Cold ✔

:::::Chapter 40:::::

I slowly open my eyes and find Matt and Darius looking at me with concern. They breathe a sigh of relief when they realize that I'm conscious. When I look around, I find myself in my own room. I remember that I was in Alarick's pack house. Then, how did I get here? Maybe Matt carried me to here. I sit up on my bed.

"How are you feeling?" Matt asks me.

"Empty," I say. Is this how it is supposed to feel when your bond is broken with your mate?

"For how long was I unconscious?" I ask.

"A very long time," Matt answers. I turn my head to look out from my window to find the stars shining in the sky. He proceeds to ask, "Are you feeling any weakness?"

"No," I say. "But I'm feeling lonely. Isn't it strange? You guys are here but I'm still feeling lonely." Maybe it's a side effect of my broken bond.

"Let's have dinner," Matt says while avoiding the matter altogether.

After having dinner, we all head back to our rooms. I lie on my bed and look at the ceiling. I don't feel like sleeping. Does a broken bond make you insomniac too? Since I'm not feeling sleepy, my mind has got into the thinking mode. During these few months, a lot of things happened and I met a lot of people. But my mind decides to think about that person who hates me. My mate. Well, my ex-mate. Is Alarick going through what I'm going through? Is he feeling empty, lonely and insomniac just like me? I shake my head. I don't want to think about my ex-mate.

Just then, I hear someone knocking at the front door. Who could it be at this odd hour? I hear footsteps and then the opening of the front door. "I'm here to meet Chriselda," I hear Charles say. I sit up on my bed. What is he doing here? I hear footsteps nearing to my room. And soon, my bedroom door is opened and Charles pops his head inside my room.

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

"Just came to check up on you," he replies. "Can I come in?" I nod my head. He enters my room and sits beside me on the bed. "How are you?" He asks, concern laced in his voice.

"Pretty okay," I say. "You know, I regret coming across Alarick."

"I don't. In fact, I'm glad that you came across him. If you wouldn't have come across him then I wouldn't have met such a wonderful person like you," he says. I don't say anything. He continues, "By now you must have come to know that Alarick has lost his mind. Otherwise, who breaks the bond with their mate? I really don't know what's going inside his head. When he woke up, he drove us all out of his room and he locked himself in." A chuckle escapes my lips. A sad one.

"I bet he must be celebrating all by himself," I say.

"He's an idiot for breaking his bond with you," he says.

"And I'm a fool for thinking that there was some hope for us."

"You're not a fool."

"I am," I say while nodding. I pull my lips inside my mouth in an attempt to hold back the tears which are threatening to come out of my eyes. "You know, Charles," I continue, "I'm a strong person but Alarick makes me feel so weak. I've never felt this weak in my entire life." Tears start escaping my eyes. "But you know what, I'm not going to weep for him." I wipe my tears. "I'm going to move on and live a happy life without him."

Charles gives me a sad smile. "I wasn't able to move on but I hope that you do." 

After that conversation with Charles, I had made a promise to myself that I'll move on. So, I started keeping myself busy with my duties and responsibilities as the Beta of this pack. As days passed, I realized that I was really moving on with my life, that I was ready to live a happy life without my mate. I don't need my mate to keep me happy when I have friends like Matt, Darius, Ciara Charles and Daniel, when I have my mother and my sister, Christina, with me by my side.

● ● ● ● ●

Christina's seventh birthday is approaching in a few days so I'm at my house preparing invitation cards along with my little sister and Mom. The living room is in a mess with bits and pieces of colored papers sprawled around but I really don't care about all the mess. I care about the smile that is on my sister's face. She's really enjoying making the cards and seeing her happy makes me happy too. There's a look of concentration on her face while she's cutting a colored paper. She's looking cute. And the silver glitter that is glued to her face is making her look even cuter.

After we finish making the cards, Mom takes Christina to the bathroom for a nice bath while I start cleaning the living room. When I'm done with the cleaning, I sit on the couch for some relaxation. Christina soon joins me. "I'm really excited for my birthday!" She exclaims cheerfully. "Will we have the puppet show and the magic show for my birthday party?" She asks with hopeful eyes.

I smile at her and nod, "Yes."

She wraps her tiny arms around me and says, "Thank you!" I wrap my arms around her and smile. She's my little sister so I'll have to fulfill her every wish. We talk for a while before I take two invitation cards with me to the Dawnfall Depths Pack.

Christina wants to invite Charles for her birthday party. After the night I had that conversation with Charles, he started to frequent my pack. Whenever he used to visit me, he used to visit Christina too. He used to bring chocolates for her and used to even give her piggyback rides. So, Christina took an instant liking to him. And now, she wants to invite him for her birthday party.

Before going to his pack house, I head towards Mr. West's house. When I knock on the front door, Anne answers. When she looks at me, she immediately hugs me. We're seeing each other after a long time. We pull away from the hug and she invites me inside. When I enter the living room, I find Alarick's parents sitting on the couch watching TV. When they see me, they get up with a look of surprise on their faces. Mrs. West walks towards me and engulfs me in a hug. I hug her too. When she pulls away, she says with a gentle smile, "It's nice to see you."

I smile back at her. Before I can say anything to her in response, Mr. West speaks up. "I'm sorry, Chriselda," he says guiltily. "I couldn't stop Samara from breaking the bond."

"No worries, Mr. West," I say while giving him a sad smile. "Alarick didn't want to be with me and I didn't want to be with him. So, it was best for us to break our bond." I look at all of them. They look sad. They never expected that Alarick would break his bond with me. "Anyway," I say while trying to bring cheerfulness in my voice. "You all must be wondering why I'm here. Well, I'm here to invite you all to my sister's birthday party." Since Matt is going to be there for Christina's birthday party, I thought of inviting Anne too. I want to surprise him. He has done a lot for me so I want to do something for him. I want to make him happy. If he sees his mate at Christina's birthday party then he'll surely be happy. "I want all of you to be present for the party," I say while handling the invitation card to Anne.

"We will definitely be there," she says with a smile. After saying our goodbyes, I head towards the pack house. I don't want to see Alarick. I hope he's not present there. When I knock at the front door of the pack house, Daniel answers.

"Hey! What are you doing here?" He asks surprisingly with a smile playing across his face.

"Can I come in?" I ask while smiling back at him.

"Yeah, sure," he says and moves aside. I get in. Daniel and I head towards the living room. "Charles, look who's here!" He calls out. I see Charles emerging from the study. When he sees me, he walks towards me and hugs me. I too wrap my arms around him. Over his shoulder, I see Alarick coming out of his study.

Author's Note: I want to thank you guys for getting this story at rank #13! I love you all! Take care! :)