The Scorned Luna-Chapter 81: Choice

​The whole pack froze. Even Alaric looked shocked. He slowly turned to Sofia, hoping it was a lie, but the look on her face told him everything. His heart sank. He knew that in the wolf world, the mate bond was the strongest thing there is. Usually, mates never leave each other, no matter what happens.

​Damien stepped forward, his eyes pleading. "I found out last night," he said, his voice trembling. "Sofia, I am so sorry. I was blind, but I know the truth now. Please, stay with me."

​"Shut up, Damien!" Sofia snapped. Her eyes flashed with anger. "Would you be saying this if my name wasn’t cleared? Would you still want me if everyone still thought I was a killer?"

​Damien tried to speak, but she cut him off.

​"We grew up together," she cried, her curvy body shaking. "You knew my heart. You knew I couldn’t hurt a fly, yet you believed a lie. Your uncle only knew me for a few days, and he trusted me! He actually went out and found the proof. You could have done that, but you chose to hate me instead."

​Sofia turned away from Damien and looked at Alaric. She reached out and grabbed his hand. "Alaric, please. I will go with you. Take me away from this place. I can’t stay here anymore."

​Damien moved forward and grabbed her arms. "No, Sofia! Don’t do this! Give us a chance. We are mates! The Moon Goddess chose us!"

​Sofia looked down at his hand on her skin, then back up at his face. There was no love in her eyes, only cold pain.

​"I don’t care about the bond, Damien," she said clearly, her voice echoing so the whole pack could hear. "I don’t want to be mated to a man who treated me like a slave. I don’t want you."

​She took a deep breath. "Let’s reject this bond. I want to be free of you forever."

​"No... no!" Damien gasped. He was shaking, his face pale with fear. The girl he had loved his whole life—the one he had hurt so badly—was actually trying to leave him. He felt like he couldn’t breathe.

​His father, Sir Morrison, stepped forward to take control of the situation. He looked at the shocked crowd and realized this was a mess. "Everyone, please go home," he announced loudly. "This is a family matter now."

​The pack members began to leave, but they couldn’t stop talking.

​"I told you," one woman whispered to her husband as they walked away. "I knew Sofia was innocent. That poor girl couldn’t hurt a fly. You all just hated her for no reason." Her husband didn’t answer; he just looked at the ground, feeling ashamed.

​Sir Morrison turned to Alaric, Sofia, and Damien. He saw the tension between them and the way Damien was staring at Sofia like a dying man.

​"Let’s go inside," Sir Morrison said strictly. "We need to finish this talk where no one can hear us."

​Damien reached for Sofia’s hand, but she stepped closer to Alaric, hiding behind his strong, muscular frame. She didn’t want Damien’s touch anymore. Alaric kept his arm firmly around her waist, protecting her as they all walked toward the big house.

​Once they were inside the quiet office, the door slammed shut.

​Damien turned to Sofia immediately, his eyes red. "Sofia, you can’t be serious about the rejection. It will kill us both. I know I messed up, but we are mates. We are meant to be together!"

​Sofia looked at him, her eyes hard. "You didn’t care about this bond a few hours ago, Damien. You only care now because I have been proven innocent."

​"That’s not true!" Damien cried out.

​Sir Morrison sat behind the desk and looked at Alaric. "Alaric, what is this you are doing? Sofia is your nephew’s woman. How can you want your nephew’s woman? I didn’t expect this from you."

​Alaric narrowed his eyes and stared right at Sir Morrison. "You should know me, Morrison. I don’t live my life to please anyone."

​Lady Elena frowned and glared at her younger brother. "Can you even listen to yourself, Alaric? Don’t you have any shame left? You are twice Sofia’s age. She is your nephew’s mate—a boy you took as your own son! She is his mate and you still don’t care!" she spat in anger.

​Alaric didn’t seem moved by her outburst; instead, his grip on Sofia’s waist tightened. "Yes, I have no shame, sister. What else do you want to say?"

​Damien shook his head, his wolf howling angrily and possessively inside him. "You will have to kill me, Uncle, before you can take her."

​Alaric only shrugged, his face calm. "If you say so."

​The air in the office turned thick and suffocating.

​"Enough!" Sir Morrison roared, slamming his hand on the desk. "This is madness. We are not tearing this family apart over one woman!"

​"One woman?" Alaric repeated coldly. "Sofia is not just any woman, Morrison. She is the woman I am in love with."

​Damien gritted his teeth, his anger spiking.

​Lady Elena stepped forward, her eyes sharp with anger. "You must be joking."

​Alaric’s frown deepened. "You know me, sister; I don’t crack jokes."

​Where Sofia stood, with Alaric’s hand still wrapped around her waist, her heart was pounding. Was Alpha Alaric just confessing that he was in love with her? Yes, he says he likes her—maybe he’s sexually attracted to her—but love?

​Lady Elena let out a sharp, bitter laugh. "This is a scandal! A King stealing his nephew’s mate? The other packs will laugh at us. They will call us cursed!"

​"Let them talk," Alaric countered. He turned back to Morrison. "I am leaving. And Sofia is coming with me. If any of you try to stop us, I will treat it as an act of war against my kingdom."

​Sofia felt a wave of panic wash over her. She looked at Damien, whose eyes were filled with a dark, desperate madness. He looked like he was about to shift right there and rip Alaric’s throat out.

​"Alaric, please..." Sofia whispered, her full lips trembling. "I don’t want this to result in war."

​"No one is dying today, Sofia," Alaric promised, his hand sliding down to squeeze her hand. "But you have to choose. Right now. Do you stay here with the man who treated you badly, or do you come with the man who will treat you as a queen for the rest of his life?" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

​