DISOWNED WOLF
1234 Words
As I bowed my head in shame, the weight of their gazes pressed down on me like a thousand knives. Their eyes burned with a mix of pity and contempt—pity stirred by Cassidy’s venom-laced words, and contempt reserved only for me.
For years, I stood as their Luna, their protector, their shield—but now?
Now I was nothing but the villain in their tale, painted in hues of hatred, blame, and bitter resentment. The bond I once shared with them was torn asunder, ripped to shreds, and their rage now danced like a wildfire, threatening to reduce me to ash.
My body felt ablaze, nerves searing, and my thoughts were a chaotic storm. My wolf whimpered deep within. Even she, fierce as she was, couldn’t withstand this pain.
“It will be okay soon,” I whispered to myself. But even that lie burned on my tongue. I knew it wouldn’t.
Then came the first betrayal—the one that shattered my soul the most.
My mother stepped forward.
“I—it’s hard to choose between what was thicker...blood or truth,” Jane Lockhart began, her voice trembling, eyes glistening with crocodile tears. “They’re both my daughters...but it’s time I stand for what is right.”
Lies. All of it, lies.
“I never imagined Catleya could do something so...horrible to her own sister. Her threats, her jealousy—if only I had seen what hate could turn into!”
Her false sorrow was an act fit for a stage.
But the crowd drank it in, every word. And just like that, the fire was fed.
I felt Noah’s gaze among the mob—it was sharp, merciless. I turned to where he stood beside Cassidy. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear...and there it was. The mark. His mark. A bond that was mine by fate, stolen in silence.
“N—no.” My voice cracked, barely a whisper against the rising storm.
My eyes shifted—black to crimson—blazing with agony. It was all laid bare. While I rotted away in a prison cell, tormented and abandoned, Noah caressed her in the bed meant for us. I could almost see their tangled limbs, his lips mourning her pain while he turned a blind eye to mine. I was invisible. Forgotten. She was cherished. I was discarded.
“It’s not your fault, Miss Jane,” a woman from the crowd chimed in. She was moved—fooled—by my mother’s tears. “It’s the Luna...she’s the one who tore us apart.”
A chorus of howls and growls echoed her sentiment.
“Oh, Lyka...” Jane sniffled, and my father—yes, my father—rushed to her side, guiding her gently off the platform.
“Are you alright?” he asked, his voice soft. A voice I once dreamed would comfort me.
But his eyes never sought me out.
Did he ever regret calling me his daughter?
And just when I thought the pain had reached its peak, another dagger plunged into my back.
“Grace...?” My voice trembled. She wouldn’t meet my gaze.
Two warriors flanked her, bags in hand. I felt my heartbeat thunder in my chest.
“Grace Lambert,” Noah’s voice thundered like a gavel striking judgment. “...will testify.”
What?
“I—I’m Grace Lambert, a nurse...and a friend to the Luna,” she said, not once looking on my way. “These...these are the clothes she forced me to pack. Luna asked me to run with her...after...after she killed Cassidy’s unborn child.”
A beat of silence. Then the bags were emptied.
My clothes. My herbs.
Among them, poisons—herbs with the same effect as Moon’s Bane.
The crowd gasped in unison.
My knees buckled.
“No! These aren’t mine! Grace—why are you doing this?!” My voice broke like glass. It was a terrible feeling as I watched her with tears streaming down my face. “This isn’t right! I never—never did this!”
Yes, I had whispered dreams of escape to her. But not this. Never this.
But my pleas were drowned by betrayal.
“Yes, they are!” came another voice—Tristan. His face was twisted in rage.
“I am the mate of the pack doctor—Luna threatened us! She said if Cassidy’s child didn’t die, then we would!”
“Loren nearly lost her mind because of her!” he screamed.
Gasps. Shouts.
“I didn’t—!” My scream was choked with sobs. “I didn’t do it!”
I didn’t beg. But their words—their curses—cut deeper than any blade.
Noah stood. His boots thudded like a war drum. Cassidy clung to his arm. The world quieted, breath held in suspense.
Then Cassidy—fragile, trembling Cassidy—stepped toward me. Slowly, she knelt.
No...
“I forgive you, Cat,” she said, her voice like silk wrapped around a dagger. “Because I know...I am also to blame. I’m sorry...that Noah and I...that we loved each other so deeply.”
Gasps. Murmurs of admiration. The pack gazed at her as if she were divine.
“I—I’m sorry,” Cassidy wept, “...that my sister didn’t mean to hurt my child...”
She swayed, and Noah caught her. Grace rushed to her side, concern etched into her face. They looked like a perfect painting—heartbroken, noble, beautiful.
Cassidy rose and glanced at me. And in that fleeting second, her lips curled—not in sorrow, but in triumph. A smirk. Sharp and gleaming.
Then she spoke.
“It may be too soon...But I believe I should step into the role Luna once held. For the pack.”
My heart shattered.
It was all a game to them. A twisted masterpiece. My mother. Grace. Noah. Cassidy. They had scripted every move, choreographed every betrayal.
And I? I was the fool dancing on their strings.
Noah stepped forward. His words were like ice.
“The evidence is enough. But...do you have any last words?”
The cold finality in his tone crushed me.
I opened my mouth, not to beg, but to curse them all.
“May the Goddess judge you for the lies you’ve cast upon me,” I spat, voice laced with fire.
He didn’t flinch.
“I see no remorse,” Noah declared. “And so, with the authority vested in me...I sentence you, Catleya Lockhart, to death. At daybreak.”
The world spun. The words echoed in my skull.
This man—this man I once called my mate—wanted me dead all along.
Tears streaked down my face, not in fear, but in fury.
I gave everything. I bled, suffered, sacrificed—for them. And they cast me aside like yesterday’s ash. I wasn’t their Luna. I was their scapegoat.
The crowd buzzed, but then—screams pierced the air.
“O—OH MY GOD!”
Grace shrieked, pointing up. The ceiling cracked.
Glass rained from above. Long before a body tumbled in freefall.
I shielded my face, but blood splattered across me.
There are series of gasps and blood-curdling screams filled with horror.
When I looked up, my breath hitched.
It was Loren.
Doctor Loren.
The woman who deemed me infertile.
- Writer
