Fated To Three, Betrayed By All… Until She Rose.-Chapter 248: Family drama!

Leilani

Chalice slapped herself eighty one freaking times! And I know this because I counted each sound that rang across the room whenever her shaky hands connected with her face.

But I felt no joy even as I took in the red print marks each strike created across her skin. I still felt no pleasure when she fell to the floor afterwards and began to sob, her entire body shaking with both embarrassment and pain.

However, for some reason, the only thing that scene managed to do was tug at the dead parts of my heart.

It made me pity her. It made me feel as though this was probably not the way to go.

For a very brief moment, I suffered from Savior’s complex and had this irresistible urge to go save her, however when she flinched as if physically burned as soon as my fingers grazed her arm, I took a step back and shoved my goodwill deep into my purse.

"Now that you’re done with that, the next stage is to get you to donate some of your blood to charity. And when I say some, you know exactly what I mean." Kael bellowed, and for some reason, as soon as I heard that, something in my brain kicked to focus.

I jumped before I could even stop myself and spread my arms wide, my voice croaky as I rasped; "The baby! If you do that, she would lose the baby and it doesn’t deserve that!"

Kael’s eyes darted from my face to Chalice’s. He stared between us for a couple of minutes and finally sighed, his brows creasing as if deep in thoughts.

Something about his overall reaction made me understand that he didn’t want to do this. That he was unwilling to let Chalice off the hook so easily, and while I wanted that too, I didn’t want anything to hurt her child, so I dropped my gaze and whispered;

"Please."

Now, that had Kael softening. I saw the moment my words registered in his mind as the tenseness in his shoulders slowly loosened and he instinctively let out a breathy sigh.

He announced; "Since Ms Leilani here has refused to allow Chalice Blackthorne to be subjected to such ill treatments—all for the sake of her unborn pup, we would simply lock her up in the dungeons. She’s not to be fed, washed or clothed. She’s not to be granted bail or given the chance for another hearing. She’s been established as a traitor and a thief; and for that, she is condemned to six months imprisonment with hard labor. And upon the birth of her child, she would be cast out of the pack and branded a rogue! That’s my sentence!"

Silence.

That was what settled in the hall after he pronounced Chalice’s sentence, and even though I wasn’t expecting her to thank me for saving her ass right there, I was still surprised when she latched her eyes on mine and hissed;

"I will always hate you, Leilani. I swear, I always will!" She snickered, and goddess, something about those words made me immediately irritated.

I wanted to say something biting to her, to respond to her with just as much malice as she had accorded me, but deciding that he wasn’t worth that much energy, the forced smile on my face dropped slightly and I rasped out; "Why do you hate me so much?" I did nothing to you. I never understood what your angst towards me was. Goddess, I never even did anything to you!"

As I spoke, I leaned close to her, and maybe that was a bad idea as she suddenly gripped my wrist so tightly, I feared she would snap it.

She hissed; "You’re a pesky little pest, you know?"

"And that’s just why you hate me? That’s just why you decided to make my life so miserable?" I spat in her face, and as soon as I asked that, she threw her head back and chuckled, her laughs tearing through the quiet air like a knife.

She snarled; "Miserable? You think this is miserable?"

"I think you’re miserable too!" I bit back,

But instead of responding, she laughed again, this time sounding more maniacal with each passing second. When her eyes met mine this time, I saw the desperation... the angst. The hatred. Goddess, if there was a word stronger than hatred, then that was exactly what I could see in her eyes.

Her voice dropped a few notches and her breath fanned my face as she spat under her breath, but I didn’t miss the sharp edge to her words and the despair that dripped off each word like honey. She said; "Then pray to the goddess that I die in that dungeon. Or else, I’ll take you down with me. And I’ll make sure that you burn so terribly, no one would ever recognize your carcass."

"Why?"

I didn’t know what I was asking for. By the gods, I didn’t even know what I was expecting.

However, nothing prepared me for the warm liquid that suddenly dripped into my hand and I flinched when I realized that it was her blood.

She had cut herself.

"Why? Are you asking me why I hate you?"

"Yes."

"Because look at you!" She spat angrily. "You’re everything I am not. Smart. Loved. Powerful. Hell, I even overheard father and mother talking about how deadly powerful you could be if your powers were not curbed... I wanted that for myself and I never got it. And do you know what is even worse?" She seethed but because I was too stunned, I couldn’t even bring myself to respond.

I didn’t even nod my head.

But Chalice was long gone. She was far past the stage to be reasoned with. Her eyes flashed with a maniacal glee and she smiled at me— a smile that sent chills running down my spine— and then she continued;

"Every man wants you. Every man I have always wanted has a thing for you. And you don’t even have to sleep with them. You don’t even need to talk to them to have them wrapped around your pinky finger. And I hate that as well."

I gulped.

Seeing how stunned I was, she tried to take advantage of the moment and twist my wrist even more, but before she could do that, Jarek planted his hand between us and pushed her off. When she stumbled away and fell into the arms of the bodyguards behind her, he wrapped his own arms around me and pulled me close protectively.

And maybe this was the part where I would’ve felt safe. The part where I would have melted into his arms especially since I’ve missed him so much. But I didn’t. I couldn’t.

My heart was racing so much.

I was even sweating excessively too.

A kind of panic was clawing its way to the surface of my heart, and to top it all, Chalice was laughing hysterically as they dragged her off.

She wasn’t begging for mercy. She wasn’t pleading to be taken back. She was simply screaming my name like one who had gone to hell and come back only to realize I was their salvation.

And that was what I found scary.

—

*

A couple of rows away, a man in a large black fur coat stood behind the bustling crowd, smiling as he watched the way the evening came to an end.

It wasn’t the exact way he had envisioned the evening to end but he wasn’t complaining because it had more drama than he’d seen in a very long time.

The wine in his hand had long gone warm from not being touched and frankly, that wasn’t what he wanted to touch.

What he wanted was the bold silver haired girl who had singlehandedly led the evening like it was her birthright. It was the girl who still doesn’t know how much power she possessed.

He smiled at the thought of marrying her and having her as his Luna but as soon as the thought crossed his mind, a filthy werewolf suddenly tapped his shoulder, causing him to turn to face him with a frown.

He snorted; "What?"

"You’re a lycan." The nincompoop stated, "...the color of your eyes is a dead giveaway, and your aura."

His aura.

His aura.

He glanced at the man for a long time— so long that he could see into the nincompoop’s mind and determine that his name was Micah. He could also see the overwhelming crush he had on Leilani.

Wait.

Leila— what?

’My woman?!’

With a flick of his wrist, he rolled his eyes at Micah and drawled; "Walk up to the middle of the room and douse yourself in alcohol. Don’t stop until you’ve absolutely embarrassed yourself. And... make sure you forget ever talking to me." He ordered, and with that, he walked out, ignoring the chaos that happened afterwards.

—Even though it was absolutely cinematic!