Ashes of Betrayal

MIRA

The doctor’s message roared in my head as I drove home from the hospital—another failed fertility test. I had to have a baby, I had to.

I headed straight to our bedroom, knowing that going to the throne room to deliver the message to Finn would only trigger another episode of his abuse and curses. I didn’t know what to do anymore.

As I reached the door, I heard sounds that made me stop. Moans. I froze, my hand hovering over the handle. This couldn’t be Finn, a maid wouldn’t dare come here. My heart pounded as I pushed the door open and stopped dead.

It wasn’t just Finn that I saw.

I saw my like-my-sister, the only person I would have chosen after Finn, the one person I trusted with everything. I saw the two of them tangled together on our bed, on the sheets where I slept every night.

They saw me. Finn cursed under his breath and separated from Isla, covering himself.

I couldn’t process what was happening. Isla didn’t even look bothered, her expression almost bored as she watched me standing there.

“Do you not have the manners to knock before entering?” Finn said.

“Does that matter right now?” My voice came out broken. I looked between them, my hands trembling. “What are you doing? What is this?”

This couldn’t be real. This had to be some nightmare.

Isla sat up slowly, pulling the sheet around herself. “What does it look like we’re doing? You’re just a barren woman who can’t even conceive, what did you expect?”

The word hit me like a slap. Barren?  She said it so casually, like it wasn’t the one thing that kept me up at night crying.

My knees nearly gave out. I grabbed the door handle to steady myself. “Isla, how could you?”

“How could I?” She actually laughed. “Oh please, Mira, don’t act so surprised. You really thought he would stay faithful to someone like you? Someone who can’t even fulfill the basic duty of a wife?”

“After everything we’ve tried, after all the treatments, you still can’t give me a child,” Finn said. His voice was so cold it didn’t even sound like him anymore. “You’re just a wolf without a wolf, that’s what’s stopping you from having a baby. That’s what’s wrong with you.”

I stared at him. Did Finn just say that to me?

“You knew about my wolf before you married me,” I whispered. “You said it didn’t matter.”

“Well, I was wrong.” He snapped. “It matters. Everything about you matters when you can’t give me an heir.”

“How long?” The question escaped before I could stop it. “How long has this been going on?”

Isla stood up from the bed, not even bothering to cover herself properly. “Does it really matter, sister? Six months? A year? Will knowing the exact timeline make you feel better?”

Six months? A year? The words spun in my head.

“Why?” My voice cracked. “Why would you do this to me?”

“Why?” Isla walked closer, her eyes cold as ice. “Because I can give him what you can’t. Because I’m not broken like you. Because maybe I deserve to be Luna instead of someone who can’t even shift properly.”

Someone I called my sister wanted my position, wanted my life, wanted everything I had even though I had nothing left.

“You’re like my sister,” I said. The words sounded pathetic even to my own ears. “I loved you.”

“Love?” She scoffed. “Love doesn’t keep a pack strong, Mira, no matter how strong the love is, it can’t keep a pack and don’t you dare try to guilt-trap me by calling me your sister, we didn’t have the same mother, you get?”

The words felt like a slap to the cheek and I don’t know what to feel anymore, tears kept striding down my cheeks as I tried to hold myself back from collapsing. 

“I think we’ve wasted enough time trying to lecture you, now you know where you stand, right?” Finn raised an eyebrow. 

“Wait,” I looked at him. “You’re just going to act like this is normal? Like you didn’t just destroy our marriage?”

“What marriage?” He walked toward me and I stepped back. “A marriage requires two whole people, Mira. You’re only half of one.”

The cruelty in his words took my breath away. Is this the man I loved? 

“I just came from the hospital,” I said quietly, allowing my tears to fall freely while trying to stop my voice from shaking. “I was coming to tell you about another failed test. I was coming to apologize again for failing you. And this is what I find?”

“What did you expect me to do?” His voice rose. “Wait forever for something that’s never going to happen? I need an heir, Mira. The pack needs an heir. You’ve had all the years but still couldn’t conceive.” He took a deep breath, matching my eyes with intensity that spoke louder than his voice. 

“Now that you’ve caught us, there’s no need for us to hide anymore.” Isla moved to stand beside Finn, placing her hand on his arm like she had every right to touch him. “We were going to tell you eventually anyway.”

My sister….. no someone I consider my sister was touching my husband, standing beside him like they were the couple and I was the intruder. How did my life turn into this nightmare?

“Tell me what exactly?” I asked. “That you’ve been betraying me? That you’ve been laughing at me behind my back while I trusted you both?”

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic,” Isla rolled her eyes. “This isn’t about you, Mira. This is about what’s best for the pack.”

“What’s best for the pack?” I repeated. 

“Step outside right now,” Finn’s voice cut through,  his face had hardened into that expression I had come to fear. “Or you will be dragged out by the guard.“