Shadows of Destiny

The Dark Side Of Fate By Karima Sa’ad Usman Chapter 74

74 The Lady In Peach

~Tamia~

Sylvester’s eyes lingered on her, not moving, not blinking.

I wondered if she was Susan. I looked around, and I saw Leo looking at me with concern.

I could remember this scene from before. It had happened to me before, but I did not want to believe it

was happening to me again.

I saw Linda and Theodore dancing and did not want to call them. Stephanie was talking to one of the

guests, and Marcel was introducing Avery to people.

I did not know if I should squeeze Sylvester’s thigh or call his name.

“Sylvester,” I said with a breathy voice, and he did not respond.

My heart began to race.

“No, no, no, Tamia,” Kaira said in pain, and I contemplated waiting around to experience the disgrace

that would ensue.

“Sylvester,” I said with a breathy voice again, but his eyes remained fixed on the blond woman in the

peach dress, and I watched the words escape his lips.

“Mate“. 4

My eyes filled with tears immediately, but I fought them.

Even if I cried, it would not be in public. It would not be in the eyes of Pamela and Leo. It will not be

before everyone. So I held it together, but I was utterly broken inside.

The woman began to approach. She was beautiful. Hourglass shape, plump lips, doe eyes, oval–

shaped face. Perfect in every way. I sat still, shaking inside.

Sylvester stared at her; to him, she was the only person in the world. I understood the feeling; I had

been there. Every fibre of me wanted Devin. I wanted him so badly, but I fought it. I did not know where

the strength came from, but I fought it. It didn’t look like Sylvester was putting up a fight.

Sylvester was the wolf lord. He did not need to fight it. He was allowed to have mistresses and keep

harems. Being faithful to me was a choice for him and not an obligation.

He had not claimed me yet and did not need a blue moon to claim this woman. I was truly fucked.

What if he accepts and claims her and chooses to keep me as his mistress because of his baby? If that

ever happened to me, I would run away and not look back.

I sat still and watched her approach. I wanted to chase her out of the hall and have the guards hurl her

away, kicking and screaming, but I knew Sylvester wouldn’t have that. She was his mate, after all.

Her eyes were teary as she approached. She looked relieved and happy. There was so much joy in her

and a tinge of regret too. Who was she?

“Mate,” I heard Knight say with a growl, and my insides churned. I could no longer speak. Breathing

was hard, but I sat still. 1

“Susan?” Sylvester said, and I figured out why they both strongly reacted to the mate bond.

She was Susan, his Susan, the Susan that he told me I did not need to worry about. He lied.

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I now understood the look of regret in her eyes.

If only she had stayed and not run off to the south, they would have been happily married with pups by

now. Suddenly I felt like a placeholder for her.

I began to gather myself. I prepared myself mentally to walk away from the hall. She approached our

table and smiled at Sylvester.

“Sylvester,” She said with a breathy voice ignoring me.

Tears were falling down her face. People were staring at us, and then someone made a loud noise that

took people’s attention from us.

I looked in the direction of the sound, and it was Leo.

He was talking to someone at the top of his voice.

I saw him, and I could see that he knew.

Leo did what he did to help me save face because everyone was looking at Sylvester and Susan

before Leo diverted their attention to himself.

I looked back at Susan and Sylvester, and she smiled at him.

I did not know what to say, but I was getting ready to leave the place.

“Sylvester,” She said again, staring at him in disbelief.

She ignored me completely as if I wasn’t there, and I could not blame her. How could she acknowledge

her placeholder? She had returned to take her man, and it seemed I would have no choice but to let

him

go.

I heard low growls coming from Sylvester, and his breathing was a bit laboured. He did not want to

breathe her scent.

I looked at him, and I could see him battling Knight, and I knew fate had done it again.

What did I do to deserve this?

It was alright that it happened to me once, but not three times.

Finding a fated in my world was rare, but it seemed to be a curse that followed me everywhere. Only

three people found their fated in the Mountain pack, and Leo was among the three. In Avery’s Pack,

only Max found his fated. Likewise, Linda’s pack.

Why did a rare thing have to happen to me three times? 2

I fought my tears and tried to be strong through the humiliation that was about to happen to me.

Pamela’s words ran through my mind, and I was ashamed of myself.

I had told Sylvester it wouldn’t be easy, and he had disputed it and called Leo weak. I could see him

doing the same thing Leo did.

“Susan,” he said, and she smiled at him.

My heart broke because he called her name and not mine. He did not look at me. He kept staring at

her.

I guess that was my cue to leave.

I stood up gently and was about to walk away when Sylvester held my hand firmly.

He stood up and continued to stare at Susan.

Why did he want me to witness this painful event? I wanted to run away. I wanted to leave and go and

hide. There was no way I would remain with him and his fated. This was my time to leave.

7/5

“If I had known, I wouldn’t have left,” Susan said, tears spilling down her eyes.

Sylvester did not reply. He was staring at her, and I could feel the conflict between him and his wolf.

“Thank goddess you are..” She said.

“Unmarried?” He said, completing her sentence, and she nodded.

I tried to get away, but he held me still. I tried to wiggle my hand away from his. My tears were

threatening to spill, and I was crumbling inside, but he locked his hand on my wrist, stopping me from

leaving.

“Well, you are wrong. I have someone I love, and we will be getting married soon,” he said, and Susan

looked at me, a bit surprised.

“But we are fated,” She said with surprise and confusion. Thinking Fate was a strong reason for him to

dump everything and be with her.

“I do not care about such things,” he replied.

“Glenda said you were planning to find me and bring me back so I can be your Luna. Now fate has

made it that we are fated,” She started, and he cut in.

“Your cousin lied to you. I have someone I love very much, Susan,” he said, and I was battling tears.

I doubted he would want to risk being weak because of me.

A war was brewing, and he had to be at his strongest. This was not a good situation.

“Sylvester, I won’t be mad,” I linked him, resigning myself to my fate, and he squeezed my wrist. His

hand was shaking. It was difficult for him to resist her. It would be so because they were once in love.

The bond would amplify their buried emotion.

“You shouldn’t have come here, Susan; you should have stayed away like my mother warned you to,”

He said, and she began to weep. 3.

“I still love you. I never got over you, Sylvester. I regret leaving and always dreamed of returning, but I

was too afraid of what would happen if I did. Please, Sylvester. We are meant for each other. My heart

still beats for you the same. Please. I did not leave you intentionally; I wasn’t given a choice, please.

We can make this work. We are destined to be together,” She argued, and he shook his head.

“Let us talk about this in private without interference. Please.” She pleaded for privacy because she

knew she could get the best of him that way.

“Just you and I,” She said, and her eyes looked at his hand on my wrist. There was a rage in them, but

she hid it immediately.

She was fighting to control herself. I could see it, and to her, I was an obstacle.

“Let us find a private place to talk things through, away from the crowd,” She pleaded, and I knew when

she said crowd, she meant me.

“Fate had put us together like we always wanted when we were younger,” She said with tears in her

eyes.

“I make my own destiny, Susan,” He said to her and looked at her.

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“I, Sylvester Volkov…” he started, and I could not believe what he was about to do.

“Wait, do not do this. It will weaken our wolves. You are lord; Knight can’t be weakened. I do not mind

sharing you with her. It is a price I am willing to pay for letting them force me to leave you, but please

don’t. I will do anything to be with you and remain yours. Please reconsider.” Susan said, then looked

at me with tears streaming down her cheeks. By then, everyone was concentrating on us again. Leo’s

diversion had ended.

“Don’t be selfish; stop him. It will be your fault if he does this, it weakens his wolf, and the north falls.”

She said to me, and I wanted to punch her at that moment. How dare she put it on me?

“Shut up!” Sylvester told her, and everyone was silent. We were now the centre of attention.

“You are not to speak to my mate in that tone ever!” he warned her and continued his sentence.

“I, Sylvester Volkov, reject you, Susan Sullivan, as my fated mate now and forever. May fate find you

another match,” He said, staggered, and sat down. 7

She fell on her knees in pain, and I knew the deed had been done.

I watched Sylvester battle with his pain, and my tears finally fell, but instead of it falling from pain, they

fell from relief.

Sylvester was indeed telling the truth when he made those promises.

I doubt I can ever pay him for the gift of love he gave me.

“Let us go, Sylvester. You need to rest,” I linked him, and he stood up, leaving Susan writhing in pain

on the floor.

Sylvester was in severe pain, too, but he was masking it, which was why I needed to get him out of the

hall so no one would see his pain.

People came to Susan’s aid.

Sylvester and I left the hall together, and I realised that even though the architect of my misfortune tried

to play the same situation twice, I was favoured this time. 1

Sylvester did not even leave room for conversation between himself and Susan. It should have been

more difficult for him because they had a history. 3

Leo was indeed a weak man, and I was glad I ended up with Sylvester.

We got to our bedroom with much difficulty because of the pain Sylvester was experiencing.

Though he masked it through the hall, it became visible in our wing as his wolf groaned in pain.

It made me wonder why I felt no pain with Devin.

I quickly undressed and undressed him.

Then I held him in bed to sleep it off. He had just weakened his wolf tremendously for my sake. I had

great respect for him.

“I love you so much,” I said, even though I doubted he could hear me.

I began to cry tears of relief.

“Thank you, Sylvester, for not breaking my heart,” I said, weeping.

I was afraid it would be like Leo.

I was ready to leave and run away.

“I love you so much. I promise to remain by your side. I promise to balance your strength and do

everything to make you happy. I love you so much.” I said and held on to him tightly.

Fate did not give him to me. We chose ourselves, and it was a great match of love, trust, determination

and promise.