Chapter 25 Chapter 24
Amaris.
You rejected me once, Ethan. You made your choice. Keep to it, the same way I'm keeping to mine." With those words, I turned on my heel and ran away, leaving Ethan behind, bewildered and alone, praying to the moon goddess he didn't follow after me. My heart raced, and my mind was a whirlwind of emotions, but I refused to let him back into my life.
Reaching a safe distance, I stopped, crumbling to the floor as I tried to catch my breath, tears filling my eyes. I hurriedly cleaned them away, standing to my feet. Duke Ethan, my mate who has rejected me the second he laid his eyes in me after he discovered I was wolflless. Seeing him again had pushed up memories I had hidden even from my myself this past few months. I could still remember the look of disdain on his face as he rejected me, shattering my heart and soul into a million pieces without remorse. I let out a breath, my chest hurting. What did he want now?
I had stayed away just like he ordered, why was he here? It didn't matter, I wouldn't bother myself with it. The second he left for his Dukedom, the better for me. We should continue to be apart.
I continued with my duties but my mind was distracted, filled with the incidents they took place earlier this morning as I tried to figure out what Ethan's was up to. Unable to come up with a reasonable conclusion, I gave up, devoting myself to the work at hand. When I retired to bed that night, I found Princess Evelyn waiting for me, a smile on her face.
The second she was the disconcerted look on my face, her smile fell and she hurried towards me, her gaze filled with concern. "What happened? Why do you look so sad?" She asked, gazing at me softly. I shook my head, seating on my bed. She sat beside me, peering at me. Trying to smile but failing woefully at it, I sniffed back tears as I started to speak.
"I saw Ethan today." I revealed, my voice quiet. She glanced at me in surprise, her eyes widening in confusion.
"Ethan? You mean the Duke Ethan Ravenwood?" She asked and I nodded, fiddling with my fingers as I sniffed.
"Yes, he was in the palace grounds and... And he looked like he was here for me." I muttered, tears stinging my eyes.
"What!?" Evelyn whispered after a moment of silence, her eyes widening. "I thought he rejected you. What is he doing here?"
"I thought so too. But his words proved otherwise." I said, my memories filled with what he said.
"So..." Evelyn prodded. "What happened? What did you say to him?"
"I told him to stay away. To go back to where he came from." I replied.
"That's a good thing." Evelyn replied and I looked at her, surprised.
"It is? But what if... He doesn't listen?"
"He has no choice but to, that is if he has any sense in his head. But still you shouldn't let that worry you. You did a good job of telling him to go away."
"But... I don't understand." I admitted as new tears filled my eyes. "Why are these things happening to us?"
"I have no idea. But, like you always say, well get through it." Evelyn repeated, hugging me. I tightened it, feeling some of my heartache melt away at the act.
"You know what? Let's make a pact. Whatever happens, let's promise to never leave each other sites and go back to the men who have hurt us. They do not deserve us." Evelyn said as she stretched out her pinky finger towards me. Smiling, I accepted it, wrapping my pinky finger around hers.
"Done!" I announced and we pulled away, chuckling.
"See? We're better on our own." She said, smiling at me.
"Much better." I seconded, grinning at her.
"Don't be sad anymore. I don't like it when you're sad." Evelyn said as she palmed my cheeks. I laughed out loud.
"I don't like it when I'm sad too." I said. We smiled, discussing other things as we pushed the incident of the days behind us and hoped for a better future ahead of us.
Only, we didn't know what fate had in store for us.
Alpha king keiran.
The night was a shroud of darkness, and within it, I was imprisoned, ensnared by my own memories. Each night, the same torment replayed in my restless slumber. I could never escape my past, no matter how desperately I tried.
I woke up with a jolt, sweat clinging to my skin, my hand trembling and my body burning hot despite the coldness in the room. My chest heaved, my heart pounding, and the pain, both physical and emotional was all too real, I could feel it etched into my body, mind and soul, the scars of a lifetime worth of suffering.
As I sat there, I couldn't help but recall the nightmare that had haunted my sleep. It was a memory I had buried deep inside of me, a piece of my history I wished to forget. But tonight, with it's cruel insistence, had dragged it to the surface once more. Though it was ages ago, it felt just like yesterday.
I was no more than a young boy, crouched on the cold, unforgiving floor in a tiny dark cell room. My body bore the marks of a cruel whip, its leather tendrils lashing across my back, ripping the skin from my flesh. I pleaded with my father, tears streaming down my face, begging him to stop the torment.
"Shut up!" He roared, sending a kick to my stomach that threw me accross the room, knocking the breath out of my chest and causing blood to pool at the corner of my mouth. I tried to stand up but crumbled under the pain, tears leaving my eyes as I curled into a ball, shaking vehemently.
"Such a weakling." He growled, snickering under his breath, his words cutting deeper than the lashes. "What a failure you are." He spat with venom in his voice. "I don't understand why the moon goddess cursed me with such a weakling for a son." he said aloud before sending another kick into my belly once more, the pain promising to split me apart.
I gritted my teeth, tears blinding my eyes as I curled tighter to myself. I was trying hard, I was trying so hard to be the son he would be proud of. But it wasn't enough, nothing I do is ever enough. I let out a low growl filled with pain, wishing death could just take me away from my father's hands and offer me the peace I so desperately needed.
But my prayers fell on deaf ears and the torment continued. With my father whipping me like I was just a mere animal, not worth his pity or mercy, each strike erasing a piece of my innocence, replacing it with the cruel reality that my father considered me worthless.