Gabriel rolled her big, tearful ocean eyes in extreme disbelief to hear the most shocking, unexpected confession from Zordan. The dreamy proposal that she had been yearning for in her heart for so long, now sounded like a horrific, absurd nightmare. Her breath hitched and her throat parched dry in fear. She forgot to blink her lashes and blankly stared at him, “W-What?”
Watching her jaw-dropped expression, Zordan retained the smug on his face as if he had somewhat assumed this kind of reaction. He leaned a little closer and peered a deep gaze in her orbs as he further claimed, “I don’t like to repeat my words but I will say one more time. You have to marry me, Gabriel. Be my omega.”
Tears dripped down the corner of her eyes as a sharp ache clenched her chest inside. She glared at him with the pain of betrayal, and disgust as well as gritted her jowls, “Wh-What…Y-You are fuckin’ kidding with me, right? Or…you are trying to h-humiliate me?”
“I am serious.” Suddenly Zordan straightened his posture and folded his arms over his chest, making a stiff expression on his grimace. “Why must I joke about a gravely serious matter like this one?”
“What…”
“We are each other’s fated mates, so isn’t it natural for us to reach a conclusion? Besides, I do know that you have secretly cherished me in your heart, Gabriel. So, I just want a simple negotiation.” Zordan sounded much more composed, without showing any traces of discontent.
But the flare of anger surging in her heart suddenly erupted like a blazing volcano, surpassing her limit of endurance. Each of his words brought her immense pain and humiliation. All she could see in her teary vision was the sight of her father getting brutally murdered in his hands.
She rushed close and viciously gripped him by his collar before venting out her loud grumble, “YOU FUCKIN’ SICK BASTARD!! YOU…JUST HOW CAN YOU ASK ME SUCH A THING AFTER STABBING MY FATHER TO DEATH WITH YOUR OWN GODDAMN HANDS!! HOW CAN YOU BE SO CALM AFTER WHAT YOU DID TO ME!? HOW!??”
But the moment she grabbed his collar, the two royal guards standing behind her immediately drew out their swords from their corset belts to charge at her. But Zordan noticed it quick and signaled them with his gesture to stop their approach before putting his gaze back on her.
“Gabriel, didn’t I mention earlier I don’t like loud noises?” His dark onyx eyes seemed steep as a cliff while he deepened his voice, trying to stay calm.
“I HATE YOU…(Hic)...I FUCKIN’ HATE YOU! NO, I HATE MYSELF SO MUCH FOR FALLING FOR A DEVIL LIKE YOU!! I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!
FATED MATES? FUCK IT ALL!!
NO WAY IN HELL I WILL ACCEPT YOUR PROPOSAL!! I WISH I COULD KILL YOU TOO, BASTARD!! I DETEST YOU FROM MY CORE!” She lamented aloud, clenching the grip on his collar with her shivering palms.
All of a sudden, the composed look on his face transformed into a discontent one as he narrowed a stiff glare on her. Keeping a brief pause, he declared, “So, you won’t accept to marry me? Are you rejecting my proposal?”
“Yes, I am!!” Sniffling her tear-soaked voice, she grunted her vow in a hefty pitch, “I, Gabriel, Onetti, the only daughter of Luther Onetti am rejecting my fated alpha, Zordan Hemsworth! I firmly reject becoming your omega! Not…Not only this, I will also disclose your sinful truth before everyone in this castle!”
Facing her curt rejection, that mysterious darkness on his face grew prominent, making a vicious glare roll in his eyes. He twitched his brows and curved a sneer on his lips before he proclaimed, “This is not what I had expected from you, Gabriel. Why did you have to become rebellious?”
“You damn–”
“But, I am giving you one final choice, Gabriel.” Suddenly, his voice grew a bit hoarse as he straightened his broad shoulders and held a cryptic gaze in his eyes towards her before asserting aloud.
“You really thought you had a choice, did you? Either be my bride or you will also be executed too.”
His ardent declaration left a surge of painful heartache stronger in her heart, clenching her chest from the inside. For a second, Gabriel felt suffocated to breathe as she could finally see his real dark self before her. Her innocent heart was brutally smashed into a wreck.
As tears streamed down her orbs, a miserable smirk curved the corner of her lips as she murmured, “Isn’t this what you had always wanted? Didn’t you plan to kill me from the moment I became the eye-witness of your sin? Isn’t that why you have summoned me here?”
Facing her curt accusations, Zordan exhaled a heavy sigh as he gawked an intense glare at her sobbing face. “Gabriel, I know you won’t trust me…but, I really didn’t want to hurt you.”
“Pfft!” A painful, faint chuckle escaped from Gabriel as she clenched the hem of her silk gown, glaring back at him. “I was foolish enough before to fall for the fake kindness you had showed me before, but now that I have seen your true self, do you think these words can convince me anymore?”
“Gabriel–”
“After losing my mother since my birth, my father was all I had left with! And…y-you took that away from me too?” Her voice choked and shivered as her throat was parched with despair. “You destroyed my little world with your own hands and now…you are giving me this ridiculous option? If that’s what you want…then alright, I will choose death.
I guess death would be more rewarding than becoming the bride of that heinous monster who killed my father! Bring it on, kill me!”
She grunted her verdict, wearing a pained yet resolute smile while facing him.
Zordan retained a brief pause while staring intensely into her wadded blue eyes before he let out a heavy sigh. A surly expression curved on his face as he drew out his sword from the leather pouch.
The shining silver sword was still smeared with dark red blood, and Gabriel realized quickly that the blood was of no one other than her father! The painful realization throbbed in her heart with immense agony as she lowered her teary eyes down to face her bitter fate.
“If this is what you ask for…then I guess, I really do not have a choice.”
Zordan gallantly marched towards her and placed the bloody sword on her shoulder blade. While a strong dreadful shiver ran down her spine thinking that it might be really the end, he proclaimed further, “But, you won’t be dying alone.”