Heat Waves (slowed + reverb) by Fenekot
Mathilda
Have you ever tried to tell yourself it's gonna be okay, yet you want the ground to open up and consume you, to save you from what's about to tumble your life upside down?
That's the way I feel right now. Because all of this feels surreal.
Guests are beginning to arrive, more than five hundred, and I can feel my heart leaping so high, that I thought I'd faint.
My mother is talking non-stop, reminding my brothers of the consequences we'll face if the wedding doesn't hold today. That it will not only bring us shame and our uncleared debts but mostly Alpha Cahill who has a reputable position. It'd taint his image as the billionaire Alpha whose bring ditched him and ran away with her ex-lover.
Several workers are using hand dryers to dry the wedding gown that Genova had left to soak up in a bath tube, while I am seated in front of the mirror, with a make-up artist slapping several powders to my stiffened-tear-dripping face.
She snaps her head towards my mom with a slight frown on her face, and mom gives her a go-ahead nod.
"Do not stop, this wedding must be held otherwise we'll suffer a cruel fate which I cannot afford," she adds, not even pausing to rethink about this whole thing. Because it has to do with my life, which I never bargained for.
"What will you tell Alpha Cahill, mother?" Damon who has his hands on his waist asks, he seems frustrated, with his once nicely groomed hair now disarrayed like a rat spent a night in there.
"Christ, I don't..." My mom barely finishes talking, before the door bursts open and in comes Alpha Cahill and his men, making everyone stop dead on their tracks.
Slowly, his gaze shifts towards where the three girls are standing with hand dryers and then the damp wedding gown on the bed.
My stomach immediately churns when the next thing his blue gaze gets fixed on is me.
And I let out a deep ragged breath because they've known already.
Alpha Cahill looks so frustrated and upset like he wants to punch someone. This is the first time I'm seeing him at a close range because I've always spent my head buried in handouts, or staring at his convoy through my window when he came to pick Genova.
He looks so painfully handsome in his stylish green two-piece suit, yet completely broken. Brown hair tousled on top of his head like he has been forking his fingers through it a couple of times. Eerily blue eyes darkened and stormy, they give out how betrayed and hurt he is by Genova's action, and despite how shaken I am, I cannot help but feel his pain. How in the hell could Genova do this to a man who loves her so much?
Alpha has his jaw clenched and his fingers balled into fists, he's trying so much to contain the anger inside of him but it seems like he's going to explode.
"Alpha Cahill..." Mom's voice trembles, which gives out how shaken and scared she is. She falls down on the floor, next to the feet of Alpha Cahill who's still quiet.
I can't believe his presence revokes this much authority and power, yet Genova had boost of how affectionate he was.
My three brothers, they're as well frightened of Alpha Cahill but still manage to come stand beside my mother, to prove their position as men in the family.
Simone Reece, Alpha Cahill's Beta, steps forward and hands Damon a letter.
"Your sister left this for the Alpha," he says.
Mom immediately rises to her feet and then snatches the letter away from Damon.
I am so sorry for leaving like this, so fucking sorry for the pains I've caused, but I cannot do this. I thought about it a lot and finally came up with the conclusion that I cannot marry you. I know that you hate me right now and you have every right to. Running away is the best decision I've ever made because I do not love you. I am so sorry, please don't hurt my family.
"Fuck!" Someone curses, and I can see my mom's hands shivering unendingly with the letter trembling, making flapping sounds.
I swallow down the hurtful gigantic lump stuck within my throat as more tears cloud my vision.
My whole family goes down on their knees in front of Alpha Cahill who's still silent, fuming in anger.
"Please spare the life of my family and do as you please with me. Father's late, I am the head of the family now, so it should be me taking all responsibility for my sister's actions and facing the consequences, not my mother and younger siblings." Damon says quietly with his head sagging down, his tone full of boldness.
A dull pain spreads through my chest on hearing this, and my mother, Archibald, and Caden snap their heads towards Damon in shock.
"Damon!" my mom bellows, jabbing her fist in his shoulder.
"I do not have time for this drama, look for a way to fix this or you all will suffer for causing me such humiliation," Alpha Cahill finally speaks up, his deep voice reverberates on the walls, and I shudder not because of the powerful effect it has, but because he's looking at me right now.
"Please take Mathilda, my youngest and last child as your bride. To save yourself from the impending shame and humiliation," my mom implores, "she can take the place of her sister even though it will change nothing. Please."
Alpha Cahill's Beta and men finally look in my direction, and my heart sinks deep in my chest when he shifts his gaze towards me for the second time.
His forehead squeezes, bringing out wrinkled lines which gives out that he's having some thoughts about me. And I cannot help but hold my breath captive, wanting all of this to end. He can decide to free us all, even though it'd mean us still working our asses off to clear dad's debt.
"Fine," Alpha Cahill agrees, stunning me out of my senses just as I was beginning to think he'd spare us all.