Banished

    Scarlett 

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‎It feels like something ripped out of my chest, like my heart or soul is tearing, and I just stand there, tears raining down my cheeks with violent urgency.

I knew this was going to happen as soon as he declared that Rosalia was his mate.

I'm caught up in the fear of every outcast. Being let down by the man you've loved all your life. The man you believed accepted and loved you, and would protect you. The most painful part of everything, my unborn is tangled up in it too.

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‎“Everyone, listen up,” Rosalia says.

They give her their undivided attention as their future Luna.

Rosalia turns to me.

“This cheat here—” she inches closer, folding her arms across her chest, “—is wolfless,” she finishes, her eyes firm, full of rage and hatred like I'd stolen Zachary on purpose.

Terror and emotions hit me and I stagger backward, my heart racing. I can't believe it. Rosalia, my sister, just exposed my deepest secret.

The space falls silent. Everyone is shocked. 

“She mastered basic survival instincts of a werewolf, using something to make everyone perceive her as one. She's been fooling everyone—”

“Rosalia,” I scream her name to make her stop, hyperventilating. I even glance behind her at Zachary, hoping he stops her.

Zachary doesn't say a word—doesn't attempt to stop her.

“She fooled everyone. She's a traitor.”

“An outcast in Crystal Claw pack? That is unforgivable,” Ledger spits, his face contorted in rage—unnerving.

Wolfless shifters are an abomination. They're forbidden to be mated, forbidden to belong to a pack. They call us the Outcasts.

We are walking targets, alone in the cold world, unwanted by our kind, marked for death.

Every species hates and fears us. Because some of us end up becoming a dangerous species called the Revolt Wolf. 

Revolt wolves are as powerful as five lycan kings combined. They're called Monsters.

I'm standing on shaky legs, confused about what to say or do. “Why, Rosalia? Why?” I sob. 

What did I do to make her betray me? It's not as if I knew she was Zachary's true mate and tried to steal him from her. I've always been a good sister to all my half-siblings, where did I go wrong?

“Unsheathe your claws. Or maybe show us your wolf's eyes. Go ahead and shift. Tell them why you always disappear on full moon nights. Show them how you've been deceiving them.”

It feels like the ground should open and swallow me as I tremble there, disarrayed, mortified, incapacitated, and terrified.

“Zachary, did you know about this?” Ledger, the previous alpha asks.

Zachary’s eyes meet mine. With my eyes, I beg him to save me. To save our innocent child.

Only his words can save me from my ugly fate. He knows what I am and vowed to protect my secret.

“This is a mystery to me. She deceived me. She deceived everyone,” Zachary bellows.

It felt as if my heart got crushed, and unable to withstand the betrayal and heartache, my legs give.

“Give us your command, Alpha Zachary,” the zeta says angrily.

I look up at Zachary with teary eyes, my heart beating so hard I can hear every beat. I would lose my baby if they torture me.

His eyes lack warmth. Still, I look up to him to save our unborn baby and me.

“Banish the outcast,” Zachary says without a hitch, glaring at me. 

Panic bites into me and I'm shaking like a leaf. I quickly get on my knees, begging him, “Alpha Zachary, please. Please save me. Save my baby, please.”

“Seize the outcast. And take her to the punishment courtyard,” Beta Cross yells furiously.

Two soldiers storm toward me, grab my arms, and pry me from the floor, dragging me out of the hallway.

“No, no, please. Please, don't do it, please,” I scream in tears, struggling. I'm so afraid… for my baby.

‎In the courtyard, the soldiers bind me to the beam so that I'm hugging it, my dress ripped open on the back for whipping, the rancid smell of rotten things the pack members had thrown at me skunking my nostrils.

‎

‎A crowd of pack members surrounds us, anticipating my suffering. Zachary and the high-ups are standing on the balcony watching. Including Rosalia. No shred of pity or mercy in their eyes.

It's all my fault. If I hadn't dreamt of something I can't have—if I hadn't seen Zachary in another light—I wouldn't have had an unborn who'll suffer for my mistake.

‎‎

‎“For deceiving the pack, you shall be flogged thirty times, and your mark burned.”

‎

‎At the elder's latter words, the punisher whips my back brutally not considering I'm human without my wolf—not caring that I am with child.

I scream in excruciating pain, unable to move as the binding won't let me, tears streaming down my face. All I can think about is my baby, afraid she may not survive the torture.

‎

The strokes keep coming in seconds, every stroke harder than the last, and on the last, I melt against the beam, shivering, my body weak, covered in maddening, unbearable pain, my head aching.

‎

I'm praying for death, anything to make the pain go away. At the same time, I want to live… for my baby. Is she even still there?

‎

‎I feel hot iron burning the area where Zachary marked me, but I'm unable to scream, only whimpering, despite the excruciating pain—my energy is completely drained from me.

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‎The tears won't stop falling when I see Zachary and Rosalia. There's no iota of pity in their cold eyes. As if I'm their biggest enemy who's getting what she deserves.

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‎“On this day, Crystal Claw pack renounces you as their Luna and member. You are hereby banished from the Crystal Claw pack and must not set foot on the pack territory. Or you will be killed.”