Chapter 5
I stood and turned back numbly.
“On this night Alpha Erevan should mark, why is he here?”
“You still have the nerve to ask?” Erevan pulled at his lip, sneering. “You ruined what should’ve been a perfect Mate Bonding Ceremony for Virelle and me. She’s been crying all night. Don’t you think you should go apologize to her?”
Without hesitation, I nodded.
“Fine.”
I brushed past him and walked ahead, leaving The Hollow of Honor.
Erevan seemed tempted to look back, wanting to take another look.
But the night was too dark; he couldn’t make out the name or photo on the gravestone.
He could only tell it was a man by the buzz cut.
For some reason, he felt a dull ache in his chest.
He thought, whoever made me cry that much must be family.
Maybe my father? Or my brother?
Suddenly, Erevan realized he knew too little about me.
My family, my past–he never bothered to investigate.
Forget it. He thought he could have someone look into it tomorrow.
For now, the urgent thing was to drag me back and calm Virelle down.
The banquet in the hotel had just ended, and many guests had flown in from Blackvale to attend the Mate Bonding Ceremony.
When they saw Erevan bring me–soaked through, so horrible–the nasty rumors started up again.
“How dare she show up?”
“Sure, she’s been with Alpha Erevan for eight years, but with no official status, why embarrass herself here…”
“After all this effort, the Luna spot ends up given to an unknown Omega. She must have jumped in the lake out of despair.”
In the crowd, I spotted a familiar figure.
Mr. Gideon was here too; he first congratulated Erevan.
Then he glanced at me and asked.
“Liora, are you alright?”
Erevan turned his head with a forced smile.
“Of course Mr. Gideon cares about you so much–after all, you spent a passionate night together. Liora, you were modest last time; it looks like you did a good job taking care of him.”
Mr. Gideon looked confused.
Chapter 5
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“What do you mean by ‘spending a passionate night together‘? And what do you mean by ‘taking care of‘? Alpha Erevan, you must be joking.”
He waved a hand, pointed at me with a complicated look.
“Didn’t Liora tell you? That night she-”
“I didn’t spend the night with Mr. Gideon.”
I cut him off coldly.
Of course, Mr. Gideon wasn’t really concerned about me.
That night, I’d thrown up blood after drinking with him.
If anything happened to me, he’d worry about scandal dragging him down too.
Erevan frowned, eyes suspiciously shifting between us.
He was smart–he could guess there was something going on that he didn’t know about.
He pulled out his phone and sent a message to the other Betas.
On the way to the pack house, Erevan sneered again.
“I didn’t expect even a lecher like Mr. Gideon to reject you.”
“Well, it made sense. Who’d like a boring woman like you? I suggest you give up on me as soon as possible.”
He was right.
Who else in this world would like me?
I lowered my head, dazed, thinking.
My mom and dad never liked me because I was too weak, maybe I didn’t even have my own wolf. Otherwise, why would they dump me in the red–light district and never show up again?
The homeless on the street hated me even more.
They stole all my food and begging money, gang–pressed me, bullied me.
It was all just because my clothes looked a little cleaner than theirs.
They wanted to drag me down to be just as filthy and degraded.
Without Elian, I’d have probably rotted away like a wildflower or weed in the mud, dead without anyone caring or noticing.
But my Elian, he died before me.
