Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Echos of my mother's voicferous pain stricken voice, “She killed my son!”

The grief of their Luna seeps through the bond of the pack link. My mother's hands turn to paws with razor-sharp claws ready to avenge her pup. This was not the outcome anyone could have predicted. Every pack member but my mother is quiet. In the heavy silence, a menacing, boisterous laugh cuts the quiet like a knife.

To my dread, my mate, Morgan, is standing there laughing with a large army of warriors behind him. My goodness, he looks hot and smug.

My furious dad lets his alpha aura flare as he pulls his mate behind him. His natural instinct is to protect his mate, my mother.

“You! You little fucker, didn’t I beat you and your warriors last time you were here to attack my territory when you had my son killed?”

“Arvid, Arvid,” Morgan says with a chuckle.

“The funny story is that your dear daughter drowned her brother.”

“You fucking liar!” My father replied with a pain- and doubt-ridden voice.

“Sweetheart, didn’t you hold Stefan under water until he stopped kicking and squirming? And then a slightly longer, just to be sure he was dead?”

“Please, Morgan, don’t”

Horrified gasps came from many wolves in my pack as they believed my mate. They had just now witnessed me killing Lennart and realized I had killed both of my brothers.

“Sweetheart, don’t you think your parents want to know how their golden boy got so weak that even you could kill him?”

“One of you better tell me how you killed Lennart since you are implying that it was more than an heir competition.” My father's detached voice questioned.

I throw myself at Morgan's feet, begging him not to tell my father. He looks at me with disgust and grins.

“Well, I had my witch gather two different kinds of clover to poison your son and make him weak. But it was Kristina here who made sure he ingested them. But how, I don’t know.”

Arvid’s wolf's voice booms the command for me to tell the truth. I confess that I stole Lennart’s water bottle to put the clovers in and fill it with water before I had Johannes deliver the bottle so it wouldn’t seem suspicious.

Grif is etched in his face in disbelief. The alpha has lost two heirs in two days.

Morgan cut my father off. None of us knew what my father was going to say. Morgon says with repulsion in his tone,

“I reject you as my mate, Luna Kristina Ribbing Gyllenstierna.”

It stings in my heart, but not as much as it should.

Morgan tilts his head and whispers, but still loud enough for wolf ears to hear.

“I was never your mate. A witch created our mate bond so I could mess with your pack. Babe, your mate is here, though. I would say he now hates you after I made you my plaything.”

Oskar stood there, rigid with stone-cold eyes.

“I, Oskar Noreen reject you as my mate, Kristina Ribbing Gyllenstierna.”

It felt like lightning had hit my chest with a massive amount of agony. I could barely breathe, and yet I knew what I had to do.

“I, Kristina Ribbing Gyllenstierna, accept your rejection.”

With much effort, I manage to stand. I look around me in the sea of faces. They all share one emotion: hatred. A grain of something else I feel through the bond, sorrow. It was my mother. She felt sorrow for me. I can’t understand how or why. I was about to start walking away to my room when a large hand took a firm grip of my shoulder.

“There's no way out of this, my daughter. You made your bed, and now you have to lie in it. I, Arvid Ribbing, hereby banish Kristina Ribbing Gyllenstierna.”

The pain was instant, and I lost my footing and fell onto my father, who held me surprisingly tenderly. In our father-daughter bond, he tells me he is sorry, but there's no other acceptable outcome.

I run as fast as I can to my room, and I start to pack clothes and a few mementos from my life and childhood. I leave the pack house only with one bag. Outside of the packhouse are now only the alpha and beta families, all but Oskar. My father walks towards me:

“Kristina, we will always love you, but you can no longer be a pack member after your actions. With our love and wishes of safety on your travels, wherever it takes you, I don’t want you to feel we abandon you.”

He gives me an envelope. “I am begging you, keep it for my sake if not for your own. Use it.”

Heartbroken and feeling used, I walked away from my only home. The only place I have ever known. I don’t know what happened to Morgon or where he is. I speedily walk to find shelter for the night. I walked for hours, and finally I found an abandoned old hut. It still was standing, but in such a bad state. I pray it can keep the wind and rain away tonight. There's aching all over my body. I have no strength to make a fire in the fireplace. I was relieved to see a big pile of hay in a corner, perfect to lie down on and get some rest. I close my eyes only to feel someone beside me—the terror. I open my eyes, and it's Oskar. My eyes watered at the sight of his handsome face. The pain in my heart hits me again, with even more force than before.

“I had to see you one last time. I have to tell you: I don’t hate you. Please, you need to understand that my duty as the future Beta of the pack must come before following you. You are, or were, my mate; I knew it for years. I wanted you to get a little older before claiming you. I rejected you because I had to. It was my duty.”

My tears stream like a flood. The mate I wished for all of my life, and he rejected me because pack duty was more important. I am nothing to any of those in my own pack. It almost makes me laugh. It is not my pack. I am an outcast. I was just a pawn to Morgon, my fake mate, as well.

Oskar's warm, comforting body put me to sleep fast.

I woke up cold after a nightmare. But was it though?

In my dream, an angel-like woman robbed me of my wolf: my only friend, Ayame. Ayame was silent in my mind after all the awful things that happened after the fight. She was there in my mind; now she’s gone. The emptiness in my mind is unbelievable. The woman said she was the moon goddess, and I abused the right of being a werewolf. She took my wolf to be reborn to a more deserving woman. I am now human.

I looked at the clock on my phone. If I walk back to the pack, I could watch from a distance my brother’s burial pyre. I feel conflicted. He was my brother, but I didn’t just kill him in a fight; I also weakened him with poison, intending to kill him. What's one more bad decision?

I walk back to the pack and try to get as close as I can. If no one sees me, they won’t know I was there. My werewolf scent is gone. I hide in the treeline and watch as they set the fire. My father is caressing my mother's belly. I am asking myself, is my mother pregnant? I know the healer told us she couldn’t have more pups after Stefan was born. She almost lost her life giving birth to Stefan. Would my father mate her, knowing the risks of losing her? Is he that selfish?

In my heart, I know I will never see my pack again.

I never want to come back here.

How I want to hate my family. There's still love in my heart for them, no matter what I am trying to convince myself.

I walk away in the darkness of the night.

I am heading to that little hut to spend the night before I decide where to go. The door to the hut was wide open when I got there. I am nervous about finding someone there. I no longer have a wolf to defend myself with. I walk inside. A roaring fire is lit, and a basket of food is on a blanket in front of it. And a large backpack on the floor next to it. In the basket, I find a letter. I unfold it and read. To my utter surprise, it's from my mother.

‘I want to say now that I can think a little more clearly. I know the rogues used and played you to hurt our pack. Sadly, you had to take the fall to save us all. If you haven’t lost your wolf, I imagine you soon will with the loss of pack and mate. My daughter, I love you. I wish you nothing but the best. Be safe and take care.’

‘Ps I brought you some food I know you love. Also, a backpack with some things you might need on your journey. Ds’

I roamed through the basket, all of my favorites. I started eating and then found my mother's homemade strawberry soda. No one can say no to that.