Chapter 7

As soon as Devon and I arrived back in our house, I went looking for Darren. But I couldn't find him anywhere, not even in our secret spot on the hill. Ryle didn't know where he was either, so I was starting to panic. Because what if Darren already marked Valerie as his mate? That is not impossible at all, though I still had hopes that at least that it won't happen privately. Just like Darren said to me, as the next alpha, marking his mate would be done in a ceremony that will be open to the whole pack to attend to. I was walking by the road back home from my search still hoping to see Darren along the way when their family car stopped right in front of me. I got excited since Darren might be in the car, but as the car's door in the back opened it was Darren's mother, Madam Dolores, who stepped out and gave me a dry smirk. Darren's mother was beautiful and sophisticated with her elegant purple dress and excessive jewelry but it could not make up for her condescending personality. "H-Hello, m-madam..." I greeted and bowed as courtesy though what Devon told me about her earlier still lingered on my mind. "It's good that I saw you here, Milena. I was about to go to your house to talk to you," she said. "I hope that you already accepted Darren's decision, right? After all, you probably had seen this coming from the start because there was no way that I would have allowed you to become Darren's Luna." I bit my lower lip to stop myself from talking back. I just nodded and acted like I wasn't hurt, even though my chest was like being cut slowly with a dagger. Of course I wanted to lash out on her since she's the one who made Darren choose Valerie over me, but now that I know that Darren was just trying to keep me away from his mother's clutches, I have to be patient and just say nothing until I get to talk to Darren. I don't need his mother to get anymore terrible ideas. She was still smiling at me. "It's good that you finally get it, Milena. Now that's settled, I assume that you would show up at my son's ceremony later this evening?" she asked, as if trying to provoke me. "T-This evening?" I was shocked because that was too soon. It was obvious that they were rushing it to avoid Darren changing his mind. Madam Dolores nodded. "Yes, Milena, this evening, Darren will finally mark Valerie as his Luna. Half of the Cross River pack will be in attendance too. It's a big ceremony so everyone's busy preparing for it right now." She probably saw how my face changed and that perked her up even more. "Oh come on, Milena. Don't look at me like that. Don't make it look like I am the villain here. Alliances are vital for a pack's survival in these challenging times. Just be happy for Darren and Valerie, you know? You should just be grateful that Darren even tried to date you." "Right." She must've not expected that I would just reply like that, so she paused for a couple of seconds, not knowing what to make out of my defeatist reaction. "Very well... Now, I want you to attend the ceremony. Don't try to skip it, Milena, or you'll be packing your things." "W-What?" "I'll kick you out of the pack if you don't show up at my son's ceremony later," she said. "And you wouldn't want that, do you? There's no other pack that will let you in. Who knows what a half-breed like you would do to them, right?" She finished her mean taunting with a cackle before going back inside her car. She drove off while I was seething with anger, because maybe Devon was right. Maybe it was for the best that I don't have to deal with a person like her anymore, now that I wasn't Darren's mate. But I still loved Darren. I still had to talk to him and try to convince him again to choose me. If he was sacrificing his own happiness for the pack, then I could convince him to just drop everything if he wanted to. We could just leave and elope. That was what I needed to know from him — how much did he want me? That question was answered minutes before the start of the ceremony. The court held next to Darren's house was full of people, half of them I don't even know. They are probably from Cross River pack where Valerie came from. I lurked at the back of the stage behind the curtains hoping to see Darren so that I could grab him and talk things with him. I wasn't planning on attending this ceremony. But after how Madam Dolores treated me, I decided to sit through it, as I had high hopes that Darren would listen to what I would propose to him now that I know what he went through just to stop her mother from getting her hands on me. Looking around the court full of people with optimism, my heart skipped a beat when I finally saw Darren walking towards the exit. He seemed to be trying to be stealthy, and thinking that this might be because he wanted to escape from the mating ceremony and see me, I ran off and followed him. But I was confused when I saw that he went into one of the storage rooms, looking around to see if anyone saw him going there. I also hid myself from him so that he wouldn't see me because I got curious on what he was about to do. I resumed following him when he entered the storage room, and when I peered inside, I saw him and Valerie kissing by the wall, his hands on her waist. That made me feel so... numb. And then something felt weird with me. There was this uncomfortable burning sensation inside of me, like my insides were about to pop off in a very terrible way. And as the burning pain seared through my chest I let out a soft moan from the pain, which Darren and Valerie heard. They both stopped from making out, and Darren's reaction was epic when he saw me by the door. He was horrified that I saw them. Since the pain inside of me was starting to get unbearable, I started running away from the storage room's door, only for Darren to call my name and tell me to stop. But I couldn't stop. I wouldn't stop. Here I was thinking that maybe all he needed was a little more fight in me, to show him that I was willing to elope with him just so we could be together but he's just there kissing another woman. It was too much and that's when I realized how skewed his love for me was. I ran so fast that I almost tripped. When I looked back, Darren wasn't even following me anymore.