After Rebirth, I Took Revenge On My Scumbag Ex-Alpha Mate!-Chapter 22: Bet Your Life On Me, Kalia

KALIA

"What on earth did they do to you in that house?" Darren asked in a low voice as he cleaned up my wounds with a small towel and warm water that was given to him by Moira.

I squeezed my hands together to avoid answering any of his questions. I was hurt and my whole body ached everywhere.

After rescuing me from the clutches of my father, Darren brought me back here to his house alongside his friend who had driven us here with his car.

"How could they have hurt you in this manner?" He wiped my blooded mouth with the towel and soaked it in the water to continue.

"This is height of everything evil and to think that it’s this worse."

"Is this how crazy your family is?" He asked in disbelief. "I have never experienced anything like this in my entire life."

"Let me do it." Moira offered but he wouldn’t let her. He simply ignored her request and went on tending to my wounds himself.

He has been in this mood ever since we got back and although it bothered me, I didn’t exactly know how to get him out of it. I honestly don’t know how to feel about any of this.

"Give me your hands." He ordered but before I could do so, he grabbed it himself and wiped off the blood stains that had coated itself around my fingers like a Picasso painting.

"Ouch!" I winced when he cleaned up an open wound and he quickly apologized. I had no idea that I had injured myself there.

I probably must’ve scratched it somewhere on the broken vase when I had fallen down with it. It stung so bad.

He cleaned up the wounds and applied some herbs to help me heal faster before wrapping it up in a clean bandaid.

"The wounds will heal slowly but with time, you’d get better again and the bruises will cover up on its own. That’s the best part of not being completely human." He added.

"Thank you, Darren." I whispered gratefully. "If you hadn’t come when you did then I would’ve been dead meat. They probably would’ve eaten me up alive or worse." I heaved a deep sigh of relief and regret.

I had thought that they would finally learn to accept defeat but it turns out that I was wrong about that too. Even after knowing that I was involved with Darren, they still went out of their way to harm me.

And it’s crazy that they wouldn’t stop. They will never stop hating on me until Celyn buries me under and finds a way to take on that title as the Luna queen.

They would never stop until they see me dead and possibly buried. He handed the towel and bloodied water to Moira so that she can discard it properly while he sat down on the couch next to me.

"You shouldn’t have done this alone. You should’ve waited for me or asked for help at least." He scolded me.

"Why on earth would you face them head on when you know what they’re capable of? You should’ve talked to me. I’m here to help you or am I not?"

"I didn’t think they’d go this far." I said to him. My lips pursed together as I took in the state of my band-aid hands.

"You were right. They didn’t take the news of us being together lightly. My father got upset and attacked me."

"He beat me up and locked me inside my bedroom because I had told him that I would be spending the night at your place. Everything happened so fast and the next thing I knew, I was fighting for my dear life."

I breathed heavily. "I called you as soon as I noticed that things were getting out of hand but before I could say anything, he snatched my phone from me so that I couldn’t get my message across to you."

"He went on to say that I had disrespected him and took out his anger on me."

"Why would your father do something so mean and cruel to you in the first place? Aren’t you his eldest daughter?" His friend who had driven us back home asked and I darted my eyes at him.

I turned to look at Darren, questions and curiosity dancing in my eyes as I glared at him knowingly.

"You told him?" I asked the obvious because I wanted to hear it directly from his mouth before jumping into conclusions. I can’t believe he told him despite all my warnings.

"I had to." He answered. "It was either that or he wouldn’t drive me to meet you. I told Charles to leave after dropping me off at work and there was no other way to get to you on time except he drives me because I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to do so."

"But Rain is my best friend so you can trust him. I’d bet my life that he’s one of the good ones."

"I’m sorry but I find it difficult trusting people and you know that too. I’ve been through so much to bet my life on anyone—"

"Then bet it on me." He remarked. "Bet your life on me, Kalia. Let me help you. Let’s do this together. We’re a team for crying out loud so let’s start acting like one." He offered but I knew deep down that I wouldn’t allow it.

It’s already bad that I had literally forced him to get married to me. It’d be selfish to ask him to do more when he had already laid down his status on the line for me.

"I only needed you to get married to me. I needed your name and the power it holds. That’s the only thing you can do to help me Darren."

"I don’t want to drag you into my problems. They’re too big as you’ve already seen and I don’t want you to get involved otherwise you might get hurt. Your family and—"

"Let me handle it." He cut me off. "Let me handle them. Allow me to do this much for you, Kalia. Don’t stop me and don’t try to hold me back do you understand?"

I thought about his offer for a while, contemplating if I should let him do it or not. I know that he has good intentions for me but what I wouldn’t want to do is put him in the spotlight at my own detriment.

"Please..." He insisted. I glanced at Rain and back at him. Squeezing the hem of my dress a little too tightly for comfort.

"Why are you holding back so stubbornly? Why don’t you want me to help you out? Why are you trying to push me away, Kalia?"

"Because if you join me on this, there’s no going back Darren. You have your whole life ahead of you so you really need to stop and ask yourself if this is really what you want to do."

"I can’t ruin your life, I just can’t." I answered, stating the obvious.

He held my hands. "Ruin it, Kalia. I give you permission." He blurted out. "I’ve given you that right to do so, so go ahead and ruin it as much as you want to if it helps you achieve your goal."

"You are next in line to rule. You are the Alpha King’s heir." I told him. "The fate of the crescent pack is dependent on you Darren."

"This isn’t what you want trust me. Let me handle my problems myself. Let me face them head on. I have nothing to loose but you...you have a lot at stake. Please." I begged.

"I’m not letting you do this alone, Kalia and until the period of when our contract is over, we’re partners so always involve me in all of your plans from now on, do you understand?" He arched a brow at me.

Is this man for real? Why would he request that I involve him in my plans?

I’m already feeling guilty that I had put him through this so why was he still insistent on helping me? What does he stand to gain by doing this? Why is he so adamant?

Was he helping me because I was weak and helpless as they had claimed or was he doing it for other reasons?

In as much as his offer sounded surreal and mouthwatering, I still felt like he had a motive or hidden agenda behind it. Like he would stab me in the back.

My only wish is that whatever he was up to would not hurt me in the end. I was already going through a lot and the last thing I needed was something crazy that’ll add to it.

"Fine." I agreed. "I will always involve you in my plans no matter what and I promise that I won’t do anything without you in the picture. You can trust my words."

"Good." He nodded his head and excused himself with Rain who followed him willingly.

Moira came to join me on the couch as she tried to offer her words of encouragement so that I don’t feel bad about what had happened.

"KALIA!" Someone yelled out my name from outside the mansion.

It wasn’t Darren and judging from the intensity of the voice, I already knew deep down who it was even without seeing his face.

Even if I was asleep and someone woke me up to identify that voice, I would do so in a heartbeat. It was the voice of the monster that I was once married to after all.

"Get the fuck out here, Kalia!" His voice took a deeper, angrier tone that I couldn’t ignore and decided to go out myself to see him.

Moira tried to persuade me from going alone but I refused. This was my fight after all.

I walked out of the mansion to see Callum pacing back and forth, grumbling in anger as he waited for me. He stopped as soon as our eyes made contact.

"You finally decided to show up after causing me and my family so much trouble haven’t you?!" He charged towards me but I held up my hands for him to stop right where he was.

"Speak softly, Callum." I chided him coldly. "My fiance doesn’t like loud noises. It bothers him and if you really want to have a conversation with me right now then you should learn the act of speaking softly."

"This is not your house and you don’t get to raise your voice at me, do you understand?" I corrected him and he widened his eyes in surprise not believing what I had just said to him.