Chapter 27

“I – he gave it to me!” I exclaimed when the store manager came out to see what caused the ruckus in his place.

“What is the matter?” The man was a slim and tall man with a stern face and sterner personality.

“She’s trying to make a purchase with a stolen card!” People around exclaimed. The cashier handed him the card and once he saw the name on it, his brows went up. He looked from me to the card then his countenance turned ugly.

“This is the prince’s card, omega.” The way he snarled my title made my wolf angry. “How did you get a hold of it?”

“He gave it to me!” I snapped, feeling my heart race faster as I spoke. I didn’t want things to escalate further than they already had because I could see some phones coming out of pockets and more people trooping into the store.

“Why would the prince give you his card?” One girl piped from behind.

“He probably told her to buy him something and she’s here to buy clothes for herself.”

“Can you imagine the audacity?”

Voices from everywhere raised against me, accusing me of theft when all I did was follow instructions. Why did things always have to backfire against me!?

“I’ve called the police!” Someone from the crowd shouted and I g*****d internally.

“Why call the police? Call Valens.” I inputted. My ears rang after that statement. It took a second for me to realize the manager hit me.

“You don’t call the prince without respect.” My fingers bit into my skin as I clenched my fist. My eyes stung with unshed tears of anger.

“Why would we call the prince to deal with someone as insignificant as you?” Sasha piped up from behind me.

“Why are you doing this? Do you think I could walk into Valens’ –“ I got hit again before I finished my sentence.

“The prince is not your equal!”

“Do you think I could walk into his room and steal his card?” I bellowed when they surrounded me, pushing forward until I was trapped between a mass of people all hankering for me to be dealt with like a criminal.

“You clean his room. Who knows what a traitor like you will do when given such liberties?

“I didn’t steal from him. You have to believe me.” I sounded desperate even to my ears.

Things had escalated faster than I expected them to. It all started as a joke but now people were shoving me to the ground, shouting atop their voices as if they’d bottled up their anger for too long and finally found someone to pour their frustrations on.

“Why would we believe a traitor?”

“Oh, is it the wench whose parents tried to usurp Alpha Zavier?” Someone from the back who couldn’t see me through the throng of people exclaimed.

“She’s the one. She wants us to believe the prince would have any sentimental feelings towards a traitor. Do you know how much he hates your kind!”

Artemis let out her first whimper since all this started. She’d been so angry up until that point. The only reason I didn’t shift for her to lash out was because there were humans around and a shift would be interpreted as a threat and give people reason to really hurt me.

Valens lost his parents because their close friends betrayed them. The same way my parents betrayed Alpha Zavier.

“The police are here!” Someone cheered. The people made a path as the police marched forward. As an unlucky person, the police officer that came happened to be Beta Strauss and his partner. Beta Strauss had been the former Beta, second to Alpha Zavier. Lucien’s father.

“What is the matter?” His mass parted the crowd with ease. He was upon me in a second. “You.” His eyes had a deadly twinkle in them when he saw I was the culprit he came to arrest.

“We have a thief in our midst, officer.” The store manager said to him. “She came here to shop with a stolen card.”

“Who does the card belong to?” He was already taking out his handcuffs to apprehend me as he spoke.

“Prince Valens.” He stopped in his stride towards me.

“I have to say, you really have Arthur’s b***d.” My skin prickled. He’d insulted me and disrespected my father in one sentence. “You both are foolishly daring.”

“He gave me the card. I did nothing wrong.” I maintained my stance.

When the former beta hit me, I crumpled to the ground under the weight of his slap. He was tall and thick, as were all betas. His hand covered my face, leaving an angry palm print on me as he hit me.

“You don’t have a right to speak after your grave sin.” He pulled me off roughly from the floor. My sight was blurry as he picked me up.

“Dad!” I heard an angry voice. “What are you doing?” Lucien pushed to the front of the crowd, rushing at us as if he could stop the beta from doing his duty. As if he could stop his father. Skylar walked forward, following behind him. She stood before the crowd and gave me a small malicious smile.

“Stay out of this, Son.” He snarled at Lucien, making him skid to a halt. “This traitor has decided to continue her father’s legacy by stealing from the Prince and betraying him.”

“I did nothing wrong! He gave me the card himself!” I wrestled with Strauss then, hellbent on getting away from him. People’s phones raised higher, more people pilling into the store.

“She got herself bags of clothes worth thousands. None of the other store cashiers noticed she used a stolen card but I recognized her once she got here. No way could she afford all the things she carried with her so I checked the card she handed over and what do I see?” Sasha yelled from the side. “The Prince’s name!”

“Someone carted away the bags. That’s stealing evidence, isn’t it?” Someone said to Strauss. Indeed, all the shopping Clover and I had done were now missing.

Where was Clover?

“Take your hands off her.” A silent voice said but it sounded above the ruckus of the people and it made everyone silent in a second. The crowd parted to reveal Valens with his shirt sleeve rolled up and a thunderstorm on his face. I couldn’t tell whether to be relieved or more terrified.