Chapter 6 - A Confrontation

Celia‘s POV Mate... A low growl tingles the base of my hairline. It sends chills throughout my entire body. It vanishes before I can internally ask it what it wants, what its message means. I reach out after it in the daydream that sweeps over my mind, but the image vanishes before it can get a good look at it. I sigh and slowly turn my head and look up at Soren. His features are even more handsome up close. I’ve seen them all before, yes, but in this moment with his scent infecting my mind and my inner wolf ready to burst out at any moment, he looks even more attractive. My heart pounds inside my chest. Every beat vibrates inside my ear drums, making it the only thing that I can hear. Soren angles his face down at mine, his dark eyes peering into mine. His scowl softens ever so slightly when he looks at me, his features hardening when he turns his glare back to Ethan. My heart skips a beat and I unconsciously lean into him. Is…is Soren jealous? Does he still care about me and who I interact with? “Your scent…” Soren emits a low growl from the back of his throat. I gulp and remain quiet, watching him turn back to me. “Did you wear your perfume again today?” Soren asks. If I didn’t know any better, I would say that Soren also finds my scent appealing. The way his eyes glaze over my features, wandering across the expanse of my body, taking in the Healer uniform I wear. He leans in closer. The tip of his nose brushes against the skin on my neck. I gasp from the closeness, eyes fluttering shut. He slowly inhales and my back arches, chest pushing into his. I feel so drawn to him… He pulls away, eyes trained on mine, and I relax my body. Soren releases me from his grip and he takes a step back, crossing his arms over his chest. “Never mind. I was mistaken,” Soren chooses his words carefully. His gaze flickers over to Ethan. Ethan steps forward and bows to the Alpha King. His posture straightens and he looks between Soren and I. I place my hands behind my back and watch their interaction. “My apologies, Alpha King, I was just trying to help her. She was about to fall,” Ethan clears his throat. His eyes bounce to me before going back to Soren. “...Do you two know each other?” Soren’s scoff is an answer enough for Ethan. His scoff is a denial of our time together. A pang of hurt flashes through my chest. I know I have no reason to be sad over his dismissal of me. He did end our contracted relationship, after all. “— Leave us.” Soren barely pays any attention to Ethan. The man looks at the Alpha King then at me, bowing to the King. Ethan turns around and slowly makes his way down the hallway, occasionally looking back at me. I offer a sympathetic look. I turn to Soren and sigh, keeping my head hung low. “My King, I…” Soren turns to me. His gaze is cold, devoid of any kind of warmth he exuded earlier. I’m taken aback by it, unable to say anything else. He steps towards me but I take a step backward, keeping some distance between us. “Celia,” chills run down my spine the way my name rolls off his tongue, “do not harm Bianca out of jealousy. I demand that you remember your place as my substitute lover. That’s all you are to me…a contracted lover. Now, I have a fiancée. You are below me and her.” My heart breaks into a million shards. They fall into the dark void that hovers in my chest. I swallow my hurt pride and stare at him, nostrils flared as my breathing grows heavy. “...So from the very beginning, I was just a substitute?” I shoot the words out at him. He does not react, his expression barely shifting as he stares down at me. “What did you just say?” Soren counters, angling his body to face mine. “You always said you liked how obedient I was,” I scoff, turning away before coming back to face him again. “Was it because that made me seem more like Bianca?” I don’t stop the words from crashing out of my mouth. Soren’s face flinches. His nostrils flare and the tips of his ears turn a light shade of pink. I stand my ground, though. My hands remain firm on my hips as I look up at him, my anger bubbling from inside my chest. My heartbeat is prominent inside my ears. The sound drowns out any other noise in the hallway, enveloping me in a thudding beat as I look up into Soren’s eyes. He says nothing. His silence is deafening. My ears now ring from the anger and disappointment I feel. I am an idiot to think that Soren would fall in love with me because of the way he wanted me to act. I was his puppet, a doll to be played with. He dressed me up like her, I acted obedient just how he liked, and I even changed the way I wore my hair to be in the image he liked, not my own! My heart aches inside my chest. I know that I did this to myself as well, that not all of the blame can solely be placed onto him. But the anger I feel…the crippling feeling of disappointment and anguish tears me apart. I did all of this because I loved him. Look at where I ended up. I’ve been tossed to the side, completely disregarded because of my low status as his substitute lover, an imitation that I unknowingly took part in. After all of the time we spent together, I like to think that I know Soren more than he thinks I do. I know exactly how he is feeling by the way he hesitates to answer. I can tell that he is angry by the way his fists clench at his side and because of the way his eyes bounce around my face and body and the hallway around me…he never directly looks at me. Unbelievable. He doesn’t have anything to say to defend himself or deny it. How pathetic. I cross my arms over my chest. A quiet laugh of disbelief leaves my mouth and I turn around to walk in the opposite direction as him. No footsteps follow behind me. Soren doesn’t even dare to follow me. Am I surprised? Absolutely not. “Alpha King Soren!” The voice of an employee calls from behind. I slow my pace to listen. “It is such a surprise to see you here! Are you here to attend Lady Bianca’s medical lecture this afternoon?” “...Yes. Yes I am,” Soren’s voice is filled with both annoyance and disappointment. He says nothing more. Footsteps echo down the hallway as Soren walks away. I keep moving straight ahead toward my destination, listening as the sounds fade into the distance. The staff member left behind seems to catch the strong scent lingering in the air. He murmurs to himself, "This feels so familiar… When I first met my fated mate, we had a scent war just like this…" My heart skips a beat. Does Soren know about this? No, he definitely doesn’t know — I remember Soren’s words. * "Did you wear your perfume again today?" Soren asks. * …He only suspects I put on perfume. Or that I smell like Bianca. How could I possibly be the Alpha King’s fated mate…?！