Chapter 13
My voice was a rough whisper, full of regret. “How could I have missed this?”
I stood in what Faith’s father called her “room” in the attic. It wasn’t a real
room, just a small, sad space. There was a narrow, uncomfortable bed, a small, old chest, and a few worn–out books. These were all Faith owned. This was where Faith just existed, not lived. And I, being so blind and proud, had
made her misery worse.
My mind raced. Old memories and new understandings crashed together. I had been so focused on being forced into this marriage, so angry about how unfair it was to my life, that I completely forgot she was going through the
same thing.
She probably didn’t want to get married either. She just wanted to live her life, free and she too, was trapped in this fancy cage with me. But instead of being there for her, instead of trying to understand her, to get to know her, to make our hard situation easier, I just pulled away.
I built walls between us, brick by brick. I thought they kept me safe, but really, they trapped us both.
A dark and ugly part of me blamed her for it. I let my anger grow, and with my coldness, I even made sure she knew it. But she was doing the exact same
–
thing as me trying to make our parents happy. Trying to survive.
I remembered the first time I saw her. I remember thinking that she was the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen. Her hair fell in soft waves around a face that held many unspoken secrets. When the mate bond between us was revealed, her joy was unmistakable. Her eyes, bright with hope and devotion, followed me everywhere. However, I met that warmth with cold indifference.
Little by little, her smile faded.
When my father ordered us to mark each other, I didn’t see a smile on her
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face that day. No sign of joy, no warmth to match our families‘ grand plans.
Instead, she just went along with it, like a perfect doll doing what she was
told.
I hated her for not fighting it like I did. My inner wolf was angry. It hated the unfairness, the old rules, and the idea of a woman chosen for me, not by me. I growled and pushed back against my father, against the whole council, looking for any way out. But she… she just gave in. Like a lamb led to be killed, accepting her fate with a quiet sadness that I had mistaken for not caring. She gave in because she felt she had no choice.
She had learned, long before I came into her life, that fighting was useless
and only brought more pain.
Guilt, sharp and burning, filled me. Neither of us deserved this, but she, especially, didn’t deserve the life she had before me, or the cold treatment I gave her after.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Her scent, so light but everywhere, filled my lungs. I just wanted her close, to pull her into my arms and say sorry for every small hurt, every cold look, every moment of my foolish, selfish
anger.
I had found it easier to pretend I just wanted her back because she had shamed me in front of everyone by not showing up for the Alpha ceremony and that was a blow to my power, a public rejection. But to be honest, that was a lie I told myself to protect my pride. The honest, painful truth was, I
miss her.
‘You’re in love with her, aren’t you?‘ My wolf’s voice, a low, happy rumble deep inside me, spoke the thought I had been trying to hide.
I wanted to deny it. My Alpha pride, my careful distance, screamed at me to deny such a soft feeling. But I took a few seconds of quiet, painful thought, and to be honest, I think deep down I’ve known it. Long before she
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disappeared, long before the sting of her absence became a pain I couldn’t bear, I knew. And I don’t know why I didn’t tell her in time. Maybe all of this, all the pain, all the distance, all the fear, could have been avoided. Maybe if I had just opened my mouth, opened my heart, she wouldn’t have felt so utterly
alone.
‘She’s ours! You must bring her back!‘ My wolf howled.
I heard talking downstairs, and I thought maybe she had returned, and I made my way there, but it wasn’t her.
I didn’t need to be told to know who the woman was because she was just an
older version of Alice.
The woman who ruined my mate’s life. In that moment, I don’t think there was anybody luckier than her because she’s a woman, because if she wasn’t, and I don’t know how my wolf would have reacted.
She bowed as soon as she set her eyes on me, but I was pissed.
“Welcome, Alpha. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to welcome you, but I tend to lose my temper with that good for nothing girl.” Eleanor said, looking up at me, and I looked back at her coldly. “I can’t believe she left and humiliated you in front of everybody.”
Unlike Marcus, she definitely has been talking to Alice or whoever is feeding
her this information.
“Do you know where she is?” I asked her even if the only thing I wanted to do was wrap my hand around her neck and squeeze the life out of her because women like her do not deserve to live.
“No, but it’s good because you can finally be with the one that you always preferred and you were meant to be, which is Alice.” She said, and I don’t want to say that I was taken by surprise, but I was definitely disgusted. “Who do you think you are, talking to me like that?!” I asked and I could feel
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my Wolf coming to surface and I pushed him back. I will deal with this woman, and I will make her pay for everything she has done to the woman that I love, but now is not the time nor the place.
“I–I–I just–” She looked between me and her ex–husband, embarrassed, before excusing herself and running out like there was something chasing her.
I looked back at Marcus, who looked embarrassed by her behaviour.
I wanted to feel sorry for him. A part of me, the part that still remembered family ties, tried. But I couldn’t. Faith might have forgiven him, or maybe just stopped feeling the pain he caused, but will never forgive him for what he did, or, more truly, for what he did not do. He didn’t protect her enough. He let his wife hurt her, emotionally and physically, and he kept quiet.
He still keeps quiet even today because he is still letting her in.
He was the man of the house, the father the one who should have been Faith’s shield. I don’t care how weak he was against his cruel wife. His weakness caused her suffering. I don’t care if he divorced her after Faith left. It was too late then. He couldn’t do it while she was still here, trapped in that
hell.
They basically ruined her whole childhood. And that’s something you can never get back. But I will make it up to her.
“Where do you think she could have gone?” My voice was low, without any warmth. “Does she have friends? Anyone she’s close with? Family members,
maybe?”
Marcus blinked slowly, his eyes unfocused. “She wasn’t close to anyone,” he mumbled, his voice rough. “And we don’t have any family left.”
Just as I was about to stand, feeling frustrated, his eyes suddenly lit up with a small spark of hope.
“Her phone!” He cried, jumping to his feet with unexpected energy, and
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running back towards the attic.
looked at him, confused, but followed my instincts on high alert. He began to search quickly through the few things in Faith’s corner.
He looked at me, holding it out, a glimmer of victory in his eyes. “She took her phone with her, so you can call her!”
She had destroyed the phone I’d bought for her. I found it near the garage where she ran from her parents. So, this must be an old one. A part of me felt
a little admiration.
“Do you know the number I can call?” I asked.
He nodded, fumbling with the tiny buttons to show the number. But as he did, a different idea, cold and cruel, began to form in my mind. One that might bring her back faster than begging, faster than any apology I could offer. It was a dark thought, one that went against everything I believed was right, but my wolf, desperate and focused on one thing, didn’t care.
I snatched the phone from his trembling hand, my fingers already dialing the number as Marcus watched, confused.
“Hello?”
My blood sang at the sound.
This was it.
There was no going back.
I just want her to come back to me.
“Faith,” I said, my voice low and rough. I hoped my threat would really hurt her. “I have your father. If you want to see him alive…”
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Chapter 14
