Chapter 7
Venus POV
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We all heard his conversation on the phone because of our heightened sense of hearing. Besides, Vicky was practically bawling loudly on the phone
“Where are you going?” Alpha Martin growled at Aaron.
Aaron stopped and glared at his father. “I am going to meet Vicky. She is upset and crying!”
“Don’t be mad,” Alpha Martin snapped. “You are going to marry Venus. She should be your priority and not Vicky. Stay back!”
Aaron gritted his teeth. “Since when did you begin caring about Venus’s wellbeing? Had you thought about her, you wouldn’t have pushed her into marrying me. Now, because of you, she will suffer a lifetime of neglect. I can’t just ignore my mate.”
“Aaron!” Alpha Martin shouted, but he simply ran out, ignoring him.
With my heart silently shattering into a million pieces, I saw Aaron’s back disappearing.
When he had come to see me after my first shift, I felt like this world made sense. I was ecstatic. Noira’s happiness was in leaps in bounds. She purred around him, licked his snout to show her appreciation. She even followed him all the way back like a wolf who had finally found an anchor.
Celebrating with Alpha, Luna, Eric and him was one of the happy memories that I wanted to bottle, but then Vicky called.
A ball formed in my throat as I stared at him with a blurry vision. We were about to get married and this was just the start. I looked helplessly from my father to Alpha and Luna, hoping they would understand my predicament and stop this marriage, but my father just shook his head and walked to the guest room to take a bath.
Luna Marie came to me and cupped my cheeks. “Don’t worry, Venus. I’m sure that he will come to his senses and realize that you are best for him.”
“Hey!” Eric said to divert my attention. “I got a new board game. Would you like to play?”
I chuckled sadly. “I want to go home.”
“No, you shouldn’t,” Eric stopped me. “Not until Aaron is back home.”
I looked at Eric with admiration. How could his brother be more mature than him?
The next day, I returned home in the evening. Our engagement was supposed to take place the next day, and I didn’t have the energy nor the inclination to buy new clothes. When my father asked me to go shopping for the party tomorrow, I refused, stating that I had a headache. I knew he would wake me up early in the morning and urge me to go shopping. Obviously, I would go to school to avoid. It wasn’t like Aaron was going to see what I would wear.
Vicky and Gaia didn’t talk to me at all at home. I felt miserable as hell. I would look hopefully at Gaia, but during dinner, she avoided me like oil avoids water. Daddy hadn’t returned because he was too busy with the Alpha and his Beta for my engagement party.
“Gaia?” I murmured. “Please talk to me. It’s not my fault that Alpha and Luna have ordered me to marry Aaron. I don’t want a forced marriage.”
She slammed her spoon down onto the table. I jumped back at her reaction. “Then bloody tell them to stop it! Because of you, Vicky is suffering. How could you do this to her? Aaron and Vicky are mates. And you–you are a bloody leech! You are leeching their happiness.” She got up and thumped her fist on the table. “Why don’t you just die?” Saying that, she stomped out of the room, murmuring, “Fucking ingrate bitch!”
Aghast, I stared at her back, tears streaming down my cheeks. The air of this home had become so stifling. Memories of mom rushed in my mind. She would have been so happy with this arrangement. Why did she die? Her death was also a mystery to me. Though the Beta claimed she was attacked by the rogues, I sensed there was a deeper truth hidden beneath his words. Her body was found outside the pack’s border. There were bruises on her body, but there was no blood around her.
I walked to my room without eating my dinner. Picking my mom’s photo from my table, I stared at her and asked a thousand questions to the Moon Goddess. Suddenly, my room’s door opened and Vicky walked in like a storm. The sight of her open hair, tear–streaked face, and furious expression sent a shiver down my spine.
“Did you tell Nathan about me marrying Aaron?” she demanded.
“N–no, I replied. “Vicky 1-”
She stormed out of my room, banging the door closed before I could complete my sentence. The closed door left me feeling flustered as I stared at it Why did she ask about Nathan?
Five minutes later, there was a heavy pounding on our front door. I got up to see who it was. When I opened it, I was surprised to see that Nathan was standing there. “Nathan, what are you doing here?” I asked. Nathan was a brilliant nerd at our school. He was tall with dark hair and dark eyes and girls drooled over him. But the poor guy had eyes for Vicky.
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4:23 PM
Chapter 7
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“Where’s Vicky?” he breathed.
“Nathaaannnn!” Vicky squealed as she sprinted from her room and launched herself at him.
“Baby!” he caught her in his arms. She wrapped her legs around him and buried her face in the crook of his neck. “What happened?” he asked, bewildered, as he carried her inside her room.
I watched them leave. Shock? Disbelief? I failed to pin it down as my heartbeats increased. When Aaron wasn’t available, Vicky turned to Nathan for comfort, leaning on him like a human blanket.
Oh. My. Goddess. I felt pity for Nathan and wondered if I should tell it to Aaron. How could Vicky do this to Aaron if she was truly devastated? I walked back to my room, wondering about Vicky’s game. As I brushed my teeth, my phone chimed. My eyebrows shot to the roof when I saw Vicky had posted a selfie in which she was in Nathan’s lap on her social media.
Fuck. So this was her game? When Arron would see it, he would become jealous.
I felt a sense of unease crackling in my chest. Now Aaron would come here, and with no regard to my feelings, he would stay with Vicky. I realized that Vicky was actually trying to show me down by doing all this.
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