04

Chapter 4

Elena’s POV

The room was suffocating. The cold stone floor bit into my bare feet.

I’d been dragged from the kitchens to one of the old conference rooms—Samantha’s personal interrogation chamber, if you asked me. The lights were too bright. The walls are too thin. Two guards blocked the door as if I could magically run out without Samantha dragging me back by my hair. 

I was strapped on a stiff wooden chair in the center of the room so tight I could feel my wrists bruising already. 

Samantha paced in front of me like a predator circling its prey, her heels clicking sharply against the floor.

Her lips twisted in a cruel smirk. “So. You’re going to sit there in silence all night, pretending you don’t owe me an explanation?”

“I don’t owe you anything,” I said quietly, jaw tight. 

I honestly didn't. With what I have suffered from her mother and her, they were the ones who owed me their lives. 

“Oh, I think you do,” she snapped, momentarily bringing back to reality. “You show up at my Luna ceremony. In a dress that should’ve been mine. Then you seduce my guest and get yourself knocked up? You will tell me who he is.”

“And why do you care to know? Isn’t Damien enough for you?” I asked, despite my curiosity. 

She uttered a scoff. “Trying to evade my questions, huh?” She glared daggers at me. 

I wanted to point out that she was the one evading mine but I kept shut. I was already tired of being strapped to the damn chair. 

“If you think we are going to leave here without you divulging who the hell you had slept with, you must be delusional!” 

I clenched my fists in my lap. “His name is Lucien. That’s all I know.”

Samantha stopped pacing, her posture slackened a bit. Her perfectly arched brows lifted. “Lucien,” she repeated. “Which Lucien? There were many Luciens in attendance. Tell me which one!” 

“I… I don't know…”

Her eyes narrowed. “You’re trying to tell me you don’t know his title? His pack? I’m not shocked, you are such an easy fling.” She snorted. 

“I told you,” I said through gritted teeth. “I didn’t know. He helped me, we talked, and it… happened.”

Samantha’s eyes gleamed with icy rage. “You let a man mark you and you don’t even know who he is? How pathetic is that?”

I met her gaze, refusing to flinch. “You weren’t there. You don’t get to twist what happened.”

“Oh, I’m not twisting anything,” she said sweetly, her voice a dagger wrapped in silk. 

“He was the one. The one who came in while you were stripping me.” I told her, tired of this interrogation already. 

Something akin to shock and jealousy crossed her features before she burst out into a ludicrous laugh. “You want me to believe that?” She said amidst the laugh. 

I didn't know what to say again. When she saw that I was serious, she stopped laughing and took a step closer to me. “You don't know the weight of what you just claimed, Elena. You mean, Lucien, that Lucien, saw you and thought to himself that he wanted you for you the night?” She scoffed. I could taste the unbelief in her words as she glared at me. 

Everything was clearer to me now. I knew her mother had been greedy, what I didn't know was Samantha had been coveting everything that belonged to me, even my ex-mate, Damien. 

“You are not even on the list of the people he would casually peck.” Jealousy streaked those words as she spat them out. 

“I am not lying!”

“Of course! What would a poor orphan say? You are trying to pin some stupid fling you had with a poor omega on Lucien?” She shook her head. “I won’t let you do that!”

“But let me get this straight, if what you said is true: you slept with someone important enough to make half the hall bow in silence—and now you’re carrying his child.”

I didn’t respond. I couldn’t. The knot in my throat was too thick.

She tilted her head mockingly. “You stupid little girl. Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

“I didn’t plan any of this.”

“Of course, you did,” she hissed. “Don’t act like you’re innocent. You wanted to be marked. You wanted someone powerful to notice you so you could crawl your way out of the gutters.”

My temper snapped. “You hate me because he didn’t want you. That’s what this is really about.”

Samantha blinked, stunned for a moment.

“You bullied me because you couldn’t stand the fact that even when you had everything—status, wealth, the Luna title—you still couldn’t have Lucien. He looked at me, not you.”

The slap came fast and hard, cracking across my cheek.

My head snapped to the side. I didn’t cry out. I refused.

“You filthy little mutt,” Samantha seethed. “You think that night meant anything to him? You think being some pretty mistake gives you power?”

I turned back to face her, cheek burning, eyes burning hotter. “It meant more than whatever you’ll ever be to him.”

Her entire body trembled. “You dare talk to me like that? After everything your mother did—”

“Don’t,” I cut in. “Don’t you dare bring my mother into this. She died protecting this pack. She died saving Damien’s parents. And what did I get in return?”

The door slammed open.

Damien stormed in, his face dark with fury. “What the hell is going on here?”

“She’s pregnant,” Samantha announced, pointing at me like I was a disease. “With someone else’s pup. And she’s been lying to everyone.” I noticed the way she didn't mention Lucien’s name. 

I tried to stand but couldn't, facing him. “I haven’t lied. I haven’t hurt anyone. I was attacked by your Luna, stripped in front of this pack, and now I’m being interrogated because someone dared to care for me.”

“Care?” Samantha barked a laugh. “He doesn’t care about anyone! He left you, didn’t he?”

My voice cracked. “He didn’t have a choice.”

Damien’s jaw tightened. “You were fated to me. And you betrayed that bond.”

“No,” I said sharply. “You betrayed it. You rejected me. You told me I was unworthy. You paraded your new Luna in front of me and watched her humiliate me. And now you’re angry because I survived it.”

Samantha’s eyes were wild with rage. “Damien, she’s poisoning this pack with her filth. She should be banished!”

My blood turned to ice.

“Banished?” I echoed.

“You’re lucky I don’t have you whipped,” she spat. “You’re nothing, Elena. Nothing but a rogue in disguise.”

I turned to Damien. “You would really do that? After what my mother gave for your family?”

Damien’s gaze flickered, then hardened. “You should’ve stayed in your place.”

“I had a place. You took it from me.”

He looked at the guards. “Take her to the holding cell.”

“No!” I cried. “You can’t—Damien, please—”

“If you don’t want to leave the pack,” he said coldly, “then you’ll rot there instead.”

My breath caught. “What?”

“No food. No water. Let her starve until she begs to go.”

The guards stepped forward, each gripping my arms.

“You’ll regret this,” I whispered, tears threatening to spill. “You’ll all regret this.”

Damien said nothing.

Samantha smirked.

And the door slammed shut behind me as I was dragged into darkness.