Alicia’s POV
“Excuse me, I’ll be right back” I said heading to the ladies’ room, I closed the door behind me and started a staring contest with my reflection in the mirror “what the hell are you doing here, Alicia? This is the absolute last place you should be right now, are you a sadist or something, do you enjoy torturing yourself like this?” I hissed at my reflection in the bathroom mirror
“I came here for Kein, and you know it” my reflection barked back at me
“Keep telling yourself that” I scoffed and glared with frustration at the delusional girl in the mirror
“Maybe you should just move on” the girl whispered
“With Alexander?...No way” I shook my head at her
“He did say you were a close second, and you are attracted to him aren’t you?”
“He is pretty irresistible”
“Maybe he is your close second”
“What?...that’s enough from you, you’re clearly going insane”
“You might not feel it because your always thinking about Kein, once you resolve to move on…who knows maybe you might start seeing Alexander in a different light”
“Okay, you need to stop now, I don’t want to hear another word” I said pointing my finger at her
“I must say, you do know how to throw a party Caroline” a voice from outside the bathroom door brought me back to my senses
“Thanks, excuse me, I’ll be right back” Caroline responded
“Oh, you’re going to the bathroom, let me come with you”
“Shit” I hissed dashing into one of the stalls, I honestly can’t get into it with her right now
“So, tell me, who is that handsome looking man at table five?” the woman asked in a low whisper
“He’s here with someone” Caroline responded
“So, what, I didn’t see a ring on his finger”
“What if he left at home, what if he lost it, with or without a wedding ring if someone…” Caroline boomed and then took a deep breath “if someone is taken you stay away, you don’t cross that line, you can’t just act with total disregard for the person on the other side” she said more calmly
“Relax, I was just joking”
“No, it’s not fair, you don’t know how it feels to give your life to someone and to build something from nothing only to have it taken away from you…destroyed in a split second” she sniffled breathing deeply
Her words broke my heart, I never wanted to be this person, I stayed away from dating because I didn’t want to break the heart of the person I would have been with when I found my mate, and yet it seems I’m breaking the hearts of everyone around me, Kein, Alexander and now Caroline.
Her sobs brought tears to my eyes, I tried in vain to hold them back, knowing that I’m the one who caused them
“Okay, this is not about me, Caroline what’s going on, is everything alright between you and Kein?” I didn’t hear Caroline respond “good” the lady continued
“cause if he does hurt you like that I will use my super ninja powers on him” she grunted making karate sound effects
“Here, it’s hug time” the room fell silent for a couple of seconds
“You smell great by the way, what is that?" The woman asked, Caroline chuckled and answered
"Chanel number five” I sniffed the air, and it did smell good, it reminded me of jasmine
“Coming?” the woman asked
“I’ll be right out, I just need to fix my makeup” I heard footsteps head to the door and the door open and close, Caroline walked to the stall next to mine and closed the door, I heard her sobbing softly and I bit my lips trying to stop myself from crying again
I opened my stall door and stepped out, I tiptoed to the door trying to be as quiet as possible and once I was on the other side of it, I sprinted to the exit
I pushed open the door to the stairwell and pinned myself to the corner as the door slowly pulled itself close, I stood motionless trying to recall how the hell I got here, how did I get myself in this position?
The light went off and it was strangely comforting, the darkness seemed to match how I was feeling inside
The door flung open, with it the lights came on and I froze “there you are, I’ve been looking everywhere for you” as soon as I saw him I broke down, the tears streamed down my face and my body pulsed with sobs, and I buried my face in my palms
“Hey, hey, hey” he whispered as he wrapped his arms around me, and I leaned into him letting his scent comfort me, it felt good to be in his arms again “I’m here now, you don’t have to worry anymore” he pulled my face up and wiped my tears
My eyes locked with his and he gave me a quick soft kiss on the lips “I missed you” he whispered
“I missed you too” I whispered, he took my lips again kissing me softly, his lips were soft and welcoming, he stroked my chin, slowly caressing my neck and cheeks sending a chill down my spine making me release a deep moan into his mouth
“Come with me” he whispered in my mouth
“Where?” I breathed in his mouth
“Anywhere, as long as it’s far away from here”
“Okay, let’s go” I said biting his lower lip
“Really” he beamed breaking the kiss and smiling down at me, his excitement rubbed off on me, filling me with joy
“Yes, I’m ready when you are”
“I love you” he smiled taking my cheeks in his hands
“I love you too” I said clinging to his Durumagi, I stood on my tippy toes and kissed him with everything I had, in this moment I gave him my heart without reservations
“He hem” a deep voice made us jump releasing one another from our embrace, I looked at the older gentleman standing at the door, he had greying hair and dark eyes, although he seemed seasoned in age, his body still looked fit and agile
“Dad, I can explain” Kein said with his hands out trying to calm the situation
“Save it, your wife is waiting”
“Dad please, there is a reasonable explanation for…”
“I know that she is your mate” Kein's face matched mine our eyes popped out of our heads and our mouths fell to the ground
“How”
“I’m an elder wolf, son, I know everything” he fixed his Durumagi and turned his gaze on me “leave us, I need to have a conversation with Miss Thompson here”
“Dad…”
“It’s alright Kein, go I’ll be fine” I said trying to sound confident, but the truth is I’m standing in front of my fatted father-in-law and the look on his face says he doesn’t like me at all
“Are you sure?”
“Yes” I nodded, Keng senior’s eyes did not leave me, his stare was almost daring me
“I’ll be right back” he said giving me a short but deep kiss
“Dad be nice” he said pointing a finger at his father, he left closing the door behind him leaving me with his father
“I’m certain that a smart girl like you knows that being my son’s mate doesn’t excuse what you’ve done”
“I didn’t do anything”
“Infidelity is nothing to you?” he growled
“No, I didn’t mean…”
“He is clearly being driven mad by the mate bond, and honestly I don’t blame him” he looked at me and his face softened “you must go, he will come find you when he is free, and his conscience is clear”
I know that what he is saying is right and I believe every word, I hate the position I’ve put him and Kein in, I just want to be happy with my mate. Is that so wrong, should I not ask for that?
But most of all I hate the position he has put me in, if I don’t fight now, I might as well kiss my future with my mate goodbye
“I’ve heard a lot about what is right and what is wrong, not just in the short time I’ve been here but all my life, but those are just words” he looked at me and scoffed
“The mate bond doesn’t exist within those rules, if we were merely human then living under the law of what’s right and what’s wrong would be easy, but dad, we are not just human beings, we have Lycan blood running through our veins, those rules don’t apply to us”
“Don’t you dare call me dad, that right still belongs to my daughter in law” He barked
I took a deep breath and breathed out a heavy sigh
“You can’t dismiss me like that, you let Kein give up on me and now look where we are, your wife is your mate and you know that despite Kein being married he is still drawn to me and I to him” I paused and continued “I have tried to resist him, honestly I have, but in the pursuit of resisting him I find myself more desperately in need of him, I feel like I’m being torn apart from the inside”
“I have said my peace, do what’s right by your mate and leave” he barked dismissing everything I said
“Dad, please don’t ask me to leave, please don’t send me away from my mate, doing so will be sentencing me to death”
“Enough!” he barked “I’ve already told you that you have no right to call me that, if you truly love my son you will turn and leave right now, if you want my blessing that's the only path ahead"
“I’m in love with him, my heart is his, you have no right to ask me this”
“I have no right? You stand there calling me dad, yet you won’t listen to my council?”
“I want to, but I can’t” I sobbed pleading with him
“If you want the strength of our family to be with you when you are finally matted with my son according to our customs, you must do this impossible thing, not just for you but for him as well, the time for you to be strong has come, will you stay and make him weak or will you go and make him strong? Decide”
I didn’t just hear his words I felt them, the power and force in them knocking me to the ground, I buried my head in knees and cried ‘we almost did it, we were about to leave together, we were so close’
He pulled me up by my arms, whipped off my tears and offered me a warm smile “strengthen yourself, it won’t be an easy journey but it’s a journey you must take” I knew there was no way I could win, he is right, there is only one path for me to take, I can’t stay here any longer and I can’t go back to Alexander, I must leave.
I looked up at him and I nodded. I turned and faced the stairs and started climbing down taking them one at a time holding on to the railing, slowly trying to regain my strength ‘Kein, I’m sorry’
Kein’s POV
“My husband and I still hold fast to our roots, for it is our traditions that have kept us strong all these years, which is why we have asked you to dress in honour of our past for we still believe that the old ways are still truly the best, and friends, colleagues, and family we thank…” Caroline's voice faded in the background as I saw dad emerge from the stairwell alone
I released my hand from Caroline's grip and went to him “where is she?”
“Don’t worry about her, she is strong, she’ll be fine”
“What do you mean, dad, what did you do?”
“And to my father and mother-in-law I want to thank you truly from the bottom of my heart…” she continued her speech keeping in true Caroline form not skipping a beat, dad looked at her with warm approving eyes
“Dad, look at me” I pulled him back, making him face me “where is she, where is my mate?”
“Mate, ha, don’t make me laugh, if you ask me I did you a favour”
“What do you mean, what did you do” I said shaking him hoping to force the answer out of him, he just chuckled and glared at me, I ran to the stairwell and pushed the door open
“She’s gone son” my father’s voice whispered behind me
“What do you mean gone, what have you done?”
“I sent that little tramp away” he barked with a smug look on his face, and a rage came over me and my eyes became a cloudy red, and when I finally got them to focus I saw my father on the ground with his hand covering his right eye grunting in pain