Rejected By My Alpha, Claimed By His Enemy

Aurora The messenger found me kneeling in the herb garden, my hands buried in soil up to the wrist, and I didn't even let him finish his sentence before I was on my feet. "The Alpha wants to see you now." Those words were like music to my ears and I could not stop the excitement and joy which raced through my body. It had been weeks of waiting and now, the alpha finally summoned me. I couldn't believe I would get to see his handsome face again. I didn't stop to wash my hands or fix my hair. I ran through the pack house halls like the omega girl I used to be, the one who thought being chosen by an Alpha was the closest thing to a fairytale a person like me could get. My heart was so full I thought it might climb up my throat and choke me before I even reached him. He was summoning me. Me! I pushed open the doors to the main hall, breathless, and the first thing I noticed wasn't Godric. It was Beatrix. She stood beside him with her hand curled around his forearm like she belonged there, her dark red hair falling in perfect waves over one shoulder. She looked at me the way she always did, like I was something unfortunate that had wandered in from outside. My smile didn't fully disappear yet. I told myself this didn't mean anything. Maybe she was just here and it was a coincidence. Then I saw the elders, five of them, seated along the far wall in their ceremonial chairs. Something serious must have happened. My stomach dropped before my mind caught up to why. "Godric," I said carefully, casting a wary glance at Beatrix who still looked at me like I was garbage. "What's going on?" He didn't look at me the way he used to, not even in the beginning when things were good. His jaw was tight, his eyes cold and fixed somewhere just past my shoulder like he couldn't stand to actually meet my gaze. "Aurora Everhart," He said, and hearing my full name from his mouth shattered my heart. "You stand accused of treason against Nightland." The words didn't make sense at first. I couldn't help but laugh and it came out short and broken. It instantly died the second I saw no one else was laughing with me. "Treason?" I repeated. "Godric, what are you talking about?" Beatrix's mouth curved, just slightly. "We have evidence, Aurora. There's no point pretending." "Evidence of what?" My voice cracked. "I haven't done anything." "You've been leaking pack information to Redfang for months or maybe longer," Godric finally looked at me, and there was nothing in his eyes I recognized. "We have reason to believe you've been conspiring with Malachi Axten to overthrow this pack." The room tilted instantly and I had to put a hand out to steady myself against the nearest pillar. "That's insane," I said in disbelief. "I would never. Godric, look at me. You know me. You know I would never betray you and this pack." "Do I?" His voice was flat and empty like he was reading lines someone else had written for him. "The evidence says otherwise." "What evidence?" I looked around the room and at the elders who wouldn't meet my eyes. I looked at Beatrix who couldn't stop smiling like this was the best day of her life. "Show me. Show me anything that proves I did what you're saying." "You don't get to demand anything!" Beatrix growled, stepping forward, her voice sharp as a blade. "You're an omega standing accused of treason. Be grateful you're even being given the chance to speak before judgment." "I wasn't talking to you." The words came out before I could stop them, four years of swallowed anger finally cracking through. Beatrix's eyes narrowed, but I didn't care anymore. "Godric pease, look at me. You know I've given you everything. I gave up my family and my friends for you. I gave you four years of my life. Would I really throw that away?" For one second, just one, something flickered across his face. Something that almost looked like doubt, then Beatrix's hand tightened on his arm, and it was gone. "The council has reviewed the evidence," He said, and his voice was steady and cold again. "A pattern of unexplained absences that align with enemy movement. It's enough." "Enemy movement?" I could hear myself getting louder and more desperate, but I couldn't stop it. "I don't even leave the pack grounds without permission. You know this. Everyone here knows this." "Guards," Godric said, ignoring me completely. "Take her to the dungeons." The word made me tremble instantly. Dungeons. He was talking about the dungeons like he was ordering someone to fetch firewood, like this was nothing. Like I was nothing. Two guards stepped forward and gripped my arms before I could react. I twisted against them, disbelief turning to panic in an instant. "Godric, no! Please, you can't do this. I'm innocent. Please, just talk to me, just give me a chance to explain—" "Take her," He said again, and this time he turned away entirely, like the sight of me being dragged out wasn't even worth watching. That was what broke me. It was not the accusation or the guards. It was watching him turn his back like it cost him nothing. "Godric!" I screamed his name like it still meant something, like four years of loyalty could be undone with enough volume. "Please, I didn't do this! You have to believe me! Godric, look at me!" He didn't, but Beatrix did, though. She watched with an expression I would remember for the rest of my life. Satisfaction dressed up as pity, like she had been waiting years for this exact moment. The guards dragged me through the hall, my feet scraping against the stone floor and my voice raw from screaming his name over and over. The last thing I saw before they pulled me through the doors was Beatrix leaning into him, whispering something against his ear, and Godric, my mate, the man I had loved and bled for, not even flinching. He just let them drag me away.