Fated To Three, Betrayed By All… Until She Rose. Chapter 13: Perfection

Leilani.

His presence made my body go stiff, and what was worse was when Jarek slowly got up, smiled apologetically at and then walked out of the room, leaving with this monster.

With this enabler.

This beast, who appeared like he had all the ti in the world as he lazily leaned into a chair and propped his feet up on a stool and stared pointedly at with his arms crossed over his chest.

"You don’t want to see because you’re mad right now," he drawled, "...but you cannot avoid forever, Leilani. You cannot avoid punishnt for all the cris you’ve committed."

While he spoke, I pressed my lips together, blocking out his words and the way it irritated . His beautiful face. His dreamy voice. Gosh, I even tried to block out the way his longing stares sent warmth searing through my body— but that was impossible.

I spat; "What do you guys want now? My life?"

"Frankly, your father wants that." He answered simply like he was discussing the weather. "Your brother almost does too... but I simply want you back at the pack, where you belong..."

"As y’all’s slave." I bit back, interrupting him. But as soon as the words slipped out, there was no taking it back. His eyes darkened. A snarl made his lips curl backwards. He leaned closer until his warmth spread across my skin.

Until I could feel his touch, featherlight but sure, trailing up my exposed leg...

"You’re an ungrateful wench, you know," he spat lowly. nacingly. "I try to excuse so of the things you do, but you don’t help matters. You’re spoiled and vile, and an ingrate."

"And you and your brothers should reject and let go. Brand a rogue and we can all be on our rry way."

As soon as I said that, he blanched and leaned back, his now wide eyes drilling holes into my flesh as he trailed them down my body.

"And when we do that, where will you go?" He seethed, now moving forward to wrap his fingers around my neck.

His hold wasn’t tight but it was enough to have shaking in fright. And then in one swift move, he leaned in to nibble on my bottom lip.

Just for a second before he pulled away.

My eyes widened.

"Do you intend to run back to that boy... that nobody who..." then his eyes dropped to the tray of food in front of , and he snarled; "...has nothing to offer you but remnants of other people’s food?"

The way his voice dripped with disdain sent shudders running up my spine. I scoffed. "That’s none of your business!"

But surprisingly, he didn’t beco mad like I had anticipated. He simply flexed his fingers around my neck and pulled away, his smile widening when he took in my frightened state.

"Our wedding with Chalice is in a month. We will reject you and grant you your freedom by then. And until that day, you’ll remain with us. At the pack. I do not give a shit if you decide to co back to loverboy afterwards."

I hadn’t expected him to agree with so easily. Hadn’t expected his words at all even. So when they rang through the empty space between us, I drew in a sharp ragged breath.

Suddenly, it felt as though my heart had grown heavy, my eyes too. My nerves were taut, my body coiled with emotions I couldn’t decipher.

And my eyes burned so bad. It was a miracle I wasn’t bawling yet.

Fine, it was true that he was granting my freedom... my peace.

But why does it hurt so much?

Why does it feel like this freedom ca with pain barely containable?

Why does it feel like my heart is on fire?

"Will you do that or do you want us to take you in as a prisoner?" He asked suddenly, pulling out of my reverie, and I blinked away the tears now pooling in my eyes before looking up at him.

"Fine," I drawled, my voice sharp— too sharp. "I’ll co with you."

Zevran flashed a smile then got up, but as soon as he stepped out of the room to make a call to his brothers, Jarek slipped back into the room cradling so paperworks. He glanced once at and drawled; "Sign this."

But I didn’t see any reason to be suspicious, I didn’t even care what it was at this point because I’ve suffered way worse fate, I didn’t care about what this might be.

I simply took the pen from him and scribbled down my signature, not caring in the least if I’d just signed my life away.

And quite frankly, that was exactly what I had done.

—

Throughout the course of the drive ho, Zevran tried to make small talks, but nothing he said could wash away his words earlier;

"You’re spoiled and vile, and an ingrate."

And neither could it take away the eighty strokes of whip I’d been forced to endure just yesterday. My eyes watered at the thought, and with the searing pain at my back acting as a reminder to the tornt I’d been put through, I looked away from him and out at the blurry roads flying past us.

The pack gates lood before us monts later like sothing out of a nightmare, and do you know what was worse? When I stepped out of the car just to co face to face with...

Chalice and Caelum’s mouths locked together in a heated kiss.

I froze midstep, my heart clenching within the confines of my chest.

The scene burned more than the welts on my back, but deciding to ignore them, I tried to sidestep them only to stumble and fall when Caelum pushed .

Due to the impact, my knees grazed the floor drawing blood and I winced, biting down on my lips to stop the tears from spilling.

"I knew you were a lot of things, Leilani. But are you trying to seduce my fiancé now as well?" Chalice screeched, causing a few passersby to stop and stare in our direction.

My face burned.

I opened my mouth then to co up with a biting retort but as soon as my lips parted, I simply clamped them together.

This was a waste of ti. These self-righteous people would always win.

I will always lose.

I lowered my gaze. "I’m sorry, I didn’t see him there."

"So you’re saying I’m so small... that I’m so insignificant that you didn’t notice standing there?!" Caelum bit back and I gulped, fighting back the tears in my eyes and the embarrassnt clawing at my skin at the jeers coming from the small crowd now gathered around us.

By this ti, my family had arrived, Kael too, and everyone seed antsy to see what Caelum would do to .

"You bumped into ," I finally said in a tight voice. "Maybe I was the one too small, you didn’t see ."

"And what’s that supposed to an?!" He growled, coming to stand so close, his chest brushed against my face.

Heat seared where our skins made contact, and for the first ti, I recoiled from it. Caelum’s eyes widened. I slowly tipped my head back, and good gracious gods of old, I do not know where the courage ca from, but I managed to hold his gaze and stared back. Hard.

"That you didn’t see ."

"Are you saying I’m blind?"

By this ti, everyone had gone quiet, save for the steady thumping of heartbeats and the sound of my blood rushing in my ears.

I scoffed. This boy was intentionally trying to rile up. To get under my skin. To make speak up. Then maybe, I’ll give him just that.

I smiled. "Yes, Alpha Caelum. Yes, you’re blind. But you’re not just blind, you’re also stupid and a coward. You go around kissing and parading my sister about, but you don’t have the decency to reject and get rid of this mate bond once and for all. So excuse if I cannot for the life of , tolerate you right now." I snapped, and with that brushed past him to walk into the main house without looking back.

A lot of people gasped. People stared at like I’ve lost my mind or like I had a death wish. But no one ca close to . Not even Caelum who looked like he was about to implode in rage.

And that was perfect.

So so perfect.