The Pain of Betrayal

Elsa’s POV “I, Oscar Cage, the Alpha of Shadow Howl Pack, reject you, Elsa Shettima, as my mate.” His words pierce through my chest like a silver stake, a burning ache tightening in my chest. His eyes held zero hints of compassion as these words escaped his mouth. I tried to speak in a bid to form a coherent response, but my lips quivered. An unspoken Shame envelops me as he should have declared me his Luna. Maybe it was all a mistake, I thought in my desperation. Before I had time to take in what was unfolding before me, I heard him declare my twin sister Elena as his mate. Tears gushed down my chin violently as I managed to lift my head to face the crowd. The collective resentment and distaste for my presence was palpable. “W-why? What’s happening?” I managed to choke out, my words failing me, desperate for an explanation. I already knew the answer, didn’t I? But why my sister, Elena? We had the same features, only that she had managed to get her wolf out while I hadn’t had much luck. Oscar sneers at me,” Can you all hear her?” He shouted for the pack members and gathered crowds to hear, a sinister smile dancing across his face as the chattering crowds broke into a peal of laughter. “You are weak and useless, Elsa. I mean you are a disgrace to our kind.” Oscar says, his hands intertwined with Elena’s as she shoots fiery daggers at me with her eyes. “B-but you took…” Keep shut, he ordered cutting me off abruptly. “I am fit to be Luna, what can you offer him, Elsa?” Elena’s voice peered through the air. With a mocking push of her hand, I fell backward. My heart broke with each falling step that led me to the ground as the crowd's laughter reverberated. I glance at Elena, her eyes burning with seething hatred. Oscar’s grip was firm on my arm yanking me, “Accept it, Elsa. Accept the rejection!” Elsa screamed at the top of her voice from behind with an evil grin plastered across her face. The pain, the torture, the torment.”w-why?” I stammered, my words choking in my throat as an invisible lump formed. I struggle hard to swallow. “Do not ask questions, do as she has said or else!” I felt Oscar's grip tightening, his eyes had a different glow. Fear encompassed my entire being as I blurted out immediately. “I accept. I, Elsa Shettimma, accept your rejection.” I muttered, bending my face to the ground as I covered my face in shame. “Let the merriment continue!” Oscar announced, lifting his glass as he toast to the air shooting me a mocking smirk. For me, it was a day of sorrow and humiliation but for others, it was all about the celebration as Oscar ascended the throne fully as Alpha. Covered in anguish, I stumbled out of the arena, as shame had found a resting place with me, despair had become my very own sister and pain had crested its name in my heart. With the weight of this heaviness, I retreated to my room. Alone in the nothingness, I unleashed all my pain in a loud scream, as I broke down in fresh tears anew. How can I live like this, how do I continue to bear this pain in this pack? I shut my eyes attempting to shut myself away from the world but the echoes of rejection still lingers. This is my reality, I had no wolf, no mate, and no pack to top it all was rejected. And to crown it all my twin sister had snatched the last hope I had at becoming someone, he had rejected me and taken her as his chosen mate. Nothing was left here for me, nothing! “Maybe I should put an end to this. Take my own life once and for all. Yes! I can end this.” I grabbed the pen knife that lay on my dresser, my hands quivered as I directed it to my stomach, I wasn't sure who I wanted to end so badly, Oscar’s child growing inside of me or myself., “I—I can’t, I can’t do it. The baby is innocent” s**t! The knife falls to the ground as nothing but my sobs echo resoundingly. “Coward! f*****g coward!” I curse under my breath. The only option left was to run away. I had to leave, that was my only escape, one that didn’t require any pain. After all, no one wants me here. I pack up quickly into my little bag, taking one last look at the photo of my family. My dad was the beta of the pack and I had brought nothing but shame and disgrace. He was to be worshiped and adored, instead, he got scorned for having a daughter like me who couldn’t wolf out at age 18, such a shame. My mother couldn’t do much to help me, she supported my father in everything. Made me really doubt that she truly birthed me. Just as I was about to take a step. My mother storms in. “What do you think you are doing, useless girl.” Her voice is strict and stern. I took one step backward or maybe two and I clutched my bag tightly to my chest. Noticing my bag in my hand, her face softens suddenly. I could swear I saw a tear form in her eyes which she was quick to cover up. “Go quickly before your father gets here, may the moon goddess go with you.” She says leaving me to ponder on my decision, but there it was already too late as my father stride into the room sharply, his face wrinkled with hatred and irritation. “Get lost!” He says without uttering another word, I scampered hurriedly to the door but I’m stopped in my tracks by the footsteps that surround our home. “Mother” I called out in a hushed tone. My mother gasped as she peered outside, a wave of fear enveloping her. The horrid look on her face sends shivers down my spine. Fear gripped me, my body trembled as my heart tied a knot in my chest. My parents quickly head outside leaving me behind the door. I hid quietly. There was a long dead silence and I peeked outside, the enforcers ruthlessly threw my mother to the floor battering her mercilessly. My scream echoed resoundingly through the air as two enforcers noticed me and rushed to seize me. Their firm grip left me worried and confused. I hear my mother scream, “She’s innocent, let her be.” Pleading with the enforcers to leave me out of it.” out of what?” I thought to myself. Through the mumble jumble as quickly as possible we were faced with the newly crowned Alpha and some elders of the pack as well as the pack members in the Alpha’s mansion. They wore a look of disdain, disbelief, and horror. Thrown before Alpha Oscar, I lift my face to meet his gaze. Tears flowed uncontrollably from my eyes. “Why am I here?” I asked my voice barely audible above a whisper. He ignored me, and with a loud growl, he instructed. “Throw the traitor in the dungeon, torture her without mercy, I will make my final judgment by tomorrow.” His voice says void of mercy and zero emotions. “I was being accused of a crime. A crime I knew nothing about.” My eyes widen in confusion and my body remains in position frozen in shock. “Now!” He roared, commanding the enforcers as they forcefully dragged my immovable body, the weight of his accusation hanging firmly in the air. “That is for Killing my mother. The great Luna of this pack.” He thundered, his accusation striking me hard like a lighting directed at me. The rejection was nothing compared to the weight of the allegations leveled against me. The horrifying accusations left dirt on my name. In an instant, I was dragged away like a commoner away from Alpha Oscar’s stabbing gaze. Elena’s snarl locked with my despairing eyes. I should have seen it, she wanted all that belonged to me and she would stop at nothing to see me go down. At this point, it was hard to even believe that we were sisters. A bond that should have been unbreakable is now severed by hate, betrayal, and bitterness. Her backstabbing eyes pierced through me. I pleaded at the top of my voice begging for mercy as my heart raced at a top car speed. But no one would listen. I was thrown into the dungeon, tortured, and tormented for days. If only I had my mind link, I would have communicated with my parents or even made an attempt to communicate with Oscar through the lifeline which allows werewolves to communicate with their minds. In a moment of my agonizing pain, Elena the sister turned traitor came to make merry of my misery. My face hardens at the sight of her, relieving my pain and anguish. “May I have a word with my sister please?” she requested and with a worried look the enforcers stepped outside giving her sometime leaving me to her hardened cruelty. “What do you want, Elena? Why are you doing this to me? You know I am innocent of these accusations.” I managed to stutter with gritted teeth. “Lovely sister, look at you. You are nothing but a coward who is weak and unable to fight for herself.” she moves around me mockingly. “I only served the food, I didn't even prepare it.” I cried, desperate to prove my innocence. “I wouldn't be so sure. Perhaps you craved the Luna title so much that you had to speed up her death since she was already getting old and retiring.” she accused me with a wicked smirk dancing on her lips. “I did not kill her!” I yelled the truth, hoping to bring her out of her delusional narrative. “And Oscar? I trusted you, Elena. You knew..” My voice trails off, the wound of her betrayal stinging painfully. “She chuckles lightly, slowly giving way to a horrendous laugh.” A wolfless girl has no place here, sister. She says wearing a maniac smirk as she walks away. Reveling my position as a rejected wolfless, packless, and mateless girl, the weight of reality caused my shoulder to slump in defeat. Elena had a formidable wolf, her strength was second to none, she moved with such grace that would make head rolls and jaw drops, she was a true daughter of our father and I was a nobody. The following day came quickly as I was dragged into the mansion where Oscar would decree his final Judgment. I saw my parents bow their heads in shame, cleaving to one another and surprisingly they wept bitterly. “The ritual for sending forth our dead Luna will be carried out tomorrow, after which Elsa shall face her punishment.” he declared. Our eyes locked and all I could see was the lingering hatred that pierced my chest. “You, Elsa shall be beheaded and your body fed to the rogue for commuting such an abomination. ‘Tueh’” he says as he spits on my face. His stern words echoed, sealing my fate, and ending my existence before I had a chance to live.