Chapter 24

After two weeks, I made my way again to Liora's quarters. After meeting her the first time, and I poured out my whole heart to her, expressing my desire to have her, the fear that made me not go ahead, and the regrets that I now live with, which are threatening to haunt me for the remaining days of my life, I decided I should go back and try again, at least, to remind her that I am still existing. This time, I found her inside but sitting on the edge of her bed, and as had become her custom, she was in deep thought, even unaware of my presence. I watched her beauty right at the doorpost; the way her hair flowed down over her shoulders mesmerized me. Seraphina is beautiful, no doubt, but not to be compared to Liora in any way. I was afraid that just looking at her alone could make my heart skip a beat. But as I am here today, I am not just in need of her beauty; I want something more than that. I am here to take her heart captive. 'Hi, Liora," I started softly. 'Could you, please spare me a few minutes of your time?" She spurned around in my direction, her blue eyes causing more harm than good to my being, weakening my resolve. I had promised myself that I wouldn't make sexual advances at her, but her eyes were too charming to neglect. 'What do you want this time, Jaxon?" Her tone came out usual, very cold and lacking humor. 'I am here again to explain myself, to demonstrate that I meant it when I said I love you. You are worth everything I can think of. More than words alone can express," I said, as I explained. 'I'm proud of who you are, and who you've become." Liora narrowed her eyes on me. 'Now I understand what this is to you; it's all about my skills, abilities,s and accomplishments, right? I don't intend to build a relationship based on what I can offer, instead of being with me because of who I am, Jaxon. You hurt my feelings, you hurt me badly. You were not there when I was in dear need of you; rather, you rejected and humiliated me." All she said was the bitter truth, and hearing them again, I disliked myself the more for it. 'I know I did all that, and I am not proud of myself. I allowed fear to take the better part of my existence. But I assure you, that person was in the past, he's not in the present now. I want to be your knight in shining armor, to train and fight with you. I have tried figuring out my life without you, and it was meaningless." A flicker of emotion passed through her eyes, but she quickly masked it. 'You shouldn't be talking about making me yours, if you haven't settled Seraphina. You are still engaged to her, and until something is done, you would proceed to the wedding proper. You don't have any right to promise me anything now; you still have a vow hovering over you that you must stay loyal to. Your future is tied to Seraphina's, and until otherwise, please quit disturbing me." I stylishly moved closer in my desperation to touch her smooth arms once more. 'That engagement may tie us together, but it's only for a moment, as we won't be taking it to the next level. Engaging her was one of my youth exuberance. I followed the impulse to make rash decisions, and its bedrock wasn't love but obligation. You're the only one with my heart, the one that should be by my side." 'Jaxon, you have no idea what you want from me." Her voice filled with pain. 'You are pressuring me to forget all you did to me in a blink, wipe off the entire memory of the rejection, the humiliation that followed, not to talk of the trauma of being labeled "weak Omega" and picked on when there's need for humor. I struggled, did a lot of things to prove myself, struggled for acceptance in a strange land, fought for my place, to prove my worth, and it was only Mira, my best friend, who stood by me." My heart failed as she called Mira's name. I had unwillingly contributed to her pains and never listened when I was supposed to. 'I was very wrong, and I have realized my mistake now. I just want just a small chance to amend my mistakes. Just to show you how sorry that I am, how much I care about you, and what you mean to me." Liora tried blinking back the tears that came out of her eyes. 'You don't seem to understand anything; this is not the right time for you to decide what happens; you had the chance, but you wasted it. You remember how you challenged me to a fight; I was an amateur, a newbie in fighting, and instead of encouraging me, you made a mockery of my abilities. I had to keep trying, just to get approval from you, to prove my worth to you, but you never accepted me. All you did was judge me and give others reasons to call me weak. It hurt bad, Jaxon, it broke me. I was always the weak one, the unfortunate and insignificant Omega in your eyes, but now, those things don't matter anymore because I am now skilled and have a lot of power and abilities. You rejected me and you did that in public, just an avenue to keep mocking and humiliating me. You toyed with my heart once, I won't permit that the second time." 'I'm not going to play with your precious heart again, please." I pleaded as it was already obvious of my desperation to have her back. 'I want to be there for you, support you the way I did not before, and play the role I ran away from playing for so long, be the mate you will be proud of, who deserves your worth. I don't want you to stand alone in battle again, I want to always be by your side." At this point, Liora was already emotional, remembering all that we did to her. 'It's not as simple as you painted it to be, it's very complex. I can't forget the past, wipe off the horrible memories, overlook everything in the past, and start a future with the one that caused me those pains before. How am I sure history won't repeat itself? Once a betrayal, is always a betrayal. You might have figured everything out, as the Alpha, but that's not how things are done. I can't be the reason another is not happy, never. You can't pressurize me into ignoring the hurt you've caused me, and be with you." My heart clenched as I heard her talk. I knew how deeply she might be hurting inside of her. But even with that, I wouldn't let her go without proving that I was real. 'Then allow me to show you, and not by talking. Let me work out my acceptance and earn your trust back, but not in a rush." She stared at me as if contemplating giving me a chance, but her eyes returned to having an unreadable expression again. 'I need more time, lots of Jaxon. Time to prove and think about everything, even time to heal from the trauma. I can't be in a hurry, especially when it's the one that hurt me before that is involved, and also in a complicated situation of being engaged to another." I was already frustrated. 'I understand all you have said. But don't forget that I am just an inch around the corner, and I will keep waiting." With that, I turned to leave to attend a council meeting, where I summoned the council members and got Elder Marcus to talk. It's now two weeks and he's yet to say something, needed to say something, Seraphina's POV I Watched from afar, watching as Jaxon, my soon-to-be mate, and the weak Omega, Liora, were discussing. At first, it seemed normal, like they were catching up for old times' sake, but it became frequent, and Jaxon always making the moves to be around her was not encouraging. He was gradually forgetting my existence, and the thought of that alone filled me with fury. My engagement was becoming a joke to him, and all was because of her, Liora. I can't sit back and let such happen. I was alone, sad, and miserable. I had always wanted Jaxon, and now that I have him, another emerged to take all I had worked for. I leaned on the tree for support against a tree; jealousy was taking the greater part of me, and I might regret what I would do next if care was not taken. The way he looked at her, the way he stared lovely at her, was all strange to me as I had never received such stares from him, not even one, and the more I watched them, the more I desired to hurt them. I had to reclaim all that she was gaining control over. Liora thought she could never be hurt, as if she was immortal, but I would show him through my fury. Morgath's dark magic is already at my service; all I need is to use it, and she will cease to exist. I am ready to bring her down, to bring her back to her level, the right place she had always belonged to. Liora, in her mind, might think she was strong. She was praising herself that she was standing tall, but she would soon be taught a lesson to see how fragile she was. And Jaxon, of course, will be mine forever; he will remember no one but me. He would accord me the respect that I deserve. Let's see how long she can stand with her shoulders up. I smirked, and I went even deeper into the woods. I am about to show the Silver Moon Pack, who truly Seraphina Silverclaw is. It was time, time to take charge, to regain all that was taken from me, time for revenge.