A Gift from the Goddess
Chapter 35

Chapter Thirty Five

INEN

I still remembered the excruciating pain of being hurt every single day I lived in that hell, yearsbefore he even rejected me officially. The kind of pain that could only arise from loving someonewith your entire being.

I was no longer able to stop the flood of emotions coming up all at once and I was sure my fatherhad no idea what was going on. But he must have understood enough to see that, whatever it was Iwas trying to tell him, it was enough to cause me to be in this much emotional distress just fromtalking about it.

He pulled me into his arms and held tightly onto me as I cried against him. Everything had spilledout of me all at once. Things I had sworn to never tell anyone, things I didn't think I would ever beable to share with someone. But I didn't care anymore if he thought I was insane. I couldn't live likethis.

“Shhh, Aria,” he soothed. “It's okay.” I just clung to him tighter, burying my sobbing face further intohis chest. “Please... help me, papa.” He didn't say anything else after that, he just held me in his armsuntil I'd exhausted myself.

I was grateful that he didn't push the topic again for that night. By the time I had finished sheddingevery last tear in my body, he just picked me up and took me to bed. It was a moment that I wasglad to still be small enough for him to carry me as he did, knowing that there was n o way I wouldhave been able to rely on my legs again for that day.

And when we finally got to my bedroom, he stayed with me as I continued to cling to him for dearlife. He stayed with me until finally, I drifted to sleep.

It was a blessing I was too exhausted to dream that night.

As expected, the next morning my father was obviously wanting an explanation for what hadhappened the night before.

And so, I told him. I told him everything. And the more I spoke, the more that poured out of m e,and soon I found that I couldn't stop myself from giving every little detail.

I told him how I had ended up as Luna and how I'd become Aleric's blade in his war against theworld for power. How I had so desperately fought for his love... only for it to have been given t oanother. And lastly, I told him about the trial, how we'd said our final goodbyes in the cells... andhow Aleric had finally killed me.

He was silent the entire time, taking in every word I said and never interrupting.

But by the time I finally finished, I looked up to my father and saw a few tears had escaped his eyesSomething I had only seen him do once before... right before I had died.

Having confessed about my prior life to my father, I felt liberated at last. I now had someone I knewI could rely on completely and who would help me with what I needed to achieve in order to avoidthe same fate.

He'd had a lot of questions, many of which I couldn't answer, but he was content with the answers Icould provide him. We spoke about Aleric, how I felt about him now and how I'd been since comingback. And we agreed that, in order to move forward, I needed to stop US

looking back... that the only way I was going to be able to truly replace a new fate was if I stoppedbeing haunted around every corner This included working on letting my feelings for Aleric goeventually. I knew it would be tough, and wouldn“t happen overnight, but we both knew I wasn'tgoing to be able to become Beta if I was terrified of the very Alpha I was pledged to. I could see thiswould be the hardest part of my journey; learning to accept what had happened to me and trying tomove forward. The next day, my father went to Alpha Tytus to propose a meeting be held in orderto discuss the current Beta heir position, mentioning also that I would be present. I was told he wasextremely intrigued by the idea of me attending and immediately agreed for it to be scheduled

In the meantime, whilst we were waiting for the big day to occur, my father and I had beguntraining after school and on weekends. I wasn't sure what he had ended up telling but he hadsomehow managed to convince her to let me drop Luna studies. Father and I both now knew that Ididn't need the extra lessons and it allowed me to spend my time preparing myself physically forthe difficult road ahead of me. The only person who probably ended up unhappy with the newarrangements was my former Luna studies tutor, Helen, who had been enjoying the easypaycheques up until recently. I also found my father definitely lived up to his reputation when itcame to fighting. His lessons were informative and I saw myself making the progress I'd so badlybeen lacking the last few months without Cai. And though their fighting styles were completelydifferent, I eventually was able to adjust to my father's techniques with ease. He pushed me furtherthan Cai ever had and I appreciated that he didn't go easy on me. One of the most vital ways I wasgoing to succeed in this crazy endeavour to become Beta was if I could, by some miracle, prove mymerit in battle. That I was just as good as a male heir.

Before long, the day of the meeting then arrived. It had taken over a month to replace a time in theAlpha's schedule where he was free for smaller matters, and I found myself incredibly nervous to befacing him.

I stood outside the meeting hall doors with my father, staring at the wood as if it could somehowshow me what was waiting for me on the other side. We both knew how much would be riding onthis discussion today. “You don't need to be so anxious,” my father said to me. “You've done thingsfar more nerve wracking and crazy than this before.” I knew he was right but somehow it still felt likeone of the biggest moments I'd had in either o fmy lives. I couldn't help but feel sick. “Hey,” he said,making me look up to meet his eyes. “Just show them who you are and what you're capable of. Youhave nothing to worry about.” I clenched my jaw and nodded at him. I could do this. He pushedopen the doors and inside I was surprised at what I saw. It looked as if this meeting wasn't justgoing to be a small chat with my father and the Alpha. No, there were several key figures here,leading me to believe this was a far more serious affair than I had anticipated earlier.

In their usual seats sat the Elders, including Elder Luke who gave me a small nod when our eyes met.However, standing before the council to the left was my Uncle William and cousin, Alexander.

My Uncle William looked so similar to my father that it was almost uncanny. The only differencebeing his usually very sour personality. He'd made almost no attempts at being a part of my lifegrowing up and so I wasn't surprised to see that it took potentially robbing his son of a rank for himto get up and meet with me. I honestly felt bad for Alexander.

Suddenly, the doors behind us then opened, and Alpha Tytus walked in... followed by Aleric.

The usual fear that tightened in my chest constricted me per normal when I saw him, but I could feelit wasn't as bad today. It looked as if talking to my father had helped somewhat; even if it was justto help stop me from wanting to run away immediately at the sight of him.

We all bowed our heads in respect at their approach and waited until they were seated. “Alright,”Tytus said in an oddly excited tone. “Shall we get started then?”.