Bella’s POV
My already cracked heart shattered even further at his statement yet I still held it in. This was wrong. Someone was bound to talk in my defense. No one in my pack had ever gotten rejected before.
I didn’t want to be the first. Liam was playing a prank on me. He had to be playing! I turned my attention to the priest –he was sitting at the high table right behind Liam.
If everyone else decided to ignore our custom, the priest wouldn’t.
“Sir Mark,” I cried out as I took a step closer to his side, “Liam is joking around. Please tell him it is wrong to play such jokes on days like this!” I wanted my voice to sound firm and confident, but each word I spat brought a tear out of my eye.
My ears rejected my reasoning. Liam wasn’t one to joke around… He wasn’t playing but I strongly refused to believe it. We had been through so much together. He couldn’t leave me now… in front of everyone!
“Our wolves have recognised each other, he can’t reject me!” I said with a wavering voice.
I knew that what I was doing was pitiful but I had lost too many people in life to let this one go as well. Liam was supposed to be mine… not Talia’s.
“I am sorry Bella. The Alpha has made his choice, our hands are tied,” the man said with a wave of his hand.
It was then it dawned on me that my situation was irrevocable. The crowd started murmuring and I could hear some snickers but I refused to give up yet.
Talia was my sister. Yes, we had our differences but she couldn’t do this to me. I turned back to her.
“Talia…” at this point I could no longer stop the tears from falling. “Talia… I am your sister. You can’t accept this… right?” My hands shook and my nose became congested as Igazed at her with all the pain I felt in my heart.
“Bella, accept what has happened, and stop making a fool of yourself!”
It wasn’t Talia, who was all smiles as she held on to Liam like life support, it was my mum. It was my mother who had spoken.
I felt the air get knocked out of my lungs as I turned my teary face to her side. She sat with my dad, a few seats after the priest.
My father had a frown on his face. It wasn’t directed at Talia but like always, it was directed at me.
I felt my knees grow weak as the cracks in my heart got too large to be contained. My heart broke into a million pieces as I realized that the entire pack had been watching my disgrace.
Some even pointed fingers while others openly sneered.
I couldn’t stop myself, I ran.
Tears spilled from my eyes like a dam had just been opened. I couldn’t think as the pain became unbearable with each step I took.
The butterflies had turned into tiny aliens that now ate at the shards of my broken heart.
Why was life this cruel?
All my life, I had waited for this day. I had hoped all of my sorrows were going to finally be over. I thought after tonight, I would only know love and joy.
But it got turned inside out. I lost everything. The pack, my parents, my sister, my best friend, and my mate.
I got to the house and ran straight to my room. As I got in, I closed the door and leaned against it as I let myself wail. “Liam, why did you do this to me?” I cried out.
If they had told me someone would do this to me, I never expected it to be him. Not Liam. He had been my only friend. He had stood by me when everyone took Talia’s side. Even when I was the one in the wrong.
“Why?!” I cried even louder as I realized how they had allused me.
I couldn’t stay here anymore. I had to leave.
I wiped my tears with the back of my hand and got up from the floor. I moved to my wardrobe and packed up a few clothes. I took some of my toiletries and threw them into the bag.
Next, I moved to my piggy bank and smashed it. I took out the cash in it and strapped the back to my shoulder. Then, I ran out of the house and their lives.
If I stay, I would become a laughingstock. I would forever be remembered as the twin who got rejected.
I had no idea where I was going but I kept going. My rational mind told me to wait till daybreak but I couldn’t let myself stay one more second in the pack’s territory. I would lose my sanity.
I got to the pack’s border and was about to slip through when I heard sniffles. For a second I hoped it was Talia, finally feeling remorseful for her actions but as I got closer to the sound, I found Micah, Liam’s younger brother.
My legs stopped moving toward him at once. He was the pack’s beta. If he knew what I was about to do, he would stop me. I couldn’t stay.
Hence, I ignored the side of me that wanted to comfort him and ran out of the border. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me for I feared he might sniff me out.
The only place I couldbe safe was in the city. No one would be able to find me there. I would find a new pack and blend it in there.
I had run a good distance when I suddenly heard a twig break behind me and I swiped my head fast to check if someone was following me but there was no one there –and that was my mistake.
As soon as I turned my head to the front, I realized it. I had walked right into rogue wolves’ territory. They were a group of about twenty werewolves all gathered around themselves in a circle.
There was no fire and no form of light aside from the moon whose light shone down on the forest floor. They looked like they were sleeping but my guts told me otherwise.
Liam had told me about the rogue situation but it never occurred to me that they had gotten this close to my pack. I haven’t gone too far away, have I?
Or were they the ones who have gotten too close to the pack?
A lot of people have been found gruesomely dead recently and though Liam had blamed it on the evil Alpha Darius of the Darhker Pack, I couldn’t stop seeing the killers be these men in the forest.
I had to escape with my life.
My heart was in my trembling hands as I tried to cut across their zone as quietly as possible but whom was I kidding?
They probably saw me long before I saw them. As soon as I placed another foot before the other, they snapped their heads toward me and all hell broke loose.
I broke into a panicked run as they let out deafening howls into the night air and chased after me on all fours. At that point, I didn’t care if I was heading back to my pack or running to hell as long as I was getting away from them.
Their heavy footsteps vibrated in the forest bed as they chased after me. My legs tired out but I kept pushing for I knew my life would be in danger the moment they had their hands on me.
Leaves slapped across my body as I ran but I didn’t care. My brain was focused on only one thing –and that was my safety.
Only the goddess knew what these cruel men would do to me if they had their hands on me. I was too young to die!
The sound of my breathing overlapped their heavy steps as my lungs refused to fuel my body with more oxygen. I threw my head back to see if I had a good head start to take a safe break and my fragile heart shattered.
They were gaining on me and they had the advantage of their wolf bodies. I was still in my human form and my stamina could not be compared with theirs. Yet I was determined to survive.
As I turned back around, I saw the dark silhouette of a man, a second too late. I tried to change my direction, but he had me.
I ran straight into his iron body and he caged me with his death grip. The others had joined and they howled at me menacingly.
“Let me go!” I screamed, brutally trying to shake his death grip off but my cries fell on deaf ears. Nothing I did change a thing.
A wet cloth got clamped to my nose and the last thing I saw was their neon eyes flashing before me as darkness consumed me.
