***
There was no love nor emotions in the eyes of the man before me… only the flames of hatred burning brightly, consuming them.
“Tell me… what are we?” I asked softly. The pain in my body was suffocating and no matter how strong I tried to remain, I couldn’t keep the pain from my voice.
“Nothing more than Heaven and Hell.” His voice was equally cold, destroying the last of my resolve.
“Then kill me,” I whispered hoarsely, trying to ignore the pain of betrayal that was tearing me up from within.
A ruthless smirk graced his handsome face, his fingers curling under my chin and making the sparks from his touch rush through me; pleasurable yet equally painful.
He was so close… yet so far away…
“That would be far too easy… but I assure you, when I’m done with you, you’ll wish you were never born.”
“You don’t mean that…”
“Watch me.” He turned away, pushing me to the ground roughly, “Burn her.”
My heart sank, my head hanging as the pain of his rejection tore through me. Even when I was doused in gasoline, I didn’t move, trying not to gag on the strong pungent smell that now cloaked me entirely, keeping my eyes clamped shut.
Didn’t he realise I was already burning in agony from the pain he had inflicted within me?
My eyes stung as I forced them open, watching him retreat, hoping… praying… that he’d turn back and change his mind. That perhaps deep inside of him, that man that I loved, still existed.
He once said that I was his kryptonite…
Was it all lies?
He paused, my heart leapt with a glimmer of hope, but then I saw it, the blazing match in his hand as his eyes met mine…
***
Present Day
YILEYNA
Charlene giggles excitedly as we sneak out off before one of the guards notice us. If Theon caught us, he would not be impressed, and I can imagine the lecture I would receive for not telling him we were leaving.
“Quick!” Charlene chuckled as we checked for guards in the hall. Seeing that the coast was clear, we quickly rush out the doors, slipping outside, and Charlene does a happy dance as if we had just managed some kind of jail break, making my lips tug up.
My amusement at my future Queen dims a little when I notice the attention I was drawing, swallowing down the emotion threatening to choke me, I ignore their disgusted glares and follow her, Charlene loops her arm through mine, tugging me along talking animatedly about something but my thoughts were elsewhere. Charlene, distracted by a stall, rushes over, peaking at the merchants' handmade crafts and my eyes follow her when I spot Rhys.
My eyes locked with the seven-year-old Gamma’s son. I had saved his life that night, but I couldn’t save my own parents. Little Rhys also spotting me and stopped in his tracks, that night was so painfully vivid in my head, despite it being two months since the massacre. Two months since I lost my parents. My father was the Beta of the pack, a title that was to be mine, although I know the Alpha also blames me for their loss.
Now I’m the disgraced Beta’s daughter, my future now unknown because of their loss. A grievance I caused our Alpha and pack. It’s as if they didn’t realize I also grieve their loss. They were parents, no one feels their absence like I do. And now everywhere I look, I am given the constant reminder of how I failed them, failed the pack. Yet little Rhys, his haunted gaze meeting mine, forced me back to that dreadful night.
This memory would forever haunt me because they would still be here if it weren’t for me. My feet falter, my heart thundering as I met his gaze as memories of that night assault my mind, plunging me back into the depths of a nightmare I’ve been replaying in my head since ever since…
Everything faded away and once again I was reliving that night…
Blood and carnage, I could still smell the smoke from the flames that billowed into the night sky. The coppery scent of blood that stained the ground, hear the screams of our people, but none of that haunted me more than the pain of losing them.
“The Beta’s down!” someone shouted, making me freeze, my entire world come to a stop for a painful moment, those words sinking in.
I spun around, my heart in my throat. The blood was pumping through my body loudly, and an icy chill enveloped me.
Goddess no….
Dad!
Someone blocked my path, and I slammed straight into a hard, muscular chest. I jerked away, trying to get past them, but a sturdy pair of hands grabbed my waist.
“Yileyna!”
“Let me go! Dad’s out there! Mom, too!”
“YILEYNA!” His deep growl made me freeze. “Listen to me.”
I stared up into the amber eyes of my crush, Theon. His hands cupped my face, a frown creasing his brow. But this time, it wasn’t his beauty or touch that hit me, but the words that left those plump lips.
“It’s too late. They’re dead.” I stared up at him, not missing the worry that was laced in his tone as he tried to make me understand the words he spoke. The words that sent my world crashing down around me. Knowing that no matter what my life would never be the same again…
“Yileyna!” I shake my head, brought back to the present by Charlene, drawing my attention from the boy. No longer locked under my gaze, he drops his head and rushed off, continuing on wherever he was going.
Two months had passed since the night of the massacre, but the horrors of that attack still haunted the dreams of many. We lost thirty-four people that night, and another seven later on due to fatal injuries.
What hurt the most was I knew Dad left the safety of the walls for me, to protect me and to make sure I was safe, and with his death, I lost Mom, too. True mates who have marked one another will die together. I never should have been down there… but me being me… I did and it cost them.
A lot has changed since then. People now looked at me with contempt and hatred. I knew they blamed me for the loss of their Beta couple, but I blamed myself, too. It was my fault.
“Goddess, if it wasn’t for her, they’d still be here.”
“The cheek that she’s showing her face here…”
The two women who walked past us muttered to one another. I smiled sadly, not bothering to look back at them.
The familiar painful hold on my chest returned, and I swallowed hard, trying to focus on the destination we were heading towards.
Charlene turned, glaring at the back of the two women.