Chapter 02

Penelope’s POV

Maybe it was an hour, maybe it was two, I could not quite tell but I knew my lungs hurt. 

Again, I tried to cry out for help, hoping anyone, someone in the pack house will be kind enough to help me up, save me and my child.

I tried again, this time, my voice distant, the tears somehow dried up now and the blood did not stop.

" Anyone...please if you can hear me, help me" I cried again, yet no one came running.

This was no coincidence. The pack house on average always had women and men up and running through the corridors. I knew Dax had asked them not to touch me. Just like he always did.

Now I knew that dax loved to hit me. He made it obvious in fact. He would hit me for cooking too early, cooking too late, or cooking just in time.

And I knew the pack members had somehow grown accustomed to my everyday yells of pain.

I was on the verge of giving up, my arms were too sore to lift up now when I felt the pounding footsteps walking towards me.

I was lying on my stomach, no strength left to turn over and view who it was, but she called out to me first.

" Luna...can you move?"

I almost burst into a cry of joy. 

" Mina....please help me..no one is coming, I'm dying, my baby... please" the words left my mouth in a gush, one after the other until it felt as though each word could not wait to leave my mouth.

I felt her crotch over me, gently helping me up as I winced in pain, my stomach hurting, and the only thought that laid in my head was if my baby would ever survive this.

" They won't come. Alpha dax mentioned that if anyone helps you, they will be exiled from the pack and turn rogue. I guess that was enough to keep everyone away from you" she said.

I was not surprised, but I was not expecting it either. The pang of pain in my chest only seemed to grow as I realized that this man never loved me. He loved the idea of having a goddess ordained mate, but he never truly cared about me. And it made me feel like a fool because it took all this while for the motive to finally sink in.

" No, let me go then..go quickly before someone sees you. I would hate to put you in trouble" 

I tried to pry my hands away from her but she did not let go, her mind firmly made up.

" Don't worry about me, I have decided with a few others to leave this pack anyways. I might as well help you out while you still can" 

The pack seemed deserted as she walked out of the pack house, the trail of blood following me as my thought wandered again.

It was obvious now. Crystal clear like daylight to me. All the warning signs I had ignored to keep my marriage were now flashing in my eyes.

I knew Laura was never his cousin. I had caught them in bed a few times together and even though he had forbidden me from ever talking about it, it did not stop my mind from shifting to that night a few times along the line.

Laura didn't have a mate or a boyfriend, yet she was pregnant. I had no idea how she was pregnant, but even her pregnancy seemed to be shrouded in mischief.

She has been pregnant for three full moons even though a normal wolf pregnancy lasts only two. And yet, everyone seemed to believe this little lie of hers.

I knew she was not carrying a baby, maybe all it took for my brain to hit factory reset was a kick in the rib and a few blows on my eyes.

But now, I could see the conspiracy clearly.

" And what the hell do you think you are doing?" A voice thundered, causing the both of us to stop in our tracks, our Messiah, which was the pack borders barely a few feet away now, so close, yet seeming so far.

" Dad please....I have to help her...I don't mind leaving this pack with her. She is dying dad, her child is dying, the future of this pack is in her and he is dying. Please father"  Mina said.

She has managed to set me down on the ground again, the murky earth soaking into my clothes as she confronted her father.

I knew this man. Well maybe I didn't know him, because he was one of those omegas who loved to keep their heads low. Never a word of rebellion to the ones in higher power no matter how much ridicule it brought them.

He stuck so fiercely to the social hierarchy it was almost a form of worship for him at this point.

He pointed one bong finger at Mina, eyes trembling, not sparing me a single glance.

" Stupid girl! Do you have any idea what it means to become a rogue? You have a life here, a pack to protect you, a bed to sleep on and you have food to eat! Why would you throw that all away"

I did not realize Mina was crying until her voice shook.

" Because I don't want it! This is not life, father! This is not the life I want..they insult me, ridicule me, belittle me, there is unfairness, and if I can save this Luna who has been kind to me, then I will and I won't care about anything else" 

A slap, resounding, loud, shocking.

" Stupid girl! Luna is doomed to die anyways, the alpha never liked her..don't you know she is filthy? And filth like her can never be good enough for royalty. Quick, go back in, no one saw you, I'm sure they will think she crawled out by herself" 

I knew what I had to do. As much as it pained me to admit, her father was right.

" Mina..

Please, I'm fine, I can make it to the main road, please go back"

My stomach ached, I refused to let her touch me, turned a deaf ear to all her pleas and watched her father drag her away. 

It was for the best..he was right. I was filthy. My greatest undoing was thinking a man so great could love scum like me.

I did make it to the main road, my body aching, my child perhaps dead now.

I felt sleep threatened to come, death's cold embrace was reaching for me every so eagerly. But I did not swipe it away.

And then, just as I was about to give into death, a car light flashed, and someone got down, walking towards me.

"Please save me..."  I tried to scream, but death was choking me, the words struggling against my throat until they turned into a silent mantra and slowly, death embraced me.