Page 136 of Caged Between the Beta & Alpha
“What are you-”
“I, Liam Westwood, reje-”
“Stop it!” I shouted, my eyes blazing in anger and pain as I felt the pull at my chest. How could he? He closed his eyes, and all I felt was his agony, his fists trembling slightly.
“Raven, it’s for-”
“I said stop!” How dare he?! “Don’t make my decisions for me! Just… let me do what I want!” I shouted angrily. He frowned.
“You are better off without me,” he said quietly. “What I did was unforgivable. If we reject one another, it’s for the best.”
“I’ll reject you when I want to!” That was my decision to make, not his.
Yes, I’m hurting. Yes, I’m angry. Yes, I’m broken, but I still love him.Although I didn’t know what the future held... I would do things for my happiness… and make my decisions for myself. I would also break his curse, not for my mate, but for one of my best friends. The Liam from my childhood.
“Open the door,” I said to the guard.
He hesitated, but I didn’t care, glaring at him until he obliged. I stepped inside, and he shut it, watching us apprehensively.
“I know you have been jealous and angry at the entire situation, but Damon and I weren’t sneaking around that day. We were about to reject one another,” I said quietly. His eyes widened in shock as he stared at me as if seeing me for the first time. The realisation of the truth sinking in was followed by a look of pure regret. “Yeah…” I turned away. I could tell from just looking at him that he would always regret those actions of his, and the guilt would always remain.
“I am sorry... although it can do nothing to help the pain I’ve put you through,” he added quietly. I could hear him trying to stay strong, to make his voice sound emotionless, but I could hear it. Feel it…
I stared ahead, my heart squeezing painfully.
“Maybe someday I’ll be able to accept it, and I know that I’ll forgive you for it, but forgiveness and forgetting something are two different things.” A part of me was telling me to stop, that I was hurting him, but I also knew I needed to do this for me, to share what I was feeling. “I love you, Liam, and as your friend… I’ll be here for you, and we will work on this curse.”
But more than that… I didn’t know… I really didn’t know. What I did know was that I needed to heal myself first. I needed to stop just tolerating and living with whatever I was given. I realised I wouldn’t be able to make anyone else happy if I, myself, wasn’t happy.
I looked back at him, at the man I loved. My chest squeezed painfully. I needed to stop thinking of him as the young Liam and see him for who he was, to see the goodness in him then and acknowledge his faults, too. Only then could I really make any kind of decision.
He didn’t speak. I walked out of the cell, each footstep echoing in my ears, the sound of our beating hearts and breathing loud in my ear.
We could have done things differently… I could have been firmer. I should never have strung Damon along when I was only hurting him. I knew deep down that he was only getting hurt, and in the process, it only pushed Liam further.
I needed to stop behaving like a child and face every obstacle in life, no matter how painful they were. I needed to, for me.
I ended upasking Taylor if he was free, and the both of us left the pack grounds with him deciding we needed drinks. I actually agreed. I thought it would be a nice break away from everything.
There we were on our… I was not sure what number bottle, and with plenty more to come. It was too early to find a club, so we had gone to a pub, and I knew a few of the people there were quite surprised that we were still sane after all that alcohol.
“… so, I gave Sparks back to him,” I finished, resting my cheek on my hand.
“Ah, baby girl, he is going to be happy. That’s created with so much love from his sister!” Taylor said, downing another glass. I thought we were both done for the day. The sun was setting too...How long have we been here?
“Yeah, and then, Nina saw me and told me I had this in control and comforted me… I wonder whom she’s lost there,” I said sadly.
“Nina the omega? That’s weird. She doesn’t have anyone there,” Taylor mused, scrunching his nose thoughtfully.
“Really? Well, then, I’m surprised that she takes such good care of it.”
“It’s maybe assigned to her.” Taylor shrugged, picking up an empty bottle.
“That’s empty,” I said with a small smile.
“I can’t drive... there are three of you right now…” Taylor grumbled, pouting cutely.
“I’ll tell someone to come to get us... shall I call Zack?” I teased. He blushed, his already flushed cheeks darkening.
