[ 2 ]

NIARA'S POINT OF VIEW

She laughed bitterly.

“Have you ever seen me, Niara?”

I could only stare.

“Have you ever noticed what it was like standing beside you in school? In college? At every party?”

She mimicked their voices viciously.

‘Niara is prettier.’

‘Niara is smarter.’

‘Niara is graceful.’

‘Niara will make a perfect Luna.’

Her eyes filled with rage.

“Always Niara. Always better. Always first.”

She grabbed my hair and jerked my head back.

“Do you know what it feels like to live your whole life under someone else’s shadow?”

Pain shot through my scalp, but it was nothing compared to the ache in my chest.

“Lie… all lie…”

My voice came out broken.

“Dad… and mumma… loved you a lot!”

Tears streamed down her face now, but they looked more like poison than pain.

“They loved you more than me. Your mother never once saw me as worthy as you are. Never.” Helena said and her grip tightened. “She tolerated me because she had to… because my mother started living with your family and her brother, your father had to take her!”

I swallowed hard, shaking my head.

“No…”

I forced the words out through sobs.

“But I… I always considered you my sister.”

My throat closed around the truth.

“My little sister, Helena.”

For a second, something unreadable crossed her facemthen she slapped me so hard I fell sideways.

“Keep your pity,” she hissed.

Logan laughed from behind her and I finally understood. I had loved people who only hated me.

“B-but you were my mate, Logan…How? How can you do this to me?”, My voice shook so badly the words barely sounded human.

He smiled.

“Oh, my little Niara,” he said mockingly. “I was never your mate.”

The dungeon spun around me.

“What? no…”

He tilted his head.

“Keep dreaming if it helps.”

My breath came in sharp, painful bursts.

“H-how?” I whispered. “Then why didn’t I ever find my mate? Why… why did my wolf never come to me?”

For the first time that night, Logan looked proud.

“Because of this.”

His hand reached for the pendant resting against my throat. My entire body froze. The silver necklace, the one he gave me on my eighteenth birthday.

I remembered that night with brutal clarity. Candles. Moonlight. His lips against my forehead as he fastened it around my neck himself.

It’s the symbol of our love and future mating bond, Niara.

Never remove it. If you do, it will weaken our connection before the Moon Goddess seals us fully.

I had treasured it like sacred golda and never taken it off.

Logan gripped the chain now and tugged hard. From his pocket, he pulled a small metal tool and forced it into the hidden lock at the back. The sharp edge scraped my skin as he twisted.

Pain shot through my neck.

“Ahhh!”

A thin line of blood slid down my collarbone.

Helena laughed softly.

“There it is.”

The clasp snapped open and the pendant fell into Logan’s palm. I stared at it in horror.

The little moonstone heart I had kissed a thousand times. The symbol I thought meant love.

Logan held it up between two fingers.

“It’s a mate suppressor,” he said casually. “Custom made.”

I couldn’t breathe.

“No…”

“Oh yes.” He smirked. “Exclusively crafted for me by witches. Illegal, expensive, and worth every coin from my father's money.”

Helena folded her arms proudly.

“He paid them chests of gold,” she said. “Just to make sure no male ever scented your true bond.”

My wolf screamed inside me. A violent, agonizing sound I had never heard before.

I clutched my chest.

“What… what did you do to me…”

Logan crouched again, enjoying my terror.

“It dulled your instincts. Suppressed your wolf. Blocked the pull of your real mate.”

He tapped the pendant.

“And while you wandered around empty and confused, I stepped in.”

Tears poured down my face.

“I told you it was love..that I can feel the mate pull.. Maybe your wolf is not ready to come out yet…but my wolf can sense it.. And I am your real mate…and you believed me.”

My fingers trembled as I touched the raw skin at my neck.

All those years. All those nights I wondered why I never got my wolf. They made me believe that I am cursed and pathetic that I haven't got my wolf yet because it's my punishment from the moon-goddess.

Every full moon left me restless. No bond ever clicked fully into place.It had never been me because it was him.

"Patrhetic bitch…can't wait you to die tomorrow painfully",

They spat one last time before leaving the cell.

That night I screamed until my throat tore raw.

Not from the dungeon floor beneath me but from the betrayal.

Ten years of love had been a performance.

I curled into myself and sobbed until there were no tears left.

Then morning came.

They dragged me from the dungeon before sunrise and marched me through the center square.

The execution grounds had been prepared like a festival.

Rows of seats surrounded the stone platform. Delegations from neighboring packs filled them, Alphas, Lunas, Betas, heirs, nobles. They had come not for justice, but for spectacle. To witness the fall of Alpha Cedric’s daughter.

At the center stood a silver execution frame. My wrists were chained above me.

My ankles bound apart.

Below my feet, shallow channels had been carved into the stone to carry blood away neatly.

How thoughtful.

The executioner lifted a metal basin where melted silver glowed like moonlight.

A cruel death. Slow and painful reserved only for us, werewolves.

The crowd hushed as Alpha Cedric rose.

“Niara Winters was found guilty of murdering the beta,” my father declared. “Today, Blackwood law is upheld before all territories.”

Cheers answered him. Helena's mother, my aunt dabbed at dry eyes she did not mean.

Helena stood beside Logan in white, fingers linked with his.

They looked radiant. I looked at Logan one last time and he smirked.

The first stream of silver touched my shoulder. I screamed.

Agony exploded through flesh and bone. Smoke rose where it burned through skin. My wolf howled inside me, thrashing in terror. The executioner poured slowly, carefully, as if savoring each second.

I thrashed against the chains.

“AHhhh!!!!.. Stop it! Stop it! I’m innocent!” I screamed. “I didn’t do it! Stop!!! Helena framed me! Logan…please! Please! Dad!!!!”

Laughter broke out from parts of the crowd. Helena leaned into Logan’s shoulder, pretending discomfort.

Another stream hit my chest. My scream turned feral.

The world blurred… then suddenly

“STOP!”

The voice cracked across the square like thunder… deep and very rough Commanding enough that even the executioner froze.

Every head turned.

A massive black wolf tore through the outer guards, sending warriors flying like toys. He shifted mid-stride into a towering man covered in scars and rage.

Alpha Draven.

The feared ruler of the rogue territories. The monster packs used to frighten every pack of the wolves

His silver eyes landed on me and widened in horror.

“Mate!”

The word ripped from him like pain. My heart jolted.

Something ancient and buried snapped open inside me. A pull, a bond.

A recognition so violent it stole my breath.

Him. He was my real mate. The one stolen from me.

Alpha Draven leapt onto the platform, slaughter in his eyes.

“Unchain her!” he roared. “Touch her again and I burn this kingdom to ash!”

Warriors hesitated. No one moved.

He reached me himself, hands shaking as he tore at the restraints.

“Mate… mate…” His voice broke now, softer, desperate. “I’m here. I’m here now. I will protect you. Nothing will happen. Look at me… I have been trying to find your for years..”

I tried but my vision was fading. His scent wrapped around me. Mine.

“A… Alpha D-draven…” Blood slipped from my lips. “My real m-mate…”

Tears burned my ruined eyes.

“I’m sorry.”

“No.” He cupped my face carefully, terrified of hurting me. “No. Don’t apologize. We’ll heal you. We leave now…”

He tried to lift me.

I stopped him with what little strength remained because I knew. The silver had gone too deep. My wolf was dying.

So was I.

“I… I’m sorry,” I whispered. “If I get a second life… if it exists…”

He shook his head violently.

“Don’t say that… I love you mate, I can't live without you…no..no please look at me. ”

I smiled through the pain.

“If the Moon Goddess believes in justice…”

My fingers weakly touched his wrist.

“I’ll choose the right person.”

His face crumpled.

And for the first time in my life, I died in the arms of someone who truly loved me.