The day I lost Everything
1468 Words
Chapter 2
Ariana
If anyone had told me that a day like this would come, I would have laughed in their face. Even in my worst nightmares, I had never imagined my wedding would end like this.
I pressed my palms against the polished floor and forced myself up. Pain exploded through my body, making my legs tremble beneath me.
"Damon... it wasn't like that..."
The words barely left my lips before he cut me off.
"Save your excuses. I don't want to hear them." His eyes were filled with nothing but disgust. "Someone, throw this filthy thing out of my hall. She sickens me."
Two guards immediately stepped forward.
Before I could react, rough hands clamped around my arms.
"No!" I struggled against their grip, digging my heels into the floor. "Please! Let me explain!"
They dragged me across the hall as if I were nothing more than a sack of trash.
"Mum! Dad!"
My desperate cry echoed through the hall.
I searched the crowd until I found them.
My mother lowered her gaze.
My father stood silently beside her, his expression unreadable.
Neither of them moved.
Neither of them spoke.
Neither of them came for me.
The massive doors slammed shut behind me.
The loud bang echoed through the empty corridor, sounding like the final nail in the coffin of everything I had ever believed in.
"No..."
I threw myself against the doors, pounding on them until my palms stung.
"Please... let me in..."
No one answered.
Instead, cheerful music drifted through the walls.
Laughter.
Applause.
The celebration had already resumed.
As if I had never existed.
Fresh tears blurred my vision.
That was supposed to be my wedding.
My day.
My future.
So... how had everything fallen apart so quickly?
My throat burned from crying by the time I finally gave up.
With heavy steps, I began walking home.
No...
Not home.
Just a house.
The place where I had grown up.
The place that no longer felt like it belonged to me.
The moment I stepped inside, my strength gave out.
I collapsed onto the cold floor, curling into myself as silent sobs shook my body.
My carefully styled hair had come loose, dark strands clinging to my damp face.
Mascara streaked down my cheeks.
The beautiful white wedding gown that had once made me feel like the happiest woman alive was now stained with dirt and dust.
After what felt like hours of crying, exhaustion finally pulled me into a restless sleep.
Splash!
A bucket of freezing water crashed over me.
I gasped, my entire body jerking as icy water soaked through my clothes.
Shivering, I wiped the water from my eyes.
My parents stood over me.
My mother still held the empty bucket.
"What are you doing here?" she asked coldly.
For a brief second, confusion clouded my mind.
Has it all been a dream?
Had I imagined everything?
Then her next words shattered that fragile hope.
"After embarrassing yourself at Selena's wedding, you still have the nerve to come back here?"
My chest tightened.
Selena's wedding? It was supposed to be my own wedding.
It hadn't been a dream.
Every cruel word.
Every mocking laugh.
Every humiliating second...
It had all been real.
I slowly climbed to my feet.
"Mum..." My voice cracked. "Dad... why?"
I looked from one face to the other.
"Why did you let Selena take my mate?"
My mother let out a mocking laugh.
"The Alpha didn't want you." She folded her arms across her chest. "Did you expect us to reject him when he asked for Selena? Do you know what an honor it is for this family to become related to the Alpha?"
Disbelief washed over me.
"So..." A bitter laugh escaped my lips. "You chose your status over your own daughter?"
Neither of them answered.
It was all the answer I needed.
My father finally stepped forward.
"You can't stay here anymore."
I stared at him.
"What?"
"This family has suffered enough humiliation because of you. This house has no place for your shame."
My fingers curled into fists.
"They should be ashamed?" I laughed bitterly. "You're the ones who lied to Damon."
"What lie?" my mother snapped. "Didn't you sell your own child?"
The accusation struck me harder than any slap.
My breathing faltered.
This was the woman I had sacrificed everything to save.
The woman who knew the truth.
Yet she stood there, looking at me as though I were nothing but filth.
I swallowed the lump in my throat.
There was nothing left to say.
Without another word, I walked to my room.
I pulled my suitcase from beneath the bed and began stuffing my clothes inside.
My hands trembled so badly that several dresses slipped from my grasp, but I kept packing.
There was nothing left for me here.
By the time I zipped the suitcase shut, footsteps echoed behind me.
I turned.
Selena stood in the doorway.
She was still in a wedding gown.
A smug smile spread across her face.
"Oh? Running away already?" she mocked. "Couldn't bear the shame?"
I looked her straight in the eyes.
"If I were you," I said quietly, "I'd be the one ashamed."
Her smile disappeared.
"Says the woman who got pregnant before marriage and sold her baby."
My jaw clenched.
"That's a lie, Selena."
She shrugged.
"Believe whatever helps you sleep at night."
Then she leaned closer.
"Baby seller."
Something inside me snapped.
Before I even realized what I was doing—
Slap!
My palm crashed across her cheek.
Her head whipped to the side.
A bright red handprint bloomed on her face.
"You shameless mate thief!" I hissed.
Selena stared at me in stunned silence before her eyes instantly filled with tears.
Right on cue.
"My face..." she whimpered.
Heavy footsteps thundered down the hallway.
A familiar scent reached me before I even looked up.
Damon.
His gaze landed on Selena's reddened cheek.
His expression darkened instantly.
He wrapped an arm around her protectively before turning to me with murderous fury.
"How dare you touch my wife?"
His voice shook the walls.
"Have you grown tired of keeping that hand?”
"Damon..."
His name escaped my lips in a broken whisper.
"They lied to you. I didn't sell my baby. It was—"
"Did you, or did you not, get pregnant by another man?" he roared.
I flinched, my heart lurching.
"I... I did, but—"
"Then that's all I need to know."
His voice was as cold as ice.
"If I hear my name come out of that filthy mouth one more time, you'll regret the day the Moon Goddess ever made us mates."
My heart felt like it was pricked by thousands of needles.
Without sparing me another glance, Damon bent down and scooped Selena into his arms.
She rested her head against his chest, throwing me a smug smile over his shoulder.
“Guess who won?”
“Me.”
She mouthed at me.
"I'll send someone to collect her belongings," Damon said to my parents before turning away.
Just like that...
He walked out.
The man who had once promised to protect me for the rest of my life never looked back.
I stood frozen, staring at the doorway long after they had disappeared from sight.
"Are you planning to stand there forever?"
My mother's sharp voice snapped me back to reality.
"Move already."
I slowly turned to look at her.
For the first time in my life...
She didn't feel like my mother anymore.
Werewolves rarely fell seriously ill.
But she had.
Months ago, she had been diagnosed with a severe heart condition. The healers had said only a heart transplant could save her.
The cost was far beyond anything my father could afford.
Without it...
She would have died.
I couldn't bear the thought of losing her.
So I made a choice.
A choice that changed my life forever.
I carried a child.
Everything I endured...
Everything I lost...
It had all been for her.
Yet today, the very woman whose life I had saved looked me in the eyes and called me a disgrace.
A bitter smile tugged at my lips.
There was no point thinking about it now.
That was story for another day.
Right now, I have only one thing left to do.
Leave.
I couldn't stay in the Grey Moon Pack any longer.
Every street.
Every face.
Every whisper would remind me of today's humiliation.
Joining another pack wouldn't help. News traveled fast among werewolves.
Soon everyone would know my name—and the lies told about me.
That left me with only one place to go.
A land beyond the authority of any Alpha.
A place where rogues and outcasts disappeared to begin again.
The human territory.
- Writer
