Fated To Everett

Chapter 2: Disgraced

Ariel’s POV

I was close to the pack house with its towering structure bathed in moonlight. My legs felt heavy as I climbed the steps, my hands clenched into fists.

"Come to the pack house. Now."

Ray’s words replayed in my mind.

I wanted to ignore him. I should have ignored him.

But my feet carried me forward anyway.

I didn't accept his rejection so the bond wasn't completely broken yet.

As soon as I stepped inside, laughter erupted.

It was like they had been waiting for me.

"Look who finally decided to show up."

"The mate that wasn’t good enough."

"No wolf, no power, no respect."

Each word sliced into me, but I kept walking, my chin high.

Helen stood near the staircase, her expression was unreadable. I searched her face for any sign of guilt, but she looked away.

Coward.

"You’re late," a sharp voice snapped.

I turned and found Luna Beatrice, Ray’s mother, seating in the center of the room. Her cold eyes raked over me.

"You have a lot of nerve coming here after embarrassing my son," she sneered.

Embarrassing him?

He rejected and embarrassed me and now they say I embarrassed him?

"Why did Ray call me here?" I clenched my fists.

"I asked him to call you over.” She muttered sipping her tea.

“Why?” I asked and she stood up from her seat.

“Because you need to learn your place."

She snapped of her fingers and two female pack members stepped forward, holding buckets and rags.

"You’ll be cleaning the dining hall, the training grounds, and the pack house bathrooms. Every day. Until further notice," She declared.

A shocked silence filled the room.

Then came the laughter.

"Ray’s rejected mate… a maid? That suits her perfectly."

"Maybe if she scrubs hard enough, she’ll finally be useful."

“Maybe she could wash my feets?”

My hands trembled. I looked at Ray, hoping stupidly that he would stop this.

But he only smirked with his arms crossed.

"This is ridiculous," I whispered.

"No, Ariel. This is your reality now." Ray raised an eyebrow.

I bit my lip so hard I tasted my blood.

“You have maids and I'm not one of them.” I said.

“She just insulted the Luna!”

“What?” I asked confused.

"Save it! You're under arrest for insulting the luna!" One of the guards walked to me and said.

I understood that Ray and I never got along, but Helen? After everything we went through she was ready to throw it all away for a man who rejected his mate?

They tightened their grip on my hands and dragged me out of the room, ignoring my pleas and cries.

"Stop! Please don't leave me!" I kept screaming but no one came through for me.

I've heard about the dungeon it was a place where you'd gradually lose the will to live.

I felt a surge of shock and despair as the guards dragged me until we were in the dark and damp dungeon.

I barely registered the sounds and sights around me; all I could hear were my sobs and the clang of the rusty bars snapping shut behind me.

"This must be a nightmare; yes, it must be the alpha didn't reject me. Yes, none of that has happened yet."

I kept nodding my head with my eyes closed, trying to wake myself up.

“Ah!! Why me?!" I collapsed on the cold floor and sobbed uncontrollably as I remembered everything.

“Dad…” Only him could save me.

Seconds passed, minutes turned to hours no one came I folded myself many ideas came into my mind…

Run away from the pack immediately you're released.

Kill ray, Helen and yourself.

Forget them just run.

Would going rouge be worth it?

I didn't know how low I say there it was so dark I couldn't tell the time.

I heard a voice and I stood up, once ag6 I was dragged out of the dungeon back to the Luna.

“Are you ready?”

I could refuse. I could throw the bucket in their faces.

But what would that do?

I had no power here.

No wolf. No strength. No one to fight for me. I'd only end up in the dungeon again.

So, I swallowed my pride, grabbed the bucket, and walked away.

By the time I finished and went back home, my body ached in places I didn’t even know could hurt.

My hands were raw from scrubbing floors. My knees throbbed from kneeling on hard stone. My back felt like it would snap in half.

I dragged myself toward the couch, barely able to lift my arms.

That was when I felt it the shift in the air.

I turned slowly.

My father, Elder Gavin, stood in the doorway.

His face was unreadable, but his dark eyes burned with something cold and unfamiliar.

Before I could speak, his hand shot out—

SMACK.

The impact sent me stumbling.

Shock paralyzed me. My cheek stung from where his palm had struck, but the pain was nothing compared to the crushing weight in my chest.

It was the first time he raised his hand to me.

"Dad?" My voice cracked.

"I spoiled you.”

He stared down at me, his face twisted.

My stomach dropped.

"I raised you to be strong. And after everything I taught you, you let them walk all over you?" His voice was like steel.

Tears burned behind my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.

"I—"

"You let them mock you. You let them humiliate you." His hands curled into fists. "And you just took it? Like a coward?"

My breath hitched.

Coward.

He thought I was weak.

"What was I supposed to do?" I whispered. "Fight the entire pack? I have no wolf—"

"Excuses," he spat. "You should have made them regret looking down on you."

His words cut deeper than Ray’s rejection ever could.

I swallowed hard. "I tried—"

"You tried?" His voice raised higher. "That’s not good enough, Ariel."

I flinched.

"Your mother didn't have a wolf but she was fearless. At this point I feel that your mother would be ashamed." His gaze burned into me.

The breath left my lungs.

I stepped back, my body trembling.

Not that. Anything but that.

He turned away.

"You are a disgrace."

Tears welled in my eyes, but I refused to cry. Not in front of him. Not when he already saw me as worthless.

Without another word, he left.

I sank to the floor, my arms wrapped around my knees.

The words repeated in my head like a curse.

"You are a disgrace."

"Your mother would be ashamed."

The walls of my home suddenly felt suffocating, pressing down on me. I needed to get out.

Before I could think twice, I was out the door, running.

The cold night air burned my lungs, but I didn’t stop. My legs carried me past the pack village, through the trees, deeper into the darkness.

I didn’t know where I was going.

I just wanted to be anywhere but here.

I heard laughter echoing from behind me and I froze.

Shadows emerged from the trees—three wolves in their human forms. Warriors. I recognized them immediately.

Derek. Vaughn. Lucas.

They were some of Ray’s most loyal men.

And they were grinning like they had found their favorite plaything.

"Well, well," Derek sneered. "Look who we have here."

I swallowed hard, my stomach twisting.

"Not now. Not tonight."

"Why are you out here all alone, little mate?" Lucas mocked, stepping closer. "Don’t you know it’s dangerous?"

I took a step back.

"Maybe she was hoping someone would find her," Vaughn added, smirking. "Someone to… keep her company."

Dread crawled up my spine.

"I don’t want any trouble," I forced out.

Derek chuckled. "Trouble? You are the trouble, wolfless girl."

Before I could react, he grabbed my wrist, his grip tight.

Fear slammed into me.

I was powerless.

"Let go," I snapped, trying to pull away.

He didn’t.

"Or what?" He yanked me closer. "You can’t fight us, Ariel. You’re weak. Useless. What kind of mate doesn’t even have a wolf?"

They were playing with me, toying with me like I was nothing.

My heart pounded.

I was going to die here.

Just then a low, dangerous growl echoed through the trees.

The air grew thick, heavy with something primal.

The men stiffened as they looked at me and then I felt a presence loomed behind me, dark and suffocating.

"Touch her again, and I’ll rip your spine out."

I turned.

Everett stood at the edge of the clearing, his piercing blue eyes glowing with cold fury.

He wasn’t smiling.

He wasn’t teasing.

He looked like a monster carved from shadows and blood.

Derek scoffed, but I saw the hesitation in his eyes. "This isn’t your business, Everett."

Everett tilted his head. "You just made it my business."

The next moment, he moved.

Fast.

Too fast for my eyes to track.

One second, Derek was gripping my wrist.

The next his body was flying across the clearing, crashing into a tree with a sickening crack.

Lucas barely had time to react before Everett slammed his fist into his gut, lifting him off the ground. A scream tore from Lucas’s throat before Everett snapped his arm like a twig.

Vaughn tried to shift.

He didn’t make it.

Everett’s hand shot out, grabbing Vaughn’s throat.

Then crunch.

Vaughn’s body crumpled to the ground, lifeless.

Blood.

Everywhere.

I stood frozen, my breath trapped in my lungs.

Derek, broken and bleeding, scrambled backward. "Everett, wait…"

Everett didn’t wait. He didn't stop.

He stepped forward and stomped his boot down on Derek’s leg.

A sickening snap.

Derek’s scream tore through the night.

Everett crouched beside him, his voice eerily calm. "I told you not to touch her."

"P-please…" Derek sobbed.

Everett sighed, then the sound of another crack was heard.

Silence.

The only sound was my own ragged breathing.

I stared at the bodies.

At Everett.

In the blood on his hands, his face, his shirt.

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, smearing red across his skin.

Then, he turned to me.

His piercing blue eyes met mine.

The darkness in them sent a shiver through me.

I should have been afraid.

I should have run.

But instead, my feet stayed planted in place.

Everett took a slow step forward.

Then another.

Then he was in front of me, so close I could feel the heat radiating from his body.

His breathing was heavy, his chest rising and falling.

His hands twitched at his sides, like he was fighting something inside him.

Then without warning he grabbed me.

Not roughly.

Not like Derek.

But firm. Secure.

His arms wrapped around me, pulling me against his bloodstained chest.

I sucked in a sharp breath.

My fingers trembled as they brushed against his cheek.

The blood was warm.

Slowly, I reached up and wiped it away.

His jaw tensed, his breath hitching.

Neither of us spoke.

But something shifted.

Something I didn’t understand.

Something I wasn’t ready for.

Finally, Everett pulled back just enough to look at me.

"You’re bleeding," he murmured, his thumb brushing my bruised wrist.

"I’m fine," I whispered.

"You’re not." His gaze darkened.

I swallowed.

He was dangerous.

Lethal.

Uncontrollable.

But at this moment… I felt it. He was mine.