The Primordial’s Fake Breeder

All my life, I had thought my mother simply loved Fiona differently. I had made excuses for her. Fiona is the first born and more delicate. She needs more attention. I had always found a reason but there was no reason. There was only the truth that I had refused to see until now. I am the backup. The daughter they could sacrifice when their precious daughter is no longer available. “I’m not heading to Asha’s Clan as a tribute-Breeder to the alpha King, Father! Fiona was chosen months ago. Why am I replacing her now?” My wet eyes slowly moved to my father and his jaw hardened. He was the only one who never discriminated between me and Fiona. His silence hurts more than anything in the world. “Fiona is pregnant.” My mother says and the room goes extremely silent. And for a moment, I hear nothing except for the ringing in my ears. Then a strange laugh escapes me and I shake my head at them. That must be the biggest joke of the century. “That’s not possible,” I whisper. Fiona has always told me she doesn’t want men. She has always made it clear that she prefers women. I even know the woman she has been seeing for the past two years and I helped her keep that relationship hidden from our father even when the entire pack believes she’s gay. I defended her when people questioned why she never had a male wolf around her. So how can she be pregnant when she has never had a d**k in her before? “Who is the father?” I ask with a trembling voice but nobody answers. Then I look at my sister who finally raises her eyes to meet mine. They’re glowing too bright; there's no shame in them. No remorse and no fear except something that looks dangerously close to pity. Then she says the words that destroy whatever little sense I have that is still keeping me sane. “I’m pregnant for Ethan.” Her tiny voice drove a blade through my chest and for a second, my body lost all cognitive function. As the room spins mercilessly, my eyes find Ethan and it makes sense why he is here, standing painfully too close to my sister and not on the business trip he had told me he was going on. He doesn’t deny it. The allegation. My lips part but no words came out as the weight of everything weighs heavily on me, threatening to crush me to my knees but I’m Flora Rivera, the girl who doesn’t kneel. The man I was supposed to complete my mating ceremony with in two days, the man whose last message to me was that he loved me and couldn’t wait to make me his. My sister is pregnant for that man? I don’t believe it. “We’ve been together for three months.” Fiona continues and for the first time since I walked into this room, something inside me cracks. “Three months?” I laugh bitterly. It's barely audible then the next words leave my mouth with blown fury. “Three months while I was planning our mating ceremony! Three months while I was trusting my sister! You knew how much I loved him, Fiona!!” “That doesn’t matter anymore, sister. What matters is that I’m carrying his pup.” Fiona lips curl, her hands dramatically dragging over her tummy. “And he has chosen me.” I stare at her in disbelief. I couldn’t believe those words were coming from the lips of my sister that I adore so much. The one I look up to so much. “Flora…” Ethan calls in a cracked voice and the name that once sounded sweet in his mouth suddenly feels like a thorn in my ears, poking my eardrums. “Don’t.” I raise my hand, trying to keep my shaky voice steady. “Don’t call my name like you still have the right to.” I grit and his face tightens. “I’m sorry you had to find out like this.” He continues in that voice that now irritates me. Was there supposed to be a better way for me to find out about his betrayal? “We were waiting for the right time to tell you.” He adds, and a bitter laugh leaves me again. I can taste it on my tongue. “The right time?” My lips twitch but he doesn’t answer. Maybe he knows there is no excuse good enough. Stupid of me to believe he could be trusted. f**k me! “Ethan will reject you,” My father says the words I’ve been waiting to hear. The words I am most afraid of. It’s tradition. Ethan have to reject me to be with my sister and there’s nothing I can do about it. Not when my father, the alpha of our pack, is in support of it. Ethan doesn’t hesitate. He says the words freely like something he had rehearsed for weeks. “I, Ethan Rumeno, reject Flora Rivera as my mate.” I wait for the pain, for the agony I have heard other she-wolves describe when their mates reject them but nothing comes. Maybe my wolf is still in denial. Still trying to understand what has happened or… she has gone numb just like me. Unable to feel anything. Not even anger. Not even sadness. My father rises from his chair and straightens his back. His alpha aura eluding all around him like mist. “Our pack cannot be the only pack without a tribute for the alpha king.” He steps closer and I catch something in his eyes. Something I have never seen before. FEAR. Not for me but for himself, and my chest tightens. “You know what happens when the alpha king is denied what he’s owed.” He adds and of course I knew. As an alpha daughter, I know the consequences that come with breaking the rules, yet my sister did and she still goes scotfree. Why should I care if denying the alpha king what he’s owed ruins us all? Isn’t that what Fiona wants? “You just have to give him a child and you’re free to leave.” My mother says from behind me and for the first time, I turn to face her. If stare could kill, she would have been limp on the floor already from my gaze. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?” I ask cockily, tilting my head to angle thirty. However, she didn't stop there. She has more to say. “You don’t have a choice.” She says like she gets to decide my fate. Like the moon goddess has suddenly handed her that authority. “I said I’m not going!” I growl and my mother’s palm collides with my cheek. The slap sends my face sideways, leaving a burning sensation spreading through me. Silence fills the room and my wolf shrieks inside my head as my mother’s Luna authority presses down on me. My knees kiss the floor and my head hangs low like a convict waiting to be executed. “I didn’t risk my life the second time to birth you just for you to be useless.” She spat and I forgot how to breathe for a moment. “You are a spare, Flora.” She steps closer enough for me to feel her fury. “Fiona’s spare. That’s all you are.” I forced myself to look around the room at the people whom I’ve trusted all my life and not one of them is willing to save me. And for the first time, I realize something I should have realized years ago. If Fiona falls, I am expected to take her place and if Fiona makes a mistake, I am expected to clean it. And now that she has escaped her fate, they have decided that I am her replacement. I’ve always been her replacement. I just didn’t know it.