Chapter 2

Lena's POV.

My life had always been controlled every day. Elaine and her daughters starved me, threw insults at me, and constantly reminded me of how less of a human I was.

She was furious, gritting her teeth as she charged at me.

“Answer me!” She snapped, smacking my ears with a hard slap that made them ring a low tune. “How dare you touch her? Have you gone mad!” She thundered.

“They… they started it,” I sniffled, pointing at her daughters. They scoffed and rolled their eyes filled with disgust.

“That's a lie, Mom, she got jealous of Tracy” Brianna mouthed, boxing herself behind her sister as she fixed her skirt. “She got jealous that the Alpha rejected her. He dumped her ass and that's why she's mad.”

“Yes, mum,” Tracy joined in, glaring at me. “And she said she'll kill me, she literally threatened to end my life, Mom,”

Mrs Elaine gasped, covering her mouth in shock. Her daughters were lying straight out their teeth, and she festered it. She knew I would never say that, but she believed them anyway.

“That's it. We've had enough mercy on you, it's time to leave.” She clipped.

“What!”

She was joking, right? She wasn't going to kick me out? I had nowhere to go, nobody to ask for help.

“No, you can't be serious,” I panicked. “Where will I go? I have no…”

“That's your problem, young lady. My girls no longer feel safe with you. Honestly, I've been wanting to kick your miserly ass out of this house ever since your father died but I have been benevolent and kind.”

“Now, no more!” She growled, pointing her fingers towards the door. “Leave us, rot if that's the least useful you can be to this earth.”

My knees wobbled, my heart beated rapidly. What was I going to do? My eyes travelled around the room. They darted their eyes at me and Tracy huffed in satisfaction.

They couldn't kick me out, this was my late father's house, I had lived here all my life.

“What are you still doing here? Haven't you heard? Scram! We don't need you.” Brianna gruffed. I was frozen and silent as they stared fiercely in my direction.

“You know what, I can't stand all this,” Tracy huffed. She walked out of the sitting room, the sound of her footsteps snapping me back to reality.

“Please, I have nowhere to go. You can't kick me out just like that” I began to beg, confused and heartbroken.

But the next few minutes came as a shock. Tracy walked back in with a few of my bags. She stormed right towards the entrance and threw them out.

“What are you doing?” I shrieked and I raced out to stop her. “Stop it.”

“What's there not to understand, we don't want you here anymore.” My stepmother thundered.

Tracy brushed past me, smirking as she stuck out her foot and tripped me. I fell on the hard pavement and bruised my knee upon impact.

I tried to limp up but my eyes fell on my mother's blue shawl. I treasured that shawl so much, it was the last piece of memory I had of my mother. The only thing my devious stepmother didn't take away from me.

I rushed at it and wrapped it around my hands. Whimpering up, I proceeded to move in but Elaine and her daughters blocked the entrance. They wouldn't even budge and even as I tried to force myself inside, I ended up injuring myself.

“Goodbye, Lena. You are not welcome here anymore,” Brianna stuck out her tongue, and they both laughed at me.

They slammed the door right in my face and locked it with a click.

My heart shattered into bits and my lungs constricted, causing me to force out my breath. “No, no, no,” I cried, banging hard at the door. “Open up! This is also my home, you can't kick me out,”

No response, just snickers and muffled footsteps.

What was happening? I needed an explanation. Had this been part of Elaine's plan? Why?

They had planned this from the start, and I was a clueless fool.

My mind reeled through my thoughts. What was I going to do? Where was I going to find help?

At the peak of my peril, I remembered the look on Dominic's face when I caught him cheating. Nothing, just a smug expression.

“I'll go to him,” I sobbed.

“And risk yourself more humiliation?” My wolf, Allison, replied.

“What else would you have me do? He has to be bewitched or something, I can't live without him,” my tears flowed like an endless stream.

I ran out with nothing but my mother's shawl on my hands. By the time I got to the pack house, the guards refused to let me in.

I screamed his name into the air but Dominic didn't come out. Somehow, I could feel he was watching me tear up on his porch.

The flashes of our past reeled in my head. Did I mean nothing to him? Did he plan to marry my stepsister all this time?

Did our countless times together mean nothing to him? The promises, our shared moment, they all meant nothing to him.

Today was supposed to be my day, my happy day. I couldn't stop myself. I picked myself up, feeling a surge of energy to scream out and slap Dominic in the face if he was right there with me.

He refused to face me after everything he had done to me.

“You'll pay for this!” My voice echoed in the air. “I’ll get my revenge someday.”

Having had enough of the pain and trauma, I ran out of his house and into the woods to cry.

If only I had stayed put.

But I didn't, I led myself straight into danger. Or so I thought.

I tried screaming one more time in the air but a sudden hit at the back of my head caused me to fall flat on my face.

“What just happened?” I thought to myself and my wolf growled in my head. Two men in black masks hurried to grab my legs.

One of them plunged his hands on my neck, trying to choke the life out of me. I couldn't breathe properly to begin with but they made it worse. The pain made me shake violently for help.

But my struggle was like that of a ghost, nothing but a faint echo.

“Quick, load her in” a voice mumbled.

Before I could black out, they forced me into a car trunk. It was too small to house me but they forced me in anyway, my bones snapping from the punches they launched at me.

I felt a sharp pain in my stomach. It was piercing, constricting, and hot.

My voice turned faint as I felt my heart beating slowly. I did not even know how I managed to stay alive that long in a trunk.

“Dominic,” I whispered, shutting my eyes and hearing the voices in my ears fade into an empty abyss.

Was this the end? Was this Elaine's plan all along? Regret crept its dark hands into my mind.

I could have allowed my fear to get the better of me, I could have stayed back and continued begging, but no…

I had to be stubborn, thinking a happy life was cut out for me.