The Forsaken Mate's Second Chance Alpha

End Her Life

Emma's POV

As soon as I see my dad, relief floods through me. Because of his respected position as the Beta of this pack, the people who surround us stop talking. Most of them are accusing me of murder, even though they haven't learned about the silver dagger that was found in my car trunk.

My brother James also orders the other fellow warriors on the training grounds to stay silent. He is a promising warrior in this pack, so no one will take him lightly.

Dad walks up to Michael with a look of shame in his eyes, "Micahel, I understand what you are going through right now. But please don't punish Emma,"

Michael growls, "She deserves to be put into the cells for killing my sister. It's the rule of this pack to punish anyone who harms the Alpha's family. So why should I spare Emma from it?"

"But she's your mate. It will hurt your wolf too," Dad argues.

He scoffs, "Not anymore. I have rejected your daughter, Beta Smith." The look of disgust in his blue eyes creeps up to my chest like frost tendrils. "My wolf would handle the pain of rejection rather than have a mate like her."

Dad's eyes turn wide in shock, and he whips his head at me. I look down in shame, not able to meet his disappointed gaze.

"If that is your choice, I won't interfere in it," Dad adds in a gentle tone, "But I will suggest that you give the investigation some time so we can know who the real culprit is. I will keep my daughter in check for that time being. It will also cause a lot of commotion through the other packs if word of Emma being imprisoned spreads around. I strongly advise you to make a wise decision. I–”

"Shut the f**k up!" he rumbles, "You have the audacity to reason with me when you have raised a daughter like her." Michael points at me, and dad's face turns pale. The weight of his words hang heavy on my shoulders. I just want the ground to split open and consume me completely. It hurts to see my dad getting publicly shamed because of me. "Emma will be punished for her sins!"

My dad pleads, "Please, Michael. Show some mercy to her. Ava was like a daughter to me too."

"Fine! Your daughter will be punished after Ava's funeral is over. Don't expect anything else from me." Saying that, Michael storms off the training grounds. I sigh in relief. My date for punishment has been extended because of dad. Maybe I will be able to think of some way to prove my innocence to the pack by then.

My gaze falls on dad who's staring at the space with an incomprehensible expression. Mom places her hand on his shoulder, and comforts him. I walk over to them, and wipe my tears. "Thank you so much, dad. I didn't do it. I did not kill—"

Before I can finish the sentence, Dad raises his right arm and slaps me. His palm hits so hard that I stumble a few steps and fall to the ground. My fingers reach over to my cheek, and I hiss at the pain. I have been slapped by Michael and now dad did it.

No one reaches out to me. Not mom, not James. They stare at me with a look of deep hatred and disappointment in their eyes.

I am dragged back to my house, and once the doors are shut, Dad shouts at me. "Do you have any idea what you have done?!" he yells at me inside the dining room. In my entire life, dad has never raised his voice against me. Even if I made a mistake, he used to calmly explain to me what I did wrong and told me to fix it.

Tears start rolling down my eyes, thinking of the good memories with him. I wish he believes me, even for once and tells me that it's fine. "Please, believe me. I didn't do it."

"It's not about whether you did it or not," Mom says while sitting on the dining table, "It's the harm that you did to our reputation in the pack. Your dad's position is at risk now because he had to have a devil as a daughter!"

I flinch at the harsh words she throws at me. It's understandable that they are angry, but it feels like I don't know them at all. Just a day before, they were praising me by calling me 'the Goddess's blessing in the family'. And now one incident changes everything.

"Not only that! You were about to be the pack's Luna soon. The honor it brought was huge. But your reckless behavior ruined it all! All of it!" Dad spats, his eyes burning like coals.

My lips quiver, and I walk up to James, "Jamie, please tell them. I did not want to destroy our family name like this. You know me." The second I reach out to hold his arm, he yanks it away.

"Don't touch me with those filthy hands!" he twists his face in disgust.

I blink in disbelief, "J-James. You…”He raises his hand, "Just don't play the victim card. You know you messed up. My friends are making fun of me. I won't be able to show my face tomorrow in college or during training."

My shoulders sag in defeat. I can't believe this. They don't care whether I killed Ava or not. They are more concerned about their reputation in the pack. None of them even tried to know my side of the story or think for once that I have nothing to do with this.

Yes, it's true that Ava would have been safe if she did not come to pick me up the night before. But I remember her driving to a different location—the clearing where I found both of us when I gained back consciousness. How would I know that an incident like this will cost me my best friend? I want to grieve Ava's loss too, but with all the blames coming at me, I can't even do that.

"Honestly, I would have preferred that you died with her in that forest,”

Mom looks at me with a cold gaze, no emotion or empathy for her daughter in her brown eyes. "A curse like you should not have been born.”

I gasp, and turn my head towards dad, pleading to him with my eyes. Please, say something. But he simply looks away as if he agrees with what Mom said. Accalia whimpers in pain inside me.

A minute later, they all walk out of the dining room and I am left alone. Mom's words echo in my head while I sit on the floor, hugging my knees to my chest. They all wish that I was dead. Am I that bad?

I don't have the energy to cry after everything happened, so I simply stare at the ceiling. How did my life come to this? Just yesterday, I was so happy to have shifted and mated. Accalia stays silent inside me, but I can feel her pain—she got rejected by her mate and her family.

It feels very lonely. There is no one whom I can reach out to, to cry my heart out. No one thinks I am innocent or cares that I lost a friend.

I step out of the house, and make my way to the forest. As I go, my eyes fall on a crowd standing before a podium where Ava's pictures have been placed. The people walk in with tears in their eyes, and put flowers and light candles. A few of them notice me and instantly their expression morphs into pure hate and disgust. They all think I killed her.

Not being able to tolerate this anymore, I shift into my wolf and allow her to run through the woods. She runs as fast as she can. She stops before the beach, and I shift back. I get close to the shore. I watch as the waves break against the shore, each cresting wave a reflection of the emotions that threaten to overwhelm me.

Closing my eyes, I say out loud, "I, Emma Smith, accept your rejection." The thread of our bond snaps and I feel it rattle my bones. An emptiness finds its way in my chest, and all the things I have heard thrums loudly in my mind, overtaking the sound of the waves that wash over my feet.

A lone tear escapes my right eye. I will end it all today.