King of My Heart

EIGHT

I feel a shiver run down my spine. There are tingles where his hands are touching mine. I try to get out of his grip but it's useless. He is too strong. Oh God, I think I might get murdered by my own mate.

Suddenly the club door opens and a frantic looking Lucas walks through it.

"Liam what are you doing? Let go of her," he says while pulling his hands away from mine.

"Take her home Lucas, I don't want her staying in this pub for another second," he says with authority in his voice and walks away. Lucas almost bows his head after him. Great, a self-absorbed and bossy Alpha. What sin am I being punished for?

"Hey, are you okay?" Lucas asks in a kind voice.

I didn't realise but my eyes were pooling with tears.

"Your brother is a sexist prick," I yell trying not to let any tears fall. I turn around and walk away.

"Let me at least take you home. You don't look like you can drive," he says catching up to me.

I am slightly drunk but that doesn't matter because my ride, Anna, is busy making out with Chris.

"It's fine, I'll take a cab," I mutter.

"No please, I insist. It's the least I can do to make up for my brother's behaviour."

"Fine," I say trying to avoid any more conversation. He leads me to his car and I text Mel and Anna to let them know I left. They probably won't see it until later though.

The car ride is silent except for whenever I speak to give Lucas directions to my apartment. Lucas has turned on the radio and there is some mellow music playing at a low volume. It helps make the silence less awkward. Once we reach, I thank him and get out of the car without saying another word. He waits until I'm inside my apartment building and then leaves.

I reach my apartment and get the keys out from my purse. I walk in to notice Abigail watching TV. Oh no, I'm really not in the mood to talk right now.

"Hey, how was the party?" She asks still engrossed in whatever it is that she is watching.

"It was fine," I reply dryly.

She notices my mood and turns around to look at me. "Are you okay?" She inquires, frowning.

"Yeah yeah, just a little drunk and really tired," I reply trying to brush her off.

I think she buys it and doesn't push me any more while returning her gaze to the TV.

I go to my room. It's a regular room with a Queen sized bed placed in the middle. There's a desk on one side next to the window and I've hung some photos of me and my friends on the wall above the bed. There's a picture frame of me and my mom from when I was 17 on a bedside table. There's a small walk-in closet on the other side that leads to a bathroom.

I quickly get out of my dress and wash my face. I notice there are slight bruises in the shape of fingers on my wrists where Liam was holding me. I wear an old t-shirt and pyjamas and crash land on the bed, thinking about the events of the night.

During my times training at the hospital, I've come across so many women who show up with bruises all over their bodies. The worst part is, it's clear as day that they are victims of domestic violence, but most of them try to hide it and cover for their husbands/boyfriends by blaming the bruises on something else. It angers me to my core and hurts my heart that they feel they are trapped in their abusive relationships. I wish I could do something to help them but I can't force them to do something they don't want. All of these things have cleared my mind about one thing, though. I will never let anyone put me into that position and will always fight for myself even if it kills me.

Even though I didn't have any high expectations about finding a mate, or rather, any expectations, I am still disappointed. I'm a hopeless romantic who has never experienced real love. All the relationships I have seen around me have ended sooner or later. I've tried my hand at dating a few times but always struck out, probably because of my busy schedule. Finding a mate, just as I was about to graduate, seemed like a nice idea but now that I know he's an asshole, I don't see that going anywhere either.

I fall asleep lost in thoughts.