Chapter 9 The Discovery One

• Lila's POV
• “Lila!” Judith exclaimed, obviously shocked by rebellion.
• I shouldn’t have snapped, but I couldn’t help being peevish when nothing was going my way. My mom doesn’t care about me, I’m in a pack where I’ll always be walked over, and the fact that a kid is going through stuff in this pack and no one is aware just made me doubt Dominic’s competency.
• These thoughts alone make me want to scream out loud and curse the universe for making me so unlucky. Why does life have to be so difficult? Haven't I suffered enough?
• “Is there something wrong? I believe I haven’t done anything to piss you off.” Dominic said, fixing his cold gaze on me so that they could dig a hole through me.
• I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, trying to avoid his gaze as much as I could.
• “Do you really think you’ve done nothing wrong to me? I know you saved my life, and I’m grateful for that, but you see, whatever comes after that, I’m not sure I can be grateful for it.” I shot back, all in one breath, as my chest rose and fell; I couldn't tell if it was fear or anger.
• “Watch it, Lila! You shouldn’t talk to him like that. He’s the Alpha!” Jonathan reprimanded me with a warning finger, clearly dissatisfied with my manner of approach to his boss. Judith nodded in agreement.
• I scoffed, “So what? He’s your alpha, not mine.” I eyed him. It was not like I was purposely being a brat; at this point, my frustration knew no bounds.
• “You know if you were not his mate, you’d have been punished for treason.” Jonathan’s right hand balled into a fist as he stood up abruptly from his seat, but Judith held him back.
• He looked down at her, and her eyes were pleading; she gave him a disapproving look, and he slowly lowered himself back to his seat.
• “Treason? Is that not a big word for my crime?” I air quoted ‘crime’, “And besides, I was fucking rejected!” I reminded him, my voice trembled as I tried to suppress the rage in it.
• I turned to Dominic, whose face held a kind of emotion I couldn’t explain. “I’m not afraid of you, and I don’t care about what you feel about me anymore, but can you just stick to a role!?” I rubbed my hair frantically in frustration.
• “Lila, what is wrong with you?” Judith tried to reason with me.
• “I’m sorry Alpha, something must have happened. She doesn’t even react like this when she’s in a tight situation at work.” She tried to appeal on my behalf.
• “Yes, I was always a reasonable nurse.”
• Of course, the quiet nurse who always avoided drama was now being a drama queen. I huffed.
• “You know I don’t mean it that way,” Judith tried to rebrand her words, probably realizing the effects her words had on me.
• “Fine, I was just ranting. It’s not like you’d let me go at will; you’d still do what you want with me anyway.” I felt a sharp ache in my chest as the words left my mouth. Realization hit me hard. After all, I’m just an ordinary human, I thought to myself. I let out a painful smile.
• “I can let you leave if that’s what you want,” Dominic's cold voice interrupted my thoughts.
• He had been silent the whole time this drama unfolded, maybe already regretting his decision to save me, I don't know.
• He stood and walked to the table filled with files and his computer, “but, would you still leave knowing everyone could die because of you?” He asked, probably hoping that he could change my mind. His back was turned to me so I couldn't see his facial expression.
• What does their death have to do with me though? Am I some kind of sacrificial lamb? Does this even make sense?
• After what happened earlier today, I have no compassion whatsoever towards the people here.
• My thoughts flickered to Dave and I felt my internal organs twitch. How could I ever abandon him? Poor Dave!
• “What the hell is an elemental?” I demanded. I've been dying to ask this question all day. I made sure they understood that my decision on whether to leave or stay would depend entirely on their response to my question.
• “Elementals are supernatural beings too, but they can be good or bad depending on the person wielding the power,” Dominic explained, his voice was calm and steady. I've never seen such composure before. So majestic. But I don't understand what it has to do with me.
• He turned to Jonathan. Jonathan got the cue and continued from where his boss stopped.
• “There’s been a prophecy long before we were born, that there would be an Alpha born with golden eyes.” He paused just when I was starting to get intrigued. His eyes wandered briefly and settled on Dominic who gave him a nod of approval to continue.
• “He’d be mated to a human, but their relationship will bring disaster to the world of the supernaturals, it's inevitable.” Jonathan finished his words with a sigh. Almost as if he was saddened by it.
• “I get that our relationship is ill-fated,” was it? My heart faltered as my mouth spewed such a fallacy. If only my heart would stop trying to interfere with my choices. I brushed it off and continued.
• “but bringing disasters to the world, is that not far-fetched?” I queried, not buying the whole story. It sounds ridiculous how a relationship between two people would have so much effect on the world at large. This is some make-believe bullshit.
• “Well, prophecies don’t lie,” Jonathan concluded, leaving no room for further debate.
• “How does this relate to the elemental?” I pressed further. It's not making any sense.
• “You may be the elemental.” I laughed dryly. A human supernatural? What a joke!
• “Let me get this straight: you don't want me as a mate, but you want me by your side as the elemental?” My question was directed to Dominic. When he didn't say anything, I took that as a yes. He wanted to keep a close watch over me, to be the one wielding the power.
• “He rejected me, so we are not going to have a relationship and he already has an arranged mate. So, I guess we already avoided the inevitable. There, it's fixed” I reminded. The disaster thing shouldn't be a problem anymore, right? The rejection has already taken place, and there's a replacement standby; there's no point in exaggerating anymore.
• “An arranged mate?” Dominic's voice held a glint of surprise. He finally turned to face me. I almost choked on my breath when his eyes met mine. What's wrong with me?
• “Yeah, Juliana. I met her already, though our meetings weren’t so pleasant.” I smiled dryly. Why's he pretending? He rejected me; he should be proud to show off his desired mate, right? What's with him and being unable to stick to his role?
• His gaze on me intensified, and I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.
• He didn't say a word; he took slow strides toward me and stopped right in front of me. He stood so tall and mighty.
• His figure hovered over me and I didn't dare to meet his gaze. I felt so small, maybe smaller than an ant.
• The room was as quiet as a graveyard, I could hear my heartbeat echo in the room.
• What's with this intimidating aura? Wasn't I supposed to find out? Could he be a two-faced alpha who couldn't just stick to one role? This’s how he leads the pack? I wanted to scoff so badly, but I was too intimidated to do anything silly.
• “Stop talking nonsense” His sharp voice echoed in the room. It was commanding.
• He probably wasn’t expecting me to find it out so soon because why else would he try to scare me out of it?
• I nervously rubbed my palms together.
• “I understand” I managed to say. I just wanted him to move at least a few steps backward. I couldn't breathe well. I felt like I was going to faint soon.
• “You understand what?” His deep dominating voice came again.
• “I understand that you can’t have a human mate, and avoiding a disaster said in a prophecy is a must too,” I said like an obedient puppy. I could feel my scalp sweating already.
• He didn't say anything else. He turned and made his way to his seat, his neatly polished shoes collided with the floor and made loud click sounds.
• I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding, I couldn't believe I almost died just now. I brought my left hand to my face and used it as a hand fan.
• Slowly, I started to feel the coldness in the room again; I had almost forgotten about the AC.
• “Juliana is the daughter of a family friend, not who you think she is,” Jonathan interfered, trying to ease the tension.
• I gave him a thumbs-up to show I didn’t care.
• “I think the prophecy won’t happen as long as we steer clear of each other,” I concluded. This place’s not healthy for me. I needed to get out as soon as possible.
• “That’s what we thought. But not anymore now, since there’s someone out there that knows about you. It was meant to be within us that the alpha found his mate. And also, they mentioned you are an elemental, which has made things worse.” Jonathan said, folding his hands together.
• “You believe so?” I asked, moving my eyes from Jonathan to Judith since they were sitting before me.
• “We can’t throw away the chances that you might be an elemental,” Dominic said, but I didn't look at him. I wouldn't dare. Not after what just happened. I still haven't steadied my breath.
• “I’m just an ordinary human, I don’t possess such power.” I laughed halfheartedly. Hoping he'd see things from my point of view. How could I possibly possess such power? It was laughable and sad at the same time.
• “That’s why there's the need for further confirmation,” Dominic replied, standing up to pick a file from his table and walking towards me.
• “Not again” I mumbled under my breath. I avoided his gaze completely. I couldn't meet them, maybe another day but not today.
• “I have your BioData here, but the fact that you were adopted means there’s a chance one of your parents might have been an elemental.” He handed the file over to me.
• My hands trembled as I held tightly onto the file.
• I didn’t open it; I was afraid of the things written inside. Huge Debt had seven fathers and was an outcast. The fact that Dominic might have known about everything made me feel like a loser. Even Juliana knew a lot more. I felt a mix of shame and pain.
• I cleared my throat and blinked back the tears that threatened to embarrass me even further.
• I'm strong, I won't let them caress my wounds and make me a laughing stock. They won't see me weak.
• “I’ll do whatever you want me to do, but how long do I have to be here? I don’t want to lose my job and my mom will be worried.” I lied about my mom.
• I was more interested in getting out of here. Truly, my mom didn't care, but I had a life I was trying to build before all this; I won't throw it under the bus just like that.
• “I can’t give the specific date you’ll leave, but I promise you that I’ll do my best to make sure it ends soon,” Dominic’s voice held no warmth; it saddened my heart that he wanted to get rid of me as soon as he could.
• I know it's what I wanted but hearing it from him was just too painful. Of course, he had Juliana; what use could I possibly be to him? I'm just a weapon in all of this, a weapon that will become useless soon.
• “And if you want me to send a message to your mom, I’ll do that for you, about your job…” He paused for a moment as if searching for the right words to use.
• “Why don’t you apply for a leave now? You’ve been working for years without taking a leave, I’m sure the director will grant it right away.” Judith reasoned, saving Dominic the stress.
• She was right. It’s not like I didn’t want to take a leave, but I had nowhere to go and I didn’t have the luxury to go on vacations.
• “So, Judith..” Dominic's voice trailed, now colder than usual, as if hearing from Judith reminded him of something he’d almost forgotten. He strode closer to Judith, both hands in his pocket and face held high.
• “Why did you leave the pack and why is your name not in any of our registers?”
• Judith
• Sfroze. She was not expecting it. I was curious too.
• Why did she leave the pack?
• And her name’s not in the register?
• What was she hiding?