The Rejected Omega’s Destiny

7. Unwanted

*** MORRIGHAN’S POV ***

Silence thrones into the house. There is a slightly sulphuric smell that clings around, which reminds me of the smell of sickness that usually clings around hospitals. It makes me want to gag, but besides that, it really tells me something is truly wrong. And it was not the man who walked behind me with enough patience to have me question his motives.

I hang my head low, strands of my hair covering most of my face as we walk, my hands in front of me, not daring to look back at Alarick. I could feel his presence behind me, and I could not help but tense like a spring before it recoils. I could also tell he was looking at me. I could tell because it felt as if the man was about to burn a hole in the back of my head, which did not help with the unease that bubbled inside of me.

The memory of his long fingers sinking into my hair and forcing me to lean my head so far back that I thought I was going to suffocate makes me cower even more as I walk. He could do this at any given moment, and I wasn't sure I could find it within me to react. The pain, the abuse, the names, and the wounds they caused were all too familiar.

“Wait here.” He instructs me as we stop in front of the stairs that whirl upwards towards the bedrooms of the house.

My whole body stiffens by instinct and something tells me he is just as uneasy as I was. Instead of walking ahead of me, Alarick disappears into one of the rooms on the right, and right now, I can’t remember what was behind the door he closed behind him.

Without him looming over me, something within me feels the itch to spread my arms above my head and push away some of the tension. I don’t dare to do so, though. My shoulders straighten alongside my back, and I wipe the blood from my face with the sleeve of my hoodie, hoping it would clean it and not smear it any further.

I took the moment to look around and try to understand what was going on. I could hear voices from upstairs. Faint ones, but definitely not the ones I had expected to hear.

A rush of curiosity gets the better of me, and I carefully take a few steps up the stairs. I pause as one of the wooden boards creaks and wait a moment. Nothing. No one. This gives me courage and with hope brewing in my heart, I rush up the stairs, partly exhilarated at the thought of going against Alarick’s command and partly terrified of the consequences.

I was going to find out what was going on- and then, I wasn’t.

A rough hand grabs my wrist and stops me from going any further, even pulling me back a step on the stairs, right before I could dash into the hallway.

My heart sinks into the pits of my stomach as fear grips my frenzied heart, and I feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

Nausea swells in my stomach, and I want to rip myself free from his grasp. His touch is rough. Actually, his palms are rough, and his hold is harsh enough to bruise me. I could break free easily, and yet… why couldn’t I? His touch sent sparks within my chest, and it made my heart race even more.

Once an abuser, always one...

“Have I not told you to wait there?” He asks, his voice a low whisper. “Where do you think you’re going?” He demanded to know, and yanking my arm with so much force, I feared it was going to pop out of its socket, forcing me to close the distance between us, and sending me out of balance.

One of his brows rises in a questioning way when my back slams against his chest, so hard that it almost knocks the air out of my lungs. I can vividly remember the fear I used to feel when I’d dare look directly at him. But now… I only felt disgust and resentment and a deep-rooted numbness that told me to expect punishment for even being in his presence.

“Morrighan.” He mouths my name slowly, deliberately emphasising each syllable.

I have nothing to say to him, so I don’t. My head lowers, and my eyes fill instinctively with tears. Damned feeble heart!

His eyes grow round with surprise, and I can only wonder what he was thinking about it. Did he think I feared him?

“Morrighan!” My name echoes loudly through the hallway, and my head rises in a rush as I recognise the voice.

Nora stares at me with disbelief, half of her body hidden by the doorframe, while she leans out of the room, much like a curious child. Her eyes were round with happiness, and my trembling lips curled up with joy. I stumbled forward, out of Alarick's grasp, to greet her. Nora laughs and rushes towards me, to meet me halfway, but as she does, she lurches and falls forward.

Shit!

The initial ecstatic joy that made the numbness fade, now twists my guts painfully, filling them with anxiety, and making me wonder if I could hold on to my lunch.

I speed up just enough to catch her before she collapses. The impact was rough, despite my strength, I found myself falling on my knees as I supported her much larger body. Her face tucks into my shoulder, as she laughs hysterically, while I support her body with my arms hooked under her armpits.

My sister! My one and only support! The joy of meeting her again shoves aside the anxiety. We are both on the floor, but it doesn’t matter. Her arms wrap around me in a hug and I bury my face into her shoulder as I chuckle to myself.

“Oh my God! You actually came! You came!” She hollers, and my ear rings with the words.

I came. Of course, I came. I’d have traveled the world for her!

My joy is short-lived though, because something feels wrong. The sulphuric smell clings to her hair and as with each breath I take, I realise it’s her. She smells of death, and something within me shuts down, refusing to actually believe this.

I am the one to pull away first and as I do, she leans into me, as if too tired to actually pull away.

My heart picks up, and it beats loudly in my ears like a war drum. I swallow the lump that formed in my throat as I dare to look down at her.

She was skinnier. Much skinnier. Her hair is now long and thin, almost frail. The idea of her dying sprouts in my head and terrifies me more than anything ever did. My last beacon of hope was dimming, and I could not stomach the thought of it.

Behind me, I hear footsteps and just as I am about to look back, Alarick crouches beside me. He breathes deeply, and I feel a shiver making my skin turn to goosebumps as his scent reaches my nose. The combination of spices and herbs with the sulphur is disgusting, and I didn’t think it could possibly get any worse.

“Let me-" he puts his arms around, ready to take Nora off of me, whose fingers have dipped into the fabric of my hoodie so hard that she might rip it off if anyone tried to pull her away.

I wasn’t about to though.

"I got this, sir." I whisper the words with uncertainty, the word /sir/ feeling lightly bitter on the tip of my tongue.

Alarick has never allowed me to use his name when addressing him directly, and just by being in his presence, every cell in my body seemed to remember it vividly.

Five years ago, I might have been crushed under Nora’s weight, but now I force myself to my feet and pull Nora along. She was not light, but she wasn’t too heavy either. I strained a little, but I managed to make her stand.

“Let’s get you back in bed.” I mutter as we pass by Alarick, who remains crouched in that squat position, watching us with skepticism.

As I bring her into the room, I recognise the faces that turn to greet me. A nurse, the pack doctor, Remulus and his beta, and her mother. Everyone looks at me in disbelief and disgust. It has been five years, and yet, just the sight of them made every abusive memory resurface.

Aisi remains silent as she braces herself at the rush of conflicting emotions, and the very marrow of my bones feels like it is about to freeze as I step into the room. No one wanted me here.

I bow my head as a greeting, keeping my eyes pinned on the floor.

The only one who shows genuine surprise and joy at the sight of me is Nora’s mother, who rushes to help me with Nora. We set her back in bed and only when she is lying, I realise she had already passed out. I look at her mother, silently questioning what the hell happened here, and she guides me out of the room to explain everything to me.

It seemed that after I left, Nora had made it her personal mission to find my location. She turned the whole pack upside down to search for clues and one day, she went missing as well, only to be found one week later. She was in this state. Feeble, with little coherency or strength left in her body. Everyone thought it was a temporary thing due to exhaustion, but Nora had fallen into a coma until a handful of days ago. That’s when she texted me. In the few minutes of sanity she had, she demanded she speak to me, and from somewhere deep within the pits of her memory, she remembered my phone number and texted me before passing out again.

I can hear everyone in the room talking, and when I step back inside, the doctor and the nurse walk out, followed by Remulus and his beta.

Remulus stops in front of me, and he pins me down with his gaze. He is cold and distant, filled with unspoken hate. It seeped from his eyes and poured right into my soul, making me recoil with disgust. Nothing has changed. Not even the way I shrink lightly and avoid his eyes.

“Why have you returned?” He demands to know, and as he speaks, a little voice inside my head tells me he lost his alpha status not too long ago.

I did not have to answer to his likes, and that made me feel powerful. A stupid feeling, really. My gaze shifts, and I look past him at his son, who remains in the room, leaning against the window sill, arms crossed on his chest.

“You are not welcome here." he lifts a finger and presses it harshly against my forehead as if he wanted to burn his words into my brain. "Your place is not among us, mutt." Remulus informs me and walks past me, bumping his shoulder into me, forcefully making me get out of his way.

Aisi perks up with the wish to fight him, and my body stiffens.

As if he could tell what I was thinking, Alarick peers up over his brows and locks his gaze with mine, his jaw stiffening. Something in his dark green eyes told me that I should behave, so I did.