EMPIRE

7. Reverberations

A silence fills the room, a silence so heavily laden with emotions the weight of it literally pushes me down to my knees. The guards loosen their grip and my defeated figure slumps to the floor as I stare up at the monster before me, unshed tears in my now blank eyes and mouth slightly ajar. Not a word is spoken, the only audible sound is our breathing.

As much as I want to rip my sight away from his gaze, I'm locked in place. Frozen in horror.

He stares down at me, appearing slightly shocked; stormy eyes read an emotion that I can't decipher. His mouth opens and closes a few times as if he's trying to find the right words to say before finally deciding against saying anything at all.

His head tilts to the side as he snaps out of his moment and his eyes narrow, the grey glinting dangerously in the light. My heart thrums in my chest with fear, what has this man reduced me to? A shivering mess on the floor in front of my Alpha and Luna. In front of my best friend. In front of my father.

My eyes close in humiliation, the unnerving sense of degradation already seeping into my mind. My dignity is gone. I'm weak, and now, I'm as good as dead. Everything that I've worked for, everything that I've achieved will be all for naught for this man will surely kill me one way or another.

"Alpha Dreycov," Alpha Aeyrgon ventures softly, the exchange between the foreigner and I causes him discomfort. My eyes flicker open in respect to my leader speaking. Roman is watching me carefully, his jaw clenched tight and his expression absolutely unreadable. He hates me. I'm an unsatisfactory Mate, I wasn't what he was looking for at all.

My Luna slowly reaches towards my arms to lift me off of my knees. Moonstreak, the poor creature, is completely frozen in fear. She somehow ended up standing right beside him. No one in the room dares to make any sudden movements. Everything is being bottled up, the whole situation simply unusual in all senses. When Mates find each other it's like nothing can keep you two apart, you're over come by pure joy and the world brightens.

But my world just plummeted downwards into the pits of Hell.

The most feared man alive is my Mate.

The most feared man alive seems to hate my guts.

And I'm not appealing to him whatsoever.

I try to convince myself that this is a good thing, but the Mate bond makes it feel like it's the most agonizing thing to experience. It's good if I'm not what was expected, it's good that he doesn't want me.

If it's good then why do I want to break down and bawl?

It's the Mate bond. It's making me absolutely pathetic.

Maybe he'll reject me.

My heart squeezes in agony as the thought crosses my mind. I gasp and double over as the powerfully raw pain courses through my being. I'd forgotten the consequences of such thoughts.

Roman's eyes widen and he stumbles back into the wall with as much control as he can muster. A muffled thump is heard as his back hits the timber planks and I realise with horror that he would have felt the pain and heard the thought via the Mate bond.

His head snaps to face mine, eyes both full of shock and fury. I feel myself shrink back a little, much to my absolute shame. He pushes himself to stand straight and he grits his teeth, "I would never do that."

My body shivers involuntarily at his deep voice, oozing power and superiority. I'd thought that Alpha Aeyrgon's voice was commanding, he doesn't even hold a candle to Roman. Every word was spoken with specific clarity, as if to emphasize every syllable. However, I can't stop myself from flinching at the venom in his tone.

He holds my gaze for a moment longer, piercing straight through me. Then he turns and leaves the room without so much as another word uttered. The disappearance of his presence immediately makes a significant change in the air. It becomes lighter, as if a heavy thunderstorm had just diverted it's path last minute and I've avoided becoming victim to the chaos it would've inflicted.

Instantly my body relaxes.

The coiled muscles slowly become undone and I lean my head back against the wall behind me, eyes trailing upwards to the ceiling.

The fog clouding my mind begins to clear as I work to restore every aspect of my being back to full function. Back to normal. Back to Beta Bitch.

What had just happened?

I've completely humiliated myself in front of both my pack superiors and my Mate! My damn Mate! What the hell is wrong with me?

The questions running through my mind begins to drown me as well as the mortified emotions coursing through my veins. The only comfort I can find is that I hadn't completely broken down. I didn't actually cry. I had come disconcertingly close but never did a tear drip from the ducts.

Nor will one ever.

What am I going to do? Am I going to be uprooted from my life and forced to live with the Alpha surrounded by blood thirsty brutes? Are the women there even acknowledged as proper beings or are they simply regarded as entertainment? Will he kill me as soon as I've given birth to his pups? No! He won't get close enough to me for pregnancy to even be a dream. I'll fight until he kills me.

How ironic.

I won't die in glorious battle.

My own Mate will be the one to destroy me.

The shock begins to settle in and I vaguely realise that I've slipped away from reality, I can't hear anybody around me. I can't even see them, it's like I've been put into a white walled room and given just my tormented thoughts to deal with.

I bring my hands to cover my mouth as I slide downwards against the wall, distantly aware of my shaking body. This is a nightmare.

My Wolf howls desperately from within me and I can't even find it in me to tell her to shut up. She can sense my pain, she can sense my emotional agony, the confusion and the anxiety.

Finally my eyes begin to flutter closed and the dark embraces me with open arms. I lean into it's caress, ensnared by the peace it brings. Only the Goddess knows what my fate will be from here.