Fated To Three, Betrayed By All… Until She Rose.

Leilani.

Pain spread through my cheek so hot that my vision grew fuzzy for a second or two before it returned to its usual state.

My eyes darted up to meet that of the one who had struck me, and funny enough, I wasn’t surprised when I saw that it was Caelum.

The jerk.

However, what I would hate is for him to easily get away with that so I drew my hand far back and slapped him too, making sure that it was way harder than the one he did to me and smiling when his face dropped.

"Leilani!"

Gasps ripped through the crowd. A lot of onlookers seemed surprised that I would hit an Alpha, and while that was a huge crime in our society, I didn’t care anymore.

I couldn’t bring myself to, not when I could see the maniacal look in Chalice’s eyes.

She’d approached me earlier with a sweet smile, talking about how she wanted us to set aside our differences, and while I didn’t believe her even for a second, I thought that she’d been desperate and scared, afraid that I knew a bit too much about the parts of her that she’d hidden away from everyone else.

Little did I know that it was another one of her usual pranks, and now, to everyone, I was probably the devil. I was probably a meanie who would hurt a pregnant woman.

Yes, that’s what she’d said, that she was pregnant.

But since when?

Was this another lie?

I was pulled out of my thoughts when someone brushed me to the side and I looked up just then to see Kael standing protectively in front of me as he forced himself into the space between Caelum and I.

Wait, what?

"Caelum, behave!" He hissed under his breath, "stop this madness now."

"You call what I’m doing madness?" His brother seethed, "...you call me protecting our woman madness? Then what would you say about you, seeing that you’re protecting the girl who hurt her?!" He growled, and I could only freeze as I watched Kael stand even impossibly closer to Caelum.

My eyes met Caelum’s over Kael’s shoulder and he swung his fist again, but before it could land, Zevran intercepted him, grabbing his wrist before his fist could touch me.

I gasped.

Wait, am I dreaming?

"Caelum..." Zevran seethed darkly, "...don’t forget why we’re here. If you hit her right in front of these many people, then kiss the investments you need goodbye." He finished, and as soon as I heard the rest of the sentence, I nodded in understanding.

"Ahh!"

A small smile crept up my face as it finally dawned on me that they weren’t helping because they felt it was ’right’, they were doing it to save face. To appear like saints... to get investments.

I wasn’t surprised though but trust me, I was mad.

I pushed away from Kael’s back and turned to face Chalice who appeared as though she’d swallowed bile.

—Well, I guess she wasn’t expecting this to happen when she’d stabbed herself in the leg with a fork.

I spat; "Chalice, you and I know that I didn’t do this to you."

But she rolled her eyes and turned away, sobbing into her palms as she cried; "You did Leilani! I’m so tired of you targeting me all the time!"

My hands shook with rage and something else: an urge to slap the truth into her skull. But I held back for the sake of my reputation and seethed; "Then let’s check the cameras!"

Maya materialized beside me then, her eyes filled with malice as she spat; "Yes, let’s check the cameras! This isn’t the first time that our Barbie doll here, Chalice, will pull stunts like this!"

Chalice’s face fell then, but not in panic. It was in despair. She cried; "You both know that there are no cameras around here and want to twist the truth?"

"You—" Maya seethed, snarling as she tried to attack her but I quickly held her back and whispered; "We’ll prove ourselves."

"No, you can’t!" A young server said softly, and at the sound of her voice, the crowd turned to look at her in surprise. Her eyes met mine briefly then she ducked her head and whispered; "I saw you stab her!"

"And I saw you too!" Another girl added.

I froze.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Chalice smile triumphantly but before I could point it out for someone else to see, she fixed her face, managing to look distraught as she sighed in feigned relief.

"You see, Kael, I’m not lying."

"We’ll settle this later then." Kael answered coldly, not looking at her. But I knew that he didn’t say that to protect me, he did it so that everyone present here doesn’t see just how twisted he could be.

Caelum however, would not have that. He snarled; "She should be punished now! She tried to harm a pregnant woman and that’s uncalled for."

To my utmost surprise, most of the women in the crowd nodded in agreement. My heart fell.

"No one would be teaching anyone any lesson here." Another voice came from behind and I didn’t need to check to know that it was Jarek. He’d stepped outside earlier for an important call, so now, it was a relief to see him amongst this crowd of hostile faces.

He added; "Not under my watch. So I’d advise that we all return to what we were all doing. Alright?"

No one argued. Everyone glanced away quickly and the crowd around me soon began to disperse.

Before Zevran stepped away, he whispered to me; "I’m sorry," causing my eyes to widen as I watched him leave.

Was he really sorry?

Just as soon as that thought came, I immediately dispelled it because I knew what it was for. It was to make me cave in. To make me believe he could ever change... to trick me into thinking he was better when all he needed was some stupid investment.

The crowd around me had fizzled out but that didn’t stop the embarrassment I felt. It didn’t dispel the anger running through my veins.

I lowered my voice as I turned to Maya and Jarek and said; "I’ll be heading out now."

"I’ll drop you off." Jay answered so fast, you’d think it was a reflex action; And because I didn’t have it in me to argue, I simply nodded.

Jay and I left the event shortly afterwards but even as we went, I was still pissed as hell. Still mad. I still wanted to dig my fingers into Chalice’s and her stupid fiancés eyes.

My eyes snagged on their car when we arrived at the parking lot, and maybe it was my rage acting out but I found myself walking over to it. I groaned in despair and hit the hood with my fist.

And goddess, I didn’t hit it too hard, but guess what happened?

It caved! It freaking caved!

I turned to Jay with wide eyes to find him already watching me with a conflicted emotion.

I sighed; "I didn’t mean to... I didn’t know I—"

"Shh..." he whispered, hugging me. "I know you didn’t. I am your eyewitness. Moreover, if they get mad, I’ll simply pay them for damages. So don’t worry."

I closed my eyes as I let his arms wrap around me, and slowly, very slowly, the shaking in my body stopped, replaced instead with a heat that set my blood on fire.

I drew in a deep breath, taking his scent in. And gosh, I never wanted to leave this place. I never wanted to be away from him even for a second. I never wanted to—

My phone began to ring.

Begrudgingly, I pulled it out of my bag, my eyes flashing when I saw that it was Agnes. And so I slowly brought it up to my ear.

"Agnes?" I asked softly, "is anything the matter?"

"I have the hard drive now!" She said excitedly, "..and I can bring it to you tonight if you want!"

Hearing her words, I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t help the small smile that spread across my face and I couldn’t help tiptoeing to plant a kiss on Jarek’s lips.

I was that happy!

"Yes, you should!" I called out excitedly, "I’ll send you an address now!"