Chapter 020
HANNAH
I found myself reading those lines repeatedly, and every time, it felt like all the air was being drawn out of my lungs.
I couldn't do it. I wouldn't…
The thought had jumped out of my mind almost immediately. Asher and his father wanted me but like a prized calf, carved up for auction. This had nothing to do with love or a change of heart – it was a display of dominance.
I was all too aware that after the mating ceremony, Asher's terrible attitude would come to the forefront, and I would be stuck in a relationship that could potentially be life-threatening.
That was not the life I envisioned for myself or the romantic dream I had always hoped for. The letter was essentially a death sentence and nothing else.
"I-I can't be his mate," I voiced when I finally found my voice, my lips trembling. I looked at Alpha Wallace and shook my head. "I won't let them take me."
My fingers shook as I returned the letter to Jace, who could now meet my gaze. It dawned on me that I couldn't blame him for not informing me beforehand, assuming he knew. Some things were too heavy to disclose, even for the strongest in heart.
"I simply requested for you to read the letter, not to disclose your desires to me," Alpha Wallace replied, his expression unreadable. "I will tell you what to do."
Not again. Why did everyone think they could control my life? Why couldn't they give me a chance to make decisions for myself?
A sudden courage overwhelmed me, and I jumped to my feet. The triplets gawked at me as if I had sprouted wings. "I can't be with Asher. Please, you have to do something."
"Sit down, Hannah." Alpha Wallace said, his voice softening with something that sounded like pity.
I found myself sitting even though all I wanted to do was scream—scream at the top of my voice so the universe could erase Asher Dawson.
"Do you love Dawson's son?" I turned sharply to Alpha Wallace the moment the question left his mouth. How could he ask me such a thing when I had spent the last few minutes rejecting Asher and the letter's content? Was there another way to explicitly describe my hatred for a person?
"I don't," I answered.
He nodded. "Do you think you can have a good relationship with him?"
I almost screamed my disapproval.
"No, Alpha. I do not think so," I said quietly instead.
He nodded in acknowledgement and then calmly asked, "And do you love my sons?"
I choked down my nerves and glanced around the room, my eyes reading the triplet's faces. Cade, Chase, and Jace were my mates—the only boys who cared for me. They were the only people besides my parents who valued me. I had only known them for a few days, but they had healed my years of trauma and heartbreak.
It was one thing to be loved by them but an entirely different thing to be cherished, even when they had no reason to do so. An omega, scorned and despised by all, yet they claimed me as theirs.
With a sniff, I nodded to Alpha Wallace. "Yes, I love them."
For a brief moment, he said nothing. I took a deep breath, willing myself to calm down. And then he smiled.
"It is settled then," he glanced at Cade, who smirked. "I will send a response to Dawson, asking him to bury his nose elsewhere."
Was that it?
"Ar—are you serious?" I blurted, my eyes darting around the room in shock.
Alpha Wallace gave me a reassuring nod. "Always remember that you have a choice here. It might not look like it, but I assure you that you do. You shouldn't be bullied into making the wrong choice. It is your life, after all, so you are entitled to your own decisions."
His voice was low and earnest. Even with his neutral expression, I could see the sincerity in his eyes. "Hannah, no harm shall befall you as long as you are with my sons," he finished.
Tears of gratitude formed in my eyes. "Thank you, Alpha." But I wanted to do more than thank him. I wanted to hug and tell him how much his words meant to me. "I don't know how to thank you."
He chuckled. "Make yourself comfortable, that is enough. You may leave now. I need to discuss with my sons."
I rose to my feet and bowed in reverence before leaving. I released a breath I hadn't even realized I was holding as I walked out the door. The fact that Alpha Wallace had approved of me was just as overwhelming as it was exciting. And to top it off, he had placed me under his protection.
Who would have thought that something like that would happen to me?
"See? I told you everything would be fine," Willa chirped, bumping into me from the side as she jumped out of a room nearby. "Come on, let's go to my room."
I turned to her with a faked scowl, excitement bubbling inside me. "Were you eavesdropping?"
She nudged me playfully, "There's nothing I love more than hot gossip."
She threw her arm over my shoulder and led me up the spiral staircase to her bedroom. I plopped onto the bed and lay with my back facing the ceiling. Willa joined me in that position.
"So, what are you going to do about Asher?"
The sound of his name filled me with rage and a familiar feeling of fear. What was I going to do about Asher? Indeed, it was a reasonable question.
I imagined going for his head, mounting it on a spike, or leaving it for the birds to feed on. But that would actually require me to get close and touch him, and I couldn't take that chance.
"I don't know, Willa. What can I do?" I took a deep breath. "Asher is…..crazy. I know your father promised to protect me, but I'm still freaked out a little bit."
"Fuck that," Willa sat up and patted my thigh as she spoke. "Asher is an asshole who deserves to be taught a lesson. If you can't do that, you must at least put him in his place. If you don't stand up to him, he will never relent in bullying you."
I sighed wearily, knowing she was right. But things were not as easy as she made it out to be. As much as it pained me to admit, Asher had the backing of most people in school. He had meticulously curated systems and rules that only favoured those he liked. And one thing was sure: he despised me.
"You don't get it, Willa. I know you're trying to be helpful, but it's difficult. Someone like me…I-I don't have the privilege or power to go up against Asher." I said and joined her in the same position. "I'm nobody, and even with your brother's status, I cannot change who I am."
She groaned. "All this talk about status makes no sense. Everyone is equal—although some people are extremely crueller than others."
I chuckled. The fact that she could not understand my helplessness only helped to prove my point. She was practically a princess. She had an entire army at her beck and call. She had the power to make Asher pay if she wished to. A feat like that was virtually impossible for someone like me, who was weak and powerless. It was like challenging a witch to a fight with no knowledge of spells. I'd be dead in a second.
"I'll figure it out, Willa," I told her, then crashed back to the bed. "Now, can we please talk about something else? All this talk about Asher is giving me a headache."
Willa snickered playfully and rolled her eyes. "Well…if you insist, we have much to talk about, especially how you're going to help me navigate that school on Monday."
"You know, it would have been a lot easier if you resumed with your brothers last week." I ran my fingers through my hair. "And besides, I'm the last person that can help you in that jungle. All I can say is avoid Julia and her friends if you love your peace and sanity."
She puffed out a breath. "Gosh, I don't want to do this. What if no one likes me?"
"You can pretend to be likeable," I said, and she chuckled.
But that was the pathetic thing about high school. Everyone tried so hard to be someone they weren't to fit in. The problem was, they tended to forget who they originally were, and their façade would gradually suck them into an endless hole of bitterness. Everyone was perfect until you got closer to them.
And to answer your question, yes, the third key to coolness in high school was perfection. And I was far from perfect.
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