Mated In Chaos: The Broken Mate

Elara

I can’t tell River that Zuriel, the man she speaks warmly about, is my fiance. How can I?

‘Did you just leave the hospital?’ I ask.

‘Yes, I couldn’t bear it in there anymore. I needed to see Zuriel,’

‘You must love him,’ I murmur.

‘We were so in love. He’s not too expressive, but I know he loves me,’ she says, and I feel a sting in my chest. Will Zuriel cancel the wedding now that his girlfriend is back? I will be heartbroken. Now that I was getting a little closer to him, it will be hard to leave him. I look at the woman sitting next to me.

We stayed there a moment as we waited. The large glass doors open, and Zuriel steps in. He looks shocked to see us here.

River is the first one to get to her feet and run to give him a huge hug. My heart feels like it has been pierced with a silver dagger mixed with wolfsbane.

Zuriel

I’m looking at River, shocked. Next to her is Princess Elara. She is looking at me with her big green eyes… She is hurt.

River sobs and runs to me, hugging me. I stiffen, looks like forgot I hate physical contact, but I give her a pass. She holds me as long as she wants while bawling. I want to hold her, but I can’t, especially not when the green-eyed Princess is looking at me like that. I pull her away from me gently.

River is the only woman I dated. I wasn’t in love with her but I was attached to her. River was abused by her father growing up. I related to her so much. That’s why she was the one woman I didn’t push away. She was frail and vulnerable. For so long, I thought she was dead. I blamed her supposed death on me.

Over four years ago, I helped the alpha king get rid of rogues that were causing the werewolf realm terror. They were a vicious-organized group that killed, kidnapped, and raped women. They wanted to wipe off every wolf to create their world. It was a highly criminal organization. We managed to wipe them out while others escaped. I was staying at Asus, in the countryside where we were conducting our operation, and River came to visit me. Deciding she wanted to stay there longer with me, I went to the city to collect a few things she’d need. When I returned, I found the house was sacked and blood covered the house. All the guards were dead, and a note that said they took her as payback for what I did to them.

I searched for her with my team, and days later, I found the dead body of River in an abandoned warehouse. She was barely recognizable, and half of it was burned. I carried guilt ever since. Now, she is standing in front of me, out of breath and looking pale and skinny.

A clearing of throat jolts me, and I look away from River to the little Princess.

‘What are you doing here?’ I ask. She winces at my tone, and I bite my tongue. I didn’t mean to sound rude.

‘W- we are supposed to go get our license. You were not answering, so I came here as your mother suggested,’ her voice is slightly shaking. Why has she been behaving so timid around me? She has always been fierce.

‘Not now, I’ll call you,’ I tell her. She crosses her arms against her chest and stares at me defiantly.

‘Don’t order me around, Zuriel!’ she barks, and there she is. ‘ I have things to do as well,’

‘I have a guest, Princess,’ I gesture to River, who watches us with trepidation.

‘Can we talk privately,’ I say. I grab her arm, but I hear River grunt in pain. Her legs are failing her, and I carry her in my arms. I head towards the elevator.

‘I’ll call you later,’ I tell Elara. She doesn’t listen and follows us in the elevator. She is glaring at me.

Reaching my penthouse, I put River on the couch. ‘ I’m sorry Zuriel. I’m still fragile,’ she says softly, and I nod.

Princess Elara sits next to her, ‘What happened to you, River?’

River stares at me. I also want to know. I thought she was dead.

‘I thought you were dead,’ I tell her. Tears rush down her face.

‘It was horrible, Zuriel. I was in bed when you left me in the house, and masked men grabbed me. They took me to an abandoned house where they beat me and tortured me. One of them… One of them raped me repeatedly,’ she cries. I swallow, the weight of her words hitting me like a truck, but I remain composed.

‘I saw your dead body,’

‘It wasn’t mine. It was another girl’s body you found. One of the men who raped me, Webster Rou, decided to keep me and faked my death because he knew you wouldn’t stop coming for them if you knew that I lived,’ She told me. It was my fault. River suffered all this because of me. It was even worse than the guilt I’d been feeling all these years.

‘I even lost a baby- I was pregnant when they took me. That was why I came to the countryside to tell you, but I didn’t get the chance to. Our baby died, Zuriel, it’s dead,’ she cries louder, gripping her stomach. I feel a sharp pain in my chest. A pain I’d only felt once when I saw the little Princess in pain at the mall. My fist clenched on my side. I didn’t even know about my child, and those filthy rogues killed it. I feel rage course through me, and I release my aura. River whimpers as the Princess comes to my side.