Livianaâs POV
âDonât look at me like thatâ he snarled as I glared at him.
âYou canât tell me what I should and shouldnât doâ I snarled back.
âYes, I can. I am your prince and your mateâ he said sternly. I pushed him at the mention of him being my mate.
âNoâ I told him. He growled.
I really canât deal with this right now.
âAre you denying me?â he asked in disbelief.
âI donât think youâll want me to answer thatâ I said. He snarled.
Then heâs expression turned sad for a moment before it turned back to its usual stern expression.
âWhat the fvk is your problem, woman?â he said.
âI donât want a mateâ I said. Now, he looked at me both amused and pissed. Amaris is definitely upset with me by this.
Iâm sorry, Amaris. We need to protect the pack first before father comes back.
Iâm sorry.
âAlpha! Emergency by the gates! Emergency by the gates!â someone mind linked me.
I looked at Grey.
âLeave. Now. I have duties I need to attend to. I donât need you here to distract meâ I said before leaving.
Every pack leader came with me as I went out. El was going to follow but I stopped him.
âStay with the othersâ I said. He nodded and stayed inside as the pack leaders shifted. Edmond sat by my feet and I got on him before he ran with the pack leaders following us.
We arrived at the border and the head of the guards immediately approached us. I got down Edmond.
âWhatâs wrong?â I asked. He looked at me with tears in his eyes then I saw a bunch of the guards crowding at a spot.
They realized my presence and turned to me bowing their heads.
âWhatâs happening here?â I asked again. No one spoke but they cleared a way.
My eyes widened when I saw the familiar man.
âAlexâ I muttered in shock.
âAlex!â I said and ran to him. He caught me in his warm embrace and my eyes watered.
âLiviana, itâs been so longâ he said looking into my eyes.
Itâs been almost 2 years since I last saw him and it was when he left with my father. My father.
He seemed to have red my mind because he shook his head with a sad expression.
âIâm sorry, Liviâ he said and my legs gave out. He held me in his arms.
Noâ¦
This canât be true.
âHe did his best, Livi. He wanted to come back to you. He tried toâ he said as my tears fell uncontrollably. I shook my head.
âHe promisedâ I sobbed. He wrapped me in an embrace trying to console me.
âIâm sorry, I wish I could bring him back with me tooâ he said caressing my back. I cried even more.
Paâ¦
That night, we all knew. We all knew that he really was gone.
My heart that once only had cracks from my fatherâs absence finally broke into a thousand pieces of the news.
He was gone. I will never be able to see him again.
Fatherâ¦
That night, everyone mourned for the lost of both my father and the warriors who were lost in in the battle.
And that night, I broke with them.
Then, morning came. It was a Sunday. I couldnât sleep last night and I just cried all night mourning for their death.
All the pact members were informed early in the morning for we arranged a proper goodbye for our lost warriors in the evening.
I heard footsteps and then came a knock on my door.
âAlpha, breakfast is readyâ El said behind the door. I didnât answer. He opened the door and peeked inside.
He looked at me with worry in his eyes.
âLiviâ he said approaching me and sat beside my bed. He wrapped me in his arms and I burst out crying again.
âHush. Itâs going to be okay. Weâre here for youâ he assured me. I kept crying.
Iâve never felt so vulnerable in my entire life.
I thought it wouldnât be this hard since itâs already been almost 2 years and chances of my father coming back was slim but it still hurt me more than I anticipated.
He had prepared me for this yet I still felt like I wasnât ready for his death.
I cried for another hour and El ended up getting me breakfast in bed.
I could barely eat but I forced myself to. I knew Amaris needed it. I wasnât living only for myself after all.
I took a long cold bath in the tub while I tried to calm myself with the relaxing scent of vanilla.
And right thenâ¦
âLivianaâ I gasped and resurfaced. I looked around for the voice. It was a womanâs voice. One that seemed familiar to me but at the same time did not.
Who was that?
I got out the bathroom and changed into some training clothes.
Now that my fatherâs death is official, it will only be a matter of time before the news spreads around and Alphaâs from all around will target me for the position.
Iâm not letting it happen.
I trained until the evening before it was time for the ceremony.
I took a shower before dressing into a long black dress. I fixed my hair and hid the strands of silver white hair.
There were footsteps and a knock on the door.
âAlphaâ Edmond came in with a bow. I nodded to let him know that Iâll be out in the moment. He understood and went out.
I looked in the mirror for the last time with a sigh. I need to pretend that Iâm okay or else everyone will take it as a sign of my weakness.
I went out and sure enough, everyone was there. I also saw pack leaders from different packs that my father had made friends with and were acquainted with.
Surely, they are thrilled to have a chance to take over my father but what they do not know is I will never let that happen.
The ceremony proceeded as planned.
The family members of the lost warriors weeped along with every other member who theyâve been acquainted with.
I stood tall without showing any emotion or vulnerability.
I will not show any weakness to my suppressors.
After the ceremony, it started.