Zevran.
"Why did you kiss her?"
I sat quietly, watching Kael and Caelum engage in an argument that I wasn't willing to partake in. I couldn't even bring myself to look at Caelum, knowing fully well that he had initiated that kiss.
That he'd kissed Leilani.
…and that now, she was being forced to face the punishment for a crime that she didn't even commit.
She'd been labelled a whore… a seductress. A thief of her sister's happiness— and it was all Caelum's fault. All because he couldn't control his goddamn emotions at a time like this.
"I don't know," he gritted out, bringing his wineglass to his lips and I watched in irritation as he downed his fourth glass in the past five minutes. "…she was just there and I wanted to hurt her. I wanted to do something that'll crush her so badly for asking me—us— for a rejection…"
"Caelum, that doesn't change the fact that you—"
"You should have seen the smugness on her face!" He snapped, interrupting me. "You should have seen how satisfied she looked when she said it to my face. When she told me that she no longer wanted to be rejected in a month, but that she wanted it today."
"And why does it affect you so much?" Kael glowered, his face contorted into something that was a mixture of a grimace and a frown. "It isn't supposed to. She's the reject. The runt, you should've just let her—"
"Because she doesn't get to win!" Caelum snarled, and this time, I couldn't control the anger seeping into my bones. "Because she doesn't get to dictate to me— to us. She's the runt. The one rejected by even her family and we're Alphas!"
"And that was all you could think of?" Kael snapped, his voice gravely. "That was the only way you could think of hurting her? Huh?"
"Like I said, it was a spur of the moment thing. I wasn't thinking."
"Now, all you've done is make Chalice see that. You've hurt her. Do you know what that will do to her?!"
I rolled my eyes and snorted. "Chalice will be just fine."
"No, she wouldn't!" Caelum spat, now livid. "You should've seen the way she looked at me. She was hurt… she felt betrayed, and shit! I couldn't do anything about it. I felt so weak… so useless… so powerless."
His words nearly sent me toppling out of my chair, forcing me to grit my teeth together before I'd say something we'll all regret. So I simply stared at him and at Kael in shock, and maybe disbelief because I couldn't fucking bring myself to believe that this was their thought process. Their only regrets about the entire situation…
That this was all they cared about.
"What about Leilani?" My voice was hoarse, on the verge of snapping. "What about the innocent girl you just branded a whore?"
At that, Caelum scoffed. Kael rolled his eyes. "She was never innocent and you know that. We all know that she probably even wanted that kiss, given how much she's doted on us in the past."
"Exactly. Moreover, I think it's unreasonable to use Leilani's name and the word 'innocent' in the same sentence. Isn't she the one who murdered her grandmother again?"
"And the one who did that crazy shit that got us into serious trouble when we were teens?"
"Zevran seems to be forgetting that a lot these days," Caelum smirked as he turned to Kael who chuckled as well.
But at this point, I could no longer bring myself to keep paying attention to their shallow words, or continue to watch while they showed no remorse for what Caelum's actions would put Leilani through.
I knew I shouldn't be taking the treacherous girl's side over my brothers, but right now, I couldn't help it.
I was mad. Unreasonably so.
My hands balled into fists by my sides as I slowly rose to my feet and fixed them with a glare. And tilting my head to the side, I turned away. "I'm going to bed," I muttered.
"Zevran, it's only 5:00pm." Kael scoffed, but I ignored him.
"Yes, I know. But I cannot stand this whole situation right now, and that's more than enough reason for me to retire to my room early today." I drawled, and with that, I walked out of Caelum's room to head to mine.
However, I had just arrived at my door when an irresistible urge to visit Leilani came over me, and with it gnawing at me, I slipped out of the house and walked over to hers.
Because Leilani's father was our beta, they practically lived with us— not exactly with us but in the mansion just close to ours. So she was close by.
I managed to sneak into their house without running into Chalice, and by the time I arrived at Leilani's door, I was surprised to find it already unlocked— not exactly unlocked but completely torn out of its hinges.
I peeked into the room and… froze.
The room was a total mess.
Objects were strewn across the floor haphazardly, even some of her things looked like they'd been intentionally thrown apart.
I winced subconsciously when I noticed a small pool of blood by her bed, and I didn't need to go closer to know that it was hers. I could smell it from here. Could feel it in the way Mozart, my wolf, thrashed about relentlessly through our link.
My heart clenched at the thought of what might've happened here, but what bothered me the most was where she was at the moment.
"If she isn't here, then where the fuck is she?"
I was just about to turn away when a piece of paper on her bedside table caught my attention. Amidst the chaos of her room, the way it was placed neatly on the table stuck out like a sore thumb.
I walked over to it slowly, picked it up and froze again when the words: "CERTIFICATE OF EMANCIPATION." caught my eyes.
I read the contents with my heart hammering against my chest, my hands growing clammy when I saw the small, hurried note she'd left beside it.
It was a letter.
Leilani was gone.
G.O.N.E.
My body instantly went numb and in the moment, all I could hear… all I could feel was the way my heart hammered against my ribs like a bird trapped in a cage, as if threatening to fall out.
Chalice rushed into the room seconds later, her eyes widening when she saw the messy state it was in. She turned to me; "What happened here?"
"Isn't this your house?" I snapped, my voice coming out sharper than I wanted it to. "You should know what happened here, not me."
"Where's Leilani?" She continued, ignoring the bite in my words. And as if suddenly remembering something, she turned to me. "Why are you here?"
Now, that had me stilling for a moment.
Why exactly was I here?
What was I doing coming here to look for Leilani?
I forced a smile as I turned to Chalice and muttered; "I wanted to talk to Leilani about the bond-breaking ritual, but I noticed that she's nowhere to be found," and then I pushed the papers into her hands as I continued; "she left this."
For a moment, Chalice stood unmoving. She slowly took the papers from my hands and after skimming through its contents, she froze. Her eyes were instantly filled up with tears.
"S-she left?"
"Aye,"
"Where will she go?" Her voice was hoarse, breaking, as she sobbed loudly. "Why did she do this? Doesn't she know how dangerous it is out there?"
The more she cried, the worse I felt. And at the end of the day, I couldn't help but pull Chalice into my arms. I couldn't help but agree with my brothers that she was indeed fragile.
I also couldn't help but agree now that Leilani was indeed the problem.
She'd left, ignoring how much her leaving would hurt her sister. And completely oblivious to the strange void her absence had created in me.
My stinging eyes squeezed shut for a moment as I took in a deep breath and then I pulled myself out of Chalice's embrace. I whispered; "Let me go and inform my brothers about it. Maybe we could even send out people to search for her."
But her hold on me didn't loosen. If I didn't know better, I would've thought she was intentionally stopping me from going.
"Chalice…" I mumbled, wiping off some of the tears streaming down her face. "You need to go inform your father about this. Then I'll tell my brot—"
"You can mindlink them." She sobbed stubbornly, "I don't want you to leave me just yet. Leilani has left me already… and I don't know what I'll do if you do as well."
I sighed in frustration at her words but simply let her hold me. And then I mindlinked my brothers;
"Come over to Chalice's!"
"What the hell did that bitch Leilani do this time?" It was Caelum who asked and I rolled my eyes before answering.
"She fled. We need to look for her."
The mindlink immediately went dead.