Esmerelda POV
The door swung open as Seb meandered through, his face hard. I turned to him as he entered but didn't bother to speak.
"There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you." I went to grab another drink ignoring him but he grabbed it out of my hand.
"You've obviously had enough, Esme. Why don't I get you to bed?"
"What's wrong with me?" I looked at him feeling the tears brim in my eyes. My wolf was whimpering out as the pain exploded within me.
He immediately came to my side and sat on the chair beside me. Not saying a word, he let me cry on his shoulder as he rubbed my back. His wolf comforted mine as we sat in silence.
"Where-oh…" Mum walked through the door and came to comfort me too. She sat on the opposite side and held me, letting Sebastian rub my back.
We sat there for a while until the tears stopped and the sun rose. It was a weird but loving situation to bring the family back together after a difficult week.
The sun lit up the room warming my face. Mum and Seb were gone, and I was covered in a blanket. I stretched up from the bar hearing my back click as I stood. The smell from the kitchen pulled me like a string attached from bacon to my stomach.
I walked into the dining room and sat myself down opposite Seb. Mei was sat beside him and they both read different parts of the same newspaper.
"Good morning, Esme." Mei spoke when she noticed me. I smiled at her but she gave me a weird look.
"Esme, you might want to get changed and look in a mirror." My face fell and I got up peeking at myself in the corridor mirror.
I looked awful. My makeup was smeared down my face. My hair was frizzed up from not being entirely dry last night. Even my dress was torn.
"I love you!" Mei shouted from the other room as I groaned at my appearance. I ran up the stairs and began sorting myself out. I brushed my hair and tied it up in a tight ponytail. Next, to sort out my makeup, I cleaned my face and continued with my normal skincare routine. To finish up, I quickly picked a more comfortable outfit, making sure to put the dress aside so I could fix it later. As soon as I was ready, a gentle knock repeated on my door.
"Come in." I said as I zipped up my top.
"Esme, some man is here to see you. He says he needs to talk to you about last night." Mum said looking equally confused as I was.
"Okay?" I followed her downstairs and came face to face with a man I didn't recognise. He was sipping on a mug most likely filled with coffee. I greeted him and he shook my hand.
"Let's go somewhere more private." I said as Seb and Mei began peering over their newspapers. It was only then that I recognised me and Orion on the front of the paper.
Fuck. Why was everyone acting so normal?
I walked through the house, stumbling over my words as I made small talk with the silent man. He didn't give me anything just the occasional nod and sigh.
Once we reached my mum's office, he shut the door behind us before flicking through a briefcase I hadn't noticed until now. He put a folder onto the table and sat opposite me. The folder was named 'Orion – incident'. I gave him a look.
"Go ahead. Have a look." I took a hold of it and flipped it open. Inside was the newspaper article cut out about last night. It was horrifically written, making me out to be some kind of slut trying to ruin Orion's marriage. I pushed it aside and looked at the photos. There was some from last night including one of Sienna in my lounge. There were even photos from the Mating Ball with Orion pictured with all sorts of girls including me and Mai. I put them down and turned to see the man had picked up what looked like a contract.
"What is this?"
"This is to assure the Alpha that you will not do anything to ruin the future of this pack. You obviously have caused enough trouble as it is."
I scoffed at him, the anger rising in me, "I haven't done anything wrong."
"So having sex with someone who is getting married tomorrow isn't wrong?"
I stuttered. In all honestly, I had forgotten about the wedding, which I was invited to.
"Listen, Esme. I am going to leave this here and you can sign it and return it when you're ready. But you're going to come to the conclusion that this is best for everyone involved. You don't want to know what the other alternative is." He spoke as he began packing his things away.
"What is the alternative?"
His eyebrow raised but he sat again, moving to the edge of his seat, "Termination."
I gulped and nodded. He wished me well before leaving the room in haste. I sat still, not even moving; someone watching me might think I was a human statue.
It wasn't long before Mei and Seb charged into the room.
Seb began with a million questions, but Mei stopped him. She eventually pushed him out the room and shut the door.
"What did he say?" She spoke quietly.
"I am a danger to the safety of the pack, and I have to sign this, or I will be terminated."
"Terminated?"
"Killed or exiled."
She breathed out the air before slumping in the seat and began reading the documents.
"Orion is my mate." I spoke after some time, and she gave me a look of sympathy before it changed to confusion.
"Well, why didn't he…"
"I still have no idea. I've been racking my brain trying to find the reason, but I can't. I'm so tempted to just reject him myself. That way I can be free from this love chokehold he seems to have on me."
She continued reading, letting me sit in my head and absorb my thoughts.
"You know this says you can't be alone with Orion again. You can't even speak to him unless certain people are present. There's even a clause in here if you get pregnant from… the incident you have to carry it to term and then give it to them to raise."
I snatched the document from her hands and read the page she pointed at.
"This is ridiculous Mei. What am I supposed to do?"
"Go and talk to him. Tell him something needs to happen. He needs to either reject you or choose you over…"
"Over what? His entire future, his birthright and this pack? I would choose all that over me, Mei." She knew I was right.
"Still, see if you can talk to him before his wedding. It's worth just a little bit of closure."
I agreed with her and placed the document into a drawer before following her out. She went upstairs to Seb I assumed whilst I headed out to my car. Jumping in, I drove across town to his house, hoping he was there.