Chapter 14: Chapter Thirteen - Hurt

Aria’s POV.

A sense of calm filled me as I sat on the bed, facing the window to watch the sunset. I’d been in that position since I woke up from my nap about half an hour ago. Initially, I panicked, thinking I overslept and my father was waiting around the corner to jump on me and beat me up for not preparing dinner. Led by these thoughts, I attempted scampering out of bed to get on with my duties but the pains that shot through my entire body almost made me have a seizure and that was enough to bring me back to the present and to remind me of my current predicament and living conditions.

I was no longer under the roof of my father but I was living in the home of Alpha Shane, the ruler of the Black Mane pack.

As good as it sounded, it was also terrifying. I had no experience with men except for my father and after all I’d been through in his hands, I was scared to let myself believe that the alpha was being nice for the sake of it. The thoughts that he had an ulterior motive and would end up defiling me just like my dad had done kept hovering around my head and while I knew I should be prepared for the inevitable, my body just wasn’t ready for it.

It was too battered to fight against any assault and Hailey on the other hand wasn’t helping matters. She seemed to have been brainwashed as she couldn’t function properly at the mere thoughts of the alpha, talk more of being in his presence and it was more terrifying to know that she may willingly give us up into his waiting arms when the opportunity finally presented itself.

“He's a good man,” Hailey interrupted, making me roll my eyes as I continued staring at the gradually darkening sky, patiently waiting to catch the moment the stars would sneak into it. “You should give him a chance and get to know him better. He cares about us and…”

“You’re too vulnerable, Hailey. It's why I can never let you out because you’re too trusting,”

I shook my head, a deep sigh slipping from my lips. I’d never let her out before because I knew she couldn’t handle the outside world. Despite her aura of positivity, she was quick to recede into her shell whenever we got hurt.

“I only trust him. He’s special to us. You feel it too, don’t you? Like we’re meant to be one?”

“For a she-wolf that has always been cooped up within me, you daydream too much.”

“It's not daydreaming. I think the moon goddess has finally sent our savior and mate.”

The reality that her words were followed with a deep purr that made a warm fuzzy feeling spread within me, had me shutting her off. Sometimes, I hated that we were so connected that I felt every one of her emotions and it didn’t help that she imposed them on me despite our disagreement and our differences in thoughts and opinions. She was my only companion in this lonely world but at times, I wished I could do without her. She was too gullible and innocent to face reality.

With Hailey’s voice out of my head, my thoughts wandered to what would soon be my reality as soon as I was healed enough for the alpha to carry out his true intentions. The thoughts made me shudder and his handsome face flashed into my mind’s eye as if to taunt me but all it did was to raise doubt within me and as if I’d been infected with Hailey’s gullible spirit, I found myself doubting for him and believing that a man who had been so kind to me would ever harass me in such terrible ways as I’ve conjured in my head.

A knock sounded on the door, disrupting me from my thoughts and I turned from the window to face the door, thinking that it must be the maid assigned to me.

“Come in.”

Slowly, the door opened and the face of Alpha Shane came into view. I blinked, my heart skipping a beat when my eyes landed on his forest green orbs, staring at me intently. And when he smiled at me, I felt a part of me melting like warm chocolate and the same warm fuzzy feelings that Hailey had been projecting into me spread through my entire being but I was quick to avert my gaze to keep off the strange sensations that were suddenly overtaking my body.

“How are you, Anna?” I heard him ask as he stepped into the room and silently closed the door behind him.

For a moment, I remained quiet as I was lost in my head, trying to get rid of the unwanted warmth spreading within me. His presence had caught me unawares as I hadn’t seen him after he assigned the maid.

Maybe he couldn't bear to see me battered and bruised when all he’d need from me is to sate his pleasures. These self-deprecating thoughts assailed my mind but I kept shut, not daring to utter them from the fear of him acting out my fear.

“I could go if you’d prefer to be alone,” he said when I remained silent.

I kept staring at my fingers that were wrung together until I exhaled loudly and I looked up to see he had turned on his heels and was now facing the door, with his back to me.

“No, stay,” I blurted out, shocking myself.

Slowly, he turned around and I saw the moment a smile claimed his handsome face, as he grinned boyishly, and took a step forward, making my heart skip.

“Thank you.”

It was the least thing I expected to hear from him but then, he kept surprising me.

“You look better today and I trust you feel better too?”

His words instantly brought back my fearful thoughts but when he kept looking at me with those concerned eyes, I couldn’t leave him waiting for an answer so I subtly nodded in response.

“I’m glad to know you’re getting better. Soon, you’ll heal completely.”

He stepped closer to the bed.

“May I?”

My gaze fell to the space between us and I nodded but as soon as he sat, I scooted to the far end of the bed to put more distance between us. I noticed the moment his cheerful exterior was replaced by a frown and his eyes met mine.

“Why?”

His question dripped with an undertone of hurt and I gulped in response, averting my gaze from his. From my peripheral vision, I saw him reach toward my chin and I jerked away, my heart slamming hard against my chest in fear.

When I glanced at him again, his frown had ebbed away but in its place was an expression of hurt that tore at my heart. The sudden need to explain to him surged through me and I found myself speaking.

“I… I’m cursed. I told you, you can’t be close to me.”

I saw the way his hurtful expression instantly shifted to anger with fire blazing in his eyes as soon as the words left my mouth and all it did was to fuel my anxiety and to make me wish the ground would open up and swallow me.

“He told you that, didn't he?”

At first his words didn’t make sense.

“Your dad…”

I swallowed.

“It's… It's true.”

“No, it's not, Anna. He fucking lied to you just to make himself feel better for his atrocities.”

I blinked at him, gradually processing his words and letting their meaning sink in but I still couldn’t accept them.

No, my dad wasn’t that cruel. He was only trying to protect me and I’d ended up possessing him.

Shane must have seen the doubt and conviction in my expression because when he spoke again, his words were dripping with venom.

“He fucking lied. I know I shouldn’t be meddling but I asked Dr. Mark to run a DNA test on you and I can assure you, you’re nothing close to a sigma or a cursed wolf.”

“No,” I shook my head. “You had no right…”

The hurt expression returned to his face as he stared at me with gloomy eyes but when he spoke this time, his voice softened.

“I’m sorry, Anna but all I want to do is protect you and keep you safe. I had to.”

I opened my mouth to object but he pulled out a folded piece of paper from his pocket and tossed it to me. At first, I stared at him, then at the paper before returning my gaze to him. He nodded at it.

“Go ahead, read it. It's the evidence you need.”

My mouth suddenly became dry as I stared at the folded paper again.

Was I really ready to see what was inside? To know the truth? But then, I shook my head and reached for it with shaky hands because surely, my dad couldn't be a liar. He wouldn’t do that to his only child.

My gaze darted to him again and he nodded at me to go on. Swallowing down my rapidly increasing anxiety, I slowly unfolded the paper until my eyes landed on the writings on it.

With each word I read, a piece of my heart fell off and a pain that equaled that of a knife twisting in my guts seized my breaking heart as the hidden truth stared back at me.

The one man that was meant to protect me had turned out to be the monster that destroyed me.