CHAPTER 2
1348 Words
NYRA
I wake up with a throbbing pain in my head.
My eyelids are heavy, my limbs tingle, and my throat is as dry as sand.
I try to move, but my body responds slowly. Something is wrong. Very wrong.
I look down at my body and realize I’m no longer wearing the dress—only my underwear.
I open my eyes slowly, blinking to push away the soft light coming through the bedroom windows.
I feel someone lying beside me.
A body next to mine.
I turn my head and see him.
Cael.
Naked. Asleep. His arm rests across my waist.
No. No.
“No!” I scream, pulling the sheet over my body in panic, stumbling out of bed.
My feet barely touch the floor and I stagger, my stomach turning. My heart races so hard I think it might explode.
This didn’t happen. This can’t have happened.
I don’t remember anything. Nothing.
I hear the doorknob turning, and before I can react, the door opens.
Amber walks in.
She freezes for a second, then covers her mouth, pretending to be shocked.
“Nyra… what are you…?”
“It’s not what you think!” I scream, desperate, covering my body with the sheet. “Please, listen to me!”
I run to her, my bare feet hitting the cold stone floor. But Amber is already turning away, rushing down the hallway.
“Amber, wait!” I plead, chasing after her.
As soon as I cross the doorway, I see him.
Marco.
His gaze hits me like a blow to the stomach. He stops. Stares at me. Then… he sees Cael appearing behind me, also naked.
No. Please, no.
Amber turns to him and says with a broken voice:
“I walked into the room… and I saw it with my own eyes. They were together.”
I turn to Marco, tears streaming down my face.
“Nothing happened! I swear, someone… someone drugged me!” I walk toward him, desperate. I grab his arm. “You have to believe me!”
He looks at me coldly.
“How can I believe a woman who carries another male’s scent?”
I sob. I shrink, but I don’t let go of his arm.
“Marco, please! I don’t remember anything! I would never do this to you!”
“Please! Believe me!”
He steps closer to me, hurt written on his face.
“How could you do this to me? I gave you everything, Nyra. I loved you. I gave you a place in my pack, and this is how you betray me.”
I open my mouth to deny it again, but he pulls away from me with disgust. And then I hear footsteps behind.
My mom.
She stands in the hallway, disappointment in her eyes. She says nothing. Just stares at me like I’m a burden.
“Mom…”
Others start to appear. Stares. Whispers. The scandal spreads like wildfire.
Marco walks down the stairs and gives me one last cruel look:
“I hope Cael was worth it.”
Then he turns and disappears down the hallway.
I collapse to my knees. I cry with my face buried in the sheet. The pain… the shame… it’s unbearable.
Later, I’m taken to another room.
No one says anything. They just close the door behind me. I sit on the floor for hours, curled up, hoping he’ll come in, that he’ll say it was all a mistake.
But time passes. Night falls.
I try to remember what happened, but I still can’t.
Someone knocks on the door.
My mother enters with a white ceremonial dress in her arms.
“Get dressed. The ceremony will happen.”
“He’s still going to mark me? Did Marco believe me, Mom?”
She doesn’t answer or even look at me.
She’s full of the same disdain as before—maybe more—for something I didn’t do.
“Mom, please answer me…”
“Marco asked me to get you ready. Come, we don’t have much time, Nyra.”
My heart fills with hope. He forgave me. Marco forgave me.
The forest is silent beneath the full moon.
Two guards take me to the stone altar between the trees. The torches are lit. Werewolves surround the clearing. Everyone is watching.
Marco stands in front, wearing the alpha’s ceremonial cloak. Tall. Imposing. But he doesn’t look at me.
I climb the altar steps with my heart in my throat. When I stand before him, his eyes finally meet mine.
He raises his voice.
“Tonight is the night of union. The night when an Alpha chooses his mate.”
My chest tightens. I’m trembling. He’s going to choose me. He has to choose me.
“But I cannot bond my soul to someone who is unworthy.”
What?
My vision darkens. I don’t understand.
“Nyra Hale, I reject our union. You are not worthy of being my mate.”
My knees buckle. I stare at him, shocked.
“No… no, please! Marco!” I kneel before him. “You have to listen to me, please! I love you!”
He doesn’t move. The guards grab my arms.
Then Amber climbs the altar. She’s wearing a golden dress. She smiles, triumphant.
Marco takes her hand and says:
“I choose Amber Hale Blackmoor as my mate. For the good of the pack. For honor. And not a traitor.”
Amber smiles at me.
And he marks her.
Right there. In front of me.
I can’t look away from the scene before me.
The man I love is marking another woman. My sister.
But the way Amber looks at me when she kisses Marco makes me realize she was never the person I believed she was. She betrayed me. She used me to become his mate.
“Marco, look at me…” I whisper, but he doesn’t.
I’m taken back to the mansion. My mother waits for me in the room. She’s holding a cup of hot tea.
“Drink. It’ll calm you.”
“I don’t want it.”
“Stop being stubborn and drink it, Nyra. You’re shaking.”
I obey, sobbing.
I look at the tea, hearing the scolding tone in her voice.
“Do you have any idea what you did today? Do you have any idea what you just lost? Marco is the most powerful alpha and you destroyed that!”
“I didn’t do anything!”
She looks at me, shaking her head.
“You were caught in bed with another man, and you expect everyone to believe that’s a lie, Nyra?”
“I didn’t do anything, I didn’t do anything…”
“You didn’t do anything? Your sister saw you with Cael!”
“She’s lying, none of that happened. It’s not true.”
“You’re blaming your sister for your betrayal? Amber always took care of you, Nyra.”
“Why are you like this with me? Why have you always treated me so differently from her?” I ask, my eyes full of tears.
“Don’t say nonsense!”
“It’s true. I’m your daughter too, Mom…”
“Be quiet and drink the tea, and then we’ll try to fix your mess.”
Arguing with her about never showing me love and care isn’t worth it now.
I sit on the bed and drink the tea. It tastes bitter.
Minutes later, my head spins. I feel dizzy. Weak.
“Mom… what are you doing?”
She sits beside me and strokes my hair, helping me lie down.
“You’re too weak, Nyra. Amber is better for him. Better for everyone.”
“Mom… please…”
“You’re not my daughter. A girl this weak can’t be my daughter.”
And I widen my eyes when I see her hand.
“No…”
I feel something cold press against my neck.
“No… no…”
The needle enters. My muscles give out. Tears fall as my vision darkens.
“Mom… no…”
“Shh… sleep, Nyra.”
Everything goes black.
- Writer
