| CHAPTER 24 : A HAPPY DREAM |
I looked several times between Katia and King Alpha, trying to comprehend what he just said.
"S'cuse me?" I raise an eyebrow.
"You haven't told her I'm your brother?" King Alpha raised an eyebrow at Katia, "I'm surprised I'm not hurt at all."
"You stopped hurting the moment you stopped caring," Katia stated blankly.
He snorted, "Took you five hundred years to figure out?"
"Okay I think it's time for some family history over here," I interrupted looking between both of them.
"There's nothing family over here." King Alpha sneered. "Just a bunch of people unwantedly connected."
"I'm sure Alexandros wouldn't have appreciated your words."
King Alpha's head snapped towards Katia as fast as anyone could blink. I'm surprised he didn't get whiplash.
Alexandros.
He appeared once in my vision-y thing-y when King Alpha looked much younger. And also that name seemed to drive King Alpha angry till the point where he was ready to finally kill me.
"Who's Alexandros?" I finally asked.
Katia smiled looking at me, "He was once our brother—"
"Katia!" King Alpha yelled as if she told me some big secret she wasn't supposed to.
He looked ready to kill.
I shifted a bit closer to Katia even though I didn't entirely trust her.
"What? She's family now." Katia said referring to me.
"She means nothing!"
"Umm hello. Standing right here." I waved my hand.
His gaze snapped to me, "Fine then listen to me say it face-to-face." He took menacing steps closer to me until he was breathing my air. My blood ran cold by the way his blue eyes turned impossibly colder making every inch of my body heavy with dread.
"You mean nothing. You are nothing. And you will never mean anything. I'm gonna find that fucking witch and put an end to this bond between us. Feel free to fuck yourself then. And if you think prancing around with Mary Sue is gonna help you with your shitty problems then your damn wrong. I offered you a clean slate and a do-over with me. You refused. Your lose! Now stay the fuck away from me!"
Before I could yell back at him that how I wasn't the one tailing behind him and that he was, he vanished right in front of my eyes.
A growl of frustration cut through my mouth and made my legs stomp on the ground along with it. "What the hell is wrong with him!?"
A sigh came out of Katia's mouth before she shrugged, "He's been like that for a long time now."
"Someone better get that stick out his ass."
"You need to tell me everything's that going on."
"And why would I do that?" I crossed my arms against my chest, raising my eyebrows at her, "you never told me you were King Alpha's sister. And what the hell did he mean by your mated to a witch?"
"Ezlynn I-"
"I'm juggling from one creature to another, and I'm done with all this shit. You told King Alpha where to find me and he's ruined my life," I said, "Why did you tell him I'm his mate? And how did you even know?"
Another sigh came out her mouth and she rubbed her temples, "I think I do owe you an explanation."
"Like hell you do."
"Wanna sit down somewhere?" She suggested. "We could have dinner wherever you want."
I was ready to argue about how I wanted to know everything right now but seeming that I am pretty tired and hungry, I shrugged.
"I guess I'd like some pizza."
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I ended up in the same diner where I went to have pizza when Katia helped me escape from the mansion or Saludom, whatever.
I still can't get over the fact that how much her beauty dazzles people and make them stop and stare for a second. I was getting more and more curious about her.
"You better tell me everything," I said once we were seated with our pizza.
I grabbed a slice and bit into it, staring at her with a raised eyebrow, waiting for her to start talking.
She didn't take a slice and instead smiled at me making me pause for a second, blinded by her utter beauty. I quickly snapped out of it, staring at her forehead instead.
The fucking hell? Even her forehead was perfect.
"There's nothing much to tell actually." She started. "You already know I'm King Alpha's sister."
"Why did you hide it from me?"
She shrugged, "There was no reason to bring it up."
"Oh it was no reason to bring up that I've been running with the psychopath's sister that I've been trying to get rid of since he stepped in my life?"
She gave an apologetic smile, "I didn't think it would get that reaction from you. But it doesn't matter, really."
"And what was all that you were talking about with him? Ezlynn is your redemption. I have to get you back." I tried mocking her voice. "Something, something."
She sighed rubbing the back of her neck, "I don't know how to say this to you."
"Then know it."
She gave out another sigh before speaking, "the witches always tried harming King Alpha and us werewolves. They always tried to make our lives miserable. With me being King Alpha's family, they tried to hurt me too. but when they knew that none of their physical attacks worked, they mated me to one of their kind," she sucked in a breath, "they mated me to a witch."
She went dead silent for a second, lost in her thoughts, gazing into nothing.
"I don't see how that ruins you," I said after a while.
She lifted her gaze to mine, "You clearly don't know what's it like to being mated, don't you?"
I gave a slow shrug, "No...?"
"It's like being in a dream." A faint smile reached her lips as if she were remembering something, "A happy dream. A dream where you feel you can get lost into. A dream where you feel like you can touch the stars, jump over the moon, fly through the air feeling nothing but empty happiness and...pure love, adored." She smiled in my direction. "The feeling is amazing. So amazing."
My mouth didn't know the words to say to her.
If being mated was this amazing then how come King Alpha didn't feel any of it? Why didn't I feel any of it?
"They mated me to a witch to torture me," Katia stated, suddenly serious, "I was weak a little hundred years ago. I didn't know the mess I was getting into. I followed the witch like a blind lovesick girl. Got beaten, captured, stabbed."
A look of revenge, hatred and anger masked her features, but she quickly slid them off her face going blank.
"King Alpha saved me from them." She spoke. "But it's hard, you see? Even if I didn't want to, I was completely and utterly in love with that witch. When your mated, you don't see the flaws in them, you see the beauty. I went back after a few months, hoping to catch a glimpse of that witch or even manage to get a few words," she shrugged although she seemed a bit troubled, "all I got was harsh and threatening words."
I put the last piece of pizza in my mouth, chewing, "You still love him?"
A blush appeared on her cheeks, and she opened her mouth as if to correct me on something but closed it and bashfully nodded her head.
"I can't help it." She spoke.
"Is he even alive?"
Her face grew redder as if mentioning him made her blush more, "Yes, indeed."
"Why does King Alpha hate you?"
"He knew I went to see the witch even after they tortured me horribly. He made me pick sides then. It was either my mate or him."
"What did you choose?" I asked.
"I told him I'd rather kill myself." She answered. "He got upset with my answer. Angry even. He went on about how the witches are trying to destroy us and how stupid I am to fall in love with one." She sighed. "He's right, of course. But the witch I'm mated to isn't as cruel as the others. Roxy is actually nice and kind. Roxy was forced to torture and say all those things to me by being pressured. Sometimes it seems as if Roxy wants to be with me, sometimes it feels as if...trying to abandon and forget me." she placed her head in her palm, looking a little upset now.
"You still see him around?"
"Sometimes."
"Okay...that answers one of my questions," I said grabbing my fourth slice, "Next question. What does 'Ezlynn is your redemption' mean?"
"I told you this before. I want to end the rivalry between the witches and King Alpha. It's getting tiring and keeping me away from being with Roxy. I think you're a witch Ezlynn." She spoke, "You don't smell like Lycans, and you have magic. I want you to start a new era with King Alpha where witches and werewolves once lived together. Just like how Sanhandred and Lucretia lived."
"Wait...a minute," I said drawing out the word 'wait'. "Step on the brakes, will you?" I frowned, "I'm trying to get rid of King Alpha and you want me to make a fucking era with him?"
She rubbed the spot between her eyebrows, "Please don't react like that. It makes me feel like I'm losing more hope."
"Well then lose it! I'm not making a fucking era with him. I'm pretty sure he'd also kill himself by drinking acid instead too."
"But he won't!" She spoke almost desperately. "He has been...lonely for a long time now. And he refuses to bring me back into his life. He just hides his feelings and his heart by acting cruel and harsh. You need to break his walls and make him feel that softness again."
"You're delusional if you think I'm gonna do any of that."
"Ezlynn you have been mated to him. Take advantage of that."
"Katia, you try to understand how I'm feeling right now," I spoke. "That guy broke into my house, kidnapped me and tried to kill me so many times. He's the reason my brother is kidnapped, and my life is so upside down. I feel like I'm walking on pins and needles and every time I feel like my life is hanging by a thread. He's the reason I had my palm sliced open so Ace could put his fucking barrier on me to protect me from him."
I raised my eyebrows, "You want me to get close to him now? I want my life to be back to normal, Katia. Getting closer with him isn't gonna make that happen. Once I get Collin back, I'm off from your lives for good."
She sighed, running her fingers through her hair, "I tried. It's your wish. I won't force you."
"I need to go to the bathroom," I stood up abruptly.
Before she could say anything, I slid out of the booth and headed to the bathroom completely lost and dispersed into my thoughts.
Maybe that's why I didn't notice the three punk guys right around the corner, watching me.
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Date: 27 July 2021