Am I going to die?

ASHLEY

My mother was the first to break the silence.

“Oh, Ashley,” she burst into tears. “What happened to you?” 

She whispered, reaching to touch me once more, but I pulled away before she could.

She didn't know what happened, or she was just faking it and pretending to be pitiful about my condition? After all, they had made the order along with Jason to punish me for a crime I didn't commit.

I glanced at my father, who hadn't said anything. The shock was still present on his face. This might be the best reaction I've been getting from him in a while.

“You know what happens in the slave barracks, you sent me there,” my eyes locked on my father. “I didn't go there to have a fabulous vacation.”

I wanted to be sarcastic, but the crack in my voice at the end didn't make it come off that way. 

“I might be the beta, but I never made any order for you to be punished or even branded in this manner, leaving you riddled with scars!” My father denied.

Even as the alpha was in charge of the whole pack house and nothing went by him unnoticed, sometimes the beta almost had the same control. My father, in particular, had a fair share of control over the slave barracks and could order things to be done.

“It's your fault anyway. If you weren't hellbent on disgracing us that night and trying to kill Maria, you wouldn't have been sent there, and Maria wouldn't be in that position she is in now!” He snapped.

“Joshua,” my mother murmured, touching his shoulder, but my father wasn't done speaking.

“We raised you to fight back and stand for what's right. It's not our fault either, you didn't fight back and chose to be punished.”

I was the one suffering. Yet, I was the one to be blamed for things that were out of my control. As if I could fight off the guards in this pack house or disobey Jason’s authority.

“Enough. I'll get you medicines,” my mother's voice snapped my attention back to her, and I watched as she walked toward the door. She had barely taken three steps when my father spoke.

“Wait. We need to go. Maria needs blood now.” He has touched his two fingers to his temple. Someone was midlinking with him. It must be Jason.

With that said, he gripped my hand and began to drag me out of the attic and back into the room Maria was in.

I couldn't protest or try to fight off the guards that bound my hands and legs with silver chains while the doctor had several vials of blood drawn.

On the sixth blood draw, dizziness began to set in. The room spun, and I could barely keep up with the conversation that was going on. The silver shackles used to bind me weren't helping either.

I was glad I was sitting. Otherwise, my face would be flat on the ground.

“Is she going to be alright?” Maria spoke up for the first time since I arrived here.

I looked at her. Since I was sitting close to her, I could see every expression.

She winced as she tried to sit up. Jason helped her up, and she was now sitting on the bed with her legs dangling.

“I think she needs to rest. She is already getting too weak,” Maria whispered, her voice weak. She looked at me with concern.

I glanced at her, close enough to catch the faint glimmer of triumph behind her worried eyes. A humorless snort escaped me.

Jason turned sharply. “You’re unbelievable,” he spat. “She’s worried about you, even after what you did, and that’s how you respond? You really are selfish.”

“I didn't do what you are accusing…” I started, my voice shaking.

Maria stood from the bed, taking a step, and fell forward, cutting off everything I had to say.

Jason caught her instantly, holding her like she was made of glass. My stomach twisted painfully.

“Maria, what were you thinking?” he scolded gently, brushing hair from her face. “You should’ve told me before trying to stand.”

She whimpered softly, playing into his arms.

I stood there frozen, invisible. Jason didn’t even glance my way. Not even once.

It was too painful seeing my mate want someone else instead of me. Panic coiled in my stomach. A sharp, metallic tang suddenly crept up my throat. I swallowed, but it didn’t go away—if anything, it grew thicker, heavier. Blood.

Without another word, I pushed myself to my feet and walked out. The transfusion had stopped. Their focus was solely on Maria, with nothing else in mind.

When I reached the room, my stomach clenched violently, and I couldn’t help but cough, falling to my knees.

“Blood,” I whispered, seeing the contents of what I had vomited on the floor.

Once again, the room began to spin. I fell back on the floor on my back, looking at the ceiling. I remained in the same position.

I was too exhausted and weak to stand up. If my mother returned to the room, she'd help me and speak to Jason so they could put a stop to the madness, seeing how negatively it was affecting me.

Or so I had thought.

******

A week had passed since I returned to the Beta’s house. I kept donating blood to Maria, and with each draw, I vomited more of my own. I was getting weaker, but no one cared.

On the other hand, Maria got stronger by the day with every donation made.

They didn’t care if I died. As long as Maria lived, I was nothing but a body to drain.

So, I decided to sneak out of the house to find a solution to my condition, wearing a disguise to make myself unrecognisable. A garment that obscured my features with a veil covering my face, a blue veiled cloak, was the perfect coverage.

I was in the pack’s doctor's office waiting for the result of the test. When he returned, I saw the grim expression on his face.

“You have bloodrot.” He said, looking at me from glasses perched on top of his nose. “Too much blood loss, too fast. Your body’s turning on itself.”

“Am I going to die?” I didn't care about the explanation. I just wanted to know that.

Doctor Kael sighed. The sigh was enough to answer me.

“It can be fatal from further blood loss or injury. So you need to be careful henceforth.”

Careful? How?

I stumbled out of his office, dazed.

Fatal. I was going to die. And they wouldn’t stop until I did.

“Surprise!”

I nearly jumped out of my skin as soon as I opened the door. The various aromas of food, candies, and dessert hit my nose all at once.

Strings of confetti were thrown around the room, and I saw Maria standing in front of the huge cake, in the room’s centre, with my parents behind her.

“Today, we're celebrating the full recovery of my daughter, Maria. The next shall be her Luna ceremony preparation.” He sounded boastful.

The wide smile and admiration present on everyone's face in the room meant they were happy and couldn't wait for what my father had announced.

I, on the other hand, could wait.

I walked towards my father. “Isn't it a little bit too soon to announce her being the Luna and wanting to prepare for that? There are so many suspicious things about her father. We don't even know who she is and what her mission is here. Yet you are doing all those things?” My voice was desperate. 

I wanted my parents to look at Maria keenly. The way I was seeing it. I mean, they weren't that blind that they couldn't know that she was manipulating all of them, were they?

The room fell silent at my statement, and Maria stepped away from the cake towards me.

She stared at the floor, chewing on her bottom lip before looking at me. “I am sorry, Ashley. I didn't know you felt that way about me. What can I do to make you see me truly as I am? I am only trying to be a sister to you. But it seems I am not very much needed here.” She stared at the floor once again, sniffling.

Goodness. The manipulative witch.

“How dare you say that to her? She has done nothing but be good to you. How can you be so selfish and cruel with your words?”

“Selfish?” I scoffed. “Maybe, I prefer being called that to watching her ruin us!”

My father hand-raised, and he smacked me across the cheek, cutting off every other word I desired to say. The same place he had hit before. It fucking stung.

Fury radiated off him. He looked like he was going to burst from the anger. My father pointed at me, “Y-you…throw her into the cell. No food, no water. Let her rot until she learns what respect means!”

I was dragged away like a criminal, for loving this family more than they loved themselves. For seeing clearly what everyone else refused to.

And for not being Maria.