"Let me go, you fucking idiot—!"
"Stay still. Believe me, you don't wanna pick my wrong side," Cirrus snaps the buckle carefully.
Peinaire stares at her cousin with a pair of red eyes. She grits her teeth, trying her best to escape. She is now bound in a soft cushion chair, strapped all over her body.
The Sarin refused to cage her like this at first. But everyone knows that when an Alpha is in rut and having a separate mating disorder, it's a great danger, not only for the mate but to the society as well.
"How could you do this to me? How can you call yourself a father? A father who caged his own cub? Shame on you!" Peinaire spits out her anger at Kawei.
"All I did was to protect you and Caspi. You're in a rut, you might hurt him. Don't you love him anymore, Pein?" Kawei calmly asks.
"What do you know about love anyway, Dad? You even unmarked my mom! After so many years of marriage, you tossed her away, just like that! And you were daring enough to mark her assistant! That bitch is destroying our family! You destroy our family!"
Kawei sighs. There's no use for him to lash out or scold an uncontrollable Alpha in rut. He believes that Peinaire never really meant what she said. So, he decides to do what he was supposed to do years ago—sit down and talk to Peinaire one on one.
"I never hate your mom. I was the one who chose her, marked her, married her and had you. For whatever she did to our family, I already forgave her..." Kawei opens up, peeling his feeling piece by piece.
"But, I won't tolerate when it comes to you. She can break up the family, but to use you for her own good... I will not allow that!"
The room falls in silence. The Alpha father-cub look at each other. Their eyes fill with thousand emotions that are unspeakable through times. Not until today.
"Your mom planned to seek the custody so she can use you for money extortion against the Sarin. To be honest, she never truly loved you. She intended for abortion at first..."
"You're joking, right? Why she gave birth to me if she refused to continue the pregnancy?"
Kawei sighs again. Gather all his courage to open the old wound. "Once the gynecologist told her that the baby is an Alpha, out of blue, she cancelled the plan. I thought she probably had a second thought. But, I overheard a conversation between her and the Beta helper about you being a golden child for her. She intended on using you as her golden goose."
"Even after we separate, she's still asking money by using your name. She claimed of taking care of you, while the truth was she never did. She sent you to the prestigious school not because she cared about your wellbeing, but she purposely milked out the money from us."
Peinaire goes silence. This is the first time she heard about this. Her mother never really told her why she had to enroll in a boarding school at such a young age. All this time, Peinaire thought that her mother wanted her to be the best Alpha; educated, prestigious and powerful. Never in her wildest thought, she only sent her there so that can be a reason she milked money from the Sarin.
She's too young and innocent to even think about that!
"I am grateful for only two things about you being far from us. One; you won't witnessing our arguments. And two; you managed to meet Caspi, your mate. Other than that, I..." Kawei wipes away his tears.
"I never agreed with the boarding school idea. You're just ten when you leave the house. You should enjoy your childhood more; here with us protecting you from the harsh world."
"Why you never visited me? You told me, you wanna protect me. Why you never did that?" Peinaire asks. Her voice chokes midway. But she forces out her emotion, so this argument will end once and for all.
"Your mom didn't allow me to visit you. The custody battle was so harsh and to keep up with the dreadful emotion, I chose to let you focus on your study. Not being there doesn't mean I never care and love you. No matter what it is, you're my cub and nothing will barrier that relationship between us."
From her seat, Peinaire notices tears rolling on Kawei's cheek. His face is sorrowful, yet his honesty really stands out; compared to her mom. Deep inside her heart, she kinda accept the fact that her mom actually never truly cared about her. That female Omega sent her off, just like that—no calls after about a year in the boarding school, no meeting after so many years as well. She didn't even attend her wedding.
At first, Peinaire thought that her father disallowed her to come, but now, after hearing all this, Peinaire realizes one thing; if her mom indeed love her, she will do everything to get close to her.
"During my wedding, did you prohibited her to come?" Peinaire asks.
Kawei wipes away his tears, fishing out his phone from his pocket and tap something on screen. "We did sent the invitation. I personally text her to come. But..."
Kawei shows to her the phone. A long text from Peinaire's mom; asking for a good sum of money, just to attend her own cub's wedding. As if she's a famous Instagram celebrity who was offered an appearance in a social event.
The text crushes Peinaire in silent. She finally breaks into tears. A person who gave birth to her, the one who she believes to love her earnestly; turns out to be fake.
Kawei lets his cub cries her eyes out. As an Alpha, calming her down feels like destroying her dignity. Even though he is dying to hug Peinaire in his arm, but leaving her alone to calm herself probably the best decision so far. Besides...
"May I come in?"
The door opens from the outside, revealing a figure that Peinaire is longing for. She literally just bawling her eyes out once her sight lands onto him.
"Alpha Pein..." Caspian gives her a bitter smile. He walks in carefully, not to be hasty as Peinaire is still in rut. She will gone berserk anytime. Better not to trigger anything.
"You fool! How dare you leave me!"
"I thought, that's what you want..."
"I just want you to take a rest! And give you some time to think! How dare you decide to remarried before I even send you a divorce paper!"
"Who said I'll remarry?"
Peinaire blinks her eyes and stops crying at once. Kawei pats his son-in-law's shoulder before he leaves them alone.
"I saw your picture; the wedding hall, the quote—"
"Fa and Ezra hire me as their wedding plan. I was looking for the venue. And the quote, it's a sentence that will be included in the invitation card," Caspian explains.
"So, no remarry?"
That male Omega shakes his head. Peinaire gushes, cursing Fa and Ezra under her breath. Her red face makes her look cute and vulnerable. That's when Caspian takes an initiative to get close to his Alpha.
"I'm sorry. We should've talk, but we decided to walk away..."
"I love you. But, I let you down. I know, it's all my fault. Hence I listen to you better—"
"Both of us were wrong. I was afraid of losing you. So did you. That's why," Caspian grabs Peinaire's hand, asking for apologize without a direct word. Slowly, he unbuckles the belt that strains Peinaire before the Alpha springs up and pulls him into a big, huge hug. They both cry as overwhelmed feeling contained in their hearts.
"Ah... now can get marry at ease..." Fa smiles as he watches the couple through the glass window. He gives Ezra a side hug; that male Omega lays his head on the broad shoulder, sharing the happiness as well.