Cursed Love (The Vallaverse)

34. Koa

Koa

The evening starts out quiet, almost normal if anything I do with Amel can be considered normal. We’re wandering through the high-end stores in the city center, Amel guiding me with his hand lightly pressed against my lower back, his voice a smooth rumble as he explains why each piece of clothing will suit me. I don’t even argue. I don’t have the energy to fight him on it—not when he’s so determined to pamper me.

“You don’t have to go overboard,” I mutter, glancing at the price tags on the racks and cringing. “I have stuff at home.”

Amel arches a brow at me, his lips twitching into that half-smile that makes me want to kiss it off his face. “Sweet girl, you’re a part of our pack now. You deserve to walk into the office looking and feeling like the queen you are. Besides, I’m not just buying business clothes. We’re getting you a full nest. One you can be proud of.”

I stop short, turning to look at him fully. “What’s wrong with pillow A and pillow B?” I ask, trying to keep the laughter out of my voice.

He groans dramatically, running a hand down his face. “I love pillow A and pillow B, but they’re not exactly screaming luxury.”

I burst out laughing, the sound surprising even me. It feels good to laugh like this, even if only for a moment. Amel’s smile softens as he watches me, his hand sliding from my back to my hip, tugging me closer.

We end up in the back of one of the stores, tucked away in a private fitting room. I don’t even know how it happens, but one minute we’re talking about fabric textures, and the next his lips are on mine, his hands gripping my waist as he presses me against the wall. His scent wraps around me, rich and intoxicating, and I sink into him, forgetting everything else.

That is, until someone clears their throat.

I freeze, my heart dropping into my stomach as I pull back, my eyes darting to the source of the sound. Damien. Of course, it’s Damien, standing there with two of his Alpha friends—the same ones who were there that night. The night that changed everything.

My blood turns to ice as they step closer, Damien’s laugh echoing through the space. “Oh, so you’re too important now to call your own family back?” he sneers, his gaze raking over me like I’m something he owns. “You’ve got these mutts pampering you, so now you think you’re better than us?”

I want to shrink back, to run, but Amel’s presence at my side keeps me rooted. I straighten my shoulders, even though I’m shaking so hard I can feel my knees wobbling. “I didn’t think you’d care,” I say, my voice trembling but steady enough. “You’ve always made it clear what I’m worth to you.”

Damien’s smile turns cruel as he takes another step forward. “They’ll drop you,” he says, his voice venomous. “When they realize they want kids and you can’t give them any, they’ll throw you out like yesterday’s trash.”

My nails dig into my palms and I lift my chin, meeting his gaze head-on. “That’s not your concern anymore.” I drag my tongue across my bottom lip, over Amel’s bite, drawing Damien’s attention to it.

“You’re mated?” he sneers, his smirk dripping with disbelief. “Don’t kid yourself, Koa. The Valla haven’t mated you. You think you’re so important? You’re not a perfect Omega. You never were. You think they’d bind themselves to you ? No. They’ve let their Alpha have you, that’s all.”

His words hit their mark, the shame coiling in my stomach like a live wire. My vision blurs, and this time, I can’t stop the tears from spilling over. But with the shame comes something else—pure unfiltered anger.

Damien’s smirk widens when he sees the tears streaming down my face. “Stop thinking you’re so important, Koa. At the end of the day, you’re still worthless. Always have been.”

I snap. “ Who’s fault is that?! ” My voice ricochets off the walls, trembling with fury. Damien’s smile falters for a split second and it’s all the fuel I need to keep going. “You’ve spent years tearing me down, treating me like I’m nothing. You’ve always made sure I knew exactly how worthless you think I am. But you’re wrong.” I’m shaking now, tears streaming freely down my cheeks, but I don’t care. “I’m not worthless. And even if I was, that’s on you ! You’re the one who made me believe it, over and over and over again.”

Damien opens his mouth to say something, but I don’t give him the chance. I turn to Amel, who’s been standing like a silent, deadly shadow at my side, his eyes locked on Damien with a look that promises violence.

“Take me home,” I whisper.

Amel doesn’t hesitate. He steps forward, positioning himself between me and Damien, his hand gently finding the small of my back, even as I feel like I’m falling apart. “We’re done here.”

Damien scoffs, but there’s no mistaking the flash of fear in his eyes when Amel steps closer, his towering frame radiating danger. “You think you can protect her forever?” Damien spits. “You’re nothing but a temporary distraction.”

Amel doesn’t respond. He doesn’t need to. He just wraps his arm around me, guiding me out of the fitting room and away from Damien and his sneering, hateful face. The farther we get, the harder it becomes to keep the sobs at bay, my chest heaving as I try to hold it together.

“Home,” I whisper again, my voice barely audible. “I just want to go home.”

He kisses the top of my head, his voice a gentle promise in my ear. “I’ve got you, sweet girl. Let’s go home.”

The car ride is quiet, suffocatingly so. I stare out the window, watching the city lights blur into streaks of gold and white, my reflection in the glass barely recognizable. Amel’s hand rests on the console between us, close enough to touch but not daring to. He doesn’t push. He just lets the oppressive silence sit there.

Then, finally, his voice breaks through. “Koa,” he starts, his tone full of something I can’t place—hesitation, maybe? Or anger buried beneath the surface. “Was it him? Those Alphas... were they the ones who hurt you?”

My throat tightens, and for a moment, I can’t breathe, let alone speak. I nod, my nails digging into my palms as I force the words out. “I didn’t know who they were at the time,” I whisper, my voice trembling. “It was all... blurry. But little bits are coming back now. Faces, voices... things I thought I’d buried. I only found out recently—years later—that Damien orchestrated everything. He just wanted me to submit. To get mated to someone who’d bring money into the family. I wasn’t... I wasn’t a person to him. I was just... something to sell.” My chest feels like it’s caving in, the words spilling out faster than I can stop them. “And in the end, he ruined me.”

Amel reaches across the console, squeezing my hand in his. “You are not worthless, Koa. You are not ruined. You are not fucking broken. Do you hear me? Koa, I need to know that you hear me.” His gaze darts to me before returning to the street and the pain in his eyes makes me want to fix everything.

Another stream of tears falls down my cheeks as I slowly nod. “I hear you, Amel. I promise, I hear you.” And I do, but it’s not that easy to forget Damien’s words and how they’ve always made me feel.

The moment we pull up to the house, I promise Amel that I’m okay before scurrying off to my bedroom and shutting the door like I always do.

“They’ll drop you... when they realize they want kids... you’re worthless.”

It’s like he’s always there, whispering poison into my ears, no matter how far away I get from him. And it doesn’t matter how much my mates have told me otherwise, how much confidence they’ve given me. It’s all crumbling down now, piece by piece, because of him. I press my face into my hands, biting back the sob that threatens to escape. I hate this. I hate that he still has this power over me. That he can still make me feel like I’m nothing, even after everything.

But most of all, I hate that deep down, part of me still believes him.