The Elevator

Cold

The sounds of his muffled sobbed bounced off the walls of the elevator. He cried broken and gut-wrenching sobs. This pain wasn't fake but so intense it vibrated inside me it caused a miracle to occur. My wolf was stirring awake at the pain of my heartbroken mate. She wanted to sweep him into her embrace, accept him and his faults. Her forgiveness poured through my body, consuming me, muttering that he had suffered enough.

Unfortunately for her, the human side of me was angry and pissed off. The human in me couldn't accept the pain inflicted by not only my mate, but my family. After years of abandonment, she graced me with her presence because her mate was suffering. What about me? What about the pain I endured? It was like I didn't matter in this equation between mates. She was happy to embrace the snivelling mate that rejected me for my sister?

"I'm sorry Louise." The wolf whimpered in the back of my mind. I couldn't help but scoff at her meaningless apology.

"Don't you dare call me that name, ever. It's Loretta. Louise died a long time ago." I snapped with anger as I tightened my hand into a fist.

Her desperation was boiling to the surface. For all she wanted was for me to succumb to her needs and embrace her mate. I felt her longing and suffering from being away from him. The pain she felt coursed through my bones. Her need for me to succumb to her wants and desires pushed through the walls that I had developed. The wolf did nothing but love her mate. For me, it is worthless to invest my feelings onto someone so undeserving. The human and wolf were as bad as each other, each not caring about anything but their carnal needs. He didn't spare me or my wolf any thought. Why should I care for him?

The feelings for my wolf were nothing but the same as one feels in a cold winter. The harsh winds only stung my body as the ice running through my veins only caused me to feel numb. How dare she ask me to be there for a mate who did nothing but disrespect and disregard a sacred bond? My heart broke when she left, for I was truly on my own. I had no one, no family, no friends, no pack. They cursed me, to be alone for years.

"Louise, I was always there." My wolf spoke softly. Her tone was nothing by sympathetic. "I was always in the background, giving you strength when you needed."

"You lie!" I seethed at her. "You are just like them," I spat venomously at her. All I felt was a bubbling feeling of resentment. It grew and rooted into the deepest part of my heart.

"I left for you." She whimpered.

I scoffed at her and it was then I shut her away like she did for me for years. I pushed her to the furthest point of my mind, pushing her away from the mate she desperately wanted. My coldness allowed me to survive in this cruel world and I wouldn't back down.

I looked to my right where my mate was wiping his eyes. His sobs finally subdued. He said nothing or do anything but try to catch his breath. All I could do was pity him at that moment, but I knew he wouldn't appreciate that.

I sighed. "I'm sorry. I don't really know how to do the whole comfort thing." I gestured with hands. "No one taught me how to comfort someone. I was alone in my suffering. No one offered me a helping hand or a moment of relief." I muttered with pursed lips. "A bit like your Louise."

"What do you mean?" He said as he rubbed his nose.

"Well, I was a lonely person growing up. I was the black sheep of the family. You could say everyone hated me. They probably still do." I said wistfully.

"No one can hate their family. No matter what." He said with determination.

I laughed, honestly at the audacity of this man. He saw firsthand what it was like to watch on in silence as my family mistreated me.

"Trust me. You really do not know what you are talking about." The bitterness swirled in my mouth. "Have you ever met someone who did nothing but want the best for everyone but all she received in return was her own damnation? A family who wished for anyone but her to be their daughter." I closed my eyes, remembering my father's disappointing gaze and my mother's hateful eye.

He looked at me, his gaze was questioning what I said. I could feel the heat rise on my face as I felt my cold exterior melt. I refused to look away. I refused to be weak as this man looked at me and interpreted my words. Did I reveal too much? Could he read through my facade?

"Yes, I did." His face looked like he was in pain. I could sense that he was talking to his wolf. Did his wolf know who I was to him? Could he sense his mate longing for his embrace?

Although the charms were in place to stop him from feeling the bond and I had changed my hair colour, I had grown out of the malnutrition caused by family. How could he not recognise me? I was his chosen mate's twin sister? Was he that obtuse?

"Who?" I asked.

"Louise." He paused, thinking about what he was saying. "Her family hated her. I remember sometimes I would watch her and she would see the anger and the hate on their faces, but I only saw their disappointment." He replied.

My stony heart thumped at the new information he provided. Did I misinterpret my family? Did they only look at me in disappointment? I chuckled internally, thinking about their actions. How they refused to feed me regularly, how they would give me second-hand clothes, but my sister would only receive the finest. Not once did my mother show me affection in my teenage years, never once did my father embrace me with warmth or comfort. He did not know what did was like living with those monsters who called their selves parents. They only had room in their heart for one sister and neglected the other. A flash of memories crashed through my mind, thinking about the last day I spent with them. I shivered in disgust.

"That's a pretty assumption that you have made for an outsider." I retorted.

"What do you mean?" Jacob questioned.

"Mr Warner, have you ever heard the saying that you don't know what goes on behind closed doors? Because I am sure you didn't live with Louise's pain. Take it from someone who's probably been in Louise's shoes. No one truly knew what else she was going through. You probably only saw ten percent of her pain."

"What do you know?" He replied angrily.

"Mr Warner, I feel from the way you describe Louise that those who she trusted abused her. People always hide abuse, so what you probably saw, Mr. Warner, was only a snippet of what was going on. I went through exactly what she did and not a single person knew what I was suffering at the hands of my family, so don't think for one second you know everything." The animosity was clear in my tone.

"Why are you so passionate about this? Why do you assume you know what was going on with Louise?" He retorted. I could feel the heat from his skin radiate alongside his hatred of my statement.

I scoffed at the imbecile. All I wanted to do was scream at him was because I was her. I was living her pain! "What makes you think you knew what she was going through because you saw some disappointing gazes?"

"Because they cry every day! Her parents cry for the child that they haven't seen in eight years. Still, they are weeping for the child that they do not know is alive or dead! They have searched everywhere for her to fall short and now they are dying! Both of them are dying and they will probably die before they can say how sorry they are! They will die before they have time to tell her they love her!" He screamed.

I swear my heart never thumped so hard in the last eight years, but I didn't miss his words that cut through me like a knife.

"What do you mean, they are dying?" I asked.

Edited 08/08/2023