CHAPTER 2
1239 Words
CHAPTER 2
Zoey
"What is this?" My voice came out stronger than I expected and Sierra's power leaked into my words.
The blonde woman smiled and slid off the desk. She was beautiful in a sharp way and her emerald eyes gleamed with satisfaction.
"Oh good. I was wondering when we would finally meet properly."
"This is Juliet Whitlock," Eric said as he pulled his pants back on. His tone was casual like he was introducing me to a business partner. "My true mate."
The words hit me like a physical blow and I stumbled back a step. "Your what?"
"My true mate," He repeated slowly like I was stupid. "Our bond was finalized last month when the Greenstone treaty was signed."
"But I am your mate." The words sounded weak even to my own ears.
Eric actually laughed and the sound was cruel. "You were never my mate Zoey. You were a surrogate. A means to an end."
Juliet walked toward me and she did not bother putting clothes on. Her naked body was perfect and model thin. Everything I was not after having a baby.
"Thank you so much for taking care of my daughter while I could not," She said sweetly. "I will take over from here."
My daughter. She just called my daughter hers.
"Olivia is my daughter," I whispered, feeling intense rage seep into my veins.
"Biologically yes," Eric said. "But legally she is my heir and Juliet is my true mate which makes her the rightful Luna. You were essentially a contracted breeder Zoey. Nothing more."
Sierra roared in my head and I felt my claws dig into my palms. Blood dripped onto the floor but I barely felt the pain.
"You marked me. We had a ceremony."
"I marked you," Eric agreed. "But you never marked me back. That makes our bond incomplete and not recognized by wolf law. You were my mistress at best and a nanny at worst."
Juliet tilted her head, studying me like I was an interesting bug.
"Did you really think an Alpha like Eric would choose someone like you as his true mate? You are pretty enough I suppose, but you have no pack lineage, no power and no status. You were convenient because you were fertile and submissive. That is all."
The room spun and I grabbed the doorframe to steady myself. Five years. Five years of believing I was loved and valued and needed.
Five years of suppressing my own needs and my own strength to be the perfect submissive Luna Eric wanted.
And it was all a lie.
"The full moon ceremony," I managed to say. "We were supposed to announce..."
"We will announce my true mate bond with Juliet," Eric interrupted. "The pack needs to know who their real Luna is. You can stay on as Olivia's nanny if you behave, but you will move to the omega quarters by tomorrow."
Something inside me shattered and I felt the pieces fall away like broken glass. My hand moved to my stomach where our second child grew and I realized with dawning horror that Eric did not know.
He could never know because he would take this baby too and give it to Juliet to raise.
"I need to see Olivia," I said.
"Fine," Eric waved his hand dismissively. "Say goodbye tonight because starting tomorrow, Juliet will handle her primary care."
I turned and ran before either of them could see me cry and before my wolf could do something that would get me killed.
Sierra screamed in my mind and her rage matched my own but we had to get to Olivia first.
I burst into my daughter's room and found her playing on the floor with her dolls.
She looked up when I entered and her sweet face broke into a smile.
"Mommy!" She jumped up and ran to hug my legs.
I dropped to my knees and pulled her close, breathing in her scent. She smelled like sunshine and honey and everything good in my life.
"Hi baby," I whispered into her dark hair.
"Look what daddy gave me," Olivia said excitedly. She pulled away and ran to her dresser where several new items sat that I did not recognize.
Expensive perfume and silk scarves and a framed photograph.
My blood turned to ice when I saw the photo.
It was Juliet smiling at the camera and looking perfect and beautiful.
"That is my new mommy," Olivia said proudly. "Daddy says you are like the nice nanny who helped take care of me when mommy was sick. But now mommy is better so she can be here all the time."
The room tilted and I thought I might throw up. "Olivia, I am your mommy. I gave birth to you and I raised you. I love you."
My daughter looked confused and her little face scrunched up. "But daddy said..."
"I know what daddy said." I pulled her close again, trying to memorize everything about this moment because I knew what was coming next.
I could not stay here and raise my unborn child in the omega quarters while watching Juliet take my daughter and my life.
But if I tried to take Olivia with me, Eric would declare me rogue and hunt me down. I had to choose between my children and the choice was tearing me apart.
"I love you so much," I whispered to Olivia. "More than anything in the whole world. Do you understand that?"
She nodded against my shoulder but I could tell she did not really understand.
I kissed her forehead and stood up. My legs felt weak but Sierra gave me strength and pushed me toward the door.
I had to leave now before I changed my mind and before Eric came to take her away from me completely.
"Where are you going mommy?" Olivia asked.
I looked back at her one last time and memorized her face. "I have to go away for a while, baby. But I promise I will come back for you someday."
"When?"
"Soon," I lied.
I left her room and ran through the pack house. Wolves stared at me as I passed, but I did not stop to explain.
I shifted mid run and felt my bones crack and reform as Sierra took over fully for the first time in years.
My white wolf burst through the front doors and into the night. I ran faster than I ever had before, my paws eating up the ground as I fled toward the border.
Behind me I heard Eric's furious howl when he realized I was leaving but I did not stop. I crossed the Storm Forest border and kept running into unknown territory.
My wolf blazed like moonlight under the full moon and power coursed through my veins that I did not know I possessed.
But none of it mattered because I left my heart behind in that pack house and I did not know if I would ever get it back.
Something sharp pierced my paw and I stumbled. The world spun and I realized too late that I crossed into protected territory. Wolfsbane burned through my system and my vision went dark.
The last thing I saw before I collapsed was a massive grey wolf emerging from the shadows with glowing blue eyes that seemed to see straight into my soul.
Then everything went black.
- Writer
