Chapter 12: 12: No Room For Hope
Soren and I both jolted from our seats. In fact, he all but shot up, standing on his feet as the door burst open.
Cassian stormed in, followed by Rowan, who looked equally as pissed — if not more so — than his younger brother.
Their faces were thunderous. They crossed the room without any hesitation. Rowan reached over, grabbed me by the lapels of my shirt, and yanked me harshly off the bed. I fell onto the floor, my knees roughly colliding with the wooden planks as I groaned in pain.
"Alpha Rowan―"
My words were abruptly cut off when the sound of a slap rang across the room. My lips were parted, jaw slacked, and head veered to one side. I clutched my cheek. Pain pulsated through my skin, blooming from the hurt area. I could even taste blood in my mouth from the force of that hit.
"Rowan―" Soren tried to say, but was cut off as well when his older brother spoke.
"So this is where you’ve been hiding this whole time?" Rowan coldly asked. His eyes never once left mine. Hatred danced in his golden eyes, akin to flames of hell.
"Why are you keeping this bitch company?" Cassian loudly berated. "Don’t you know that Violet was looking for you? She thought you had been injured in battle!"
"She was?" Soren asked. Guilt filled his eyes, and he pursed his lips.
"You told me you were just going to drop her off in her room and come join us after," Cassian continued. He grumbled under his breath, "You should’ve just left her in the field, if you ask me."
Every word he spoke caused Rowan’s expression to darken even further. Fear filled my chest, creeping through my entire body with the way he was looking at me. My injuries from the rogue attack were still raw. But even with this added pain, it could not be comparable to the tearing ache that filled my heart.
I didn’t expect my fated mates to care for me in my time of need. It was a welcome surprise that Soren did stay with me while I was unconscious. However, hearing it was a different thing altogether.
My fated mates didn’t want me, and yet I was trapped here with nowhere to go.
Tears began to well in my eyes, even as I desperately tried to force them back in. Crying would only rile them up even further. It wouldn’t make them pity me one bit.
"Did you think crying would make anything different?" Cassian asked. He shoved past Rowan, pulling me up by my shirt and roughly hoisting me off the floor. I furiously shook my head.
"No!" I said. "I just... I can’t control―"
I resisted the urge to cry out in pain as he slammed me back into the bed. There was a bruise on my back from the rogue attack, and that movement effectively aggravated it further. I choked back a cry, biting on my bottom lip so hard that it drew blood.
"We should have you skinned alive for treason," Cassian growled. "First Willow, now Violet? Are you planning to kill every she-wolf in the pack?!"
"No!" I yelled. My throat felt hoarse, and it hurt to speak, but still I screamed at the top of my lungs. "Whatever Violet said I did, I didn’t do it!"
I may not have been present to hear what sort of lies Violet spouted to the triplet Alphas, but I knew for a fact that it couldn’t have been anything good. Her goal was to sow discourse, and this attack was perfect. Judging by Cassian’s words, she probably told them that I tried to make use of the chaos to kill her.
Heck, I wouldn’t even be surprised if she claimed that I ordered the rogues to attack Shadowclaw! Rowan and Cassian were mad beyond reason―they wouldn’t realize that Violet’s claim would not make sense at all.
"You simply weren’t fast or lucky enough," Rowan lowly said. The air seemingly trembled as he spoke, his authority unquestionable. I found myself shrinking further into the bed, the hairs on my body quickly standing. "But it wasn’t for the lack of trying."
"I didn’t, I really didn’t!" I looked at Soren instinctively. "Alpha Soren... Please... You have to believe me!"
Panic flared through me with every passing second in which he kept silent. Soren refused to look at me properly, his eyes focused on anything and everywhere but me.
Finally, he said, "You killed Willow." My heart instantly fell into the pits of my stomach. Whatever hope and happiness that budded in me just minutes ago was instantly crushed. "That fact cannot be changed."
It felt as though all my remaining energy had been sapped out of me. Why would he save me then, if his brothers were a greater threat to me than any rogue wolf could ever be?
"What?" Cassian said with a scoff. "Did you really think that my brother fell in love with you just because he decided not to leave you outside for the beasts to feast upon?"
I did. Or at least, not that he was in love with me, but he cared enough for me to not leave me for dead. Or even that he at least respected and acknowledged that against all odds, the Moon Goddess had paired us together.
And I was so ashamed that I even entertained such a thought.
Cassian’s laughter quickly echoed through the room.
"Look at that!" he said. His voice danced with amusement, but every word he uttered felt like a knife stabbed into my chest again and again. "She actually thought that Soren was looking out for her!"
"Cassian..." Soren said softly, quickly earning a glare from Cassian. That shut him up quick enough.
On the other hand, I wanted to die. Of sadness, of embarrassment, and of heartbreak. Most of all, I wanted to slap myself for thinking so highly of Soren Hadeon. He was still one of the Hadeon triplets―a menace, a brute, and a bully.
Why did I ever think that he would stand up for me?
"Cassian," Rowan said. "Tell the warriors to guard this door. She is not allowed out of this room until the day of the wedding."
He took a step forward, his shadow quickly looming over mine. I gulped, swallowing the bile in my throat, willing myself not to tremble too obviously.
"No one is to send food into this room," he continued. "Or else, they will face the same punishment as her."
Cassian’s grin was wide. He smirked, nodding in appreciation.
"Got it."
I looked past Cassian and at Soren, who stood the furthest away from me. He cowered behind his brothers, his back pressed against the wall as he watched in silence. When our eyes met, he stiffened, but didn’t look away.
I couldn’t read what was in his eyes. Guilt for not speaking up for me? Hatred because he believed in Violet’s words? Or regret that he saved me from death’s claws?
No. He wouldn’t regret saving me. After all, I finally remembered the reason why Soren would risk it all to save my life.
He wanted to make sure I suffered. Only if I was alive could I be tortured by the Hadeon triplets. Only if I was alive could they find their perceived justice for their precious Willow.
They kept me alive so that they could kill me themselves.
