~Charles~
I sat in my room, staring blankly into space. I was yet to comprehend what the hell was wrong with me.
I raised my hand and looked at them again. Although I had washed the blood stains off them, I could still see them boldly.
A part of me hated myself and regretted it awfully, and another part of me kept telling me it was nothing, and that I had to do it. There was a conflict going on within me, that I barely understood.
Heaving a loud sigh, I stood up and began to pace in front of my bed. ‘Now that Celine is gone and will never come back, what’s next? Won’t staying here affect me more than it ever affected Celine?’ I reminisced, when all of a sudden, there was a knock on my door.
“Charles?” Danny called softly from outside the door. I took an abrupt stop, staring at it like I wasn’t expecting him.
Since I got back from the deadly massacre, I couldn’t bring myself to look at him, talkless of speaking to him. I felt he would see the blood on my hands.
“Charles, are you there?” His soft, soothing voice came again, bringing me back to reality.
“Ye… yeah, yes. I am here.” I stuttered as I proceeded to open the door.
Upon opening the door, my jaw dropped in shock as I looked at his face. His super handsome and cute face had become so marred. I could hardly see one of his eyes because of how swollen his face was. There were blood stains and cuts all over his face.
“Oh my Goddess, Danny. What happened to you?” I asked in shock, as I pulled him into my room and shut the door.
To my greatest surprise, he looked at me with a large grin on his face.
“I thought something bad happened to you. I expected you to come and see me after you got back, but you didn’t. I’m glad you’re okay.” He uttered, placing his hands on my cheeks.
“Danny, was this because of the distraction you caused?” I asked as worry overwhelmed me. I touched a swollen part of his face and he winced in pain.
“Well, I had to come up with a very chaotic idea. One that will pull the idea of all the guards in the house. I did well, didn’t I? I picked up a fight with a senior guard for no reason. They tried to stop us, but I kept worsening it because we needed more time. I’m glad Miss Celine is safe now.” He explained, and I felt tears heat my eyes as I stared at him.
“You did that for me? You hurt yourself because of me.” I muttered in disbelief. No one had ever done that because of me before.
“Well, I wasn’t joking when I said I love you. I do love you, and I’ll do anything for you, Charles.”
Hearing his words, I pulled him into my arms and broke down. The emotions that welled up inside of me were too overwhelming, I had to let it out.
“I’m so sorry, Danny,” I mumbled, brushing his hair with my palm.
“It’s okay. I’m just trying to get ready to face Alpha Darius. He’ll definitely call me in to question me about the fight, and as we all know that he’s a smart man, he’ll do the math and will be very furious with me. I have no idea what is about to happen to me, Charles.
“But if at all I’ll have to pay for my life, at least I got to prove to you that I really love you.”
“No.” I shook my head in disagreement. “Don’t say that. You’re not going to die. I’m not going to let that happen. I promise.” I answered, and he smiled softly and slowly nodded.
“Okay.” He answered softly, his gaze still fixed on mine. Before I could say anything else, we both heard footsteps rushing towards the door.
“Danny? Are you in there?” I heard a man ask from outside the door.
“He is in there. I saw him go in.” Another man answered, causing me to furrow my brows.
“What’s going on?” I muttered as I headed towards the door.
“It’s time, Charles. They’ve come to fetch me.” Danny answered fearfully behind me, but I ignored him and went ahead to open the door.
“What’s going on?” I asked them, and they all bowed slightly.
“Alpha Darius asked us to fetch Danny.” They responded.
“Why? What happened?” I further asked, pretending that I didn’t know the details before.
“He started a fight and Alpha Darius would like to talk about it with him, Mr. Charles.” One of them further explained.
“Tell my father he’ll be there soon.” I retorted and slammed the door against their faces.
“Charles, I should go immediately,” Danny uttered fearfully, rushing to the door.
“Hold on. I’m coming with you.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to know what’s going to happen. My father acts super crazy sometimes.”
I grabbed a white T-shirt and put it on. I held onto Danny’s hand and gave him a reassuring nod as we headed out of the room.
On our way to my father's chamber, I could feel Danny’s hand shivering in mine. The eyes of the other guards ceased to move from our bodies but I didn’t give a damn.
The guards at the door of my father’s chamber opened the door and we both stepped in. I met him fuming violently in the middle of his room.
“Charles, why are you here? I asked for Danny!” He uttered aggressively.
“Why are you so tense? Danny was with me when you sent for him, so I decided to come with him. You said I could get involved in your affairs now, didn’t you? This shouldn’t be a big deal.” I answered, tightening my grip on Danny’s hand.
He gulped hard at my response and turned to look at Danny. “While I was going through the camera footage, I saw what started the fight between you and that guard, and honestly, it made no sense at all.
“I can count how many times I’ve heard you speak in this house, and then, all of a sudden, when my daughter decided to run away from the house, a big fight broke out which was caused by you.
“What do you have to say, Danny?” He asked, moving closer to where we stood.
“I’m sorry, Alpha Darius, I was severely provoked that night and wasn’t thinking at all.”
“So you’re admitting it’s your fault that my daughter escaped from this house without being noticed by any guard.” He added, and Danny remained silent.
“C’mon, Father. You can’t just evaluate things like that. It was an honest accident…”
“Why are you getting yourself involved in this, Charles? You were not even there. And why the hell are you holding his hand?!” He butted in.
“I’m getting involved because Danny is my boyfriend! He is also getting blamed for your daughter's escape because of a stupid yet honest mistake he made, something he had never done before…”
“This is what makes it suspicious! Why did it have to be that night?”
“Coincidence? Celine saw an opportunity and took it?”
“After the fight started, the cameras stopped recording too. That’s a coincidence?!” Darius roared, causing me to raise my brows in awe.
“Well… at least you know that wasn’t Danny, because he was busy fighting off bullies that you were never aware of. You don’t even care about those guards, do you?” I asked with a scoff.
“Watch the way you talk to me, Charles. Because you’re my son doesn’t…”
“Father, Danny had no idea Celine was going to escape, okay? He’s innocent.” I cut him short.
“But he started a fight, right? He has to pay for it. He and the one who started it!” He uttered in a final tone, and I gulped hard.
“And how is he going to pay for it?” I asked, turning to look at Danny, who had a terrified look on his face.
“With his life. They all know the rules.” He answered, walking to his table.
“No! You can’t kill him! He is my boyfriend! You heard that, right?!” I yelled, letting go of Danny and walking towards Darius.
“I don’t care, okay? Rules are rules! I’m sorry your boyfriend was being an arsehole when we were away. Just get yourself another one. There are lots of them in the house.”
“Father…” He didn’t let me finish before he spoke up again.
“Theo!” He called out, and the door opened almost immediately.
“Alpha Darius,” Theo uttered, lowering his head.
“Throw this man into the cell. He shall be taken care of tomorrow.”
“What?? Father?!”