Clara
When I go downstairs for breakfast, the whole place has been organised and is now back to normal. I walk to the kitchen and find everyone in it as busy as a bee. Well, the kitchen is always busy. Something is always being prepared but this time looks really special.
“Hello dear,” Miss Carina beams with a bright smile on her face when I sees me in the kitchen. Miss Carina has been in this house for as long as I can remember and she was really close to mother when she was still alive. She is like the house keeper of this house only that she doesn’t do all the chores. She does a few and supervises others.
“Good morning, Carina,” I ask her and she walks to me.
“Good morning, dear,” she replies.
“You guys look really busy. Is there a something special today?” I ask her.
“Oh, that. It is just that some of the guests from last night’s party slept over. We have to prepare something for them because your father plans on having breakfast with all of them,” she replies.
Crap! Breakfast with dad and his guests plus my family. That sounds like trouble to me. Dad might start questioning me about my mate in front of everyone and then I will have to start looking for an excuse there and then to help me out of the situation.
Jeez… I will have to dodge that family breakfast. Instead, I ask for my own plate of food and have it in the kitchen.
When time for breakfast reaches, I am already full and having a clear excuse for missing the family meal with the guests.
After talking to Damien about the current situation of our relationship, I am really starting to feel uneasy about it. It’s not like I really want to have breakfast with all of those guests and my father, it is just that I have this guilty feeling about seeing my mate behind my family’s back.
On my way outside the house, I meet with my father who is apparently coming in. I stop dead in my trucks and stare wide-eyed at him like I am seeing a ghost. Dung it!
“Clara, are you going somewhere?” he inquires from me with brooding eyes.
“Umm… No. Not really. I was just going to walk around,” I reply in stammers.
“Aren’t you going to have breakfast with us? We still have some guests inside, some of which I never got the chance to introduce you to yesterday,” he says.
“I already had breakfast. Actually I just had my breakfast in the kitchen. I was really hungry so I couldn’t wait for the main meal,” I tell him.
“It’s okay. Maybe I will get a chance to introduce you another time,” he says and then looks around.
There is an awkward silence between us and I can hear my heart pumping loudly in my ears. Shit! i feel like so nervous right now. Maybe I should just tell him I have to go, what is to rush about a walk. Just being alone with my father for a few minutes is stressful enough to get me sweating cold sweat.
“What do think about your brother’s ceremony yesterday?” he asks me.
“It was great. Everyone had fun, including myself,” I reply and put on small shaky smile.
“I really have a good feeling about Jason and Riley’s relationship. I am sure things are going to go well between them. Every strong Alpha needs a firm and supportive Luna by his side. I have a lot of faith in them,” he says, looking very thoughtful, and I just nod.
“I am however a bit worried about you. You never introduced your mate to me yesterday. I was really looking forward to meeting him but I never saw him,” he says and then raises an eyebrow at me. My jaw instinctively drops at his words but then I regain my composure and swallow hard.
“He didn’t come to the party yesterday. He couldn’t make it. He had some really urgent matters to take care of,” I give my excuse straight and I am surprised that I didn’t stammer due to all this nervousness.
“Are you sure about that or he just didn’t want to come at all? I don’t want a son who is not willing to associate with me and my family,” he says as if giving me a warning. A cold chill crawls down my spine ending in a shiver.
“I am sure, father. I gave him the invitation myself. He really wanted to come and attend the party but he couldn’t make it,” I tell him. I am not used to lying to my father. Even the lies taste bitter on my own tongue.
“You could just tell me the truth, Clara if you are faking that you found your mate. I know you don’t like me inviting powerful young Alpha’s so that you can find your mate, but you should know that I worry about your welfare and I do that for your good. You won’t be able to find your mate if you keep hiding like that,” he says. I can’t believe that he thinks that I am faking the existence of my mate.
“My mate is there, dad. I am not faking anything,” I tell him.
“Okay, I will believe it when I see him. I don’t want you to sneak around with a man who I don’t know anything about. Tell him to meet me soon or I will reject him from being part of my family. If he has any self dignity in him as a man, he should come and talk to me so that I can give him permission to have you,” he tells me in a firm voice making my insides quiver.
“Sure. Um.. I will tell him to come and meet you. I know he will be delighted to,” I tell him, though I doubt my own words.
“I hope so. I don’t want to have any trouble with him. I want to give you to him peacefully and willingly. That’s also what your mother would have wanted,” he tells me. Talking about my mother takes me back. She was a jolly and lovely woman unlike my father. Despite the difference in their behavior, they managed to be together peacefully and they loved each other.
“Anyway, I have guests to attend to,” he says. “You have to make sure I meet that man soon if he doesn’t want me to take the trouble of hunting him down.”
The words are supposed to sound like a joke but they are more than a threat to me. I give out a heavy sigh of relief when he walks into the house. I close my eyes and try to process what just happened. I can’t lie to my father for long. He will be more furious when he finds out that I have been lying to him.
Before Damien left this morning, he had told me that we wouldn’t lie to my father forever. He will find out the truth eventually. I don’t want to see Damien behind his back anymore. I know it would be better for him to find out the truth sooner than later. That way things would be better for us in the future when he knows what is really going on.
I walk around the neighborhood lost in thoughts about the things that are going on in my life. I just met Damien but the strength of our mate bond gets stronger every morning. I want to be with him. My body craves to be near him all the time.
I can’t live here and feel the way I felt before I met Damien. After he marked me, and made me his, have never been the same. I don’t feel at home here anymore. My home is where Damien is. That is where I am supposed to be right now. That is where I want to be.
‘I want to give you to him peacefully and willingly.’
My father’s words echo through my ears over and over. When he finds out that my mate is Damien, then he won’t let me be with him. He won’t be willing to give me to him and there will be no peace.
Damien said that he doesn’t want to shed any more blood of the people he cares about. I don’t want anyone to shade their blood because of me. I don’t want any war. I just want peace. I just want to be with Damien but why is it so hard?
Why are things the way they are? Why was my father so arrogant that he had to kill Damien’s parents and family members? Why does my mate have to be my father’s worst enemy? Why can’t I just be where I want to be with who I want to be with? Why? Why? Why?
Why can’t they just forget what happened between them and move on for the sake of world peace? I know that I am asking for too much, but at least the moon goddess should have been a bit fair in planning my fate.
I walk into the woods and breath in the refreshing air of the trees and leaves. I have so much on my head I think I am going to explode any minute from now.
I remove my clothes and transform into my my wolf with a howl. I need to get my mind off all these dark thoughts. Maybe a run will do.
I run through the woods, my paws beating against the soft grass and leaves on the ground. I let the cool air fan through my fur, giving me the relief that I want.
I run and run until I am good distance from home. The boundaries between my Pack’s territory and other territories are clear enough to me but I don’t care about anything right now. I just continue to run and run through the woods without minding where I am going as long as all I can see is trees.
When I hear a movement and a strange smell, it is too late for me to stop and take a look because something sharp pierces through my back. Everything around me blurs and my head starts spinning. Before I can start figuring out what is happening to me, the footsteps come closer and everything goes dark and silent.