Fated To Three, Betrayed By All… Until She Rose.-Chapter 274: Her strength.

Leilani.

I set the glass of water down onto the table, my hands trembling slightly as I stared into the deep purple eyes that I have now grown to not like.

As if noticing me staring, Darius flashed me a smile and leaned into the chair, his face a mask of indifference as he slowly dragged his eyes from the cup up to my face.

He mused; "You were so feisty earlier. What changed?"

"What changed is that my social battery is low now and I do not want to have this conversation with you anymore!" I hissed back, sounding way braver than I actually felt.

My heart still raced with fear: fear because I still couldn’t seem to understand how I had walked out on him earlier in his hotel, only to step into my house and boom, he’s the first person I am running into!

Did he fly or vanish or something?

Is this some sort of mind game?

Am I hallucinating?

At my words and obvious confusion, Darius’ face lit up with a smile— one that made the corners of his eyes crinkle. His pearly whites exposed, revealing the pointy fangs residing at each corner of his mouth. He drawled; "But I want to have the conversation with you..."

"The day you realize that I do not give a shit about what you want at all, the better it would be for us all."

"And is that why you’ve refused to give a shit about my proposal? Is that why you’ve blatantly refused to let me help you even though you damn well know I am the only one who’s capable of helping you?"

At his words, my breath hitched. My heat picked up tempo again. But forcing myself to tape down this panic rushing through me, I turned away. "I am also capable of helping myself!" I hissed as I went to stand by the door, as if silently telling him what I felt he should be doing right now:

Leaving my house.

He sighed. "Stop being so stubborn."

But do you know the only thing those words managed to instill inside of me?

Rage. Pure unadulterated rage.

My hand balled into fists as I lifted my gaze to meet his cold ones. I shrugged. "What do you mean?"

"Leilani—"

"So because I have refused to marry you all in the name of strengthening my wolf, I am stubborn?"

"Please don’t put it that way."

The more he talked, the more enraged I became. I downed the remaining contents of my glass in one go and set the cup onto one of the side tables, frowning when the sound of glass hitting marble seeped into my ears.

"Do you know that you are also being stubborn for trying so hard to make me see reasons... or should I call it advantages I could get by marrying you despite the fact that I’ve told you times without numbers that I do not wish to?"

"I do not."

"And here’s me telling you that you are. You want to cajole me into doing something I do not want to do. You keep insisting that it’s for my own good, but these days, I cannot help but think that..."

"You think these things... because you are scared!" He snapped exasperatedly, interrupting me. "You are scared of what people would think! You are scared that I have ulterior motives..."

"And you do have ulterior motives," I hissed, not bothering to hide my thoughts or sugarcoat my words. "Do you even pretend like you do not."

His eyes thinned for a moment and I noticed the way he snapped his lips shut, as if unable to speak.

"If you don’t, you’ll not be forcing me to ’accept’ your help. If it is true that you’re not going to benefit anything from a union between us, then you won’t be so head bent on making me accept it, and even going as far as vanishing and appearing in my room like a goddamn genie— but the terrible type."

When he still wouldn’t respond, I seethed; "You may have just met me a couple of months ago but it doesn’t change the fact that you’re my cousin. You were raised by my biological father..."

"And he’s a father that you never knew! One you do not even know if he still exists!" He snapped, and this time, I couldn’t fight the urge to roll my eyes.

"But he is my father all the same." My voice was calm— too calm, it sounded like it wasn’t coming from me.

"He was your father too. Yet, you think that it’s sane for us to be joined together in that way... also, for you to say that about a man who raised you says a lot about you."

"It doesn’t matter!"

"Oh it does! It does a lot!"

"Leilani, you may think this evil but I am doing it for you. For me. It prevents our bloodline from being tainted. I am a dark knight. You’re something none of us know about. Do you know what that would make our kids? Do you know the kind of powers they would possess?" He asked coldly but all I could pick out of his words was how he’d lied. Again.

I folded my arms across my chest, dragged my eyes over his frame dismissively and hissed; "Yet, some days ago, you told me that we would never have to consummate our marriage if we ever got married. You told me that all I needed was to bear your mark."

He frowned. "Huh?"

"You just talked about kids, brother... and that’s totally different from what you told me the other time." I replied calmly. "What you said was that we wouldn’t need to have sex. But tell me, how are children made? From swallowing chicken eggs or what?"

This time, Darius was the one to appear stunned. "Don’t call me brother."

"But that’s why you are. My brother." I hissed, liking the way my words riled him up even more. And more so, the way his discomfort showed on his face like one of those annoying ads on Facebook.

He took some steps towards me, coming to snatch my wrist in one of his hands. And goddess, the feeling of having him this close... of feeling him touch me... made me insanely irritated and uncomfortable, and in that moment of discomfort, I snatched my hands out of his grip and gasped.

He gasped too.

Why?

Because somehow, that had thrown him off a few miles away!

His back hit the wall opposite me with a thump and his eyes widened.

I noticed the slight tremor in his hands, noticed the way his lips trembled as he spat the word; "You—!"

Yes, me.

"Please leave."