My heart felt like it was gripped in a vice as I rushed away from the newcomers. Seeing Julie all over Trip hurt like hell. It was crazy, I hated Trip but seeing my mate with someone else felt like I was being stabbed.
He must have told Julie since these past few weeks she'd been extra attentive to him when I was around. I wished I could reject him, it wasn't fair that he had to reject me first.
Now I'm stuck feeling the pain of my mate not wanting me. I tried to take deep breaths, to push the pain away so I could at least function today. It worked for a short while but it wasn't enough. I needed to find a more permanent solution.
Later that evening, I cooked and served the dinner as usual, though, it was more than normal with the guests. I felt like I was on autopilot, doing the tasks but not paying attention. It wasn't until I felt a foot jut out, that I was brought back to reality. I fell to the floor, smashing the few plates I had in my hand.
I felt the shards cut into my flesh as I hissed out in pain. I could hear someone laughing and I knew exactly who, Julie. I gritted my teeth as I resisted the urge to punch her. I wasn't expecting several gentle hands gripping my arms to help me up. Beta Shepherd, his son Max and a few of their warriors were helping me and picking up the pieces.
"Are you alright?" Max asked me.
I nodded with a grunt as I felt the blood dripping down my arm.
"What have you done, clumsy girl!" Father shouted. "Go get yourself cleaned up and come back to clean this mess. Leave that for her to do."
"It wasn't her fault Alpha Nicholas," Max insisted whilst pointing at Julie. "This one stuck her foot out and made her trip."
"I didn't, she's just really clumsy and the name's Julie not 'this one'," Julie sneered at me whilst doing air quotes.
"It's … ok," I winced. "I'll get something to clean this up with."
I rushed off and headed for the kitchen. Blood was dripping from three big wounds and there were a few scratches. I willed my wolf to heal me but she wasn't listening.
I was picking out some shards over the sink when I heard a gentle voice.
"Are you ok?"
Max moved closer to me and took my arm. Gently, he twisted my arm around and whistled.
"Damn! What are those plates made of? Barbed wire?"
I smiled at him, a chuckle almost escaped me despite how the pain I was in.
"Why isn't your wolf healing you?" he asked.
I shrugged my shoulders, though I had an idea. She'd been absent ever since that first night of pain.
Max helped me clean and dress my wounds but he stopped me from heading back to the dining room.
"It's ok, we cleaned it up for you," he smiled at my wide eyes. "Your alpha is a real piece of work, she clearly tripped you up on purpose yet he's angry with you."
I shrugged my shoulders again. To be honest, I'm used to it. I no longer let it get to me, it was pointless anyway.
"Thank you," I whispered. "You didn't have to do that."
"It was no problem," he insisted. "She shouldn't have done that."
I was about to argue that she always does things like that. When a familiar pain ripped through me. I screamed out as I collapsed onto the floor clutching my chest.
Max had his arm around me when his father and some of his warriors came rushing in.
"What happened?" I heard his father ask.
"I don't know," Max sounded worried. "One minute we were talking, the next she's screaming in pain."
I tried to grit my teeth and breathe through the pain. My wolf whined in my head and I knew what was happening. I heard Max whisper something to someone before they raced off but I couldn't hear what was being said.
Then I felt ice-hot pain seer through my neck and I screamed again. My lungs squeezed shut and black spots started to blur my vision before it went completely dark.
---
It was dark outside when I finally started to come around. I could hear faint whispers around me but couldn't match the voices to anyone. With a groan, I turned over and then paused. The bed wasn't hard, the room wasn't cold. Where was I?
"Come on Willow, open those beautiful eyes."
My brow furrowed. 'Beautiful?' no one has ever called me beautiful. Begrudgingly, I opened my eyes. Max was hovering over me and he smiled.
"Slowly!" he insisted as I tried to sit up.
My neck still felt like it was burning but the pain in my heart dulled it. I called my wolf but she refused to answer, I couldn't feel her either. Was she gone? Had I lost her?
"How are you feeling?" Max asked slowly.
"She'll be fine!"
We all turned to see my father storming into the room. His eyes flared angrily at me. Quickly, I hurried to get out of bed. I stood before him with a bowed head.
"Get back to work girl!" he sneered.
"Yes Fa …" he growled. "I mean Alpha."
Hurriedly I rushed out of the room. My head felt fuzzy but I managed to make it to the kitchen. I gasped when I saw the state it was left in. Someone else must have been made to cook but was told to leave the washing up.
It took me several hours to get the kitchen back to a usable state. My body felt heavy and my heart felt dead as I made my way to my room. It was past midnight when I crawled onto the hard mattress.
'Happy graduation day to me!' I thought as I tried to close my eyes and dreamed of myself as far away from here as possible.
"So this is your room?"
I jumped at the sudden voice. Max stood on the steps that led up to my room.
"You're the Alpha's oldest child, right? Why do you sleep here?"
I was too tired to pretend, too tired to make up some sob story. So, for the first time, I told the truth.
"Because he doesn't see me as his daughter, never has. Not since my mother died, his true mate."
Tears filled my eyes as the years of memories of his mistreatment flooded through my already depressed state. I didn't think I could feel any more heartbreak, especially about an issue I thought I made peace with.
Max walked over to me, sat down and wrapped me in a fierce hug. I cried into his chest as I let it all out. He moved so we were lying down and he just held me. For the first time in my life, someone was there for me.
"I'm sorry," he whispered against my head.
After a few choked sobs, I managed to weakly lift my head and stare at him. He smiled at me as he wiped away my tears.
"Why are you sorry?" I asked.
"Because you're unhappy," he answered.
I pulled myself up and tried my best to not look like I'd just cried my heart out.
"Can you forget about what I said earlier? I'll get in trouble if my father finds out," I pleaded.
Max smiled again and nodded. I sighed in relief and Max chuckled. He held out his arms for me and I happily leaned into him. He felt like home did, before my mother died, he was strong and I felt safe. Like I could depend on him to catch me if I fell.
He sighed as if he felt the same. Even though I knew he wasn't my true mate I started to wonder what it would be like if I could be his mate. Though he most likely has yet to find his and despite how mine turned out, I wouldn't want to be in the way of that.
"What the hell is going on here?"