The Alpha's Omega Mate-Chapter 66: Aid.

~Dahlia’s POV~

A buzz of activities happened all around me at the same time but they were the least of my problems. My problem now was Ms Jennifer and the way she sobbed into a tiny piece of cloth, garnering the sympathy of everyone around us.

My problem was the stupid guard, the one who had joined forces with her to beat me to a pulp, and who was now twisting the entire story into something none of us could recognize anymore.

My problem was the agitated crowd, ahhing and ohhing while the idiotic guard spun more unrealistic tales aboutthubgs that never happened to them.

My problem was my knees which now hurt so badly from kneeling down for so long.

Angry tears burned at the back of my eyelids and I did nothing to keep it at bay even when it began to slip into the corners of my eyes, and even when I began to hear snickers from behind me.

They were mocking me.

Making a joke of me.

They were calling me names.

I should be strong. I shouldn’t allow their words to affect me in the way they intend for it to. I should keep my strong facade on; And even though these were the thoughts swarming my head, I couldn’t.

All of that strength I experienced earlier... that rage too and the surge of dark energy I felt creeping up my veins were all gone. Disappeared without a trace like they were never even there to begin with.

Now, my skin simply crawled with irritation and my nose twitched as I took in the smell of everyone around me, in search of the one smell I wanted. But it was nowhere to be found.

Alpha Zarek was not in the room with us. And I do not know how I felt about that.

"Foreign whore! What do you have to say to everything you’ve been accused of?" An Elder in a deep purple robe barked at me and I flinched in shock at the tone of his voice plus the insult he’d not so subtly thrown at me.

My eyes sprung up to his and the deep seated hatred I found glaring right back at me made my breath hitch in my chest. His eyes were dark. They were soulless. They held nothing but malice.

And for some reason, I matched his glare with one of my own, mirroring his expression as I twisted my face into as much hateful look as I could muster.

"Cat got your tongue?" A woman snickered from behind me. "Were you this speechless while you were attacking Luna?"

I cringed inwardly at the thought of Ms Jennifer being referred to as the ’Luna’ but I didn’t have enough time to ponder over that as a sharp slap to the back of my head had me crying out in pain. I spun around quickly to find the bright eyes of Evan, another popular slaver latched at me and my anger flared.

"I didn’t attack her... she attacked me first." I gritted out, but as soon as the words left my lips, the room broke into a loud ruckus.

"Liar!"

"She’s accusing Luna of lying!"

"Wench!"

"A conniving whore is what she is!"

And while all of these happened, I was acutely aware of Beta Orion’s presence in the room. I was acutely aware of his eyes following every movement I made. I was aware of how he took in the entire scene quietly, not saying a word.

Not stopping the pack members from hitting me the way they wanted.

For the first time, I hated him. Not because he didn’t come to my aid, but because I knew now that he never would; And thus is not because he didn’t have the power to stop it— oh, he had that in excess— but because I’ve not given him what he wanted.

As long as I’ve not agreed to his proposal, he would watch me suffer. And as long as I have not said yes to marrying him, he wouldn’t help me out in situations like this, whether I was at fault or not.

Whether I was being framed— just like this one— or not.

"You’ll be asked one more time, and if you do not tell the truth, you’ll be sent to the dungeons!" The Elder shouted, but still I did not flinch.

My eyes burned when they met Ms Jennifer’s smirking face, and then when my eyes latched onto the stupid guards’ own, my anger skyrocketed. I hated him so much, I could kill him.

I dropped my gaze and cleared my throat. "I didn’t attack her or him." I said stiffly, causing the crowd to break into another round of shouts and arguments.

"As we all know, I am nothing but an Omega, and omegas are too weak to fight against Alpha and Beta wolves, even gamma wolves— which they both are. We all also know that I’ll be seeking my death if I did that... so how is it that they both accuse me of fighting and bullying our Luna when we all know how impossible that is?" I shouted over the noisy crowd, and almost smiled when everyone quieted.

The Elder and Beta Orion’s eyes fell to me and I nodded, as if telling them; ’think about it.’

And they probably did because then they fell silent.

"Are you saying that Luna is lying against you?!" A voice shouted from the back of the crowd and I didn’t even bother to try to check who it was before I answered. I said;

"I am not saying that she’s lying. All I am saying is that the entire thing has been spun out of proportion. I cannot beat up Luna like the guard just said. I do not even have the strength to do something like that."

"But you hit me!" This time, it was the stupid guard who shouted and I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes at him. "You grabbed me by the throat and would’ve killed me if Alpha Zarek didn’t intervene!"

I snorted. "Oh, come on! You’re a Beta wolf! A warrior meant to protect the pack! Do you not feel embarrassed telling everyone that a wolfless Omega beat you up and nearly killed you?!" I shouted, and as soon as the words left my lips, a few people burst into laughter. A bright stain of red colored his cheeks and Ms Jennifer’s eyes nearly bulged in rage.

"B-but y-you—" the guard sputtered, causing more people to laugh even as his face turned so red, it could easily pass off as beetroot.

The Elder in a purple robe— the one who did nothing to hide his obvious contempt for me— rose. He pushed the sputtering guard to the side and glared at me.

Pointing at me, he growled; "Personally, I do not care if you attacked the queen or not. I do not care if you’re an Omega and they’re not. All that matters is that you got into a fight with your superiors and for that, you should be taught a lesson!"

As soon as the words left his lips, something akin to ice water ran through my veins. My heart dropped and the small smile already playing on my lips fell. I glanced up at the crowd to find a great majority agreeing with him and something about that made my heart hurt.

"So as the Grand Elder, I say that fifty lashes of hot silver whips should be enough punishment for someone like—"

"Someone like what?" A deep voice bellowed from the doorway, causing everyone to go still in surprise.

My eyes darted to the door just then and for the first time since this whole ordeal began, I let out a breath of relief. My shoulders that were tight with tension felt lighter and a small smile finally graced my lips; Because standing there was none other than the Alpha himself.

His deep eyes scanned the crowd and then rested on mine, and in that instant, I saw something shift in those beautiful green orbs, saw the way it softened infinitesimally before he looked away.

He drawled; "In my eyes, she’s not guilty of anything accused of her, and I would say that her actions were done purely out of self defense."

The crowd went silent.

Ms Jennifer screamed in rage. "She’s a slave! And she fought with me!"

"And who said she’s a slave?" He drawled, turning to face her. "I brought her here, and I have the right to tell you what she is and what she isn’t."

"But..."

"Henceforth, Dahlia and her child will no longer be seen as slaves in this pack. They’ll be treated like members of the pack, as your equals and will be accorded equal respect..."

I didn’t hear the rest of his speech. I couldn’t even bring myself to as the sound of my blood rushing through my ears almost deafened me.

Finally, the words were out of his lips. He’s finally said those words I longed to hear. My heart sang praises, my body felt like it was floating; because...

I am not a slave.

I am no longer a slave!

And Alpha Zarek had come to my aid!