The Alpha's Omega Mate-Chapter 153: Need my help.

~Dahlia’s POV~

The party had since come to an end and by this time, the crowd of guests had fizzled out, leaving only the people of the house left, well them plus myself and my child.

It was still a few hours after Kai dropped that bombshell. A few hours since I realized how tied up myself and my family had been with this family, and for some reason, I still felt like shit. I still felt guilty, terrible even... especially whenever I glanced at Elodie’s direction to find her already watching me with keen interest.

She went significantly quiet after finding out I had no memories of her, but I noticed that she would watch me quietly, not with malice but with compassion, and something else... something that felt like hurt.

I had just bathed and had changed into a silky blue free dress. Amara too was clad in something breathable. I weaved her hair into two ponytails, styling mine into a large messy bun. Both of us were basking in our comfortable silence, lost in a world that was absolutely ours when a knock suddenly sounded by the door, momentarily startling us.

I quickly rushed to my feet and made my way to the door, only to pull it open and find a guard standing there, his head bowed, both of his hands clasped behind his back. He drawled politely; "My lady, Alpha Kai and the lady of the house seek your presence downstairs."

The way he said those words made my eyebrows shoot up in confusion. I asked; "Why?"

"Oh, he says you’ve not had dinner. He noticed you didn’t eat during the party and is afraid that your daughter and you might be starving."

At the mention of Amara, I turned to her to find her nodding expectantly, her eyes alight with excitement. So I sighed, curtsied and said; "I’ll be there in a minute."

With that, I slammed the door shut and turned back to Amara who had now risen to her feet, bouncing from foot to foot.

I whispered; "Are you hungry?"

She nodded, so I sighed. "Do not eat much. It’s pretty late, okay?"

"Okay mommy."

I then draped a shawl around my shoulders to make my dress appear more decent than it already was. And after checking my reflection in the mirror and being satisfied with what I saw, I took Amara’s hands and quickly left the room.

However, we had just arrived downstairs and were making our way to the dining area when Amara suddenly stopped dead in her tracks, her panicked eyes wide. She rushed out; "Mommy, let’s go back!"

I froze, a frown etching its way into my face. "Why?"

"Mommy, let’s go!"

"But you wanted to come!" I exclaimed in annoyance. "What’s wrong now?"

Amara didn’t give a reason. She didn’t speak. However she lifted her hand slowly, pointing in the direction where Ms Elodie now sat. It took me a moment to understand what was happening and when it finally dawned on me that she was probably scared, I dropped my head in embarrassment and mortification.

I slowly crouched before her, dropping my voice until it wasn’t more than a whisper and said; "She won’t punish you."

"She’s awake." Amara argued back. "She was dead!"

"She wasn’t dead." I explained tiredly, "she was asleep... and trust me, she wouldn’t hurt you."

With that, I rose to my feet and began to help her to the table but Amara now was reluctant. Everything about her screamed fear... her stance, the way her legs moved. Even how she continuously dug her heels into the floor to break her strides.

An aggravated growl rumbled from the depths of my stomach and I pinched my eyes together to stop myself from lashing out, from saying something I wasn’t supposed to, from doing something I would regret.

I wasn’t just frustrated anymore but also irritated. I sighed tiredly, my eyes darting up to meet Alpha Kai’s puzzled ones.

"What’s wrong with Amara today?" He asked softly, sounding worried, but because I had no idea what to tell him, I simply shrugged. "I don’t know."

"Amara dear, can you please come over?" He pleaded, but she wouldn’t listen. She wouldn’t even look at him.

"No."

A tense silence descended upon us, one that was occasionally disturbed by Amara’s shuffling and struggling. Unable to bear it anymore, I turned to Alpha Kai and Ms Elodie, and then I bowed in embarrassment.

"I don’t think she wants to be here, so we’ll have to retire to our rooms now." I muttered in a small voice.

"Is she mad?" Now, it was Elodie who broke the silence. "Or is she just embarrassed to see me, or afraid? Seeing as she is the one who woke me up."

Her voice cut through the air like ice, startling everyone, including Alpha Kai whose silverware clattered to the table noisily.

He balked. "What?"

"Yeah," Elodie drawled, a soft smile gracing her lips. "She was the first person I saw when I opened my eyes for the first time, and at first I thought it was Dahlia’s ghost hunting me until I saw the green eyes... not blue. She’s everything like her mother when she was around that age... besides the eyes."

I froze.

Amara beside me gulped loudly. So loudly that I was sure everyone heard it. "I didn’t mean to." She cried, "I didn’t mean to disturb..."

Now, when Elodie rose to her feet, Amara hid behind me to peek at her from there as if using me as a human shield; But on the bright side, she was shaking less now. She didn’t even seem very afraid anymore.

"Young girl, I am not angry at you," Elodie whispered with a smile. "I want to thank you in fact."

All through this, Kai looked like he’d swallowed a massive bone, his eyes simultaneously darting between us like this was all too much to take in.

My racing heart had since come to a stop, and Amara, the one at the middle of it all, waltzed from behind me like a princess. She nodded with a smile but still made no move to go near Elodie. "Really?"

"I don’t bite." Elodie continued, clearly having fun now. "But I may overfeed you."

Those words made Amara laugh, and suddenly the air of tension loosened. Everyone’s stiff shoulders sagged.

But I didn’t miss Kai’s eyes on me.

Skeptical. Prying.

He wasn’t asking about how Amara came to be in Elodie’s room, and how Elodie claims she was the one who’d woken her up, but I knew he would ask. Soon.

He wouldn’t let that slide.

So deciding that I only needed to find a convincing excuse before that happened, I made my way to the table and plopped into one of the chairs with Amara mirroring my actions.

All traces of fear was gone now, and so was the friend that was once gracing my face.

—

We ate in a comfortable silence that was occasionally disturbed by the siblings reminiscing about their childhood... most of which had me in it... and all of which I could not remember.

Occasionally, I’d notice Elodie stealing glances at Amara and myself, her affectionate eyes lingering on Amara a moment too long.

Suddenly, she cleared her throat, fixed her brother with a deathly glare before turning to me. She asked; "How old is Amara?"

I froze as soon as I heard that question but quickly fixed myself before dropping my silverware onto the table.

My eyes snagged on Amara for a nanosecond and I smiled. "She’s four. She’ll be five in a few months."

Elodie smiled genuinely, her eyes lighting with the brightest gleam I’ve seen on her ever since we met. "I have a daughter around her age. She should be five now though, I’m no longer sure. But they could be besties!"

They are already besties...

The gods knew how much I wanted to say that to her, how much I wanted to point out that we both knew who she was talking about, but I didn’t. Instead, I smiled and turned to Amara to ruffle her hair.

"I am sure they would."

Elodie had just opened her mouth to make another comment when suddenly a loud bang sound from outside made her snap her mouth shut. We all turned to look at each other in shock then turned to the door.

Kai growled; "Someone check who’s there!"

A guard rushed in then, his brown eyes wild and hair disheveled. He raggedly bowed to us and rushed out; "We’ve checked, Alpha, but it’s Beta Orion from Shadowfang pack, and you asked us not to never open the doors to him!"

As soon as the words rang out, we all froze. For different reasons for sure.

Elodie looked like she was about to burst into tears, her porcelain skin instantly going red.

Kai, on the other hand, looked like he was about to explode with rage. And yes, he was red too— red with anger.

And I... I was scared. I couldn’t let him find me here. Not now. Not yet.

So I did the only sane thing I could immediately think of; I picked my daughter up and ran, ignoring the surprise on Elodie’s face while I did.

And ignoring the way the doors caved in as soon as I did.

Chaos erupted behind me, but for the first time in my life, I was selfish. I didn’t turn to check.

I didn’t go back to help— not like they even needed it in the first place.