Cold ✔

:::::Chapter 18:::::

"Alarick!" Charles, Daniel and Anne say at the same time.

"I can't believe that you all are ready to believe an impostor over me," Alarick says. "You all have greatly disappointed me." He leaves the kitchen and shutting of the front door tells me that he has left the pack house.

"I'm done seeing Alarick disrespecting you! He needs to learn how to respect you!" Charles says to me. And then he rushes after Alarick. I don't try to stop him because I know that he won't listen to me.

"Are you okay?" Daniel asks me.

"No," I say as I shake my head. "How will I be okay when my mate calls me an impostor?" I give out a humorless chuckle. I really feel like laughing at my own fate. I got a mate who doesn't acknowledge me as his mate, who disrespects me and who is rude to me. "I'm going to my room. I need some time alone," I say and head to my room.

Charles' Point Of View

"Alarick!" I shout at him as I try to catch up to him. Presently, we are in the forest, away from the houses.

"Leave me alone!" He says as he continues to walk fast.

I run to him and force him to turn around so that he faces me. "You will have to listen to me!" I say to him. "You need to respect your mate!"

"Don't try to become my father!" Alarick shouts at me. "And Chriselda is not my mate!"

"That's what you want to believe!" I cross my arms and say, "Okay, just tell me one thing, if Chriselda isn't your mate then why did you spend the night in her room?"

"I don't need to give answer to you," he says in a deadly tone. He shoves at my chest and then continues to walk away from me.

"I don't know why you're denying her!" I shout at his back as I follow him. Suddenly Alarick stops walking. I reach him and find that he's looking ahead of him. When I look where he's looking, I become surprised. In a distance, I see a little girl who looks just like Chriselda.

"Is she—?" Before Alarick can complete his question, I interrupt him by saying, "Yes, she is."

I look at the little girl and I can't help but wonder that what is Christina doing in our territory? The moment I take a step towards her, she backs away from me. "Don't get scared," I try to assure her by holding up my hands in surrender. "I mean no harm." Christina relaxes a little. I slowly walk towards her. When I reach her, I go on my knees so that I'm eye-to-eye level with her. "Hi," I say in a friendly tone. "You're Christina, right?" She nods. "I'm Charles and I'm a friend of Chriselda," I say.

"Can you take me to her?" She asks softly, in her angelic and melodious voice.

"Yeah, sure," I say as I smile at her. I stand up on my feet and offer my hand to her. She hesitates a little. "C'mon, take my hand. I'll take you to your sister," I encourage her. She grabs my hand and we head back to the pack house while Alarick decides to trail along.

Chriselda's Point Of View

After spending a few minutes alone in my room, I feel a little better. I won't say that Alarick's words didn't hurt me. It did. A lot. The cruel words that he said to me are making me think that I made a mistake by coming here. I was better off in my pack living a mate-less life. It would've been better than being humiliated by my own mate. I should better get out of my room before Anne and Daniel get worried about me.

I leave my room and join them in the living room where both of them are sitting on the same sofa. I sit on the other sofa.

"How are you feeling?" Anne asks softly.

"I'm feeling better," I reply. She nods.

"Chriselda," Daniel calls me. I look at him. "Don't take Alarick's words at heart," he says, trying to make me feel better.

"I try my best not to but I can't help it. He's my mate and whenever I hear him saying rude things to me, it just breaks my heart," I tell him. My sight becomes blurry. My eyes start brimming with tears but I quickly blink them away. I'm not going to cry. I tell myself. "Coming here was a mistake," I say as my mate's cruel words echo in my ears.

"Please don't say that," Anne says.

"I was better off in my pack living without a mate," I say. "I think I should go back to my pack."

"Please, don't," she pleads.

"If I live here for long then I'm afraid that Alarick will break me to the extent that I cannot be healed and I don't want that to happen. I'm already hurt by his rejection and I don't want to get hurt more. It will be best if I leave," I conclude and get up from the sofa. Anne too gets up and starts pleading frantically. She grabs my arm to prevent me from going to my room to pack my things. Before I can snatch my arm from her grip, there's a knock at the front door. Daniel goes to open it. By looking at Anne's face, I can tell that she is desperate to see Mr. West on the opposite side of the door in the hope that he can stop me from returning to my pack.

When Daniel opens the door, I see Alarick and Charles standing at the doorway. When I look down, I'm surprised to see my little sister, Christina, standing between them while she holds Charles' hand. What is she doing here?