The Rejected One

Confessions And Judgement

Naveah's POV

It has been a couple of days since the sleepover and I was enjoying every bit of the calm life I was finally living. It was very weird to wake up every day and not be forced to cook or clean the house.  It was weird to not get beaten for not wanted to do something. I still found myself flinching every time someone brought their hand close to my face or head.

I was hanging out by their pool which had a built in heater system that lit up at night. I was wearing my one-piece bathing suit It was all white and was all lacy material with a lot of ties. I tried hard not to be insecure in this bathing suit but I didn't have a lot of muscle so I looked really bony in it.

I was relaxing when Julian Entered the backyard and snaked his arms around the seat I was sitting in and over my shoulders. The sparks were starting to get intense between us and My wolf was starting to get antsy about mating. However, she wouldn't push me into mating because she knew that if I did the strengthening bond going on overdrive would be enough to kill me for good. 

My body was still weak from my torture but my ribs were starting to disappear under the new fat I got in my stomach. My arms too had a little bit of fat growing on it and Julian was really taking care of me. I even went to the doctor yesterday and she said that I could now start eating solids for the first time in my life. I even had chicken nuggets for the first time and I had mac and cheese and they were so good. 

I remember Julian's face of joy as I ate my first bit. I must have had a childlike face of enjoyment and surprise as the flavor hit my mouth causing me to moan in delight. I truly didn't know What I had been missing all those years I hadn't had a proper meal. I didn't know how bad I had had it. My stomach didn't ache anymore because I didn't have anything to eat for the last few days hoping I would be fed.

"My parents want us to meet them in the back room for a meeting with the pack. so you need to get dressed. Okay, sweetheart?" He said In a sweet tone that had me agreeing with him. As per my request, he had not Marked me and I was starting to trust him more.

"Okay. What are we doing there?" I asked because it was big to have more than one pack meeting a week. I wasn't able to attend any pack meetings due to the fact that Julian didn't want me to go. He said he just wanted me to rest and get better. So him wanting me at this meeting was big.

"You have ten minutes to be ready beautiful."He said as he walked right back into the house.

I got up and put my bathing suit cover over my body and slipped in my white flip flops and walked into the house right after Julian. I quickly made my way to my bedroom and changed into a yellow hoop skirt and a white long-sleeved top the has a lace-like look to it. I topped it off with white heels and I ran my fingers through my hair to fix it a little.  

I ran downstairs where Julian was waiting with a grin on his face. He looked like a prince in my Green eyes and he slowly approached me extending his arm out for me to take. I happily took it as I hooked my arm under his. The way he held me sent chills down my spine but not the bad kind. During the last week and a half, he had been so good to me and he had been so patient. It really gave me a whole new perspective of him that I didn't get to see at school.

Speaking of I had started to go back to school and I was so nervous on my first day back but everyone was so nice to me. They had all heard about what happened and everything that I had been through. The teachers felt so bad for not seeing the signs of abuse that they excused my absents and I wouldn't be held responsible for work missed during the month I was in my coma. I was even starting to make friends at school too.

My brothers were nice to me at school but the guilt was clearly eating away at them. Spencer would talk to me in the halls and even came over yesterday to hang out with me before I went to the doctor and as much as I hate to admit it, he and I had a really good time. Axel was the one who didn't want to come over out of fear that he wasn't welcome. He was still punishing himself for not being there for me during my abuse and he was beating himself up. From what Spencer told me, He would only come out of his room for food and school that's it. He did talk to me in the halls but I guess the shame of his actions made it hard for him to try to speak to me. 

As Julian and I made it to the auditorium the loud chatter could be heard. It all stopped once Julian and I entered the room. I could feel all eyes staring at me as we made our way to the stage. I could hear the sound of my heartbeat through my chest as we took our seats in the last two chairs on stage. The rest was taken up by the alpha, delta, and gamma family so there were quite a few people on stage. It was custom to show off the high ranks family to the whole pack during pack meetings. Everyone went even quieter as alpha Callen spoke through the mic to everyone.

" Hello, Dust Rose Pack we are gathered here to deliver justice to a fellow packmate." He said as the pack erupted into whispers. everyone wanted to know what happened and who was being punished.

"It has come to my attention the or very own Neveah Carmikeal was being abused by our betas Mr. and Mrs. Carmikeal for ten years right under our nose." He paused again as everyone's eyes landed on me. It wasn't hard to notice that I was still way too skinny to have eaten properly. I got many eyes of pity and many eyes of disbelief as more whispers spread around the room.

"We gather here for Neveah to tell her story and for justice to be served. Neveah will you come up to the mic?" He asked as I stood up on shaky legs scared of the crowd before me. Callen stopped me to whisper into my ear.

"Don't be scared, my child. you see the woman right in the front with the green shirt?"He asked as I nodded my head.

"She is gonna ask you some questions and you will need to answer them as honestly as possible. Just pretend you and she is the only people in the room. the council members are the other eight people in front and they also need to hear this so that way there is proof of the whole thing."He said working his best to calm my nerves.

"Can Julian come up with me he helps me keep calm?" I asked and he nodded his head. He quickly beckoned Julian and Julian was at my side holding my hand.

"You got this baby I am going to be right here. Right by your side." Julian said as his hold on my hand tightened a little bit. We walked up to the podium and I looked out to all my pack mates. The woman in the green shirt had a very serious look on her face and it kind of gave me shivers.

"Hi fellow pack mate my Name is Neveah Carmikeal and I am here to talk about my parents," I said feeling very awkward as I was not the best public speaker.

"Hi Neveah my name is Hazel and I am here to ask you a few questions about your parent so just answer them as honestly as you can. Can you do that for me?" She asked as she gave me a warm smile.

"Yes, I can," I said wanting to cower in my mate's arms but I knew I needed to look strong in front of my pack as I would be there future luna and I needed to be strong.

"Okay first question why are we here today?" she asked getting ready to jot down what I said on a notepad.

"We are here today because My parents are being punished for torturing me and abusing me for ten years," I said as the anger and fear of what they did to me crept up into me.

"How was your treatment in your home for the ten years you were in the Carmikeal residence?" she asked and it was like I could tell her anything. I took a deep breath as I prepared to vent the last ten years of my life to this woman.

"My parents first started out by telling my brothers to disown me as their sister when I turned five. Even when I was four I could remember that My mom didn't really love me. The beatings really didn't start until I was six. When I was five my parents would yell at me all the time for the smallest things I did wrong. They forced me to be their slave at the age of seven right after I shifted into my wolf. The beatings got worse after that with sometimes ripping my hair out to me ending up with broken bones. They never once showed me love nor did they show any type of regret for how they treated me. They would chain me up in their basement and beat me with a whip the had silver embedded into the threading. sometimes they would inject wolfsbane into me to make the beating worse and it would take weeks for me to heal." I paused to wipe my eyes of the tears that fell down my face at that moment.

"They only let me eat once or twice a week if I was lucky as they didn't think it right to make sure I was properly fed. The three items of clothes I had I had to steal because they said I didn't deserve to have clothes at all. I only got to take clod shower and they could only last three to five minutes. They didn't even teach me about puberty and how to take care of myself. I had to teach myself all about this stuff by going to the library, which I was eventually banned from going to three years ago." I said as my eyes became a waterfall of tears. I heard a few sniffles in the audience and a lot of whispers as my truths came to light. No one knew how bad it really was, so I guess they were shocked.

"When I was rejected by my mate in the halls at school something in me broke and I tried to kill myself. I really felt like no one cared about me and that I was going to be alone and unloved my whole life and it almost worked if my mate hadn't found me at the bottom of the cliff that night. I was at the lowest point in my life that night."I said my breath heaving from the sobs that were threatening to escape my body. Julian held me tightly to help me not break down as I was again reliving my whole life all over.

"You poor child you have been through hell and back and yet you are standing here alive. is that your mate right beside you?" she asked with watery eyes.

"Yes, he is. I chose to forgive him for my wolf's sake because she needs her mate but I made clear rules for him to follow if he wants to keep me." I said with shaken confidence in my voice.

"Now for my last question. Why did they put you through all of this torture your whole life?" She asked waiting for my answer.

"They wanted to keep me weak so I wouldn't overthrow the pack at least that's what they said. I now know that it's because I am the true daughter of the moon goddess sent here to fight in a war coming up. You see while I was in my coma She came to me and told me that I was her blood and that she was livid about how I was treated here on earth. I had to plead with her that her creations could be saved. I also begged her to take me with her but she needs me here. She was also the one to convinced me to forgive my mate because I would need him for the coming war." I said shaking a little bit as Julian let out a gasp of shock. I hadn't yet told him the real reason why I forgave him. He also didn't know that last bit of information I had given the whole pack so he was shocked.

"So the prophecy was true? The Goddess would send her pearl to the earth the save the millions." a council member said with a look of astonishment.

"Thank you for telling us your story we are done with you for now," she said as I turned to go sit back in my seat.

"Bring out the Carmikeal's please." the woman said with slight anger laced in her tone.

My "Parents" were brought out in chains and they looked like they hadn't had a shower in days. They looked around and when their eyes met mine they held a look of anger and disgust. They looked like they wanted to kill me right there at that moment. Once they were in front of Hazel she began her questioning.

"Do you know why you are her Mr. and Mrs. Carmikeal?" she asked in a rhetorical way.

"Is it because of our w***e of a mistake?" My birth giver said anger in her voice.

"she is not a w***e for one and yes that is the reason you are here today. You have been charged with a very serious crime but before we pass judgment we want to hear both sides." Hazel said with a look of disdain on her face.

"Now Mrs. Carmikeal what was your reason for abusing such a kind and innocent girl?" she asked with passion in her voice.

"Because we never wanted a girl and When The moon goddess came to me in my dream and told me that I was giving birth to her spawn I wanted to get an abortion. Girls can't carry on the family name and they can't be anything more than a baby-making machine. She is worthless and I had to weaken her or she would have overthrown the alpha in this pack. she would have overthrown every alpha in every pack." My birth giver said with no remorse in her voice.

"Mr. Carmikeal do you share in your wife's opinion?" Hazel asked my sperm donor more anger in her voice.

"Yes, I do. Whatever my mate wants she gets and she never wanted a daughter. When we went to get her abortion it didn't take. It was like there was magic protecting her. so we were sent home. She is nothing but a stain on my family and We should have killed her when she was born." He said causing my heart to break. 

How could they say they about me right in front of me? Did I mean so little to them that they hated me? Julian wrapped his arms around me and rubbed circles around my upper arm and a soothing motion and it kind of worked as the sparks danced around my flesh.

"For your crimes against the goddess and the abuse of your packmate you are hereby sentenced to death and your punishment? Your execution will be given to you by your so-called"Mistake" you will await punishment in the council prison while Neveah gets in better shape." He said as My "Parents were dragged off kicking screaming profanities at me until I could no longer hear them. 

Hazel leaped on stage and wrapped her arms around me apologizing profusely about what she made me relive. I told her that I was all right and that it was just hard but that I would be okay as long as my mate was with me. The auditorium was quickly evacuated for a brief intermission so people could unpack what was just said. Some of the girls from the school in my pack came up to me and gave me a hug and apologized about how they thought I was weird. 

They had never known just what my life was like. They just assumed I was being weird because of how I would peep behind a corner to make sure I was safe. To make sure I wouldn't get hurt. The whole pack now knew the reason why I acted the way I did and they all felt bad about how they treated me. But the damage was already done the only way past this was the moving forward and not make the same mistake again.