Loathed by the Alpha

Part 10

"I thought you might be here."

I jolted and turned to face my sister. My eyes were bloodshot red, bags under them and my face swollen. Ever since Zain broke up with me, I couldn't sleep, my free time spent on thinking about him. He made it clear that nothing left between us, erasing all the messages and blocking my sister's number.

"Sorry I didn't hear you coming."

Cara made a sound. "No, seemed like you were preoccupied." The smile fell from her face, inching closer to me, narrowing her eyes. "How long have you been here? We were looking for you."

I decided to get out of the gloomy room and bask in the sunlight. The reason why I stood in the balcony, leaning against the railing with my arms wrapped around me. The thought of jumping from the height and ending it all occurred to me more than once. Still, I held on.

I shrugged at the question. "Was up before dawn."

My sister hummed. "Couldn't sleep?"

I shook my head. My sister had no idea of my break up. For that matter, no one in my family knew. They all disliked Zain's family, so the news would only add fuel to the fire. That's why I kept quiet.

"When I realised today was the day, I decided I wanted to come out here for a while. I'm going to miss you, Cara."

My sister's getting married. If I could, I'd skip the ceremony and stay home. However, I knew my parents wouldn't appreciate it at all. They wanted every one of us to be present there.

"R-Rose"

At the mention of her marriage day, Cara broke down in tears. Her shoulders started shaking as she covered her mouth, hunched over. I instantly rushed to her side. Why was she crying now? I rubbed circles in her back, trying to calm her down.

"Cara, please stop crying. What happened?"

She hiccuped, her sobs turning into sniffles. "I-I don't w-want to m-marry him."

I froze. "What?!"

Cara wiped the tears from her face. She was red in the face, lashes clumped together and snot coming out of her nose. Still, she made a better sight than me.

"I don't even like Alpha Aiden."

"Then why did you agree to marry him?"

"I didn't agree to s**t!" Cara gritted her teeth. "No one asked for my opinion. They all went ahead and fixed everything. I thought that mom and dad would wait for a while."

My lips twisted at that. It's true. Now that I thought of it, none of my parents asked her if she liked the Alpha. They were so ecstatic that they forgot the primary purpose behind finding a guy for Cara.

"I'm sorry, Cara." I licked my lips. "Hopefully, you'll come to like him."

She shakily exhaled. "I c-cant."

"Why not?"

Alpha Aiden was handsome, powerful, and though not good with words, he would make a perfect husband. Or maybe I'm just saying that because I couldn't stop thinking about him.

Shaking my head, I met my sisters stare.

"I love someone else."

My mouth fell open at that. It took me by surprise that she would like someone else. Cara was an ideal child, studious, ridiculously good looking, polite and above all, a beta. She didn't have a boyfriend, as far as I know.

"Who is it?"

She softly exhaled, wringing her fingers together. "He's an omega from my university. We started seeing each other a year ago. I wanted to tell our parents, but you know how much they don't like..."

"Omegas", I added. "Yeah, I know."

My father didn't care about my status as an omega, but still, he would hate an omega son in law. Ever since we were young, my mother and father taught us how betas and Alphas rule the world. We should only associate with them and stay away from the weaker links—omegas. It stung, but after a while, I got used to it.

"I don't want to leave him, Rose", My sister stuttered. "He's my mate."

A squeak left my lips. I slapped a hand over my mouth and huddled closer. "What? Are you sure? When did you find out?"

"Two months ago. That's why I stopped giving a s**t about all the matches mom and dad bought me" Her voice softened. "I already found the one, my soul mate."

Then it clicked me. All those late lectures my sister used to pull. She would instead go to uni and stay there late than engage in her marriage ceremony. My chest hurt as I noticed the fond expression on her face as she talked about her soulmate. I thought I had the same with Zain. Silly me!

"Cara?" I forced out a shaky breath. "Do you love your mate?"

"Yes! That's why I'm running away from this marriage. Before leaving, I wanted to see you one last time."

My eyes widened. "You cannot do that, Cara! Mum will be devastated, and dad—"

"What do you suggest I do? Forget my mate and force myself to be happy with a man I don't even like?" She cut me off.

"No..." I looked away.

My sister deserved to be happy. How could I wish the same for her when I know how cruel it's to be away from your loved one? I didn't want her to suffer the same fate I did with my boyfriend.

"I will marry Alpha Aiden instead of you."

"What?!"

"Let me explain..."

And I did. I told her how instead of cancelling the marriage and bringing shame to our family, I could slip in her place. My mother won't let Cara leave with an omega no less so it would be a perfect distraction. If the marriage got cancelled my father will be crushed, unable to bear the mocking laughter and taunts from our neighbours. And there's another fear that Alpha Aiden might get mad and he could challenge my father to a duel. The thought of losing him bought tears to my eyes.

"I hadn't thought about that!" Cara gasped, slapping her forehead. "How can I be so selfish?"

"Don't worry about it. That won't happen if I take your place"

Her face softened, eyes glistening, and she squeezed my arm. "It's a brave thing you're doing; thank you so much, Rose. I will never forget this."

I let out a shaky sigh, and buried my head into her shoulder, rubbing my cheek in the fur that lined the mantle of her. Her hand came up, and she petted the back of my head in comfort. "I sincerely hope you'll be happy with him"

I stuttered. "Me too"

***