Chapter 17
I could run, and I could hide. But there was no escaping a broken heart. And that’s exactly what I felt right then, a pain so deep it stole my breath. It wasn’t loud enough for everyone to truly hear, but I felt every single second of it. It tore apart the tiny bit of hope I had left inside me.
I didn’t need to understand the words she was saying. I felt it. I saw it. In his eyes. In her eyes. Maybe he had never cared about me, never truly loved me. And that, I thought, I could live with. But he slept with her.
And she, my sister, not by blood but by every other tie that mattered, because we shared the same parents, announced it so easily, right in front of
- me.
Everyone around could hear it, because werewolves have sharp hearing. I didn’t dare look back at anyone. The shame was already a burning fire inside me. My face felt hot, and my stomach churned.
I just left the Pack House. I walked out with my head held high, even though my soul, every piece of my heart, was sinking in pain and humiliation.
As I passed Alpha Sander by the door, I looked up at him. I didn’t need to say anything. I hoped he finally understood the message my heart was screaming. After all, he put me down and insulted me, perhaps now he would just understand.
I couldn’t run away. My father was somewhere near, and I had to stay. I wished I had a wolf inside me, a partner to share this heavy sorrow with, but the Moon Goddess hadn’t given me one. So I had to suffer alone, in silence. There was no one here I could talk to, no one who would truly understand.
I kept walking away, but the pain wasn’t external. It was inside me. No matter how far I went, it still hurt.
After a while, I felt someone following me. I tried to ignore it, to pretend I was
Chapter 17
+25 Points
alone. But soon, they caught up. I was shaking, my whole body trembling, until I felt arms wrap around me. They were warm, comforting.
It was Wendy Astor’s mother.
I wanted to stop crying. Wendy had always told me never to show people my weaknesses. And that’s exactly what I was doing. But the humiliation, the
pain, was just too much to hold back.
I pulled back from her.
“I’m sorry,” I choked out, my voice raw. “I just needed a moment.”
She gave me a weak, pitying smile. “We both know you needed more than
just a moment, child. And you have every right.”
I should feel better, knowing they finally understood why I ran away. I don’t
belong here. My mate, the man chosen for me, wanted my sister, not me.
“I can imagine how you must be feeling,” Wendy said gently with her hand resting on my arm. But she couldn’t. She would never understand. She had a mate who loved her, who would do anything for her.
“I just need to know where my dad is,” I pleaded with desperation in my voice. “I just want to go. I don’t want to be here. What do I have to do to convince you all to just let me go and live my life? Your son has proven he doesn’t want me.” My voice was rising, a desperate plea. “And it’s not his fault. You made this decision for us. You caused all of this pain.”
Tears streamed down my face again, hot and heavy. “So now I’m begging you. Just let me go. Talk to your son and your mate. Set me free. You have the daughter–in–law you always wanted now. We can pretend, Wendy. We can pretend you cared about me. But the truth is, you only helped me become Luna because you had no other choice. You’ve never liked me, and I don’t want you to like me anymore. I just want to leave. I promise, I’ll never bother you again. And you can finally have Alice, the girl you always wanted for your
Chapter 17
son.”
*25 Pamts
Wendy has never been truly bad to me. But she had also shown me, over and over, that she didn’t like me. Why was she here now, comforting me? Maybe she wasn’t. Maybe she was here to rub salt in the wound. This was her perfect chance to finally get the person she wanted for her son.
Wendy’s features hardened. Her pitying smile vanished.
“You don’t just retire or resign from being someone’s mate, or a Luna. The Moon Goddess chose you.” Her voice was suddenly cold, sharp. “And I’m sorry if I had a hard time accepting you, but respect is earned, not given.”
My breath hitched, and the comforting arms, the soft words, were gone.
“I’m not sure why you expected everyone to wait around for you,” she continued, her gaze firm and unyielding, “while you did whatever you wanted. These are the consequences of your actions. If you hadn’t run away, your mate would have never looked anywhere else.”
Her words hit me like a physical blow. It was unbelievable, especially coming from another woman. She looked at me with no sympathy at all.
“What you’re going to do right now,” Wendy said, her voice dropping to a low, dangerous tone, “is put a smile on your face. You’re going to stand next to your mate as the Luna. And you are going to earn the respect of everyone in this pack. It will be ten times harder now that you decided to run away. But I’m sure you will be able to fix it.”
I stared at her, my mouth open slightly. Fix it? How could I fix this? Fix what my mate and sister had done? Fix the humiliation?
Wendy stepped closer, her eyes boring into mine, chilling me to the bone.
“Because if you don’t,” she whispered, so low that even with my heightened werewolf hearing, only I could truly catch it, “then not only will you lose
everything, but your father will pay the price for your selfishness. And I
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assure you, it will be a price he cannot afford.”
My blood ran cold. My father. She wouldn’t… Could she?
The unspoken threat hung heavy in the air, a chilling promise that shattered any remaining hope of escape.
I was trapped.
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