Chapter Two
1855 Words
"Good morning, Luna!"
My thoughts were dragged out of me by the voice of an omega. Two others came soon after and greeted one another in a warm and polite manner as they labored in the Pack House garden.
I had hand-planted each and every flower and put my soul in it. My footsteps led me further into the garden, where everything was full of the sweet smell of flowers. Roses, irises, sunflowers, lavender, and dozens of others were blooming. Their coloring blended in such a way, like a painted canvas, that it gave me some sort of peace that I could hardly find elsewhere.
This place was mine. Alpha Leo gave me the garden as the only thing. In a life of homelessness, it was a tiny bit of freedom. But then I thought about Leo, and it made me dark. I lost my smile.
The sentence was by word of mouth.
Three years had passed since the night it all went wrong—my eighteenth birthday. It was a night filled with disappointment. The night I failed everyone.
The "Chosen One." That was what they called me. And all had waited to see the might of my wolf and had held their breath till the mightiness came. But as she finally came up, their faces were stuffed with shock. Their words were slurs. Even now the memory was sticking to me, sharp and blunt.
I still was disappointed.
It is not your fault they are unable to see, Olivia.
Lisa's voice filled my mind. My wolf. She was annoyed, as she always was when I returned to that night. I would almost feel her roll her eyes at me.
I had fought, had stretched myself beyond my own judgment of my strength, to do it—when they began to see more than the failure. The shame never really left. It seemed that it happened yesterday.
But time had altered matters, at least outwardly. In the last three years the Pack had gradually taken me back. It had not been easy. I still had the memory of how my chest swelled up after I touched it.
I worked for it. I earned it.
My efforts were not limited to the Silvermere Pack, but also extended beyond its boundaries.
During the final regional Luna meeting, I received an award. "Most Outstanding Luna." The first time I had said, "Well done, Olivia." I had finally given myself credit. My schemes filled Silvermere with swelling.
Leo had brushed it off, of course, as nothing. As always.
But that day I did not have him trample me. I held onto it. I smiled because it was mine.
"Way to go, girl!" Lisa squealed in my head, and against my will a smile pulled at the corner of my lips.
"That is the spirit," she added. "Stay positive."
Silvermere Pack had an award to take pride in. Anytime our members went to other packs, they took my name with pride. And unto me they turned. They heard me when I talked even about the most trivial things. A few said the goddess was talking.
That his talk would seem to me like rain on stone. We were the most powerful werewolf pack in the county—only next to the Lycan Pack of King Rowan.
I had done that.
But none of it mattered to Leo.
How much I gave, whatever I built, he never saw me. Never respected me. Never loved me.
He despised me. According to him, I was a piece of trash.
I said to myself I would not care. I made my lips round with a sweet smile and hid the tempest therein. I asked, I asked. But they did not. They pierced me every time. That was the mate bond. It cut as deep as the blade.
I and Leo were strangers. His quarters were on the other side of the Pack House, far away to the east. He had never once come to mine. Never touched me in love. He had not touched me in love once in the span of three long years.
Instead, he chose Beatrix. An omega. And he forced me to watch.
Every single time.
Betrayal hurt so deeply that it robbed me of breath whenever I thought about it.
My eyes filled up with tears and poured down my cheeks before I could repress them.
"Luna Olivia."
A soft voice startled me. I swiveled around and wiped the tears on the back of my hand. An omega was standing in front of me with his head slightly bowed.
"Yes?" She prattled (bashfully) demurely, and her eyes were gleaming with interest.
Alpha Leo wants you to come to his quarters.
I experienced something within myself: fear. I knew what she was thinking. Everyone did. That when Leo called me, it was because we were mates.
If only they knew the truth.
I did not blame them for believing it. Leo was skilled at lies. On the exterior, he was an ideal husband. He touched my hand. He gave me snacks as though I was special to him. He would smile at them, but all the glances were artificial.
"Okay," I said softly. "I will be right there."
The hurt of the deceit had pained my heart even before I could open his door. I was already aware of what I would meet.
He never called me except on one occasion. To watch. To punish.
I sighed and shook off the new tears that were threatening to come. I could already sense the connection, feeling his hands on another person. With a laugh of mockery, Beatrix smirked back at me.
This was the curse of his mark.
Only he had not marked me that night. Had I not run away first. If only. I might have closed my eyes and closed the window with the mark. But now, I felt everything. Every kiss. Every touch. Every betrayal.
Some may ask why I did not retaliate, why I did not cheat, and why I reciprocated the same pain for him. But the truth was cruel. I had never marked him. So when I yielded myself to another, he would not feel anything. He would not care. It would not hurt him.
"Olivia! Get here now!"
His voice came through the mind-link, roaring and angry.
Do not go, Olivia—do not, do not. Lisa muttered to herself. Her voice was full of worry.
"I am sorry, Lisa," I said back. "It is an Alpha's command."
And when Leo ordered, I had to obey. That was the curse of being his mate and Alpha.
Lisa cursed within me in frustration. I felt her rage. She wanted to tear Beatrix into pieces with her claws so that the pain could finally end. But she could not. Not even her power could get her to rebel against her Alpha.
"Olivia, please—"
I closed the door before she could say more. I could not subject her to the same degree of this agony. Silence brought her at least a little comfort.
When I arrived at his quarters, the sounds had filled the hall. Low, throaty moans. His voice. Beatrix's voice.
Tears blurred my vision. I could never get used to it, no matter how much I tried to be numb or how often I forced myself to accept it.
Every time.
I pushed open the door.
"Hail ye the Chosen One," Beatrix sneered, and the tone of her voice was husky. Leo went behind her as she looked at me with a scoffing smile.
You are late, Olivia," Leo said with low and rough arousal. His movements never stopped. Beatrix was in his hands, holding onto his waist. "Do not look away!"
He hit her, and her moan was heard in the room.
"Sit," he barked. "Over there."
I went up to the couch that was closest to the bed, and I sat down. I felt that my body was made of stone.
Beatrix changed position and now sat on his back, slowly rubbing her body against his. His eyes were rolled with pleasure.
"Care to join us?" And fire in his eyes and ferocious his voice.
Leo laughed at the words she said. "If you had not been born with that foolish prophecy, I would have chosen someone better than you," he sneered. He put his hand on Beatrix and looked at her.
I turned away. My lips were drawn into my teeth until I could smell blood in my mouth. I could only control the sting of it.
Watch me, Olivia! You are supposed to watch me! Leo snapped. "I will teach you some etiquette," Leo said, cold and angry. "Look at me!"
My head turned back slowly. I have made myself keep my eyes open when Beatrix smiled her victorious smile at me like a knife.
The sound tore out of me before I could prevent it.
"Get off my mate!"
The growl shook the walls. It was not me—it was Lisa. My wolf had rushed on and burst through.
Beatrix stood still in terror. She looked at Leo in panic.
Leo found his wolf leaped to the surface, and his emerald eyes became gray. Alpha power had filled his voice.
"Sit back down! I order you to stand down!"
Lisa whimpered within me and fled away, helpless before the command.
My voice sank, and I was scared inside my heart.
"No, please." My voice ran high, and I was scared in my heart.
"No?" His laugh was cruel. He smiled a dark smile with his lips. You cannot even get me to cooperate, and now you want to come in on me? He threw his head back against Beatrix. Babydoll, bring unto me the horsewhip.
"With pleasure," answered she, and moved hastily. The whip she gave him was the leather one, wolfsbane. She had brainy eyes.
"Le—"
The stroke of the whip shut me up.
Fire ripped across my back.
"It is Alpha Leo, b*tch!" And his snarl filled the room, and he hit me again.
Beatrix caught my hair in her hand. She pulled me down, and I was on the floor. The tears were streaming down my face, and the blows on Leo were burning my hands. I heard Beatrix laugh.
At last Leo thrust the whip into her hands.
"Here, baby."
She smiled broadly and raised it up.
The second blow was cut, the third was on the skin, and the whip dropped down by my side. Beatrix threw it over her head, and her laugh resounded through my ears as she drove away with Leo.
They entered the bathroom together with such light voices as though nothing had happened.
"I am sorry, Olivia."
It was a broken voice that Lisa used. "Please do not cry. I shall find a means of getting out of this hell. I promise."
But as they closed the door behind them, only one question came to my heart, heavy and terrifying.
Would I live more than long enough so that Lisa could keep her promise?
- Writer
