The Last Chance

It was a normal morning like any other, I got up, did my hygiene and went to my morning studies, my mother had hired several etiquette teachers for me, but none could be as strict and cruel as the current one, so the last thing I wanted to do was to be late for my class. I went downstairs and, in the hallways, met up with my sister, Emily didn't seem to be having a good day, so I just said hello and headed for the dining room, breakfast had already been served and I was starving.

"Ellie, eat slowly, this way you look like an animal." -My mother said with stiffness in her voice.

"I'm sorry, I was a little hungry."

I went back to eating as slowly as I could as soon as I was done, I went to my classroom my class would start in less than ten minutes.

The rest of the afternoon went as normal, I had a little free time so I decided to take a walk around the huge property, I took a book with me, I wanted to find a quiet place to read in the garden.

Leo, my childhood friend found me, he came over to greet me in the loudest way he could. He ran up to me, even with his tall build, he still insisted on acting like a child, his black hair gave an air of seriousness to that extremely gentle boy.

"Ellie, what are you doing here!?"

"Well , I live here. I'm the one who should ask you what you're doing here."

"My father came to talk to your father."

"Do you know why?"

"The subject seemed boring, so I thought it was business."

"I think you should attend the meetings, after all being an only child you should be preparing to inherit the family business. "

"I don't want to get into that just yet, if my father starts talking business, he'll want to bring up marriage. He always takes the subject to my mate, that's very annoying."

"The weight of being an alpha is very sad."

"I don't know how you can handle all that. Your whole family is alpha, of the highest rank and your name is big, it won't be long before your parents want to marry you off too. "

"I think arranged marriages are a thing of the past, not to mention I need to worry about that for now, since they still have my sister to worry about."

"Lucky you."

"Go figure, it's not so bad to get married. With luck you might even find your mate before then."

"I'm convinced I don't have one, in the end I'll end up doing what my parents want."

Leo looked very sad when he said these words, after all he had always been a boy, more of a boy than a grown man, at the end of the day he also seemed to be a romantic. His father was always very close to the family, we grew up together since I was five years old.

Leo stood up and left me alone, he said he needed to find his father before he abandoned him right there, I laughed at his words, whenever I watched him too much, I had meaningless thoughts. I always thought that I saw Leo as a pity friend, nothing more than that, but as he grew the happy pink little boy became a really handsome man, his body changed, he became stronger, "An alpha always attractive" as my father liked to say, this made me start to feel strange around him, a kind of discomfort with shame that I preferred to avoid.

I spent the rest of the afternoon in the garden, the shade of a tree was all I needed for a little peace, as the afternoon was drawing to a close, I returned inside the house for dinner time, everyone was at the table when I arrived, I sat down and dinner began to be served.

Before I could think of starting to eat, my father wanted to make an announcement.

"Before we begin our dinner, I wanted to announce that I had a conversation with Adam, my longtime friend and partner. We came to the conclusion that a marriage between our family would be a good thing for both of us, that being said, we have decided that Emily will marry Leo in the spring."

A dead silence settled on the table, none of us could say anything about it, Emily just stared at my father with a distant look, she didn't seem angry or sad, just indifferent. My father looked at me, I thought he would say something but he just continued with his speech.

"Our family will become stronger just like Adam's, the lineage of pure alphas will be maintained and everyone will be happy. I'm sure Ellie can assure you that Leo is a good boy."

So that's what he was thinking as he stared at me.

"Leo has always been a good friend to me, I am sure he will make my sister happy."

A shallow reply, with a forced smile that I never thought I would use in this house. This whole situation was uncomfortable for me, after the conversation I had with Léo in the garden, I was becoming more and more convinced that he wouldn't want it to end like this.

Last night's dinner was really uncomfortable, I hardly knew how to feel about it, if all the time I was with Leo I already felt confused, the news that he would be my brother-in-law didn't help at all.

My sister was becoming more and more distant from me, no matter how hard I tried to get close to her, I couldn't get any closer. My relationship with Emily had never been a bed of roses, my sister had always been cold and distant, she would occasionally come to me to talk but nothing more than that. A beautiful, cultured and pleasant woman, that's how anyone would describe my sister.

For a while I thought she hated me, all through his teenage years he made a point of being cruel to me for no reason, after that passed, he simply forgot about my existence.

I was in my room, immersed in these thoughts when I heard someone knocking on the door, it was late at night and I didn't know who it could be. I got up and opened the door, bumping into Emily.

"What are you doing here so late?"

"We need to talk." -She said walking into the room without even waiting for my answer.

"What do you want to talk about?"

"About Leo."

"Please, this is going to be the most embarrassing subject in the world! Our father only said that to tease me, I don't know that much about him."

"I don't want to know more about him, it doesn't matter to me."

"Then what do you need to know?"

"I don't want to know anything, all I want is for you to stay away from him as much as possible. If you can just stop talking to him, that would be even better."

"Why would I cut ties with my best friend?"

"Because he's my fiancé now, I don't want rumors going around that he and the fiancée's sister got along better than the couple."

"Do you...like him?"

"Of course not, he's gotten very handsome since he left his teens, but his gentle personality is tedious. The point is that if I have to marry him, it means he's now my fiancé and I have to deal with him." -She speaks with hatred in her voice, running her hands through her red hair.

"I'll think about it."

"I don't want you to think, I want you to understand that this is your current situation. Just do what I asked you to do, you don't want to buy any fights with me."

Emily left the room without saying another word, I didn't know what she intended with this conversation, but I felt that, above all, it was a clear threat. She wanted me to stay away from what was "now hers", my sister has always been very territorial, she exercises an immediate right of possession for her things, there was nothing that would make her give it up, but on the other hand, just by thinking about losing my best friend and leaving him alone with my sister I was starting to feel my chest hurt, it all seemed unfair, I felt a mix of anger, jealousy and sadness, I didn't even know why I was feeling those things, but my best friend was the cause of it.

Knowing my sister, I'm sure Leo would end his life being the most unhappy person in the world, my sister knew how to be cruel, she wasn't interested and in love with him, she just wanted to exercise her power of possession over him.

I decided it would be best just to sleep, I didn't want to think about anything else about it, I just wished for some peace.

The next morning, everyone was at the table for breakfast, the unexpected thing was that Leo was too, he looked at me with a look full of sadness and discomfort, I didn't know what was going on, but I was sure it wouldn't be a good thing.

"Well, I hope everything is alright between you two" -My dad said looking at Leo and Emily.

"It's okay my dad, we're getting along fine in the end."

Not a word from Leo, a sadistic smile from my sister, that smile was for me, just for me, she was having fun with it. I felt like I was in my teens again, I had simply forgotten how cruel my sister could be.

I endured the whole breakfast as long as I could, when it was finally over, Leo was the first to get up, I was going to follow them but my dad called my name.

"Ellie, wait a minute. We need to have a talk."

My sister listened and left going after Leo, she had the same sadistic smile on her face. I looked at my dad and he looked serious; I wasn't sure what he wanted with me but I was convinced I was in trouble.

I sat back in the chair I was in, simply prepared for anything. My father had always been a strict man, totally sure of his attitudes, he was a bit absent during our upbringing, but it was something to be expected from such a busy man.

"By God Ellie, you look like you're going to be executed. Calm down, I'm not here to fight."

My mom laughed at my dad's comment, maybe I really was too scared.

"I'm sorry."

"Look, I know you have a very close relationship with your sister's fiancé, but I'm asking you to put all this behind you. there's a reason for this, so don't ruin it."

"May I know the reason?"

"We love you both very much, but your sister is the eldest, I have no male children to inherit the lineage, I would have to pass everything on to her. Which can never happen."

"Why do you say that?"

"She is cruel and spoiled, totally insane when she is contradicted, the best choice is to marry her off to someone from a good family and pass the whole legacy to you."

"What!? No, you can't do that! Emily would never accept that."

"Once she's married, she won't have a choice. I entrust our legacy to you, not to her, I expect you to take good care of our name."

"But what about Leo?"

"I'll be honest with you dear, when we talked about marriage, he said he would rather marry you, his father practically forced him to accept. I wish he wasn't put in the middle of it, but there's no other choice."

"It could have been anyone!"

"Our name is important, I know you won't understand now, but Adam's family is the second largest, and his lineage is almost as pure as ours, there was no one else to fill this role. As much as I want to get rid of your brother, I can't marry you off to just anyone."

"I...I understand father, I will think about it for a while."

My father said goodbye to me with a kiss on my forehead, this was all too much for me, I didn't know what to do with so much information, everything was confusing, messy like it never was before, I walked out of the dining room, I just wanted to go to the garden, where I would get some fresh air, where I would have some peace.

As soon as I walked through the door of the dining room, I found Emilly leaning against the wall, she was listening to our whole conversation, she heard everything my father said about him, about how he didn't want her to take over everything because she was spoiled, about how he was arranging this whole wedding so she would leave as soon as possible.

My sister stared at me with hatred in her eyes, she could stop me right there if she could, all I could see was the purest hatred overflowing all over her face. She wanted to say something, but with our parents in the next room she decided to just leave.

My chest was going up and down non-stop, it was like I was facing death itself at that moment, my sister was capable of things I could never imagine and now that she knew everything, I had done nothing but put a huge target on my back.

I ran to the garden, when I got there, I was already panting, I sat under the tree I always used to stay, I took a deep breath, feeling the smell of the grass, the smell of the wet earth, something that would bring me comfort, but nothing, nothing worked, I felt on the verge of death no matter how I looked at this situation.

I heard a step approaching, it was Léo again, he crouched down next to me and asked if I was okay, it didn't take long before he realized I wasn't, so he held my hand and talked random things to me until I calmed down.

"Do you feel better now?"

"I-I think so, thank you for that."

"It's okay, if you want to tell me what's going on feel free."

"I can't, I really can't tell you, not this time."

"I understand."

"What about you?"

"What?"

"What about you? How are you coping with all this? I don't know how you manage to do it without dying of fear."

"Well, I knew it would happen, I wasn't lucky as you said, I couldn't find my mate in time, so I have to do what my father wants, I ant's fight it after all."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, I know I'll live well with your sister."

"I don't think I will, my sister can be cruel when she wants to."

"I only regret one thing."

"What?"

"That I didn't do it."

Leo held my face and kissed me; I was surprised but somehow couldn't help but reciprocate.