Ella
It grew quieter as the sound of their footsteps faded into the distance. They were gone.
They had rejected me, and they didn’t care about how that affected me. That was the height of their cruelty, but in a way, I understood them.
As I stumbled through the woods, my vision blurred with tears that I refused to shed. I tried to see things from their perspective as the conversation replayed in my mind.
While I had put on a brave face earlier, now, alone, I could admit that it broke me to come to terms with reality.
Each step felt heavy. I had longed for silence, but this was deafening. My head throbbed, and my limbs felt weak from exhaustion and something else— something I would be thinking about for a long time.
I stopped walking and looked back, hoping for a moment that they had changed their minds and returned. Then I broke into a short laugh. Hope was such a silly concept, especially when this was my reality.
Nothing could change it now. I was always going to be the omega that nobody wanted.
“At least there’s something consistent in my life,” I said sarcastically, continuing to walk.
I looked around and sighed. The world felt quiet, and it seemed like the earth itself was mourning with me. Finally breaking free of the trees, I stepped into a clearing where the moon hung low in the sky, casting a silver glow over everything.
It was beautiful, yet all I could feel was the void inside me where the bond had once thrummed with life.
The cold night air nipped at my skin, but I paid it no mind. I sank onto the wet grass, gazing up at the stars. In that instant, I felt like a mere girl. A shattered girl, stripped of her identity and purpose.
The pain of their rejection was still fresh, a raw wound that throbbed with every heartbeat. I couldn’t bring myself to go back to the pack. This would be fuel for them to pick on me for weeks.
Everyone would want to take a jab at the former mate of the Blackthorn twins. My mouth suddenly felt bitter as I pondered everything. I could already feel the whispers and rumors spreading throughout the pack like wildfire.
“What a scandal,” I muttered, shaking my head. I stopped walking and sat down for a moment.
There was no use running anymore. It was over now. I’d be a cautionary tale, a reminder of what happens when an omega dares to dream too big. But that was the most unfair part of this entire fiasco.
I hadn’t dreamed too big. Heck, I hadn’t dreamed at all. The twins dedicated their lives to making me feel insignificant. Why would I want to be their mate? But no one would be ready to listen to my side of the story. Their version would always be better.
My thoughts spiraled into a dark abyss, but a flicker of defiance sparked deep inside me. I refused to let them win. I had spent too long hiding, too long accepting their bullying. If I could survive that, I could survive this.
As I sat there, I felt a presence—a familiar energy creeping into the clearing. I turned my head slowly, half-expecting to see the twins returning to gloat. Instead, it was a figure I hadn’t expected to see.
Lyla, my best friend and the only person who had ever stood up for me, stepped into the moonlight. Her auburn hair caught the glow, making her look almost ethereal.
She rushed toward me, her expression filled with concern. She studied my face for a bit and hesitated when I took a defensive stance.
“Ella? Are you alright? I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” she said, walking toward me with cautious steps.
I relaxed and sank back onto the grass. She knelt beside me, her brow furrowed with worry. “What happened? I saw them leave, and you were… you were just gone.”
“They rejected me,” I whispered, the words bitter on my tongue. “Both of them.”
“What do you mean they rejected you?” she asked, confused. I turned to meet her gaze.
“In the hallway… I felt it. We all felt it. I had never experienced anything like it, and, quite frankly, I didn’t want to. But hearing them say it out loud…” My voice trailed off.
Lyla’s eyes widened in shock. “What? No! You’re not… They can’t—” She stammered, shaking her head angrily. “You’re their mate! They don’t get to just throw that away!”
“They did,” I said with a hollow laugh. “It doesn’t matter. I’m just an omega. I was never enough for them.”
“No, don’t say that!” Lyla grabbed my shoulders, her grip firm. “You’re more than enough. You’re strong, smart, and brave. They’re the ones who don’t deserve you.”
I nodded, but their words echoed in my mind, and I couldn’t shake the feeling of inadequacy. “It doesn’t change what they think of me, Lyla. I’m still the girl they bullied, the one they looked down on. I can’t just forget that.”
She sighed, her expression softening. “I know it hurts, but you can’t let them define you. You have to rise above this, Ella. You’re not just an omega. You’re so much more. I know that.”
Her words ignited a flicker of hope within me, and I clung to it desperately. “What should I do next?”
Lyla leaned back on her heels, her eyes thoughtful. “You should focus on yourself. Train and grow stronger. Show them that you’re not going to be a victim anymore. You deserve to find happiness, even if it’s not with them.”
The idea of training was unfamiliar to me. I had always avoided the physical challenges the pack offered, preferring to stay in the shadows. But maybe she was right. Maybe it was time for a change.
“Okay,” I muttered, my voice steady now. “I’ll train. I’ll show them I’m not the weak omega they think I am.”
Lyla smiled, a spark of pride lighting her eyes. “That’s the spirit! I’ll help you. We’ll work on your combat skills, your speed, everything. You’ll be unstoppable.”
I stood up, brushing the grass off my clothes. I wasn’t going to let their rejection define me. I was going to become stronger, faster, and more formidable than ever before.
As I walked back to the packhouse with Lyla beside me, a familiar ache settled in my chest. The bond may have been broken, but I couldn’t easily forget them.
The twins were a part of me now, and despite my efforts to push that connection away, it remained.
“Let’s get started,” I said, shaking off the lingering doubts. “Tomorrow, we train.”
Lyla’s smile filled me with hope after the rejection.
PAST & PRESENTThe room hummed with tension and the low buzz of machines plugged into Ella’s arm. Her thoughts bounced all over the place. There was a lot more she could say to explain the severity of the matter to Claire, but there wasn’t enough time for conversation.“I think that’s a dangerous thing to do right now,” Claire said and pouted. “You need time to recuperate before continuing the process.”“I don’t have that luxury. Lucian wouldn’t sit around waiting for me to regain my energy—he might be on his way here right now. I wouldn’t be able to sleep a wink. I really need to fast-track this…”“I understand your concern, Ella,” Claire interrupted and shook her head slowly. “But this is more important than anything this Lucian can ever do. If we—”“What’s the worst that could happen?” Ella interrupted, and Claire arched an eyebrow.“What?” Claire asked, still trying to find a way to convince her that taking a break was the best bet at this point.“If we go ahead with the procedure
ELLAMy eyes flew open, and I instantly sat up. I looked around and heaved a sigh of relief when I realized I was finally back in the warehouse. I turned to look at Claire, who was watching me with keen interest, and for a split second, I felt like one of the pets she attended to in her office—a lab rat of sorts.Her eyes held different emotions, excitement and dread being the primary ones.“Your heart rate spiked. I kept trying to get you to calm down, but I don’t think you were hearing my voice anymore. What happened?” she asked, and I swallowed.“Lucian’s coming,” I said, as the memory of him realizing I was in his head flashed in my mind, filling me with dread.“Your heart rate’s spiking again,” she replied, and one of the machines started beeping loudly. I looked at the machine and frowned.Had it always been here, or did she have it brought in midway through the process? I couldn’t think clearly, and the machine only beeped louder by the second, which was beginning to aggravate
KADEThe meeting with the council hadn’t gone as expected, except for the fact that I met Lucian yelling at the elders. That was bound to happen at some point; he hated their guts as much as I did and never missed an opportunity to express his contempt. I, on the other hand, had bigger fish to fry.They could bicker all they wanted, but I was connecting dots I would’ve never considered possible in this lifetime. Then again, I wasn’t surprised things were going the way they were.Nothing about our lives as werewolves had ever been simple or a walk in the park. I’d give anything for that to happen, but if wishes were horses, every Tom, Dick, and Harry would ride.The image of the box underneath my bed flashed through my mind as we took a left turn. That was another problem I had to deal with, and it wasn’t one of those things I could talk about.How would I explain to my brother that I knew about the murder weapons and leave out the possibility that I had a direct link to the murder?I
LucianEverything seemed frustrating, and it annoyed me to no bounds. The council knew the source of our problem, and rather than point us in the right direction, they clammed up.If I had known that our enemies had a better skillset than envisioned, our patrol evenings would’ve been spent learning more about them and getting ready.“I’m not sure I believe all of this,” I muttered and kicked a rock as the air blew gently against my face.“I think you should,” Kade’s voice rang from behind me. I hadn’t heard him step out of the building, and to be fair, I had left to find time to cool off, so I wasn’t really paying attention to anything else.“I can’t believe you think anything they said in there made any damn sense! It’s…” I began, and he waved dismissively, then walked to the car in slow strides.“I’ve had time to think about it and do some research. If I’m on the right path with this, then we’re in for a ride. I didn’t want to believe it when the seer brought it up, I still have my
ELLAOne by one, the members of the council recounted the details of the pact they knew. Each person’s statement left me more stunned than the last.Every time Lucian glanced in Kade’s direction, I saw his expression alternate between annoyance, disappointment, and something else, an emotion I couldn’t quite label, but one that clearly wasn’t the rage pulsing through him.As the council members spoke, I recalled the vision I had earlier, my ancestors making an agreement with the Blackthorns.I hadn’t fully understood what I’d seen at the time, but now, hearing them recount the events in various ways that all led to the same conclusion, everything started making more sense.We had made an agreement with them, and they had failed to uphold their end of the bargain. They had a reason, of course, but to me, it was flimsy, based on emotion, not truth. They hadn’t even verified the source.“So you’ve known what we were dealing with this entire time and said nothing?” Lucian demanded, angril
KADESomeone had put in effort to find these, and they didn’t send them to the police, they sent them here, with a note. It could only mean one thing: they knew about my involvement in the matter and were probably going to the police or gearing up for blackmail. I fished out the note tucked in the corner and read what was written on it:Don’t lose them again – M.C“Is it what you wanted?” my mom asked. I placed the note inside, backed away from the box again, then instantly faked a calm expression before turning around to meet her gaze. I didn’t hear her walk into the living room, which added to the initial shock of seeing the items.“Ye... yes,” I stammered. “Where’s Lucian?”“I don’t know. He didn’t come home last night. I thought you knew,” she replied and arched an eyebrow.“He went patrolling last night. If he’s not back yet… he’s probably at… a meeting with the council. Please, Mom, can you drop me off?”“Definitely. Let me pack the picnic baskets,” she said and went back into t