Alpha's Regret After She Kneels novel Chapter 2

(Siena's POV)

Raiden stares at me, eyes widened in shock, but the other is expressionless and cold. For the first time in all the years we’ve known each other, he is rendered speechless.

Knelt before Lila, my hands re-clenched into fits at my side, my heart pounds against my ribs like a wild, caged animal. The cold of the hospital floor bites through the bare skin of my feet, but the temporary discomfort does not compare to the humiliation scorching my skin.

Raiden’s eyes are heavy as they are intrusive, the silence stretching unbearably between us.

Lila, set atop her perch, lets out a soft gasp, one hand fluttering to her chest. She feigns surprise, but I know her heart. There is mockery in her eyes as a slow, impish smile tugs at her lips.

“Oh my God, Siena, I was just joking! I can’t believe you actually got down on your knees!” she snorts as if the notion of my humility is laughable.

She is poison; why can’t you see that?

I force myself to look up at her. The overhead lights cast a soft glow around her golden hair, illuminating her delicate features. She looks almost angelic, but I know better.

Lila has always been a master at playing the innocent, twisting every situation into a grotesquery that can only make her look like the victim—or the benevolent savior, depending on her fancy.

There’s a knowing behind her eyes. It stings uncomfortable. She turns her face up to Raiden, who stands guard, immovable.

“You may as well give her the money, Raiden; she is Luna, after all. Charity darlin,”

She smiles down at me, her voice drips with false kindness. “The Summit of the Alphas is in a few days, and it’s not as if she has credentials…like me. Maybe she really does need a necklace.”

The words cut deeper than I could ever expect.

She makes it sound as if I am nothing—just a useless wife clinging to the edges of a world to which I don’t belong.

You think you’re the real wife at his side?

The thought sears through me.

I let myself sink down. Further, my nails dig into the flesh; my head hung low; the pain is the only thing that grounds me.

Lila is not the only one who knows him, who deserves him.

Bracing myself, I wait for him to silence her, to defend me even in the smallest way.

He doesn’t.

There is no correction; he didn’t even flinch.

Have I ever meant anything to you, Raiden?

My nails dig deeper.

I feel my body shudder. I am frozen to the core. I should be used to this by now, but somehow, the wounds are still fresh, and he rubs salt in my agony every chance she gets.

A shrill ringtone cuts through the atmosphere, lighting to otherwise complement the brewing storm. I jolt, fumbling for my phone, cursing silently.

The number that flashes across the screen sends ice flowing into already frozen veins of heartbreak and treachery.

“I have to take this.” My voice is barely a whisper.

I do not wait for permission, but Raiden remains silent.

He doesn’t care.

“Hello?”

“Siena, it’s…it’s bad.”

The voice on the other side of the phone barely holds on, the sadness and grief bleeding through the line, washing over me like so many defeats.

Rickard, my father’s Beta and best friend, was no young pup, but never had I heard his age so plainly, never had I witnessed the sound of his hurt.

“Your father---he’s getting worse. The doctors don’t think he will last the night.”

The floor seems to tilt beneath me, and the small treasures of my world wobble on their axis, threatening at any moment to take me under.

I reach out to the wall for support.

“We need that money, Siena, and we need you back on the compound.”

I swallow hard, my throat a sandpaper constriction that will not allow a single word to freedom.

“I…I---"

The line goes dead. My hands tremble as I lower the phone, remembering my state and the ill company I keep.

I need to go, now.

Footsteps echo somewhere in the back of my mind.

Raiden approaches.

Without a word, he hands me a check. His eyes are open, but they cannot see me; they choose not to.

The sorrow in my throat, the tears that struggle against my will, thrash wildly, demanding freedom. But I will not give it—not now, not ever. I will never let him see me cry.

When I blink down at the crisp note held in my unsteady hand, my mind is a blur. I can hardly process the sum scrawled in Raiden’s unsightly hand.

It’s a generous amount. More than I imagine he’d offer. More than the price of any necklace,

Lila boasts.

But it isn’t enough.

My heart pounds furiously again as I weigh out the options before me. I cannot leave here empty-handed, but how can I bring myself to…beg.

“Raiden, please. The Windhowl Pack is in serious trouble. My father---”

“Don’t.” His jaw tightens, and he looks past me as I am, at best, a cumbersome idea, a daily strife he tolerates but only finds loathing to be true in his heart.