Chapter 4

Selene

The moment Amelia screamed, everything around us became chaotic.

Footsteps echoed loudly and confused voices filled the air as people rushed into the hallway immediately. Guests pushed closer to see what had happened, and within seconds my parents and Tyler appeared in front of us.

I stood there frozen while Amelia cried on the floor holding her bleeding shoulder. I hadn’t even noticed the blood dripping from my palm.

Blood stained her dress and her body shook as tears streamed down her face. Then she pointed at me.

“Selene stabbed me!” she cried loudly as my chest tightened painfully.

“What?” I gasped immediately. “No! That is not true!”

Tyler rushed toward Amelia first. He dropped beside her quickly and grabbed her carefully while checking the blood on her shoulder.

“Amelia,” he said urgently. “Look at me.”

“She attacked me,” Amelia cried while leaning against his chest. “I only wanted to talk to her.”

I shook my head desperately.

“No,” I cried. “She is lying!”

The guests began whispering immediately.

“Oh my Goddess.”

“She stabbed her sister?”

“I knew something was wrong with that girl.”

My breathing became uneven as panic spread through my body.

Tyler slowly lifted his eyes toward me, and the anger on his face made fear crawl through my chest.

“Tyler,” I whispered shakily. “Please listen to me.”

But he didn’t. Instead, he stood up slowly and walked toward me.

For one second, I thought he was going to ask me what happened. But instead, his hand struck my face hard. 

The slap echoed loudly across the hallway. And pain exploded across my cheek instantly, as my head snapped to the side from the force. A painful gasp escaped my lips while tears rushed into my eyes immediately.

I looked back at him in complete shock. Tyler had never hit me before.

Never.

My lips trembled painfully.

“You have completely lost your mind,” he said coldly.

I stared at him like I no longer recognized him.

“I did not hurt her,” I whispered weakly.

Before I could say anything else, my mother rushed toward me angrily.

Helena grabbed my hair violently and pulled me forward so hard that I cried out in pain.

“You wicked girl!” she screamed into my face.

Tears rolled down my cheeks instantly as she continued yanking my hair painfully.

“Mom, please—”

“Do not call me that!” she shouted furiously.

Her eyes were filled with hatred as she stared at me.

“We took you into this family when nobody wanted you!” she yelled. “You were wandering around alone like some abandoned child when we found you!”

Pain spread through my scalp while she shook me harshly.

“We fed you, clothed you, and gave you a home, and this is how you repay us?”

“I did not stab her,” I cried desperately.

“You are nothing but trouble!” Helena screamed. “You are not my daughter! Amelia is my daughter!”

Those words broke something inside me.

The guests kept staring at me while whispering among themselves.

“She always looked unstable.”

“She never even had a wolf.”

“No wonder Tyler chose Amelia.”

Then my mother said something that made my entire body freeze.

“You already got punished by the Moon Goddess when you lost your baby!”

My breathing stopped completely as shock spread through my body immediately.

Slowly, my eyes moved toward Tyler. But then, he looked away from me. My chest hurt so badly that I struggled to breathe.

He told them.

He told them I lost our baby. 

And still they celebrated Amelia. Still they replaced me.

Still nobody cared.

A broken sob escaped my lips.

“You knew?” I whispered painfully.

Tears streamed heavily down my face.

“I lost my baby,” I cried shakily. “And none of you cared?”

My father finally stepped forward.

“Selene, calm down.”

I stared at him in disbelief.

“How can you ask me to calm down?” I cried. “You all knew what happened to me!”

Amelia cried harder behind Tyler.

“I was only trying to help her,” she whispered weakly. “I wanted us to settle things peacefully.”

“No!” I shouted immediately. “You are lying!”

Tyler suddenly shoved me backward angrily.

“Enough!”

I lost my balance and slammed painfully against the wall.

Pain shot through my back immediately, and a cry escaped my lips.

“I did not hurt her!” I screamed through my tears. “She grabbed my hand herself!”

Tyler turned toward one of the guards standing near the entrance.

“Call them.”

Who? 

Fear immediately spread through my body. 

A few minutes later, several officers entered the hall. The moment I saw their uniforms, my entire body went cold.

They wore black tactical uniforms with silver wolf insignias across their chests.

They had cold and emotionless faces.

Raven’s Edge Enforcement Unit.

Everybody in Ebonvale knew who they were. They worked for Raven’s Edge Mental Facility, the place where unstable wolves were taken.

People feared that place. And nobody ever came back from there the same.

“No,” I whispered weakly.

Tyler stepped forward, and his Alpha aura filled the room heavily.

“I, Alpha Tyler Locke of Clearwater Pack, request for an immediate psychiatric containment for Selene Ashwood,” he said firmly.

My eyes widened in horror.

“No!” I cried immediately.

Tyler’s face remained cold. “She has become mentally unstable and dangerous.”

“I am not insane!” I shouted desperately. “I did not hurt Amelia!”

One of the female officers walked toward the scissors lying on the floor.

She picked them up carefully before examining them. Then she looked directly at me.

“Her fingerprints are on the scissors.”

Panic spread through me immediately.

“Yes,” I cried quickly. “Because I was holding them before Amelia grabbed my hand!”

But nobody listened to me. The guests continued whispering.

“She finally snapped.”

“She lost her child and went crazy.”

“She was jealous of Amelia.”

My breathing became shaky.

“No,” I whispered brokenly. Then louder. “No! Please!”

I turned toward Tyler desperately.

“You know me,” I begged him. “Please do not do this to me.”

Tyler's expression never changed.

“Take her away.”

The officers grabbed my arms immediately. 

I screamed in panic and tried pulling away from them.

“Tyler!” I cried loudly.

“I did not do it!” I screamed while struggling against the officers. “Please believe me!”

Amelia looked at me sadly before lowering her eyes.

“I hope you get better, Selene,” she whispered softly. “I was only trying to help you.”

I stared at her in complete horror as the officers dragged me away while everybody watched silently.

Nobody tried to stop them.

Nobody defended me.

Not even my mate.

—

The journey to Raven’s Edge felt endless.

The officers blindfolded me before forcing me into the back of a vehicle. My wrists were restrained tightly, and every movement hurt. I had stopped bleeding by now.

I sat there trembling while tears rolled silently down my cheeks as everything replayed painfully inside my head.

Tyler slapping me. My mother calling me unwanted. And Amelia lying.

My baby.

I pressed my shaking hands together tightly while trying not to break apart completely.

How did my life become this?

Hours later, the vehicle finally stopped. One of the officers yanked me out roughly.

“Walk,” she ordered coldly.

I stumbled forward blindly while they pushed me ahead.

Cold air brushed against my skin while large metal doors opened nearby.

Still blindfolded, I could hear voices echo around me.

“This is the new patient?”

“She looks weak.”

Then suddenly freezing water splashed across my body. I gasped loudly from shock as the blindfold was ripped away immediately afterward.

My eyes widened as I looked around.

The place looked cold and modern.

Gray concrete walls surrounded the large hallway while bright white lights hung from the ceiling. Cameras covered every corner, and heavy metal doors lined both sides of the building.

Several female wolves stood nearby wearing black uniforms with silver Raven’s Edge badges across their chests.

Some stared at me with amusement, while others looked completely emotionless.

One of them laughed softly.

“So this is the wolfless girl that attacked her sister?”

Another woman smirked.

“She does not even have a wolf, but she still tried to kill someone.”

“I did not stab her,” I whispered weakly.

The women burst into laughter.

“You are wolfless and weak,” one of them mocked. “You could not even protect your own place in your pack.”

Another crossed her arms while staring at me coldly.

“That is exactly how girls like you end up here.”

Tears filled my eyes again.

“My sister lied,” I whispered shakily.

One of the women suddenly stepped closer to me. Before I could react, she shoved a sharp metal injector painfully into my arm.

I let out a painful cry from my lips immediately as pain spread through my arm harshly. The woman pushed the needle deeper before pulling it back out.

The woman smirked.

Then she punched me hard across the cheek.

A sharp pain spread through my face instantly, and my head snapped sideways violently as my knees almost gave out beneath me.

The women laughed ludly.

The tall woman grabbed my chin harshly and forced me to look at her.

“Welcome to Raven’s Edge, wolfless,” she whispered coldly.

Tears rolled heavily down my face while she stared directly into my eyes.

“You are weak,” she said quietly. “And weak girls suffer the most in this place.”