Chapter 3

Athena

“You! You are the girl from last night?” the man who opened the door said immediately.

My heart jumped. I quickly let my hair fall forward, covering my face. I didn’t want him to recognize me, I didn’t want anyone to really see me. More than anything, I never wanted to meet him again.

“I forgot something,” I muttered, keeping my eyes fixed on the floor as I stood in front of him.

“Oh,” he said. “He went down to the lobby to look for you. Wait here, let me go tell him you are back.”

Before I could respond, he turned and walked out of the room.

I didn’t wait to think about what he had just said. Panic rushed through me. I looked around the room quickly, searching for anything useful. My eyes landed on a wallet lying on the bed. I grabbed it, opened it, and saw a lot of cash inside. I took only what I knew would be enough to pay for a cab, then dropped the wallet back where it was.

Without wasting another second, I ran out of the room and straight toward the lobby. As soon as I got there, I saw him, the man from last night walking away, shirtless, with the same guy I had met in the room. I turned and rushed out of the lobby immediately.

As I stepped outside, guilt twisted in my chest. I was sure that when he noticed the money was missing, he would assume the worst. He would probably think I was just a prostitute who had come for his money.

I flagged down a cab and told the driver to take me back to the pack. The drive took almost two hours. I sat in silence the entire way, my thoughts heavy and tangled.

When the cab finally stopped in front of the pack house, I reached for the door. Before I could open it, the door suddenly swung open from the outside. Aurora stood there, staring at me.

She gasped the moment she saw my face.

“Oh my goodness, Athena! Where have you been?” she exclaimed. “We searched everywhere for you last night and again this morning. And now you show up in the afternoon with your neck full of hickeys!”

Her voice was loud, full of shock, and I felt my face burn with embarrassment as everyone around us seemed to listen.

“What!” I heard my mother shriek from inside the house.

My heart sank. I stepped in quietly and shot Aurora a hard look. She only smirked, clearly enjoying every second of this.

“Athena Davis!” my mother yelled. “Where are you coming from, looking like this?”

Her face turned cold, and I knew immediately that this wouldn’t end well.

“Mom,” Aurora added, her voice sweet but cruel, “she’s wearing the shirt of the man she spent the night with. What a nice way to show up this afternoon.”

Something inside me snapped. “You caused this!” I yelled, turning to Aurora. “Everything started after you gave me that drink last night.”

I should have known better. All my life, Aurora had never been on my side. She hated me simply for existing, for being the twin without a wolf, the disgrace. Even our parents barely acknowledged me as their child. To them, it was shameful for the Alpha and Luna of the pack to have a daughter with no wolf at all.

Aurora had suddenly started acting nice to me a few weeks ago, and I had foolishly believed it was real. I didn’t realize it was all a trap until the effects of that drink hit me.

“So let me get this straight,” my mom shouted angrily. “Your sister gave you a drink, and that made you go out there and sleep with every man you saw at the party?”

“Mom!” I cried. “I didn’t sleep with every man. I made a mistake, I walked into a stranger’s room.”

Tears streamed down my face as I spoke.

“And why were you in a stranger’s room in the first place?” my mom demanded.

Aurora didn’t miss the chance to speak again. “Mom, I told her Silas only went to change his shirt because someone spilled a drink on him. I said he would be back soon, but she insisted on going to meet him. I even told her he was in room 307.”

My eyes widened in shock as her words sank in. “You lied, you said—” I started, but my mother cut me off immediately.

“Shut up!”

The front door opened suddenly, and my father walked in with Silas beside him. Shame crashed over me so hard that I couldn’t even lift my head to look at him. Just like that, two years of our lives felt wasted, destroyed in a single night.

“This is the whore you were going to mark last night,” my mother said coldly, pointing at my neck. She grabbed me roughly, pulled me closer, and yanked my shirt open, exposing my chest. “This is exactly what she was doing while you were waiting for her,” she added cruelly.

I could feel Silas staring at me. When I finally dared to glance at him, his eyes were filled with anger and pain.

“Two years,” he shouted. “Two years of my life wasted on you. I didn’t touch you because I respected you, and in just one night, you spread your legs for another man like the whore you are?”

His words cut deeper than any blade.I stood frozen in the corner, unable to speak, unable to defend myself. My throat felt tight, and my body wouldn’t move.

My father sighed heavily. “No child of mine will bring disgrace to this pack,” he said. “You have been a disgrace since birth. You finally found someone willing to accept you, and with your foolish, reckless behavior, you ruined it. Tell me—who in this pack will ever want to settle for you now?”

“Dad, I’m sorry,” I cried. “I’m so sorry, please.”

I dropped to my knees in front of him, begging, my tears falling freely onto the floor.

But his expression didn’t soften. “By the power vested in me as the Alpha of this pack,” my father said firmly, “Athena Davis, you are hereby banished from the Light Moon Pack.”

I froze completely, “Alpha, I think that’s a bit…” Silas began, but my father cut him off instantly with a low, threatening growl.

I turned desperately to my mother and my sister, silently begging them to help me, to say something in my defense. Instead, they both wore looks of satisfaction, like this was exactly what they had been waiting for.

“Go inside, pack your things, and leave this pack for good,” my mother said coldly. “I should have given you to the humans years ago, just like my sister suggested. That way, we could have avoided the disgrace you brought upon this family today. Leave before any other pack members find out what you did.”

Her words crushed whatever hope I had left.

“I’ll help her pack,” Aurora said quickly, already turning toward the stairs. There was excitement in her voice as she ran upstairs.

I watched her go, my heart aching with confusion. What had I ever done to deserve this much hatred from her? Why did she hate me so deeply?

“One of the pack drivers will take you to the pack border,” my father said firmly. “From this moment on, you are no longer a member of this pack. You are forbidden from ever setting foot here again.”

Then he turned to Silas. “If you are still willing,” my father continued, “Aurora would be more than happy to have you as her mate. She has been in love with you ever since you started training at the academy, long before you ever met her evil twin.”

That was when it finally became clear to me, this was the real reason I was being cast out.