CLAIMED BY THE LYCAN

Episode 6

BANISHED

LIZA'S POV

Amidst a crowd of baffled werewolves I stood, worried that my long-kept secret for years was finally about to catch up with me.

"What do you mean by cursed?" Lycan Ryder asked Mr. Alfred as he slowly removed his hands that were embedded within Mr. Alfred's chest cavity where his heart laid rest. Then he put him on the floor gently to hear him out. Mr. Alfred gasped for air as his healing process began momentarily. Then he spoke.

"When I first saw Liza, she was thirteen years old. I had picked an interest in her but she was too young so I waited. She was a rogue Omega and not many people were fond of her. So, I reduced the way I bonded with her. I showed her hatred beyond measure. I thought that would make the feelings I had for her disappear but it didn't" He explained.

"I don't care about all those, innkeeper. How do you know that she's bloody cursed?" Lycan Ryder asked sternly.

"I'm getting there, my Lord. One day I went to her room. She had just had her bath and I wasn't aware so I went in" He continued.

"Lycan Ryder, please ask him why he went into my room without knocking" I emphasized out loud.

"I provided that room for every of my employees, so, obviously I don't need to knock" Mr. Alfred retorted.

"Allow the man to finish his narration" Gamma Julian demanded sternly.

"Enough! You may continue, innkeeper" Lycan Ryder declared.

"I went in and I stumbled upon her naked body" Mr. Alfred explained and immediately, the Lycan Ryder ran his claws against his face in annoyance.

"Go on" he said with a smirk on his face, obviously glad that he had left a scar on Mr. Alfred who held his face in pain. He had already been through enough.

"I knew it. Since I took Liza in, I knew because she'd caused me inexplicable pain. I saw a mark behind her neck. It resembled the ones in the stories my mother told, about the cursed pack. I thought it was a myth told to get children to do as they were told so I let it slide. Until things started getting bad for me, so I stopped involving her in major events that happened at the inn. I would have reported this to the council a long time ago, but it was because of the love I had for her that I managed to keep this secret to myself. That's no more now. I will not die in place of a cursed rogue" Mr. Alfred explained. I didn't want anyone to be able to read me, so they wouldn't tell whether he was lying or not.

"And this isn't a story made up by you to spare your life?" Lycan Ryder asked sternly.

"Check the mark behind her neck, Lycan Ryder. If it's there then he's telling the truth. If it isn't...then it's off with his head" Gamma Julian proposed. It was then I knew that I was in a pickle. The mark was indeed there and it would mean that Mr. Alfred was telling the truth.

Lycan Ryder then summoned a seer from the elders to check behind my neck for confirmation. I didn't resist when she came up to me because there was no need. She flipped my hair over and confirmed it with a sharp gasp.

"She is cursed" The old lady stated. The joy that filled Mr. Alfred's heart was immeasurable, his wide smiled revealed it. I could see the disappointment in Lycan Ryder's face. He knew that he had to be just and treat my situation the way it ought to be treated despite me being his mate.

"She's the last breed of a cursed tribe. This mark represents the sign of the devil. She represents chaos, anarchy and doom. She must be casted away as she opposes the pureness of our moon goddess" she continued. Everyone in the crowd began mumbling. I then decided that it was time to speak up.

"My name is Liza and I will not deny all your accusations. Yes, I am cursed. But I didn't bring it upon myself. This wasn't the life I chose. I am a good person. I never meant for any of what happened to happen" I explained but nobody bought my story. They called it a pity party.

"So, you're not even that weak. You possess such strength and powers that supersedes an omega’s" Gamma Julian said, shock evident in his face.

"The more reason to see some good in me" I declared with confidence.

"The more reason to strike you dead this instant" Gamma Julian declared with his voice laced with contempt. "Lycan Ryder, we cannot have such weapons fashioned against us living amongst us" Gamma Julian stated.

"Julian is right, Ryder. Something has to be done" Beta Marcus said in accordance with Gamma Julian.

"I won't cause any harm" I said out loud in my defense.

"I ask again, Liza. What happened to your pack? Why did you run away from them? Did you kill them all?!" Gamma Julian sneered.

"I wasn't the one! A thirteen years old girl walks into a m******e that she knows nothing about, that thirteen years old girl is me. I didn't see anything or anyone. Everyone in my pack died and I did not raise a finger!" I stated in my defense as tears began to form underneath my eyes. I tried to be strong. I didn't want Gamma Julian to sense any form of weakness.

"There wasn't any need to see anything or anyone. You were the one who killed your people. Didn’t you just listen to the seer? You represent chaos, anarchy and doom. The longer you stay here, the more we all are at risk. Lycan Ryder, I beg of you, do something!" Gamma Julian insisted. Lycan Ryder was too stunned to speak.

"Ryder" Beta Marcus called out while gently tapping him on the shoulders, jerking him back to reality. These people were right, I could remember now. I couldn't see anyone or anything because I was the one who killed them all. They saw a monster in me that I couldn't see because I was too scared to face the truth. So therefore, I was ready to take on any punishment I was given...be it my death.

"Liza... Liza will be banished from this pack" Lycan Ryder announced as the crowd cheered on seeing as his decision befitted their needs.