Alvira POV.
Just ten minutes with Emily already gave me an idea of the type of person she was.
She was a beautiful white lotus, the type that invokes men's protective instincts.
I could see why Gianna considers her a problem.
"You don't deserve him." Emily said the moment Kaldric and Lexior stepped away.
I scoff, "And you do?"
"I have been by his side for five years. I know more of him than you ever will, and that is why I can say this with confidence. He will never love you. This marriage was just an obligation he needed to fulfill to put the Alpha Kings at ease."
I frown. "Do you love him?"
Surprise flickered in her eyes as she was obviously caught off guard by my question, but Emily stood her ground and replied,
"I'm not ashamed to say that I do love Kaldric, and although he doesn't know it, I have been in love with him for the past four years, and even though you wear his ring and have made a mate vow with him, he will always return to me. He will always need me more than he will ever need you, and the sooner you realize that, the better for you. Congratulations on your marriage, sister."
Emily clinked her glass with mine and drank it in one go before walking past me.
Gianna was right. Emily and Kaldric were probably sleeping with each other behind closed doors.
This was ridiculous. How are men so shameless that they could easily have their wives and mistresses be in the same room without batting an eye?
Last night was probably him fulfilling an obligation, and stupid me had taken it seriously.
What's even wrong with me? Why do I care who Kaldric screws? I'm only in this damn place because I need that money. This is just a job and nothing more.
I angrily remove the device attached to my ears and finish the content in my glass to ease my nerves and place the empty glass on the tray of a server passing by.
Suddenly feeling eyes on me, I turn to see Kaldric staring intently at me while my supposed grandfather spoke to him.
While maintaining eye contact with him, I took another empty glass and drank it all before looking away.
When is this damn party going to end?
"Alvira?"
My entire being froze when a very familiar voice called me from behind.
No. It can't be. There is no way he is here. Such coincidence only happen in movies. But as I slowly turned around, I saw him.
Derek stood before me with Sofia clinging to him like he was going to run away if she didn't.
I didn't need a mirror to see how pale I must look, and right now, I didn't know what to do.
I wasn't an actress, but I very well will be when my two hundred million dollars is on the line.
"Wow. It really is you."
I knit my brow, feigning ignorance. "Do I know you?"
Derek looked at me in disbelief and frowned. "Why do you smell like a wolf? What are you even doing here?"
Sofia suddenly gasps, "Don't tell me yourold werewolf lover has a way to cope with Derek leaving you."
"Really, Alvira? Just how low will you stoop until you realize your worth? So just because I dumped you, you went ahead to find a werewolf lover. You look ridiculous in that wig, and who knows what you have done to smell like a wolf. Did you perhaps come here today because you knew I would be here?"
It took everything in me to control the urge of rolling my eyes. Is he serious?
"I do not know who you are, and I definitely do not like the way you are speaking to me. I think you must have mistaken me for someone else, so I will forgive you." I said and tried to walk away when Derek grabbed my arm.
He freed his arm from Sofia's hold and pulled me to him. "Doing this will never get me back."
I coldly looked at him. "Let go of me."
"Maybe if you kneel and beg and cry for me to take you back, then perhaps I can have you as my lover, but then I doubt if you are even good in bed."
Before I knew it, I swung my hands to his cheek, giving him a resounding slap, and just then, I could see Gianna walking in with her husband by her side and two other people I had only seen at the wedding.
Her smile froze as she looked between Sofia, Derek, and me, and before I could even think of a way out of this mess, Derek's palm landed on my cheek.
For a moment, silence filled the hall, and the only thing I could feel was the painful sting on my cheek.
And then I felt a hand pull me aside, and Sofia screamed as Kaldric landed a punch on Derek's face.
Despite Derek trying to fight Kaldric off him, Kaldric held him in place and brutally twisted his arms.
"How dare you raise your filthy hands on my wife?"
"Wife?" Derek's eyes shone in fear as Kaldric kept him repeatedly.
All I could do was watch. I couldn't do or say anything because despite me watching them, my mind was trapped in my past.
A past filled with abuse, filled with condemnation.
Derek hitting me made me remember the times my stepfather would repeatedly hit me. At fifteen, I became his punching bag, and my mother, the woman who was supposed to protect me, only watched because she didn't want to lose her prestigious lifestyle.
I had told Derek this, and he had promised to never hurt me, but yet, he did. He hurt me emotionally and now, physically.
"Stop Kaldric before he kills the man, Alvira." Gianna said, pinching my arm and bringing me out of my daze.
Derek's face was already bloody, but Kaldric kept hitting him, and Sofia just kept crying.
"Kaldric, stop it. You are going to kill him." I shouted, hoping he would stop, but he didn't. He's just hitting and hitting.
Having no choice, I tried to push him off Derek, but he only glared at me. "You better stay out of this, princess."
"Can't you see he is unconscious? Do you really want him to die?" I screamed at him, but Kaldric only stared at me, his eyes empty and his fist dripping with Derek's blood.
How did things even reach this point?
Why is everyone just watching as Kaldric beats one of their own to death?
Derek groans in pain, his face bloody and swollen.
For a moment, I thought Kaldric would leave him, but unfortunately, I was so wrong.
"Please don't..." Sofia cried, but her cries fell on deaf ears as Kaldric's fingers grew longer and sharper, and right in front of everyone, he sank his claws deep into Derek's chest.
"No!" I screamed.
Derek spat out blood, and his nearly shut eyes looked at me.
No, no, no, no.
I watched as the light in his eyes disappeared before they finally closed, and my stomach churned in disgust.
He killed him! He fucking killed him!
"What have you done?"