: Trauma

Thalia POV

What the fuck is my father thinking? If he thinks making an announcement is going to make me agree to marrying this fuck boy, he is out of his damn mind. I won’t be taken advantage of again in my life. Not by my dad or anyone.

Just as I’m about to announce that no proposal has been made and call my father out for his bullshit in front of this crowd, I hear someone snarl, “MINE!”

I see a tall, gorgeous man walk towards us. Black hair and the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen. Walking with him is another man that looks just like him but has light brown hair and green eyes. The resemblance and differences are working against each other in my brain. They are both good looking men.

As he approaches us, I start catching a scent of black cedar wood and leather. It smells manly and rustic, and cozy. The kind of scent I would want wrapped around me. It feels like home. It’s strange, but it’s true. It’s the first word I thought of as soon as it hit me.

I don’t know what that means, but I’m attracted to his smell. Maybe it’s the cologne he is wearing. It smells delicious.

As he gets closer, I can see the anger in his eyes and the other man is trying to keep him from exploding in front of the crowd. Somehow, I feel like I will be able to calm him, so I step towards him.

“Hello.” I said quietly.

He grabs me gently and looks at me intensely with those piercing blue eyes. “Mate.” He whispered, “You have no idea how long I’ve waited for you.”

Mate? This gorgeous man is my mate? Well, hell. I didn’t see that coming. Between the intensity behind his eyes and hearing him say he has been waiting for me for a long time, I forgot everyone and everything around me. His voice sounds southern and velvety. He definitely isn’t from around here. I see the man beside him smiling. It looks like a loving smile. I don’t understand their relationship, but I don’t have time to worry about that at the moment.

“Thalia, your fiancé is on this stage. Get up here.” My father whispers harshly to me.

I decided to throw dear old dad a curve ball. “Papa, I have no fiancé. But I do have a mate.” I smirked. I hear an approving growl softly behind me.

“I don’t approve of this man. I’ve never met him or heard of him before. I approved Armando for you.”

“I didn’t ask for your permission papa. I told you; I’m not marrying Armando.”

Then Armando turned red. “THALIA, GET UP HERE NOW! STOP EMBARRASSING THE FAMILIES!”

Before I could react, Mr. Black Hair and Blue Eyes had Armando by the neck. “I dare you to raise your voice at her again.” He snarled.

“Aiden.” His companion said gently, “Reign it in.”

Aiden. That’s different. I don’t think I’ve ever met an Aiden before. The name suits him. I need to break this up. I see Armando turning a light shade of purple. I get on stage, “Aiden.” I say gently, “Let him go, please.”

Aiden whips his head to me and tosses Armando to the side like a rag doll. I see him start gasping for air while the color in his face goes back to normal. Aiden grabs me and puts his nose to my neck and I stiffen. He’s inhaling. Like he is smelling me. Weird. Is this normal in wolf culture?

“You’re beautiful.” He whispered.

“ENOUGH!” My father snarled and yanked me away from Aiden. The sudden loss of his embrace gives me an instant sadness that I don’t understand. “WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?”

“Let’s take this off the stage.” I suggest.

My father starts dragging me away and Aiden looks ready to shred my father into pieces.. I personally wouldn’t mind if he did, but I don’t want him to go to jail over it either. Once again, his companion is trying to calm him down. Once he does, we all walk to a nearby office. I noticed Armando is close by. My father, however, stops him. “Armando, allow me a few minutes before I call you in, please.”

“I will not be embarrassed, Diego!” He said angrily, “You better fix this now!”

“Everyone inside!” My father snarled.

Aiden and his plus one come into the room. “Names.” My father demanded.

“Alpha Aiden and my twin brother Alpha Reid.” Aiden said. Okay, first, that explains the behavior and while they look alike but don’t look alike. Second, they are alphas? How the hell am I mated to an alpha?

I see my dad’s eyes tighten for a second, but then he shook it off and got defensive, “What the hell is going on? How do you know my daughter?”

“I don’t. Moon Goddess paired me with her. She is my fated mate. She isn’t marrying the asshole outside. She’s mine.”

“There is no way she is your fated mate. She doesn’t have a wolf.” My father said and I closed my eyes. Shit. My mom told me that in the wolf community, if you don’t have a wolf, no one wants you.

“She most certainly has a wolf, or I wouldn’t be able to scent her.” He growled.

“Then you will need to reject her. Because she is betrothed to the man outside as part of a marriage alliance.” He began, “Besides, she’s not even pure. Why would you want her?”

Tears begin to form in my eyes. My father is painting me in the worst light to this man, so he won’t want me. I lost my innocence brutally and not only is he making me relive that memory but then exploited the fact I don’t have a wolf either.

“YOU WOULD TALK DOWN ABOUT YOUR OWN DAUGHTER?!” Aiden roared.

Reid steps forward, “Aiden, you have got to get Leon under control, bro.”

“It’s the truth, Alpha Aiden. We are packless because of her disgrace.” My father said, knowing full well that what he is saying is a lie.

“She is no longer packless.” He says, as he steps up, and I feel his aura radiating from him. It’s completely directed at my father, and it has him on his knees. I’m glad. I don’t want to help him. Let him feel it.

“THA-LI-A,” My father called out in syllables from the pain he was feeling.

“Promise me, you will not force Mia or me to marry Armando or any other man we don’t choose for ourselves.”

“Fine. I promise.”

I look at Aiden and touch his arm, “Thank you, Aiden.”

He lets go and wraps his arms around me. “No one hurts you, Thalia.”

I don’t know this man, but it’s hard not to want to be with someone who is protecting me this fiercely without even knowing me. Or only knowing the worst parts of me; a damaged and wolf-less woman. He looks at me with nothing but pure love in his eyes. I have no idea what that is about either, but I guess I will need to spend time with him to calm him down.

Armando then enters the room and pulls me out of Aiden’s grasp, “GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFF MY FIANCE!” He yelled.

“I AM NOT YOUR FIANCE ARMANDO! THAT WOULD REQUIRE A PROPOSAL, TO WHICH I WOULD TELL YOU, ‘NO’!” I yelled at him. “I’M NOT MARRYING YOU, ARMANDO!”

I push him off hard and against the wall and run out of the room. I need air. I’m feeling suffocated again. Too much. It’s all too much. A forced proposal, someone else claiming me, being told I have a wolf when I have never had a wolf, my trauma being put on display, the yelling, the embarrassment, then finding out I have a mate, and he is no less than an Alpha. My head is spinning. I need the ocean. It’s the only thing that will calm me. I keep running until I get to the coastline. I run straight into the water. It’s cold, but I don’t care. I need to be numbed by the events of this evening. As soon as I plunge myself into the water and come back up for air, I scream. Loud and guttural, releasing all of my frustrations.

Why? Why does my life have to be a complicated and fucked up place? I’m crying and I hate crying. I stopped crying a long time ago, but tonight, I can’t help it. I don’t know how long I was crying for, but when I finally calmed down, I started hearing footsteps. I don’t recognize them, so I crouch in the freezing water.

“Thalia?” His southern and velvety voice called out to me. “Do you want to talk?”