Chapter 6
1458 Words
By morning, Lila had learned that a pack could turn against someone without ever saying the words aloud.
The moment she stepped onto the main path, conversations stopped around her. Wolves who had known her for years suddenly found reasons to look away, while others stared openly before whispering behind their hands. No one confronted her directly, but she could feel the change in every glance.
Lila kept walking.
She had already survived the forest.
She could survive a few whispers.
At the market, an older wolf moved her basket aside before Lila could reach the stall. “Sorry. Someone else was here first.”
Lila looked at the empty space in front of her. “There was no one.”
The woman avoided her eyes. “I said someone was here.”
Lila didn't argue.
She moved to another stall, only to find two young women standing shoulder to shoulder across the narrow path. One of them leaned against the other, laughing loudly as Lila approached.
“Oh, don't move,” the girl said. “We're talking.”
“You've been standing there for five minutes.”
“And now we're still talking.”
Lila stared at her.
The girl smiled sweetly. “What? You're not the Alpha's Mate anymore. You don't get to push everyone around.”
A few people nearby laughed.
Lila's fingers tightened around the small bag in her hand, but she forced herself to keep moving.
She had expected cruelty after the rejection.
She hadn't expected people to enjoy it.
By noon, the rumors had multiplied.
Some said Kael had rejected Lila because her wolf was unstable. Others claimed she had known the bond would fail and had deliberately thrown herself at him in front of the entire pack to gain sympathy. Someone even said she had been secretly seeing another wolf before the ceremony.
Lila heard that one near the healer's house.
She stopped.
“Who said that?”
The two women talking beside the doorway went silent.
One of them shrugged. “It's just a rumor.”
“A rumor about me.”
“We didn't start it.”
“Then who did?”
Neither answered.
Lila looked at their faces, waiting.
Finally, one woman muttered, “You'll see.”
Lila frowned.
“See what?”
The woman walked away.
A cold feeling settled in Lila's stomach.
She returned to her cottage, but the uneasy feeling followed her all the way home. She tried to dismiss it, telling herself the pack would eventually grow bored, yet something about the rumors felt deliberate.
They weren't random.
They all pointed in the same direction.
Lila was weak.
Lila had embarrassed the Alpha.
Lila had been rejected because something was wrong with her.
And now Lila was supposedly unfaithful.
She sat beside the window and stared at the road.
Her wolf shifted restlessly.
Someone wants them to hate us.
Lila's expression hardened.
“I know.”
A few minutes later, she heard shouting outside.
Not laughter this time.
Shouting.
Lila opened the door.
A crowd had gathered around the pack's central bulletin board.
Someone was standing on a wooden crate, calling people over.
“You need to see this!”
Lila's stomach dropped.
She walked toward the crowd.
The closer she got, the quieter the voices became.
People turned to look at her.
Then someone stepped aside.
Lila saw the board.
A photograph had been pinned directly in the center.
Her blood ran cold.
It showed Lila standing beside a young male wolf near the edge of the forest. His hand was on her waist, and her face was turned toward him.
The picture looked real.
Too real.
Below it was a handwritten accusation.
LILA BLACKWOOD — UNFAITHFUL BEFORE THE MATE BOND.
For several seconds, Lila couldn't move.
“That isn't real.”
No one answered.
She stepped closer.
“I don't know him.”
Someone behind her laughed.
“Of course you don't.”
Lila turned sharply.
A group of young wolves stood together, watching her with open amusement.
One of them folded his arms. “So the Alpha rejected you, and now we know why.”
“You're lying.”
“Then explain the picture.”
“I don't have to explain a fake photograph.”
“Fake?”
The speaker pointed at the board. “Your face is right there.”
Lila looked again.
Her face.
Her dress.
The forest.
The male beside her.
Everything had been arranged carefully enough to make her doubt her own eyes.
But she knew that scene had never happened.
“I was never with him.”
A voice from the crowd answered, “Then why does it look so convincing?”
Lila's throat tightened.
Because whoever had made it knew exactly what they were doing.
The crowd grew larger.
Someone whispered, “Maybe Kael knew about this.”
Another voice answered, “That's probably why he rejected her.”
Lila's heart slammed against her ribs.
“No.”
She stepped toward the board.
“Kael didn't reject me because of this.”
“You don't know that.”
“I do.”
“Then why did he call you weak?”
The question silenced her.
A few people laughed.
Lila felt heat rush into her face, but she refused to lower her head.
The same wolf pointed at the photograph. “You wanted everyone to believe you were the perfect Mate. Looks like you were lying to the whole pack.”
“I wasn't.”
“Then prove it.”
Lila stared at him.
“How?”
He shrugged. “That's your problem.”
More laughter followed.
Her hands trembled.
She wanted to tear the photograph down, but something stopped her. If she ripped it apart, they would say she had destroyed evidence. If she argued, they would call her defensive. If she walked away, they would say she couldn't face the truth.
There was no answer they would accept.
Then a familiar voice came from behind the crowd.
“What's happening?”
Lila's body went rigid.
Kael.
The crowd immediately parted.
He walked toward the bulletin board, his expression darkening when he saw the photograph.
Lila looked at him.
For one desperate second, she thought he might defend her.
He had to know this was false.
He had known her since childhood.
He knew what she was like.
He knew she would never—
Kael's gaze moved from the photograph to Lila.
His expression remained unreadable.
“Is this true?”
Lila stared at him.
The question hurt more than the photograph.
“You're asking me that?”
“I asked you a question.”
“You know me.”
Kael's jaw tightened.
“Answer it.”
“No.”
Her voice shook, but she didn't look away.
“No, it isn't true.”
The crowd waited.
Kael looked at the photograph again.
Lila watched his face, searching for the smallest sign of trust.
She found none.
Instead, he said, “Then you should have no trouble proving it.”
Something inside her broke again.
“You don't believe me.”
“I didn't say that.”
“You didn't have to.”
Kael's eyes hardened.
“Lila, don't make this about your feelings.”
A stunned silence fell over the crowd.
She stared at him.
“My feelings?”
He took a breath.
“You're already causing enough trouble.”
The words hit her like a slap.
Lila looked around.
Every face was watching her.
Some were curious.
Some were amused.
Some were waiting for her to cry.
She wouldn't give them that.
She stepped closer to the bulletin board and pulled the photograph down.
The paper tore beneath her fingers.
Gasps rose from the crowd.
“Look at that,” someone whispered. “She's destroying the evidence.”
Lila turned.
“Believe whatever you want.”
Her voice was quiet now.
“But I know the truth.”
She dropped the torn photograph to the ground.
Then she looked directly at Kael.
“And one day, you'll know it too.”
For the first time, something flickered across his face.
Lila didn't wait to understand what it meant.
She pushed through the crowd and walked away.
Behind her, the whispers started again.
But this time, she didn't slow down.
She had spent too long trying to make people believe she was worthy of being loved.
She was done.
What she didn't know was that, among the crowd, one person was watching the torn photograph with a satisfied smile.
Selene quietly bent down and picked up one of the pieces.
Her fingers closed around it.
And she whispered under her breath, “Let's see how long you can keep pretending you're innocent.”
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