Chapter 31

I knew this showdown between these angry werewolves wouldn’t end well and I didn’t want to be held responsible for the outcome.
Although I admired the Lycan for stepping in for me and trying to protect me, I didn’t want him to lose his life on my account.
In the same way, I didn’t want Dominic to die either. I wanted him to return home safely to his brothers who probably thought he was dead.
“Please, don’t do this,” I begged him.
“What are you afraid that I will kill your boyfriend?”
“He’s not my boyfriend and I don’t think you can kill him. Have you forgotten what he did to you the last time?”
“How can I forget? That’s why we are here now, isn’t it?”
He jumped at the Lycan, scratching and biting the tall werewolf in the face. In response, the Lycan dug his long sharp claws into Dominic’s back, tearing his skin. Blood oozed out of the wound and Dominic fought back.
They landed on the ground eventually, rolling on grass and dirt. The Lycan punched Dominic mercilessly and he retaliated by biting him savagely in the stomach. The bite created a big gash that released blood.
The fight was messy and feared for the Lycan’s life. He didn’t have to get involved in this. He was only trying to save me.
And then there was Dominic who could return home alive but has chosen to die here instead. His brothers would never leave me alone if that happened, but if he survived, they may have mercy on me and stop hunting me down like prey.
“That’s enough!” I screamed.
They ignored me and continued to fight viciously. I didn’t know what to do to make them stop. I picked up stones from the ground and started to throw them at fighting werewolves.
“Stop that nonsense!” Dominic yelled at me. He was covered in blood and badly wounded.
“Whose side are you on?” The Lycan asked. He too was injured and bloody.
“This madness has to stop now,” I said to them. “I’m not going to let you two kill yourselves because of me.”
They left themselves alone but kept their eyes on each other.
“Dominic, I am not going back to Apex Woods with you,” I said to him. “For the last time, I had nothing to do with any of the attacks on you and your brothers or on the palace. I am tired of running away from you three. I need you guys to leave me alone!”
“Never!” He said angrily. “Brianna must be avenged. Someone has to pay for Damian’s injury too.”
“And you have chosen me as the scapegoat?” I asked in disappointment. “Did you avenge my son when Brianna killed him?”
“She had nothing to do with that,” he said confidently. “We asked her and she swore on her life that she didn’t do it. Perhaps the child ate a rotten apple but that wasn’t Brianna’s fault.”
I wanted to believe him but I couldn’t. Not when Brianna had threatened my child that very morning before he was poisoned. I refused to believe that that was a coincidence.
“If you say so,” I replied dryly. “But I am not going back to that place with you. I have never known happiness in Apex Woods. There’s nothing for me there.”
“Justice awaits you there,” said Dominic stubbornly. “If you are truly innocent, you shouldn’t be afraid to return home with me and prove your case.”
“Damn it, man. Leave her alone!” Said the Lycan. “What is wrong with you?”
“Stay out of our business,” Dominic replied him. To me, he said, “You’re still our mate, by the way.”
“Not anymore,” I said. “Not when you kept me like a concubine and treated me like a whore. I can’t believe I used to love you guys. Did you people ever love me?”
“We did,” he said quietly. “But we don’t share what is ours with anyone else. You came back to us used and there was already a scandal surrounding your leaving.”
“None of which was my fault. Do we have to keep going on and on about this?”
Then he looked at the Lycan who was watching him warily and then he looked back at me and said, “I will leave you alone for now. But know this; as long as you are alive, my brothers and I will continue to search for you.
“We will not stop until we have you back in Apex Woods where you will answer for all the accusations levelled against you. Until then, I bid you farewell.”
He turned around and left. I let out a breath that I didn’t even know I was holding. What a relief at last. At least, for now.
“What a stubborn fella,” said the Lycan. He slowly shifted back to his human form. He only had his ripped pants on because his shirt had torn to pieces when he shapeshifted earlier.
Even with all the blood and injuries, I couldn’t help but admire his broad chest and ripped abs. He was an exquisitely handsome guy and I was attracted to him.
“You’re badly wounded,” I said lamely because I didn’t know what else to say. He had caught me admiring his body just now and I was trying to hide my embarrassment with small talk.
“Yeah, don’t worry,” he said. “The scratches will heal within a few minutes. As for the deep wounds, those might take a day or two.”
“You’ll need somewhere to rest and heal properly,” I said. “Let me take you to my friend’s cabin. It’s not too far away from here.”
“Are you sure she won’t mind?”
“I don’t think so. I’ve told her about you before and I’m sure she’ll be glad to see that I didn’t imagine you after all. You’re truly real.”
He chuckled and said, “If you insist.”
I let him rest his arm around my shoulders and we began our journey to Sasha’s cabin.
“Do you have a name?” I asked him.
“Hazim. I’m a Beta royal guard from the Desert Pack in the east.”
“You’re a royal guard?” I asked in awe. “How did you become a rogue?”
He smiled sadly. “It’s a long story.”
“Well, we have all day,” I said. “Tell me. What happened?”
Hazim sighed. “It all happened one day when my little sister, Kaya, brought some homemade pastries to me at the palace. I was on duty and I’d mentioned to my friend that I was craving some home-cooked food. When his shift finished at the palace, he stopped by my mother’s house on his way home and told her what I had said.
“So, my mother sent Kaya to bring me the pastries at work. The Alpha King’s son saw her and instantly wanted her for himself. It didn’t matter to him that he had a pregnant mate at home, he still lusted after my sister.”
“What happened next?” I asked. I was now invested in the story and couldn’t wait to hear the end of it.
“He told her to bring some pastries for him too. He was the Alpha’s son and she couldn’t refuse his request, so she did. That bastard raped my virgin little sister that night.”
“Oh, dear,” I gasped. “That’s awful.”
“She came to me, weeping bitterly. I was angry and I wanted to go into the palace to confront the Alpha’s son but she wouldn’t let me. She was ashamed and didn’t want anyone to hear about what had happened.
“She made me swear to keep the rape a secret and never tell anyone about it, including our mother. Her pain hurt me deeply. I saw how she suffered day and night with the weight of her secret and she became a shadow of herself.”
“How sad…” I said.
“It became worse when she discovered that she was pregnant. By then, we couldn’t hide the truth from our mother anymore. She was heartbroken, of course.”
“I can imagine,” I said, feeling his pain through the story.
“My mother said we needed to do the right thing and let the Alpha know what had happened. We were able to get into a meeting with him, his Luna and their son who had raped my daughter. The bastard denied everything and claimed to have never set eyes on my sister before.”
“What?”
“Yes. He denied her completely and called her a whore. Our Alpha King said there was nothing he could do about it because he couldn’t force his son to accept a pregnancy that didn’t belong to him. The Luna called us shameless liars. She said we were a family of social climbers who was trying to tear their family apart with a scandal.”
“That must have been horrible for your sister to hear.”
“It was,” he said sadly. “The next morning, we found her body in her room. Someone had broken into her room in the night and butchered her to death.”
“My goodness!”
“They tied her mouth and cut her belly open. The wound was too deep to heal on its own without medical intervention. She bled to death on her bed.”
“She didn’t deserve to die like that,” I said.
“No, she didn’t,” he agreed. “I know the Alpha’s son was behind her murder but I couldn’t prove it. After we buried Kaya, I resumed work in the palace, as usual, the next day.”
“I can imagine how hard that must have been for you,” I said softly. I felt so sorry for Hazim and his poor sister who died gruesomely.
“Oh, it wasn’t so hard because I had a plan,” he said with a smile as he remembered that day.
I looked at him suspiciously. “What did you do?”