Page 43 of Caged Between the Beta & Alpha
To my dearest Liam,
I placed the book down and ripped the envelope open. What the hell was this? And why was it hidden? It was clear that it had been written and sealed many years ago. There were two things inside: one was a small square of paper with the words,The future is still undecided; you are in control of your destiny,written by Grandma Amelia, but it was the second item that made my heart beat even faster.
It was a card, nothing special in appearance. The image upon it was of a man standing alone, looking towards the darkness. Above him was a shadow of a deformed humanoid being with long claws where hands would usually be. They were digging into the man’s back as it leaned over him, casting him in darkness. Now that I looked closer, I could see there were people on the ground grasping onto the man’s legs in desperation. Each face that you could make out looked anguished, and in pain, but from his posture, you could tell he was disgusted by them.
The card that I would always draw on all three occasions, but she refused to tell me what it truly meant…
My heart was thudding as I stared at both items. What was the meaning of this? Frowning I placed both items down, I needed to find out what that card was depicting.
I looked down at the book, my brows furrowing at the words that were written in calligraphy that was clearly from long ago. The heading glaring back at me filled me with unease and curiosity.
The Anthology of the Deimos Curse & The Prophecy of Light and Darkness.
Raven
The moment hestormed out, I took a deep breath; my heart was fucking hurting. The Liam that I knew was so far gone; that fucking hurt, too.
I walked over to the door, locking it before picking up Damon’s torn shirt. I dropped to my knees, letting out a shuddering breath. Why were things so shit? When one wanted to make it work, the other wanted to destroy it. Even then, I knew Liam was hurting. No, I couldn’t excuse his behaviour, but he was just the type of person who loved deeply. I understood that. Where Damon was able to cope and even move on with Robyn, Liam hadn’t been able to, letting his emotions and pain eat him up inside. I couldn’t blame him for his stance.
Liam… I placed my head in my hands. What do I do? And what was with the colour of his eyes? That anger and darkness…
Closing my eyes, I inhaled deeply, still clinging to the torn shirt. Damon’s scent was soothing, but even then, I couldn’t get rid of the unease and worry I felt for Liam. I needed to talk to him, too. I needed to reach him and pull him from whatever dark place he had pushed himself into. We needed to do this so fucking soon.No matter what, tomorrow, right after Kiara and Al leave, we’ll do this. Damon would listen, but it was Liam I needed to get on board. Remembering the way he had ripped my shirt off, a pang of pain shot through me. No matter how much I just wanted to curl up and cry, that wasn’t who I was. Crying never solved anything.
Standing up, I decided to shower and get all this sweat off. Once I had showered, I returned to my room. Pulling on a pair of pants and an oversized hoodie, I walked over to my bed and picked up my remaining parcels from yesterday. I began to open them. A gorgeous crystal lamp… it was pretty, but the excitement I would usually have was absent. I placed the lamp down carefully before opening the final package. It was flat,I don’t actually remember ordering anything else.
A pile of photographs fell out. My heart skipped a beat as my eyes landed on the very top one. It hurt… it felt like an entire hurricane of pain was unleashed within me. I clutched my chest, feeling the crushing emotions cripple me. My heart was ringing in my ears, and tears prickled my eyes. Even knowing it would only hurt me more, I spread the pictures slightly with my shaking fingers, looking at the dozens of pictures of Robyn with Damon. Him holding her hand as he kissed her cheek. Him kissing her lips… hugging her… With each image, I couldn’t breathe. Hearing, knowing, and seeing are three very different things.
Goddess, please...My eyes landed on the final four pictures, and I felt as if someone had just ripped my heart out completely. Despite the edge being blurred by what could be a curtain, they were images of them in bed, clearly in the throes of passion and both utterly enjoying it.
My worth was nothing. Was I so easily forgotten? It was my fault, though, right? I left... who would remember me?I won’t cry… I won’t…
I wiped my eyes with shaking hands, a sob escaping my lips as I backed away from my bed. I clamped my hand over my mouth, trying to stifle the sobs that were begging to escape. The pain I felt needed an outlet, but I couldn’t cry. I would always keep smiling, keep going, keep strong…
Tears trickled down my cheeks as I stared at my bed. Although I was now across the room, I still backed away further, as if being near them would harm me... but the damage had already been done. I knew he needed that support... but looking at those pictures, was there even any need for me? He said he wanted me. He said he missed me, and he broke it off but was I really what he wanted? Was I really worth either of them?
Why couldn’t I turn back time?
I just wished the Moon Goddess left me mate-less. That would have been better than this torture.I hate life.
I slid down the wall, resting my head against the smooth, painted wall, and closed my eyes, my lip quivering as I tried to control my emotions.Come on, Raven, you are stronger than this!
I stayed there, trying to contain my emotions. After a good twenty minutes, I got up and went over to the bed, quickly gathering the pictures up and trying not to even look at them. Who took these and sent them to me, why would they? Did someone else know he was my mate? We hadn’t really told anyone. Shoving the pictures into the bottom drawer, I left the room. I needed to get something to eat, that would make me feel better.
An hour later, I was sitting in the large black and grey kitchen at the counter on one of the bar stools with a large plate of steaming chicken pasta in front of me when Zack entered the kitchen, frowning. He went to the coffee machine and began making himself a cup. He glanced up, seeming to have just noticed me there.
“Oh, hey Raven, didn’t see you there. Have you seen Liam?”
“No,” I replied icily, remembering how he was refusing and hurting Taylor. He seemed taken aback by the hostility in my voice.
“Everything okay?” He asked, coming over.
“Yes,” I said haughtily. He raised his eyebrows.
“We both know that ain’t true,” he replied.
“I just hate men,” I said, making him smile slightly, but he was wise to hide it quickly.
“What did they do? Or should I ask who?”
