2

Calista

I could feel my breath stuck in my throat as I collapsed to the floor.

Screams filled the air. 

“Calista, breathe…” came a voice as they shook me. 

“Help her! Somebody help!” 

Then everything went black. 

I felt the warmth of a towel easing the fever I had. 

“Calista, can you hear me?” a familiar voice called as they cooled my face with a wet cloth. My eyes flickered open, and I wished they hadn’t. My heart thudded, heavy and loud in my ears. The world felt different—emptier. 

Luna Lola sat next to me. 

“Where's Armin?” I asked slowly as tears began running down my cheeks again. 

“Calm down dear, he hasn't returned home since last night.” 

“Last night? Why?” I sobbed, the pain clawing up my throat. 

“Why didn't he choose me, why?” The ache in my heart grew heavier. Numbness filled my limbs as she pulled me into a tight cuddle.

“Oh, you poor thing,” she said softly, her voice laced with pity. 

“Even though things don't go in our favor sometimes, we have to be sure that Freya knows best,” she said, patting my back.

“I want you to know that you're special, more special than you know,” she continued. 

“How am I special? The man I love didn't pick me! I don't understand why he rejected me,” I responded as my nose ran along with my tears. 

“He didn’t even look back, he just... left.” I clutched at my chest. “I can’t live without him! I can’t!” The ache in my heart worsened at the thought of what his rejection meant. 

I pulled my hair trying to feel anything other than the decaying pain in my chest. 

“Here, drink this,” Luna Lola said, offering me a cup of the mixture. I didn't care what was in it, as long as it would make me feel better. I drank it all. I felt the immediate numbness of its effect in my bones. My body felt lighter, but my eyes felt heavy. 

“Sleep now, you'll be better when you wake,” she said softly as she tucked me into the bed. 

*******

My eyes opened instantly, and it was already dark. I must have slept at Luna's quarters the whole day. I sat up, chest aching. I couldn't stay here. I had to go home to feel some sense of normal, no matter how broken it was. I grabbed my coat and left, slipping away from the guards before anyone could see me. 

The shame and humiliation I would have to endure made my stomach twist. I would no longer be just a stranger to the pack, now I would be the rejected mate of the future alpha. As if my life wasn't already hard enough. 

When I finally got home, no one seemed to be around. The living room was awfully quiet, so I headed for the stairs. 

Then, I heard the sound of the bed creaking and moaning along with it. I must have heard wrong. 

 What was going on? 

Did Mom bring someone home? Didn't she know what had happened to me yesterday? 

I headed for her room, my hand folded into a fist as my blood boiled. As I cracked the door open, I froze at the sight in front of me. My mother lay naked, and a man was on top of her, ramming her with full speed. 

“F*uck me harder” she moaned, as she clawed at his back.

My body refused to move. 

They were so entangled in each other that they didn’t notice I was standing at the door. Just when he flipped her on her back, I saw his face. 

Armin. 

Time stopped. My lungs forgot how to breathe as the air around me thickened. My heart pounded so violently I thought it might burst from my chest.

The coat in my hands dropped. I wasn’t sure if I screamed or if the world just shattered in silence. My brain tried to make sense of it, but I felt short-circuited. 

It couldn’t be him.

But it was. And the fear that crawled up my spine was colder than death.

“Wh… what are you doing?” My chest grew heavy as my eyes widened, and tears poured. 

They stopped instantly and pulled away from each other as if the space between them suddenly mattered.

“Mom?”

“What in Freya’s name is going on?” my voice cracked. 

Armin sat still on the bed. He grabbed the sheets, trying to cover his still-hardened d*ck. Eyes avoiding my gaze. 

My mother rushed towards me. 

“Listen to me, Calista!” She tried explaining but I didn't want her to touch me. 

“Stay away from me!” I roared at her as fear pulled me to my knees. 

“How could you! How dare you!” I continued screaming as I fought my way away from her arms. 

I rushed towards Armin and slapped him as hard as I could. I pinned him down on the bed, my hands wrapped around his throat, squeezing like I wanted to end his life; he lay there, not resisting. 

“Is this why you left me! How long has this been going on! How could you?!” I yelled, my voice breaking as I fought the fear rising inside me. 

Then, I felt a pull from my hair that sent my body to the ground. I turned, surprised by my mother's action. Her face twisted in fear, not for me, but for him. She was protecting him.

She chose to hurt me to protect him and that shattered my already broken heart. “I'll end you! Even if it's the last thing I do on earth! I swear by Freya!” I screamed.

My mother pulled me by the hair, dragging me to my room. The cold tiles brushed against my skin and the wood by the doorframe splintered into my arm. Blood gushed from the wound. 

“Mom!!” I screamed, pulling my hair back, but she continued pulling regardless. 

She threw me into my room and locked the door. I lay there, nearly dying—more from the hollow pit formed in my chest than the piece of wood in my arm. I couldn't control my tears, nor could I fathom my thoughts.

“Freya!! What have I done to deserve this!” I continued screaming as I sobbed endlessly. 

I could hear her yelling at him outside the door. 

“Do you know what will happen when people find out!” 

“This is what needs to be done, you knew the risk before all this started.” 

The door creaked open slowly. 

“Make sure it's clean; our life depends on it,” my mother said to Armin, who stood in front of me, already dressed. Her voice sounded uneasy. 

“Mom?” I called softly, as disbelief clawed at me. But she only looked at me with disgust—the same stare people had always given me, like I’d never belonged.

How could she be so heartless?

Even though I wasn't biologically hers, why would she do this? 

Something slammed into the side of my head. My vision blurred—then faded.

When I came to, I was on the ground close to a high cliff, which felt deeper than the hollow ache in my chest. I could feel the wet grass underneath my palm. I looked around me, but I didn't know where I was. I haven't been here before. 

Then I heard a low, guttural growl behind me. Fur rustled. Bones cracked. A monstrous form emerged from the shadows—brown fur and glowing blue eyes.

It was Armin. 

My breath became unsteady. My hands trembled as I tried to crawl away from the cliff. But when I turned, I felt his massive claws slicing through my neck, slightly missing my face. My eyes widened instantly, shocked at what he had just done. I could feel life drained from me as my warm blood flowed down my body. 

He picked me up by the arm and threw me down the Cliff like a dead weight. 

“Armin…” I tried calling, choking on my own blood.

I could see him staring at me as I dropped slowly. Then I felt my body thud on hard rock.