Good! Remember what I said” she turned and walked off, her swinging her hips in arrogance.
My knees nearly gave out. I slid down until I was sitting on the cold floor with the world trembling. Fear and fury hatred inside of me. My wolf snarled, ready to run after Dahlia and fight. Fighting would only draw attention. It would make things worse. If she knew about the council elders, she was the one who wanted me gone. But she wasn’t part of the oriole discussing so how does she know.
I needed Lucian. I needed to tell him, he asked me to let him know if anything strange happened. I need to make dahlia undertake that she couldn’t threaten or blackmail me just like that, there was going to be consequences. We’ll know if I mattered or not when I told him.
I pulled myself to my feet and stumbled towards the place where I knew Lucian had meetings. My fingers trembled at the door before I could steady them. I opened the door expecting to see him alone, but he was not. Dahlia stood near his desk, fake tears already on her cheeks, her voice shaking. She clutched her throat like someone who has just survived a near strangling.
“Alpha Lucian” she sobbed. “She threatens me. She accused me of things I’m not capable of and she tried to make me leave the pack. I was so frightened. She grabbed me and said horrible things to me too. She said she would hurt me if I ever went near you again. I tried to explain to her that nothing is going on between us but she wouldn’t listen. She grabbed my neck, I thought she was going to kill me”
“Stop lying, those words never came out of my mouth, rather reverse is the case” anger was slowly building inside of me. My legs moved before I could stop them.
“Lucian….” I started. “She was saying….” Dahlia’s hand flew to her throat as she continued sobbing.
“She….she threatened me just now in the corridor. Just because I caught her lurking and eavesdropping, I cautioned her as a senior but she got angry and that’s when she started saying this nasty things about me, the pack and even you. I was shocked at all she said, I thought she loved the pack but she’s only pretending. She is not who we think she is. She hates all of us, everyone of us, including you” her voice was trembling so perfectly that if I wasn’t at the scene I would have believed the nonsense she was saying. Lucian’s jaw flexed and he swallowed.
“And you didn’t go to one of the guards” I let out the breath, I didn’t know I was holding because it seemed like he didn’t believe her.
“I thought about coming her first” she said and the tremor in her voice deepened.
“I was…..terrified. I had never seen that murderous look in her eyes. She spoke about rogues like her and said they would soon take over the packs. Even the poisoning, she planned it with others so that you could focus on her” my heart hammered so hard that I thought they both heard it as Lucian looked at me. How can someone tell lies so well.
“That’s a lie” I said, every part of me trembling. I couldn’t take the lies she was spewing any more.
“All this never happened. She was the one that threatened me, she tried to blackmail me because I know something about her. She said the elders….” Dahlia started sobbing louder.
“You know Alpha that I don’t lie. She said all that. Why would I threaten you, Ailsa. I was only trying to defend the honor of this pack the alpha”
“Can you prove all you’re saying is true” I said. My wolf was begging to be let out so she could claw Dahlia’s face.
“We both know all I’ve said is true. Stop pretending Ailsa”
“That’s enough!!!” He banged his desk loudly. Lucian’s voice boomed in the room. His eyes had changed color and I could tell he was angry. He stood up and walked to the window as if he needed the distance to gather his thoughts.
He turned slowly back to us, he was finally looking at me with the coldness I recognized all too well.
“What were you doing outside the room?” He asked slowly
“I was taking a walk” my voice didn’t falter and I was glad. I didn’t want any of them think me weak.
“You were walking and eavesdropping?”
“I wasn’t….” He cut me off.
“I told you to fucking stay in your room” my protest died in my throat. He looked to Dahlia.
“Was that all she said to you or there is more?” She blinked at me. Another avenue for her to tell more lies.
“She said she would have me blamed for anything that happened to her so you can have me kicked out” she inhaled sharply.
“I’m scared of her Lucian, she’ll kill me now that I’ve come to report her threats to you. I only told you because I was frightened, you have to protect me from her” I saw Lucian clench his fists.
For a moment I thought he was going to strike something.
“Did you say all this to her? Did you threaten her in this pack?” His tone was careful yet dangerous. I opened my mouth but no words came out.
Something broke inside of me that is why I couldn’t speak. He had believed Dahlia over me. I couldn’t defend myself from her lies.
“I….I….” I tried to speak again. I was helpless. He took a breath.
“It’s a crime to threaten a fellow pack member. I don’t want to hear of such incident again”
“You actually believe her” i said in a small voice. “She lied against me and you didn’t bother to ask my own side of the story. Rather you went ahead with o my hers” his gaze flickers with a hardness that felt like an accusation.
“There are marks on her neck. Did she get those marks by hurting herself” my chest squeezed. The room tilted.
“Yes!!!” I screamed. “If two of your pack members came to meet you to settle a dispute won’t you hear from both sides before coming to a decision? This is not how an Alpha should behave”
“Ailsa!!” He hit his desk hard. “You are crossing the line”
“You’ve concluded that I am capable of threatening and strangling her” I implored, but his jaw was already set. His silence told me all I needed to know.
“I should not be surprised. I don’t know why this is a surprise. You’ve always been biased when it comes to issues involving me. I thought we were finally starting off somewhere” I held back the tears that were threatening to fall. Lucian and Dahlia would never see me cry.
“That’s enough!!” He said but I continued.
“This is your real self. I should have never believed all you said. You are an ass and would always be one”
“No more” he said. “Leave!!!” His words were cold.
I stumbled back, with the knowledge that the man who had just apologized last night and I had began to let in…..who’d believe a lie that was told against me. I looked at Dahlia.
“You were right” her lips twitched with triumph. Her eyes shone with victory, like a person who had won a fierce battle. Her smile of victory made my heart ache more.
I turned and fled before I would unravel completely, my hand shaking. Dahlia didn’t lie after all, Lucian would never believe me and I would never matter to him even though I let him in.
I ran through the hallway and found a corner where I let the tears flow freely. I’m so stupid for believing Lucian, how naive I must have looked last night. Smiling and laughing.
‘I don’t believe Lucian said all this. Dahlia must have said other things to him before we arrived’
He believed her. I didn’t care what Dahlia must have told him before we came. It hurts because he believed everything she said. He didn’t even want to hear my own side. He promised me that I was safe and I could tell him if something happened but his promise’s mean nothing, they were just mere words.
‘You should have given me control so I could deal properly with Dahlia’
It’s fine. This Dahlia’s incident is an eye opener for us, we know now that we only have ourselves and no one. I cleaned the tears on my cheeks, I blamed myself for feeling hurt.
I had done exactly what I promised myself not to do and that was falling in love.