Friends
Selena
I couldn’t help that it was tears that flowed out of my eyes, and then it was the cries that I had once used for my father, in all hopes that somehow I would be absolved of whatever. But he was not convinced. I saw his face as I cried, as I began to heave rather painfully.
Jared, I placed a hand on my chest and continued for a good minute until Kilian rolled his eyes.
“I don’t have time for this,” he said. “I know you’re lying. You’ve always been a good actress, Selena.”
I sobbed quietly. “I did not spread any rumours,” I lied through my teeth.
“Yes, you didn’t spread rumours,” he said, “and I am not Alpha. Spare me the bullshit, I know.”
He stepped closer, his steps slightly loud and powerful, causing my heart to beat so loudly in my chest I thought there was an earthquake inside of me. He leaned closer to me until his breath touched my nose.
“You know that I hate this,” he said. “I hate it when you do that , when you act as though you are more in control than I am. I am Alpha,” he said. “You would best remember that.”
He moved back and slowly walked out of the room, leaving me like a little wet puppy on the cold floor. My knees buckled, causing me to crumble to the ground.
Why had I done it? Why had I done it when I knew it would make him angry? But I had no choice. That human was getting in my way and needed to be shown her place. I, of all, would never let her take the place that was mine , a place that I had carved out with blood, sweat, and tears; with hours of humbling myself lower than I was supposed to; hours of making a fool of myself time and time again.
“Selena.”
I looked up from the floor where I sat, my tears mostly dried up, replaced with a raging need to have the human gone permanently. I cleared my throat and stood slowly.
“I just came to check up on you since you hadn’t come out in a while and the Alpha had gone.”
Before me was Erica. Erica’s father was one of my father’s closest friends, and to some extent, we had been close since we were children , or at least, I believed that we were only close because our parents knew each other. Other reasons were unimportant. I found her character to be annoying, foolhardy, and most of all, testosterone-driven.
I cleared my throat and wiped my mouth. “I’m fine,” I said. “You shouldn’t have come.”
My throat felt like it was raw.
“I was worried about you, Selena,” she said. “The Alpha seemed so angry. I thought that maybe something bad had happened, and when you didn’t come out,”
I held up a hand, interrupting her. “Spare me,” I hissed. “I have no time for the likes of you, Erica.”
She was nothing but a girl that still hadn’t quite gotten over the fact that she was not very well-liked when she was younger , a bottom look from both.
“I don’t waste my time with your ilk, Erica. Leave me alone.”
I sidestepped her, brushing my shoulders against hers intentionally. I suddenly stopped when I reached the door. I needed Erica. The thought only occurred to me then , when my father would need me to rally up people by my side, she should be one of them. After all, her influence was quite far.
I turned. “I’m sorry,” I said, just as the scent of tears wafted into my nose.
Erica looked up, her face shining with tears that streaked down, ruining her makeup. She smiled, her eyes softening a bit.
“You don’t like me?” she asked so softly and, might I add, slightly heartbreakingly.
But my heart was steeled towards her. I had long since lost all forms of affection for her lecherous self. She clung to me like a barnacle on the bottom of a ship.
I smiled , a fake one, however. “I don’t like you,” I said. “It’s because I don’t like my friends , I love my friends.”
I knew she was one of the types that could smell intentions, so it was much easier to fool her. And truthfully, I wasn’t lying , I loved my friends, but only those that mattered to me. She didn’t need to know that she wasn’t part of them.
She smiled, her nostrils flaring. She ran to me and enveloped me in a hug, filling my nose with the scent of her soft bathing soap.
“Oh, come now.”
I pushed her away after a couple of seconds. “Let’s meet up with the others, shall we?”
She smiled, then followed me like a lost puppy.
Once back with the main group in the living room, the remaining three pairs of eyes blinked up at me , some filled with worry and others with so much relaxation I could smile.
“I’m fine,” I said to the two who were worried. My eyes met Amanda’s and I gave a short, wry wink. She rolled her eyes. “What did he come here to talk to you about?” she asked, being the boldest among us all.
I shrugged and plopped into an armchair ungracefully. “He came to warn me,” I said. “It appears he’s heard the rumours and doesn’t quite like them.” I shrugged again. “I didn’t know the rumours would balloon to such a huge proportion. I didn’t think they would say that she was cursed.”
“Penelope, that’s funny,” she said in her slightly high-pitched voice. “We started a rumour , you practically started a forest fire , and I go complaining when your yard is getting burnt? Don’t kill yourself, Selena. Surely it’s not that bad.” Although I highly doubted the consequences wouldn’t burn you soon enough.
I found myself frowning. Penelope liked to speak in riddles and metaphors; sometimes her things meant the opposite. I lowered my eyes toward her and leaned forward in the chair. “It will not affect me,” I said. “And in the end, the one who is to reap the benefits isn’t it me? Or don’t you all love it when the thought that your friend could be the lunar’s cross comes to mind? Your expensive dinners,” I said, meeting Penelope and Erica’s eyes.
Amanda, however, scoffed. She was hardly one to care about dinners; being raised in a military family had put her in such a frame of mind to hate them. “They’re all such a waste of time,” she said, and rightfully so , after all, it wasn’t as though I enjoyed them so much, but they were one of the best ways to capture the hearts of some people. Think of it: the expeditions to the parks, meeting new people, controlling your well,your family’s will. The prospect that you might meet someone much more important than you are.
I smiled, knowing that Erica would fall into this category. “You don’t mean to think that you would not experience the benefits that most would, Penelope? And why do you think so?” She smiled at my question.
“Because you want him to do away with his mate,” Penelope said.
I stood on my feet. “I am his mate,” I said. “Not her , not that dirty little human. I am.” I hit my hand on my chest. “No one else. I would kill her when I’m given the opportunity,” I added, “and I expect you to facilitate it.”
Penelope’s smile still lurked on her face, but this time it served one purpose , a purpose that I had edged her on to believe.