Chapter 5

ARIELLA. "Emma, can you help me get away from here?" "Huh? What are you saying?" "I... I just got mated to the wrong person, and I think I have to go away, Emma. Would you h-help me?" There was a pause before her reply. "Are you okay, Ariella? I don't understand what you're saying, but are you telling me that Kayden wasn't your mate?" "Yes, Kayden wasn't my m-mate..." I answered as fresh tears leaked from my eyes again. "Oh... Then who is it?" "It's Eli... Do you remember him? My childhood friend that I told you about before?" I heard Emma gasp. "What? But wasn't he from the other pack that once was a part of yours? The ones that hated your father?" "That's right. That's why I have to leave, Emma. Can you help me with that?" "Well, I guess I can, but we have to talk about it first, Ariella. We can meet tomorrow if you like." "That would be nice," I told her. "Thank you, Emma. I'll text you the time and place." I dived face-first onto my bed, still crying. I didn't get sleep though, so when morning came, I met up with Emma at the public park before heading to the council. She checked if she could sense something out of the ordinary in me, just in case something did happen for me and Eli to become mates. "You're perfectly fine, Ariella. I can't sense any trace of magic in you, so there wasn't any kind of magic used in that mating bond revelation." "I see... Then I guess I'm just that unlucky, huh? Eli and I don't even talk so why him? It just doesn’t make sense," I said in my hoarse voice. I knew I looked like a mess because of what happened last night, especially since I instantly became the talk of the town, but I didn't care anymore. "You did say that Eli confessed to you before and you liked him too. He must've left a strong mark on you at that time for him to manifest as your mate." "That's why I said I was unlucky. Because clearly we don't feel like that anymore." "Yeah, mating bonds sometimes are treacherous, you know? It doesn't always work one way. I'm not a werewolf but I know that what happened to both of you could really happen naturally. Eli shouldn't have accused you of manipulating your mating bond." "He's a jerk, that's why. Good thing I'm not staying here anymore..." We both paused after I said that. Emma had agreed to help me leave my home by putting a spell on me that would hide my scent from anyone who'd try to track me down. But now that I was actually just a few hours away from doing it, I started getting nervous. "Ariella, do you really have to leave? You know that it's risky for you, right?" "Yeah, I know that. But it's better than staying in a place where you feel very much unwanted." "But what about your wolf? As long as you're Eli's mate, your wolf will pine for him and his wolf. Sure, there's a possibility that your wolf might accept the fact that it got rejected and move on. You could actually find a second-chance mate like that, but what if that doesn't happen? That's like asking for a slow death sentence, Ariella. First, your health will deteriorate, and then you might lose control of your wolf." "Yeah, I know that. I know very well that I might die doing this, but it's the same thing if I stayed. Eli would never accept me, in fact, he's going to the council to reject me even if it means that both our wolves will be in pain. He and his pack will not let us become mates." Emma looked at me for a second, and I knew that she was thinking about something. And she did because she asked me a hard question next. "But, Ariella, let me just ask this. If Eli happened to have accepted you as his mate, even if his pack doesn't agree, would you accept him too?" "No, because Kayden was my boyfriend." "But you now know that Kayden will break up with you once you become Eli's mate?" That made me think very hard on top of the pain of hearing Kayden’s name. "To be honest, I want to say yes because Eli's my mate, you know? But I guess there's too much bad blood between us and our families that I can't see myself being happy with him even if he did love "I'm glad to hear that. It means there's still hope between you two, Ariella. If you could just settle your differences, then maybe you'll find peace and happiness with your mate just like everyone else." "That's impossible, Emma," I said but if I was being honest with myself, I kind of liked the idea she presented. Peace and happiness that only your mate could give? How I wish I could still have it even after what had happened. "That's not impossible at all," Emma replied. "I'm sorry, Ariella, for asking that. I'm just worried about you. I'd feel bad if something happens to you." "Oh come on, it's not like I forced you to do this or something. But, Emma, you can cast your spell on me now," I reminded her. "Oh yeah. I already forgot about it!" We both went silent as she started muttering words I couldn't understand. She cast a simple spell on me that would hide my scent from any werewolf, making it hard for them to look for me when I left. This was the help from her that I asked because werewolves are known to be great trackers so I had to find a way to get away without leaving a trace behind. After casting her spell, Emma warned me that it would only last for three days so I had to get as far away as possible before the spell broke. We then finished our conversation with Emma giving me a warning. "I don't like to use this power of mine, but you know that I can sense when something out of the ordinary is about to happen, right?" I nodded. "Yeah. I wish I had the same ability to predict things. I would have avoided all these troubles if I had those powers of yours." "Well, this doesn't only pertain to you, Ariella, but to Eli and your packs too." The smile on my face disappeared after hearing that. "What do you mean?" "I still don't know what it is, but some kind of mysterious energy is circling you and your pack, Ariella. I could sense it even right now." I got scared. "Is it...dangerous?" "I can't say yet," she said. "But you have to be wary about it, Ariella. Something big is about to come to you and Eli and both of your packs. Something powerful and you will not be able to do anything about it. That's why I'm begging you, Ariella. If you don't want to change your mind, at least always be careful." "Of course, I will," I said, touched that Emma was worried about me. I thanked her for all the things she did for me. Then we exchanged our goodbyes, and I went back to my town and went straight to the courthouse where the whole council was waiting for me. Father saw me first because he was seated next to the huge double doors, but he did not even talk to me. He was pretending like he didn't see me, and that only fueled my yearning to just leave this place. Kayden was there too, but he also avoided eye contact with me. Ignoring the pain that it caused me, I walked to the center of the court where Eli was seated. There were two wooden chairs for us while the rest of the council sat in a circle around us like we were in some kind of medieval trial. I sat on the chair next to Eli and did not look at him. The man in front of us, one of our pack's Elders, finally stood up and the court commenced. "We are here to hear out the newly mated couple, whom we all know originate from the two separate packs. As in any other mated couple, we're supposed to register your mating bond and perform the ceremony for newly mated couples. But as we all know too, this isn't the regular mating that occurred and needs to be discussed." "That's right," said Ross, who was seated opposite of my father. "I object to this mating, and I strongly suggest that no ceremony will be held. Let's not make our lives more complicated, shall we? It's hard enough attending these meetings," he added, glancing at my father who was just looking at his hands. "How about you, Jonathan? Is that your position too?" the Elder asked my father. "Yes." "And the couple? Any words?" Eli spoke before I could even open my mouth. "As the next Alpha of my pack, I'm rejecting my mate, Elder. That way, peace will remain for all of us." As soon as he said that, I felt like something heavy hit my chest. Then my wolf started howling like crazy inside my head. It was so painful that I struggled in my chair. When I looked at Eli, he was clutching his chest too. The pain was so strong and so vivid that it made me drop to my knees. There was a loud thud and Eli was now on the floor too. His uncle came to him though, and as I struggled through the searing pain while my wolf whined nonstop, I saw in the corner of my eye how my own father just walked out of the room. That was the last straw. My father acted like I wasn't his child because my mate was Eli and that really hurt. He was angry with me because it meant if Father wanted our bloodline to continue, I had to be with Eli. That was the one last final blow I took for myself. Eli got carried out of the building while I remained. No one was approaching to help me, so I tried to get back up on my own. When the pain finally subsided, I walked out of the court too, then walked out of town despite the onlookers. It was like a death march except the pain was all inside me. My eyes were wet but I was determined to leave so I walked and walked until I got far enough from any of them. At the first intersection, there was a bus stop, and that was where I rested a bit. "This is goodbye then," I mouthed to myself when a red bus pulled up, and I got in without looking back. Sitting by the window, I took a deep breath and wished for a new beginning.