Chapter 11 ELEVEN | REJECTION
CHAPTER ELEVEN | REJECTION
LYRA
I’d been avoiding Damian after the kiss yesterday. I wasn’t sure if it was out of guilt or because I was running away from feelings I knew had developed. Either way, staying away from him felt like the best thing for my life.
A part of me knew the only reason I kissed him was because of the plan with Hailey, but another part of me felt it was something deeper. An emotion stronger.
I knew it wasn’t love. I wasn’t in love with them… yet. But I knew it was only a matter of time if I kept getting close.
I wanted to stay far away. I didn’t want to feel what being heartbroken by my mate felt like again, but I knew I had no choice.
Hailey cornered me when I went into the kitchen to get something to eat. I tried to avoid her, but it was useless. Worse, there was no one else around to stop her madness.
“I hope you’ve started doing what I asked you to,” she hissed, her face impossibly close to mine.
I ignored her, acting like she wasn’t there. Hopefully, when she saw that I had no time for her, she would let me be.
Her face turned red, and her eyes glowed in warning. Instead of the intimidation I felt yesterday, what I felt now was rage…anger that made me want to teach her a lesson she would never forget.
“Get off my face. I don’t have time for your madness.” I shoved her away.
She was thrown off by my brave reaction, but her shock didn’t last long. She lunged at me before I could blink, pressing me up against the counter.
“You’ve lost your damn mind. Maybe I should help you recall our deal.”
She pulled out a knife and used the sharp edge to nudge my protruding belly, tearing my cloth in the process. I gasped when the edge made contact with my bare skin, fear washing over me.
“Please, let me go. I’ll do everything you said.”
But she wasn’t listening. Instead, she pressed the knife closer to my stomach, making a small cut.
One move, and she would slash my stomach open.
She relished my fear, laughing like a maniac as she made sure we held eye contact. “You were acting all high and brave a few minutes ago. What happened?” she teased.
I held my tongue as I felt the knife cut deeper into my skin. I thought she was going to do it—stab me and hurt my child.
But she suddenly let go of me, her expression morphing into horror. I hadn’t comprehended what was going on when she slashed her own hand with the same knife she had been about to use on me.
A wave of dizziness hit me as blood gushed from the gash.
I was starting to think she was bipolar, as that could be the only logical explanation for her actions, when I heard footsteps rushing toward us. Hailey was quick, she thrust the bloody knife into my arm and collapsed, screaming as she did so.
The Valentino twins walked in just in time to see me drop the knife. Hailey thrashed on the ground, wincing and screaming for help.
Damian rushed to her side, yelling at the guards to get medical help. “What did you do, Lyra?” he screamed, taking off his shirt to stop the bleeding.
I stood there, frozen in shock, the realization of how dangerous Hailey was slowly sinking in. If she could hurt herself just to prove a point, what else could she do?
I stumbled back from the scene and the blood that was slowly spreading toward me. Damian’s angry voice echoed in my ears, worsening my fear and panic.
He took Hailey to the pack doctor while I watched everything unfold. It wasn’t until Damien, who hadn’t moved an inch even though Hailey was almost bleeding to death, finally spoke.
“Are you alright?” he asked, taking my hand to help me out of the kitchen.
I shivered when our hands met, warmth soothing the ache I felt. “I didn’t do it,” I said automatically, covering my mouth after the words tumbled out.
Damien said nothing. He simply picked me up so I wouldn’t step on the blood and took me to the sitting room. He laid me on the chair and went out. When he came back, he held a first-aid kit.
“Let me treat your wound,” he said softly, and it was only then I looked down and realized I was bleeding a little.
The knife had cut me.
He silently tended to my small wound, and my gaze never left his face for a second.
It was strange, seeing the ever-temperamental Damien taking Damian’s role, while the nice one was with the potential psychopath, treating her like she was fragile glass.
“Why are you helping me?”
He didn’t respond. He didn’t even flinch. I thought he wasn’t going to answer, but after a few seconds, he said quietly, “Because I don’t believe you’re capable of hurting anyone like that.”
His voice was low. So soft it felt like he didn’t want anyone to hear what he said.
I was about to respond when Damian stormed in, pointing an accusing finger at me. “Why would you attack Hailey? I told you everything you needed to know about her yesterday, and yet, you tried to kill her.”
Damien didn’t let him land before jumping to my defense. “She didn’t do it. I think Hailey is lying.”
Damian’s anger didn’t falter. If anything, Damien’s words enraged him more, forcing him to clench his fists to avoid doing something he’d regret.
“I expected more from you, Damien. Taking her side because she’s your mate? Did you see the amount of blood that left Hailey? How can you still defend her after that?”
The words “your” and not “our mate” registered immediately. He was rejecting me because of Hailey.
“Use your head,” Damien snapped. “There was a bleeding cut on her stomach when we walked in. She couldn’t have done both. Maybe she hurt Hailey to protect herself.”
Damian was hearing none of it. He had already made up his mind and branded me the bad guy. Nothing anyone could say would change that, unless he saw it replayed.
“Wait,” I said suddenly, snapping my fingers as a small detail came back to me. “The CCTV. There are cameras here, right? Since you don’t believe me, you can check the footage to know what really happened.”