Chapter 002: Betrayed.

Kiara

I’d always known how to prepare for things that were going to happen in my life.

The end of my training, the first time I shifted into my full wolf form without screaming through it and many more. I knew how to brace for most of my life happenings.

But not this.

Not being rejected.

Not by my mate. Definitely not by Chase.

I couldn’t move after he left. My body was still there, legs planted to the floor, but everything else inside me had collapsed. My chest felt like it was being torn open. I kept trying to breathe.

But every breath came with pain. Real, unbearable pain.

The door slammed open again.

This time it was my parents.

And just like that, the pain doubled.

My cheeks were already soaked in tears but I couldn’t even wipe them away fast enough.

I looked up—just once.

My mother stepped inside, her eyes sweeping over the room like it made her sick.

And my father, his face said it all before it even came out of his mouth.

“You’ve embarrassed this family, Kiara!” he roared. “I am so disappointed in you.”

I flinched.

Not because he yelled. I’d heard him yell before—so many times at Kylie.

But never at me. Never me.

“I didn’t do anything, Dad,” I said, my voice hoarse. “I swear—I don’t even know how I got here. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Oh really?” My mother’s voice was colder than I’d ever heard it. “So you did nothing wrong? You just casually slept with two wolves right before your wedding, then?”

There was something dead in her tone. Like she didn’t even recognize me anymore.

“I don’t know what happened,” I said again. I was barely breathing now.

“I am done with this nonsense!” my dad snapped. “You disgust me! As of today, you’re no longer a part of this family. You’re off the family tree!”

I froze.

He meant it.

I saw it in his face.

“What?” I said, heart in my throat. “Dad, I’ve always been good. Always. Doesn’t that count for something? Just one mistake. One—I don’t even understand how it happened. I think I was drugged—someone set me up. I don’t even remember how I got here—”

“It was one mistake,” he shouted, fists clenched. “But it’s the kind that destroys legacies. You’ve disgraced not just yourself, but us. The family? The entire pack even! Everything we built. All because you couldn’t keep your legs closed. No child of mine will ruin my name. Not even you.”

My knees gave out. I was still standing, but only barely.

I sobbed into my palms. My whole life, everything I thought I was was ripping into pieces in front of me and no one cared.

He turned and my mother followed.

I reached out.

“Mom… Dad… please. Don’t do this. Don’t abandon me. Not now. Please.”

They didn’t turn back.

They just kept walking until they vanished from my view.

And I broke. But I didn’t get time to fall apart.

Because then, Kylie walked in.

She crossed her arms and watched me cry like she was watching a play.

And said nothing.

I blinked through tears. My vision shook. My throat burned. But I moved toward her anyway.

“Please help me, sister,” I said, my hands clasped together. I wasn’t even thinking straight anymore. I just needed someone, anyone. Everyone was turning on me. I needed someone to believe me.

“You’ll have to get out of the Valley,” Kylie said. Just like that.

“Huh?”

The words didn’t register at first.

And then I saw it.

The look on her face.

That wasn’t pity. That wasn’t worry. That—

That was a smile. A smirk she was trying to hide.

No. No, I was imagining it. I had to be. My mind was playing tricks on me. Right?

“We’re not having this discussion,” she said. “You’ll leave the Valley and never return.”

“What are you talking about, sis?” I asked, stunned. “This is my home. My life is here. Chase—”

She laughed. Like she actually laughed.

“You think you still have Chase?” she said. “Oh no, dear sister. Chase was never yours. And this, everything that’s happening right now? This is proof you were never meant to beat me to him.”

“Kylie—”

She smacked her lips and began circling the room like she owned it. Like she owned me.

There was something dark in her eyes. Something I’d never seen before.

“What are you talking about?” I asked again. “I said I need your help. You could vouch for me, we were at the bar together, remember? We were both drunk, we—”

“The rules never applied to you.” She said so casually out of nowhere ignoring my words.

“What?”

“You were always the pretty one. The sweet one. The smart one. The one everyone trusted. Me? I was always the mistake. Always being judged. Even now—Chase was mine. He was always mine.”

I stared at her.

None of this was making sense.

Where was this coming from?

She wasn’t even making sense anymore.

“Come on,” I said. “You know I can’t control who my mate is. I didn’t choose Chase. It’s not like that. You were his best friend but I didn’t take anything from you.”

“You took everything,” she hissed.

And suddenly she was laughing again. Spinning around, fingers in her hair like a mad woman.

I bit my tongue hard to stop myself from screaming. I only stopped when I tasted blood.

“I want you to feel it now,” she said. Her voice dropped into something venomous. “I want you to feel the whole world turn against you.”

“How could you do this to me?” I shouted. “We’re sisters!”

Were we?

Nothing felt real anymore.

Chase had rejected me. My parents had disowned me. And now the only person left—the one I thought would help—was circling me like a predator.

“Sisters?” she spat. “You’re a weak little wolf that everyone adored just because you had a pretty face. Sisters? Don’t make me laugh.”

It hit me.

Right then.

All of it.

And I said it.

“You spiked my drink.”

It wasn’t even a question.

But my voice trembled anyway.

“You did this to me.”

“Yes!” she screamed, eyes wild. “So what? You ruined everything! You took everything from me! You deserve what you get!”

And then—

Her hand snapped forward and slapped me. Hard.

My face burned and I stumbled backward, stunned.

Hot tears poured again.

I covered my cheek, but I couldn’t cover the ache in my chest.

This—this was betrayal. Real betrayal.

“I don’t understand,” I whispered. I wanted to believe this was some kind of mistake. That I’d wake up soon and this would all make sense.

But she was still there. Still grinning.

And it only got worse.

“Chase was mine all along,” she said. “And you took him. You just showed up like always and pointed. And got everything.”

“I didn’t take him away,” I said, wiping my face with the back of my hand. “He’s my mate. That’s not something I chose. You know that.”

“Oh, but we can choose,” she growled. “We can. I would’ve chosen him a hundred times. But no one ever asked me. Because no one ever cared about what I wanted.”

“That’s not true.”

But the words were weak.

And I could feel it all now.

Anger.

Pain.

Betrayal.

Twisting together into something sharp and suffocating.

She ran a hand through her hair, laughing again, and I bit down so hard I thought I’d scream.

“I want you to rot,” she said. “You bitch.”

“How could you do this?” I screamed. “You’re my sister!”

She didn’t care.

She sneered. “You were loved for nothing. You had everything. And now? You have nothing.”

Her grin widened.

“Guess who’s going to be Luna now,” she said. “Guess who’s going to marry Chase now, me! So do not wast your time begging, say goodbye to the Valley. No one wants you here anymore.”

I wiped my eyes again. My body still shook but I wasn’t crying this time.

I couldn’t.

Not now.

Not after everything.

I had only one card left.

“I’m carrying Chase’s child.”

Her face cracked.

She went completely still.

This wasn’t how I imagined it.

I thought it’d feel magical, beautiful even when I tell my family this news, preferably after the wedding. I’d thought about how chase would jump around at the news when I told him on our honeymoon, it was all me at to be a surprise, to be a thing of joy.

But now?

It felt like mud.

Like filth in my throat.

Her nostrils flared. She stepped away from the window like she wanted to lunge.

And I finally saw her for what she was.

Not a sister.

Not family.

A stranger.

“You’re lying,” she said, voice rising. “You’re lying again.”

“What do you think?” I said, my voice quieter now. “I’m pregnant. With Chase’s child.”

She laughed. A harsh, empty laugh. “You think anyone’s going to believe that? After being caught in bed with two wolves? To everyone else, you’re trash now. A slut. You lost an Alpha over two omegas. You’re nothing.”

“They’ll believe me. I’ll find someone from the bar. Someone who saw us. Someone who knows the truth.”

She stiffened. I saw it.

She hated that.

Good.

“You won’t find anyone,” she said. “No one cares. No one’s listening to you anymore.”

“When I get proof,” I told her, “you’ll pay for this. You’ll take responsibility. I’ll make sure of it.”

“Shut the hell up!” she screamed.

“I’ll make you pay for this, Kylie. I swear to the moon—”

Then she moved. So fast that I did not see it coming, claws flashed before my eyes and before I knew it, fresh pain exploded through my stomach.

I gasped. I couldn’t even scream.

Her claws pushed in deeper, and her hand twisted like she wanted me to feel every inch of it.

“You deserve to die,” she said.

Blood filled my mouth. A single tear slipped from my eye.

She pulled back, and my knees buckled.

“You don’t deserve him,” she whispered, smiling as I crumbled.

I couldn’t breathe. Heck, I couldn’t even speak.

She watched me fall. While she kept laughing.

“Looks like you’ll be heading to hell before me, dear sister,” she said as the darkness swallowed me whole. “Greet the devil for me, will you?”