Helanie:
"So, will you marry , please?" he asked this ti, since I took a little longer to answer than he must have expected. The fact that a smile spread across his lips made chuckle sarcastically.
Did he really think I was still the Helanie who would start celebrating just because he finally proposed?
That used to be all I cared about. I’d wait for him to pop the question — and he knew it. There were tis he even hinted at it just to get excited and then crush my hopes. He used to enjoy playing with my feelings.
I raised an eyebrow and stepped back to get a good look at his whole body.
"Oh my goddess!" Larissa scread from behind . My stepbrother gasped, and my father — who had just entered the house — looked so proud and happy.
What the hell!
"No!" I hissed, and imdiately heard more gasps and so people swearing under their breath.
"Please, I want you to be my mate. Helanie, let make things right for what I did wrong," Altan continued. My father rushed to my side and grabbed my arm, but I pulled away quickly.
"Say yes — he’ll help you fix your reputation," my father whispered to , and I turned away from him with a disgusted look.
"Really? What reputation? I never lost any. As long as I can look at myself in the mirror and be proud of who I am, I don’t see anything wrong with my reputation," I muttered angrily. I was surprised at how stunned my father looked every ti I responded to him with even a bit of firmness.
"As for you," I turned to Altan, "I’m not sothing you can fix. I’m fine. I don’t need an alpha to live my life, and marriage is definitely not the solution to my problems. Justice is," I hissed, reminding him not to sink any lower than he already had.
"Ahhh! Stupidity stays with you no matter how many academies you attend," my father said with a dismissive wave of his hand. My stepmother ca closer to Altan, staring at his face.
"I just want to know why you want to marry her. Is beauty all that n care about? I’ve seen her friends co around, and that Alpha Penn — he’s such a handso boy, and he looked at her with those dreamy eyes—"
As my stepmother kept rambling about the n in my life treating well, I noticed Altan react a little differently at the ntion of Penn.
"Alpha Penn? Didn’t he used to be friends with those rapists? I don’t think you should be hanging around him,"
The audacity of Altan to try and tell who I should or shouldn’t be around made laugh out loud. The whole room went silent, and my stepmother grimaced.
"Why does everyone want her, while I had to marry an oga — and a useless one too?" she complained, as if she wasn’t the one who’d been sleeping with a married man for years.
"Altan. Kindly leave," I said, pointing at the door.
"Helanie, think about my proposal. It will give you everything you’ve ever wanted," he added again, and as much as I wanted him out of my sight, my greedy family stood around him, staring at his face like they’d never seen an alpha ask soone to be their mate.
"Everything I wanted in the past was barely anything — I was settling. Now I have bigger dreams, and you — and your pack’s status — don’t even co close. So please, get out."
As I raised my voice at him, my stepmother raised her hand like she was going to slap my arm. But she stopped.
She wouldn’t dare — not after last ti.
She knew I wouldn’t hold back anymore.
"I’ll be there on the full moon, Helanie," he said one last ti before walking out of the house.
After he left, my family turned to with questioning looks.
"Why didn’t you accept his proposal? Didn’t you do all that just to marry an alpha?" my stepmother asked, scratching her scalp like she was truly confused — when it should’ve been obvious that I did none of what I was accused of.
"I an, she got Alpha Penn. I guess she did do all that and got what she wanted. But then she’s marrying Alpha Kaidon, oh my! I haven’t found one good mate, and she’s drowning in alphas,"
Freaking Sullivan hissed, flopping back onto the couch again to waste more hours of his life doing absolutely nothing.
"You could have said yes and gone on to live a better life. Now you’ll have to marry the guy you said raped you — and he isn’t even an alpha yet. Goddess knows if he’ll even win the crown, even after getting into Fell Moon Academy for the title," my stepmother sighed, rolling her eyes and slapping her forehead.
"Why don’t you all find sothing else to do? Doesn’t it get exhausting hating on ?" I snapped at them, raising my voice and letting the harshness cut through the room.
The three of them exchanged glances before my father stepped forward.
"What happened to being obedient and well-mannered?"
He had the nerve to bla my misery on my "good manners."
"And yet, I never made you proud. The only ti I saw you proud of was when Altan proposed today. You know what? Now that I think about it — the three of you have always acted like the things I’m being accused of. You wanted to marry an alpha. And you—" I pointed directly at my father. His eyes widened like he sensed the threat in my voice — a warning to think twice before ever speaking over again.
"You were so happy when you heard I’d gone to et Alpha Altan that night. You didn’t even ask if I needed to go to the hospital. Your greed knows no limits. Now I know why my mother left you. She’s living her best life without you."
I let it out — all the anger, all the pain I’d been carrying in my chest for years.
There was more, but this much was enough.
I needed him to feel it first.
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