Amanda
The sound of the gates jolted my eyes open as two guards stood in front of me.
For a moment, I cursed inwardly, allowing sleep to take hold of me. I mean, how could I have slept when everything happening still appeared like a puzzle to me?
How could I have slept when those dread-filled words of that stranger I barely knew still hung in the air, echoing in every single part of my heart?
Those words I still didn't understand, nor what could have warranted them.
All my life, I had gone through hell as the adoptive daughter of the Moores. But now, it felt like hell burned less than the one I was in, the one I still had no knowledge of.
Or so I thought, not until the two guards grabbed my wrist, pulling me forward.
I should have struggled, fought against their grip, but somehow, I found it stranger that I didn't. Just maybe, I had had enough already.
Locked there for twenty-four hours without any explanation whatsoever. Left in my misery with no clue about the issue. And to think this whole thing; my life, was so sad, crippled me even more.
They caused it all.
My family. Neto.
The sight of a huge number of people staring at me pulled me from my reverie as my eyes widened.
All eyes burned with rage and hate as they turned toward me. Loud murmurs erupted, too loud for my hearing, as the guards never stopped dragging me forward.
"Such an unfortunate child. And to think she looks innocent."
"I mean, she's just so pathetic. How could she have allowed herself to be used in such a way?"
"I hate her for causing our kindhearted Alpha such pain."
"She will surely pay for her actions."
I sniffed as those harsh words kept driving a nail deeper into my heart, increasing my worries.
"Silence!"
The voice of the second stranger resonated in the air, and everywhere became eerily quiet.
He turned toward me, while I turned my gaze away. My heart still in shambles from those dread-filled murmurs coming from these strangers, scattered across this massive hall.
"As you all know," he began, lowering his head.
The murmurs erupted once more but ceased the moment his arm flew into the air in one quick wave.
"My brother, Alpha Ricardo, was knocked down by a car, and his current condition is so disheartening." He paused, burning his gaze into mine.
"All thanks to this stranger here." He paused again, flashing me an unreasonable glare, but I remained numb, waiting for the bomb.
"She was sent on that heart-wrenching mission." His voice cracked with so much anger it caused fresh murmurs and cries to erupt.
I did what?
"No… I never…"
"Silent!" his voice thundered, interrupting me.
My lips parted, eyes burning with confusion, tears almost slipping from my eyes.
"Who gave you the right to speak?" he roared, and I could swear my ghost left me and returned.
He moved closer, his eyes returning to normal, but unreadable. He lifted my jaw.
"What were you trying to say?" he asked calmly, his eyes flashing, something flickering in them for a brief moment before it vanished.
"Not like you can deny it. All evidence is pointing toward you." He gestured to a direction, and I instinctively looked.
All heads bowed as my gaze met those of Alpha Ricardo, the name he had called earlier, being wheeled into the hall.
Once more, his face carried a mask of sorrow, but his eyes held little to no sympathy when they met mine.
I swallowed in air as I watched him take the stage.
His arms to his sides, his brother looked at him once more, then found my eyes with much grief and deep-rooted hatred.
His arms flew in the air, and just when I awaited what came next, the strong arms of the guards clamped onto mine forcefully, pulling me back to the realization that they were taking me up the podium.
A shadow of my ghost left me, my body trembling with unprepared fear. That dread of what awaited me up there, under those burning eyes of the second Alpha that never stopped sinking their claws deep into mine.
They let go of my arms just as we drew closer to Alpha Ricardo. Too close that I wondered what awaited me next.
A creeping thought sprang into my heart, lighting it for a moment, but not until I heard footsteps from behind and the sudden silence of the crowd.
I turned to see Mum, Dad, and Keira approaching.
For a moment, that lost hope I had once held onto came creeping back into the walls of my weakened heart.
But then, what made me think I could just cling to it, never letting go?
I mean, these people never had my back, not once, not ever. So what made me think they would turn a new leaf now?
A couched garment of the slightest pity for the girl they called daughter, one who had never had a moment of cuddling as theirs, no moment of affection, nor bond between us.
Ironically, they were the sole cause of this predicament.
If they hadn't sided with Keira, as always, to steal that which gave me so much hope in this world of hopelessness, just maybe… I would have been in that event center attending to the bride. I wouldn't have been drowning in mystery all day, driving into that lonely street. I wouldn't have met that stranger, and all of this wouldn't have happened.
My eyes flew around the hall, taking in the hard stares burning deeper. It just… wouldn't have been.
I huffed amidst the stinging exhaustion that suddenly took hold of me, threatening to cripple my limbs if I let go for even the slightest second.
"Mum, Dad," I called out hopefully.
Their faces formed into hard stone, unable to break, except for Mum's, which carried the tiniest trace of softness.
That was it.
"Let's proceed." Alpha Ricardo's voice pulled me from my dreamy thoughts.
My eyes lifted to catch those of another unfamiliar stranger approaching, my brows raised.
"W…what's happening?" I managed to speak, despite the commanding presence of the two Alphas, whose very existence had done no good for my voice ever since.
"What does it look like, my darling sister?" Keira was the first to speak.
Her words dug into the hollows of my heart, and if I had let go, I would have punched her across the face as a warning signal.
She had no right to speak, not after everything she had pulled me through, not after trying to take away what was mine.
That blurring picture of her entwined in Neto's arms… his harsh defensive words, the confrontation, and then the support of my parents, all replayed before my eyes.
I couldn't shake them off, no matter how hard I tried, not when she stood there like the perfect daughter, just a few meters away from me.
"Are you sure you want to take this lady here as yours forever?"
The voice of the stranger cracked the walls of my heart, pulling me straight into the ugly scene of reality.
My confused stare met Alpha Ricardo's eyes, which now burned with the intensity of a furnace. I would have bet my life that my entire body melted beneath them.
"Yes," he said calmly.
But such calmness was far deadlier than any loud-spoken words.
"Now take her arms," the stranger announced, and before I could step backward, the warmth of his palms sank into my cold arms.
For a moment, my traitorous arms found warmth in those huge palms that swallowed mine like those of a little child seeking comfort.
But I knew it was a distant dream, not when everything was taking a drastic turn for the worst.
"To the parents, do you give her in for this journey?" the stranger asked, turning to my parents.
"Yes," my dad spoke without hesitation, his gaze strong and unrelenting.
That alone drove the dagger deeper, but I shuddered as Alpha Ricardo's claws crushed into the surface of my palm.
My brows raised.
"What journey?"
He lifted his eyes to meet mine.
"The journey of no return."
His once sea blue eyes turned blistering red without warning…