Dimitri paled at my question, and I watched him retrieve his hand immediately, moving it behind him and away from my line of vision.
“It doesn't matter,” he said.
A heavy feeling settled on my chest, and I couldn't stop a tear from rolling down the side of my face.
“Alexander did this, right?”
Of course, he had. Only he would do something this vicious. I couldn't tell the level of animosity Dimitri felt toward me for being the reason he had to suffer through treatment like this. I knew if I were in his place, I would utterly abhor my existence.
“Alexander?” he repeated my words slowly, an odd expression on his face.
But Dimitri wasn't like me in any way. He cared about me, and I had seen on his face the pain in his eyes when he’d noticed the scars Alexander’s brutality had left on me.
Once, he had offered to return to my pack and inform the Alpha of what was happening, but I had stopped him. I didn't think I would be able to handle it if he knew about it and did nothing. With him not knowing, I could delude myself into thinking my father would raise hell if he were aware of the abuse I was suffering at Alexander's hands. I wasn't ready to lose that delusion to the harshness of reality.
“You don't have to lie about it, Dimitri. I am sorry you have to suffer like this because of me. You have no idea how horrible I feel about this,” I said softly to him, wishing he could see the plea in my eyes.
A look of understanding flashed in his eyes, and he nodded his head rapidly. “You can stop this then. I have never asked anything of you before now, but please, you have to do this.”
A dreadful feeling crept up on me. “What can I do?”
“Please,” he begged. “Stay with him instead. Don't go away from here.”
“What? No, Dimitri…”
“He’s going to kill me,” he yelled, shooting up from his seat. “He's going to kill me and every member of my family if you go with someone else.”
I was too dumbfounded by his words to form a coherent response, so he took my silence as an incentive to continue, now in a frenzied manner. He paced about the room, his hands moving wildly as he spoke.
“Alexander is no good for you, I understand this, but you can mold him to be the perfect man for you when you get mated. You can't trust Callan, Sophia. You don't know him. But Alexander? You've known him for the last fifteen years, and he loves you. He loves you so much. We all can't deny that.” His words were being rushed now.
“I beg of you, please consider him. Don't make a mistake you might spend the rest of your life regretting.”
It was crippling to see him like this. Only fear could do this to a man. I would've sworn that this day could never have come, a day where Dimitri was making a case for Alexander. We both hated him, Dimitri even more than me, but here he was.
“Dimitri, I…”
He fell to his knees in front of me, shutting down any word of resistance I had been on my way to uttering.
“Please.”
One word, enough to completely shatter me.
I could only stare at him, terror seizing me as tears ran down his cheeks, his lips quivering from the silent sob that rocked him.
“Please stand up,” I finally said.
He shook his head. “Not until you promise me this. I am at your mercy now, Sophia. Can't you see?”
Seeing him like this was unbearable and knowing that I could do something to stop this made it even worse. The conflict was wrenching, tearing at my soul ruthlessly. For the first time, I wanted to be bold and do something for myself, but here I was, stuck once again.
It was ludicrous that I’d even thought I could escape this so easily. Ludicrous was putting it mildly. I was simply stupid.
“Nothing will happen to you, Dimitri. I assure you that,” I promised.
I had just settled on my bed to sleep even though I knew it was impossible. Sleep wouldn't come to me tonight, not while my mind was heavy with varying thoughts, all of me ridden with guilt. A knock rang out on my door, and it had me sitting up in confusion. I wasn't expecting Leah or anyone else. Lights out in our quarters had been a few minutes ago, so whoever was at my door was either too important to abide by lights out or simply had a death wish. I’d seen the punishment that accompanied being caught loitering past at night. It was an ugly sight.
“Who’s there?” I called, my voice resounding in the darkness.
“Sophia, open up,” I heard a distinctly familiar voice call.
With a sigh, I heaved myself off the bed and grabbed a shawl from the foot of the bed, draping it over my shoulder before going to unlock the door. A warrior stood on the other side of it.
“The Alpha has asked you to meet him at the stables.”
Fear gripped me, the same one that had held Dimitri hostage.
No good was going to come from meeting Alexander this late at night and in a place conveniently quite a distance from the main manor where no one would hear my last cry for help. Not that anyone would have come to my aid even if they heard, but at least it'd have spared them the exerting task of having to whisper amongst themselves what exactly had happened and question where precisely Alexander had buried my body.
'That is not funny!' my wolf snapped.
I took in a breath, entwining my palms with each other. Allowing myself to derive even the tiniest bit of humor in my situation had helped save me from sinking entirely in the desolating ocean my life was.
“Now?” I muttered dumbly at the warrior.
He stared at me with something akin to compassion before nodding. “Yes, I'll escort you to him.”
I shut the door after me and let him lead the way, walking behind him with deliberately slow steps as though that would in any way hinder this meeting from happening.
The night was beautiful, ironically. It was deeply silent, the million stars in the sky illuminating it, and the soft rays of the moonlight fell upon the ground. I could almost feel its softness stroking my skin as I made my way to what I wasn't sure wouldn't be my end.
The chillness of the air passed through the thin material of my shawl digging into my skin, but somehow, I didn't mind it. I didn't mind that my feet had gotten so cold that walking was hard, or that I was shivering and my teeth clattering because I could tell it was more of the feeling of fear that had made itself my companion for the night.
Right before we reached the stables, the warrior stopped and turned his head toward where a figure stood at the other end of the building, hands clasped behind him as he started farther into the night.
“Thank you,” I said to the warrior, and when he gave me a look of sympathy, I wanted to take my words back. He was right. There was nothing to be grateful about.
My legs felt heavy under my own weight, but I forced myself to put one in front of another until I found myself standing a few steps behind him.
“You called for me,” I said, bowing my head to avoid looking at him directly, but I knew when he turned to face me.
I sucked in a breath when in one swift movement, he yanked at my shawl, tearing it off my body.