Page 221 of Her Destined Alpha
“If you are done, you can go,” she said coldly.
“I am not done. I want answers, Maria, and don’t give me that usual blank fucking bullshit. Why the fuck didn’t you ever get angry? Fuck, if it was Kiara in your place, she’d never let anyone treat her mate like that, didn’t you love-”
“Don’t! Don’t ever say I loved my mate any less than yours loves you!” she shouted. Good. She fell for it.
“Well doesn’t seem like you cared.” Her eyes were filled with pain, and she clenched her fists in anger, hereyes flashing a dazzling blue.
“I stayed silent for him! I hated everything you did to him! You would beat him to within an inch of his life, and I wished you would leave! I didn’t want you near him! But I stayed silent to not cause him any more pain!” she shouted, her voice breaking as she continued. “I stayed silent so I didn’t cause him more pain! The pain you caused him was far more than he deserved! Every time you hurt him, I felt it! I felt his pain, but for him and for his love for you, I took it!”
That was the answer. The answer to her behaviour towards me… it wasn’t her arrogance… it was her fucking sacrifice for her mate. For Raf’s fucking sake, she tolerated me… fuck. She tolerated me. The realisation that I had put her through hell and back and still treated her like she didn’t fucking matter…
Fuck…
I ran my hand through my hair as I stared into her grey eyes. Her eyes glittered with tears, and a fleeting memory of a rainy night flashed through my mind. Raf falling to the ground… Maria’s scream…
My heart thundered. Closing the gap between us, I grabbed her upper arms. I didn’t miss the way she tensed at my touch.
“Maria... those scars on your back... how did you get them?” I asked quietly.
Please, tell me I’m wrong. The fear that was consuming me that I might have hurt my own brother’s mate…Please, Goddess, no.She refused to look at me or speak. Her lips pressed together, quivering slightly, but she remained stubborn.
“Maria… please,” I practically begged.
Silence.
Please…
“Maria…” I pleaded. I went down to my knees to get a better look at her eyes, which were refusing to look up at me. The tears she had refused to shed were spilling down her cheeks, making my fucking heart clench.
“Please don’t ask.”
“Why?”
“If you loved Rafael, then you won’t ask me,” she said quietly. I narrowed my eyes.
“And if you loved your mate, you will tell me,” I growled.
We were fucking worlds apart, two people who had nothing in common nor saw fucking eye to eye. But we had one very important thing in common… the love for Raf.
“I don’t need to prove my love for my mate,” she shot back, her eyes flashing in defiance.
I realised as I stared up into her eyes that were so similar to Rayhan’s, that I was wrong about Maria. She wasn’t just a haughty, arrogant princess… but a fucking strong queen who stood by her mate in the hardest way. I smirked, taking her hands that she had balled into fists and forcing them open as I held them.
I got my answer. There would only be one reason she was refusing to tell me, to uphold Raf’s wish,knowing that I’d feel like fucking shit if I knew. He probably didn’t tell me back then, knowing I’d run away… and I fucking would have.
There were blanks in my memory. Most of the time, I would lose control and go on a rampage…
I had hurt her, but for my sake, both she and Raf stayed quiet. Fuck…
“Then answer one question… did I do that to you?” I asked, letting my Alpha command roll into my voice, my eyes flashing red as I awaited her answer. “Answer me.”
She pressed her lips together, but she wasn’t strong enough to fight the command of the Lycan King.
“Yes,” she whispered, her lips trembling as she fought against my command.
My chest tightened as I realised that no fucking saint could ever love someone after they hurt their mate… but Raf…
“You didn’t come after me, though. You were attacking Rafael, but he wasn’t able to stop you that time…” Was she fucking trying to defend my actions? “You were going for the final attack, but he wouldn’t have survived… so I ran-”
