Forced To Kneel (Claimed By The Shadow Queen)

Cellina POV. “You should be happy, I’m doing you a favor. An irreparable one. Yet you have the audacity to feel wronged?” Standing beside my mate was my best friend, Freya, whom I had known all my life. “What do you mean by that?” I asked, grateful that my voice came out calmer than I actually felt as I stood in the midst of the wolves from my pack, each one staring at me with bloodshot eyes. They looked… “What else would I mean? Don’t tell me you’ve grown daft or blind to what’s right in front of your eyes,” she said, raising her hand to caress the open chest of my mate, Alpha Lucas, and I felt a slight burn through the mate bond at such intimate contact, especially because he also loved it. I staggered as the truth she was trying to tell me dawned on me, and I felt my eyes twitch violently. “Y-you… how could you do this to me? You promised me, tell me… please tell me this isn’t true. Tell me she’s lying to me. Tell me she’s—” “It’s true,” he cut me off, his voice cold as he gently took her hand in his and kissed the top of it like he was serving the Moon Goddess. “W-what? Why?” I asked, my voice small as I felt my heart begin to break. Lucas had promised me two months ago when we first discovered that we were mates. He had promised to always be with me and take me as his mate as soon as he cemented his position in the pack. He had just become the Alpha after his father’s death and was working on a powerful alliance with the most powerful Alpha to walk the planet. He had told me that he didn’t need any distractions at that time. I had been understanding and had told him that I would wait for the day he would announce me to the entire pack as his mate. “Your status is lower than mine. You’re way down in the hierarchy. Much lower than an omega’s, and you think you can be my Luna? Are you nuts?” he asked, his eyes cold and his words sounding even colder to my ears. Freya laughed in delight as tears pricked my eyes, my heart breaking in that moment as I staggered on my feet, unstable. “Y-you, how could you do this to me? Both of you, what did I ever do to you?! How could you do this to me?” I cried out, tears spilling down my cheeks, and she smirked as she came closer to me. I took a step back as she came to stand in front of me, then she leaned forward slightly and began to whisper softly to me. “ I told you I would take it all away from you, didn’t I? Remember that night?” My brows furrowed as I tried to understand what she was saying, and then it hit me. That night, she had told me that I was hallucinating because of the drink. She had whispered about how she wanted to take everything that I held dear. How she wanted my mate, the Alpha, to be hers instead. She had also whispered about how much she hated how I seemed to attract good things even though I was a lowly Trimsi, much lower than an omega. But when I had asked her what she meant by that, she had said she didn’t say anything, and as the fool that I was, I had believed her because, of course, it sounded absurd even to my own ears. I had taken her as my best friend and someone better than a sister I never had, and she had turned around and done this to me? I didn’t even understand why she was doing all this!! Jealousy? “Don’t bother shedding those pretty tears. When I send you on your way, I’ll make sure to enjoy his d**k for you.” She smirked before retreating back into the arms of Lucas, and another sharp pain sliced through my heart as he accepted her touch once again. “Now for the final part of the evening, I have to reject you so my bond with Freya can go smoothly. And then we’ll let you go,” Lucas said with a calm demeanor, and my eyes darted around—I was desperate to leave this place. My entire body shook uncontrollably as the bond fought to escape before it could be destroyed, but the glaring red eyes of the wolves around me kept me rooted to the spot I was standing at as he drew closer to me. “Don’t be this way, it won’t hurt. Promise,” Freya grinned maliciously at me, and in that moment, I felt like I had been blinded all these years. How had I never seen this side of her? How had I been so blind? “Why… why are you doing this to me?” I finally asked, curiosity overshadowing the pain in my heart, and her grin faltered for a bit before her eyes turned blood red and she surged forward to grip my jaw and squeezed hard. “You still don’t know? You caused their deaths! They both died trying to protect you that day. If the former Alpha hadn’t taken me in, I would have been an orphan all because of you!!” she whisper-yelled furiously at me, her saliva landing on my face, and my breath stopped. “W-what, I was seven!!” I cried out, and she pushed me away as she glanced off to the side. “You were, weren’t you? How ironic that you were a child when it happened. Now you’ll pay for it as an adult. Do it!” She retreated, and Lucas nodded as he stepped forward and slit his finger with his claws, then grabbed my hands amidst my struggles to do the same. “Let me go!!” I screamed as I tried to stop the bleeding, but he backhanded me, sending my head flying to the side, and I gasped in shock. He… he… hit me? I slowly turned to face him as I clutched my other cheek but found him staring at his finger with disdain. “Stop dawdling and let’s get on with it. I have better things to do,” he said with a small quirk to his lips, and in those cold, unfeeling eyes of his, I couldn’t even catch a glimpse of the man who had held me through my darkest nights and whispered over and over again that I would be okay. My throat locked as I tried to speak, and Freya sneered at me, her eyes glinting with triumph. She looked so ugly to me now, and even glancing at her made my heart ache with distress and pain. “I, Lucas Nelson Greene, reject you, Cellina, as my mate and bonded. And from today, we cease to hold any relevance to each other, and we cease to be mates!” His voice rang out loud with resolution, and my fate was sealed in that moment. Before I could blink, a sharp pain tore through my chest, and I threw my head backwards with great force as a series of screams bubbled out of my lips. It hurts, Goddess. Save me. It hurts so damn much. My entire body felt like it was being sliced and healed over and over again with a sharp knife. Even my heart wasn’t spared from this horrific pain I was currently experiencing. I recalled breaking my knee once when I was twelve, how painful it had been when I did. But somehow, that feeling couldn’t come close to describing what I was feeling right now. My eyes glazed over as I was pulled into my consciousness, and my eyes widened with apprehension as I watched the bond draw tighter and tighter and tighter, as if it didn’t want to let go. But words held power, and within seconds, a loud snap echoed inside my head. I gasped as the bond tore apart in two, and the shimmery orange rope withered like a dead fig and disappeared. Then, the pain stopped, and I heaved out a sigh of relief as my eyes slowly cleared of their haze and I raised my head to stare at the duo. But before I could set my eyes on them, a sharp feeling of pain had me bowing. I gasped, glancing downwards to find a dagger stuck deep within my chest. Glancing up, I found the duo stepping back, and Freya was dusting her fingers off like she had just touched something dirty and she didn’t want it to smear her delicate hands at all. “Throw her out of the pack,” Lucas ordered without any sort of emotion in his voice, and my hands turned into fists as I laughed softly. “W-what do you th- think will happ-pen if I demand an exchange?” My words stopped them in their tracks, and his eyes widened with realization as they locked onto mine. I grinned as he lunged for me, but it was too late for him. “I demand an exchange!!!” I screamed loudly, and as soon as the words left my lips, Lucas went tumbling to the ground and howling loudly towards the dark skies, his face contorted in pain. An exchange happens between two mates when faced with a rejection from the other party. The one being rejected can call out for an exchange, and the pain they were feeling would be transferred to the one making the rejection. And it would be successful regardless of what or who it may be. If I was going to die here, I at least had to make them suffer a little bit. I gasped, staring straight into the eyes of a seething Freya as she pushed the dagger deeper into my chest, and I felt it when the dagger finally touched my heart because a strong heat travelled through my throat and blood splattered out from my lips. “Y—” “Too much chitty-chat, wasting my precious time. I don’t want to waste any more time with you both playing games that don’t make any sense at all to me. So, bestie, just die already!!!” she exclaimed as she pushed me off, the knife sliding out with my body, and I felt like I was being stabbed all over again as it drew out. I couldn’t even scream… the pain was too intense. As I stared at their retreating backs, I refused to give up. They couldn’t just betray me and go scot-free. Where was the justice in this world?! Moon Goddess, where are you?! Giving promises you don’t keep, I wish I had never believed so wholly in you. I… I… I wish I had served your sister, such a revenge-driven goddess who would help me out when I called her for revenge. But I internally laughed as I stared up into the skies. “Nyx, Nyx, Ny—” “Shut her up!!” Freya screamed in panic, and sensing the urgency in her voice, Lucas lunged forward and his claws sliced through the skin on my neck, and my cries were silenced instantly. “Y—” “Such pathetic attempts. Do you think she exists? Even if she does, do you think she’d save a worthless piece of trash like you? One even the Moon Goddess rejected,” Freya laughed at me as she held onto the arm of Lucas, and together, they turned to leave as I dropped down like a sack of garbage to the ground. You will all pay for this!! Nyxa, Nyxa, Nyxa, Nyxa, Nyx—. My eyes slammed closed as I finally gave up on my struggles. Nyxa never came.