A Knife To The Heart

Natalia's Pov 

My name is Natalia Russo, and today was supposed to mark the fifth year of my marriage to my mate, Shane Whitmore.

For seven exhausting hours, I stayed in the kitchen alone, preparing all his favorite meals.

The rich scent of roasted meat and spices filled the house while I decorated the dining table, making sure everything looked perfect for our anniversary dinner.

By the time I finished, my entire body ached, but none of it mattered. Not when I thought I would finally spend the night with my mate.

I heard the front door open, and my heart instantly filled with excitement.

“Shane?”

I quickly wiped my hands on a dishcloth and rushed out of the kitchen.

But the moment he walked through the door, the excitement that had been bubbling inside me vanished.

His face was tight with a deep scowl, and an expression I couldn’t quite understand

“You’re back,” I said, trying to ease the sudden, strange tension between us.

But before I could reach him, a sharp pain exploded through my stomach.

My breath caught instantly, as a broken gasp escaped my lips while my body jerked backward.

Warm liquid flooded my mouth, and I coughed violently, tasting blood instantly.

For one horrifying second, my mind refused to process what had just happened.

Then I looked down to see a silver-laced dagger was buried deep inside my stomach.

My eyes widened in horror, as my trembling hands wrapped around the handle as panic consumed me. The silver burned through my flesh like fire, poisoning my blood and weakening my wolf with every passing second.

Hazel, my wolf, whimpered weakly inside my head, and with trembling breaths, I slowly lifted my gaze to Shane.

His bloodshot eyes stared down at me without warmth, only disgust.

“W-Why…?” I whispered as tears filled my eyes.

He said nothing. Instead, he stepped closer and shoved the silver blade even deeper into my stomach.

A scream tore from my throat, as agony exploded through my body so violently that my knees nearly gave out beneath me.

“It has to be this way, Natalia,” he growled coldly.

I struggled to breathe as tears streamed down my face. 

“After everything I did for you…” My voice cracked. “This is how you repay me? By taking my life?”

For the briefest moment, guilt flickered across his face. But it disappeared just as quickly.

“It’s because you’ve always stood in the way of me being with the woman I truly love.” My breath hitched.

The words struck harder than the knife buried inside me itself. I shook my head weakly, unable to understand.

“Then… Why marry me?” I whispered. “If you were only going to kill me for her?”

Blood slipped from the corner of my lips as my body weakened against the wall behind me.

Shane looked at me like I disgusted him.

“I married you because I needed status,” he admitted without hesitation. “I was nothing more than a low-ranked warrior nobody respected. But after marrying you, the Alpha’s favorite daughter, I became the warrior general.”

His lips twisted bitterly.

“And the woman I truly love…”

He paused.

“…is Samantha.”

My entire body froze.

“You mean…” I choked painfully. 

“Samantha? My stepsister?”

“Yes.” There wasn’t even a second of hesitation as he responded.

“She’s the one my heart truly belongs to.”

A faint, broken smile formed on my lips.

So this was the truth.

That the man I loved and trusted…had been sleeping with my own stepsister behind my back.

“Now that you know our secret,” Shane continued coldly, “it’s best you take it to your grave.”

His cruel eyes remained fixed on me.

“Don’t worry. We’ll mourn you for a month. Just enough to make everyone believe we cared.”

My consciousness began slipping away as darkness slowly clouded my vision.

Yet Shane simply stood there, still holding the silver dagger inside me while he watched me suffer.

Like my pain meant nothing.

For five years, I believed I had married a kind and loving mate.

But I had been living beside a monster.

A manipulative fool who used my love, my trust, and my family name for his own selfish gain.

And now…He was killing me for another woman. And that woman was Samantha.

The same stepsister my father brought home years ago.

She had been twelve back then, while I was fourteen and had only recently experienced my first shift.

At the time, Father claimed Samantha’s mother was a low-ranking omega he fell in love with after my own mother died.

I believed him.

I welcomed Samantha into my life with open arms. I treated her like a real family. I protected her and loved her. And this was how she repaid me. By helping my mate murder me.

Tears burned my eyes as rage slowly mixed with the pain consuming my body.

While I would be buried beneath the earth…They would take my place beside each other as if I had never existed.

Suddenly, Shane ripped out the silver dagger out of my stomach with brutal force.

A horrifying scream tore from my throat, as blood splattered across the wall, then I collapsed heavily onto the floor.

My shaking hands pressed desperately against the wound, trying to stop the bleeding but it was useless. Blood pooled rapidly beneath my body.

The horrifying sight of my own organs spilling from the wound sent panic crashing into me. My entire body convulsed violently as the silver poison fully spread through my system. 

Every nerve burned. Even my ears rang loudly as the world around me slowly faded. Then, a soft sound echoed through the room.

Using the last bit of strength left in me, I turned weakly toward the entrance to see Samantha walking in smiling, clapping her hands like my death was some kind of entertainment.

She approached slowly, her heels clicking softly against the floor.

“P-Please…” I begged weakly. 

“S-Samantha…” My vision blurred heavily.

“Save me… please… no one has to know…”

A cruel smile spread across her face.

Without hesitation, she walked straight into Shane’s arms.

He pulled her into his arms and kissed her, then they looked down at me with disgust, like I was nothing.

“No one will find out,” Samantha said coldly. “Not even Father.” Her smile widened.

“Your death has already been decided, Natalia. So die quietly, you miserable piece of trash.”

With that, she extended her deadly, sharp claws, and before I could react, she slashed them across my face brutally.

A broken gasp escaped my lips as pain exploded through me one final time.

My vision darkened completely, but somehow…I forced my eyes open one last time.

“Oh… Moon Goddess…” I whispered weakly as my voice trembled.

“If you can give me another chance…”

I said as hatred burned through what remained of me.

“I’ll make them pay.” And with that—I died.