Betrayed by the Beta

Chapter 11 - Luna Lily

Cassie -

Thomas and I walked down the stairs together, Thomas chatting happily beside me, clearly trying to distract me. I guess he could sense the tension in me.

"You will be fine Cassie, trust in our Luna, she only wants to help, and so does the Alpha, and you have me now. I'm not just a guard, I'm your friend and I won't let sh!t go bad." He says before we reach the ground floor. He speaks quietly so as not to be overheard and then, without waiting for my reply, he continues on down the stairs.

When we get to the door of the office, we pause and Thomas knocks.

"Come," calls a soft voice, the door is ajar and Thomas reaches out to push it open further for me.

"Thank you", I said gently, hoping he knew I meant more than escorting me. The last 24 hours have been the best in a long time and it is all thanks to him.

"You're welcome Cassie, I will see you after training 'kay," he says, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear, and I know he understood my unspoken message.

Taking a deep breath, I stepped through the open door.

"Close the door dear, I don't wish for us to be overheard, and take a seat" Luna Lily says, indicating the plush sofas. The room is all muted colours, with a large desk with 3 seats and 2 sofas with a coffee table, there is a whole wall of books and opposite the shelves is a window that also takes up the whole wall, letting plenty of light in through the gauze hanging over it. Outside the window is a small balcony with just enough space for a small table and 2 chairs. Luna was standing behind her desk when I entered but she made her way to one of the sofas as she greeted me. I close the door and move to the other sofa, heart racing and mind spinning while I try to finally decide how to handle this.

"Please, take a seat, I have some things I want to say before we get into the discussion part of this meeting," she says, so I nod, remaining silent and wait to hear what she has to say.

"Alpha Sven and I have been gone longer than we had anticipated, because of that, we owe the whole pack an apology. However, while we were gone, we had one of our most trusted pack members report to us once a month in secret, so even if you fear answering truthfully, you know that we already have a good idea of what has been happening. Now, on that note, we instructed our source not to reveal herself and not to intervene in anything. She is not a strong person and could not have assisted you in any way which we felt risked making a horrible situation worse for you. Please forgive us for not helping you. I assure you we wrapped up our work as quickly as we could so that we might return and set things straight. Beta Ace has not behaved in a way we condone and will be reprimanded and punished accordingly. On the whole, he didn't do too badly with the day to day running of the pack, but he is young and we were hoping the responsibility would be good for him. With that being said, we are also aware of the treatment he bestowed upon you and retribution will be taken. However, I do have some questions that I need to ask you to ensure the punishment is fitting. I hope you can forgive me as some of these questions will seem accusatory when I assure you they are not." She says all of this softly with an apologetic look in her eyes, almost as though she is imploring me to understand and assist her.

I didn't move, mulling everything she just said over, she knew, did she know all of it? How much had been passed along? And if she did know everything, why didn't they intervene? Or have someone else intervene on their behalf? I can feel the resentment bubbling up inside me, and it must have shown on my face because what she said next stopped me in my tracks.

"I know some of what has been done to you, and it pains me to know I let it happen. That is on me. As mother of this pack, I should have protected you better. I should have put a stop to it all. However, please know that I have been considering punishments for both Ace and Maddie. I would, however, like your input on the matter. I also want you to know that the whole pack will be punished for allowing such treatment of one of our own. It is not acceptable and I am disappointed with them all."

I consider her words, she wants me to help decide punishments for my tormentors. I can do that. We sit for over an hour in discussion of punishments before we decide on a course of action. Then she says something that makes my heart stop.

"Now, I do have one thing I need to know, and this is where I hope to not cause offence, so please, I beg your pardon for asking, but I need to know. Was there anything specific you did that caused them to single you out?"

"I'm not offended," I said honestly. I had thought the same thing. What had I done? Why me? And never came to a satisfactory conclusion. That is, I hadn't, until my birthday, so I told her the truth. I needed someone to know and who better than the one wishing to right the wrongs of my past? "I wondered the same thing. I wondered for months what I had done to deserve this, and I got my answer on

"On your birthday?" Luna Lily intones quietly, almost as though she knows what is coming.

"Yes, on my birthday."

She closes her eyes and leans back as though exhausted, "Oh Cassie, I am so so sorry," she whispers and I know I don't need to say anything, she knows. "He's your mate," she leans forwards with her elbows on her knees and her head in her hand, "how could he, he will have known for more than a year," she says to herself, then she turns to me, grasping my hands and asks seriously, "was he like this before? Was he this way and I just didn't see it?" There is an almost desperate quality to her voice now and I can't stop myself. I rushed to reassure her.

"No, no Luna, please, it began after you left. Please don't blame yourself," I said. Once again talking to herself, she stands and paces the length of the office, muttering

"He knew when we were leaving, he had to have known since before the decision was made, he knew, and he plotted and schemed. This changes things. This makes everything different. I must speak with Sven. What first" she raised her voice and turns to me, "what do you wish to do, Cassie? That is your decision. Do you wish to try to mend the bond?"

I'm shaking my head before she finishes, "No, I can't, not knowing how calculated this was on his part, I want to reject him, but if I reject him, what will happen to me? Will I survive? Will I be able to stay here and Twin Lakes?" My thoughts on the subject pour out of me.

“Honey, we will do what you want. Let me discuss this with Alpha Sven quickly and then we will discuss this together before making any rash decisions. But please know I am on your side here and the treatment you have received at the hands of Beta Ace and Delta Maddie will not go unpunished regardless of your decision. We need to set an example to the pack. They should never have allowed this to happen. Thomas will remain your personal guard until the matter is settled, he won't leave you unprotected, he is a great warrior.”

Luna Lily -

After hearing her tell me her version of the past 6 months I know she has glossed over details, I can feel that worse than what she mentioned has happened to this darling girl. I am disgusted to learn that our Beta, the man we have spent the last 6 months considering to replace Sven as Alpha has done these heinous things. That he has done them to his Goddess Given Mate just makes it so much worse. I will be discussing this with Sven and he will not only be removed as a potential Alpha but his punishment will be severe, I only wish that Cassie rejecting him would hurt him more that it would her, it seems unfair that if she chooses to reject him that she will have to suffer the agony of rejection and he will not.