Chapter two

CHAPTER TWO: 

Elena POV. 

I stand on shaking legs. "May I see Elise? Before I go?"

My mother shakes her head. "She is too ill for visitors. You will only risk catching her sickness."

Even now, even when I am sacrificing myself for her, they will not let me see my own sister. The cruelty of it breaks something inside me, but I do not cry. I will not give them the satisfaction of seeing me cry.

"Is there anything else?" I ask, my voice empty.

"Go to your room," my father says, already looking down at papers on his desk, dismissing me. "The servants will help you prepare."

I walk back through the estate in a daze. Servants watch me with pitying eyes, they have already heard what is happening. News travels fast in a pack house. By tomorrow, everyone will know that the worthless omega daughter is being sent away, and they will be relieved to be rid of the family embarrassment.

In my small room, I sink onto my bed and finally let the tears come. I cry for the life I will never have, for the family who never wanted me, for the sister who is probably not even sick but is being hidden away while I take her place.

I cry because I am nineteen years old and I am about to be given to a man known as the Beast King, a lycan who kills without mercy, who will discover my deception and execute me for the lie.

And I cry because some small, broken part of me had still hoped that one day my parents might love me, that one day I might matter to them. But their actions today have made the truth clear. I am disposable. I always have been.

A soft knock on my door interrupts my tears. Mary, the cook, enters with a tray of food.

"You need to eat, dear," she says gently, setting the tray on my small table.

"I am not hungry," I say.

She sits beside me on the bed, taking my hand. "I know you are scared. But you are stronger than you think, Elena. You have survived nineteen years in this house. I believe you can survive what is coming."

"I am an omega," I whisper. "I am weak. Everyone knows it."

"Omega does not mean weak," Mary says firmly. "It means something different. We have gifts the alphas do not possess. We are healers, nurturers, survivors. Do not let them convince you that you are worthless."

Her words are kind, but they cannot erase a lifetime of being told I am a mistake. I squeeze her hand, grateful for her compassion even if I cannot believe her reassurance.

After Mary leaves, I force myself to eat a little. I will need my strength for what is coming.

That night, I couldn't sleep. I lie in my bed and stare at the ceiling, wondering what tomorrow will bring. I have heard stories about the Lycan King. They say he murdered his own uncle to take the throne. They say he tears apart enemies with his bare hands. They say he locked his last prisoner in the dungeons and forgot about them until they starved to death.

They say he had a mate once, a young girl he loved, who was killed during the attack that murdered his parents. They say he went mad with grief and became the monster he is now.

What chance do I have against a man like that?

As the first light of dawn creeps through my window, I rise and dress in the clothes my mother left for me, Elise's clothes. A fine dress in deep blue, elegant and expensive. Shoes that pinch my feet because Elise's feet are slightly larger than mine. A heavy cloak with the Ashford family crest embroidered on the back.

A servant comes to do my hair, styling it the way Elise wears hers. Another applies makeup to my face, highlighting my features, making me look older and more confident than I feel. They give me drops to put in my eyes, medicine that will temporarily turn my gray eyes the same sharp blue as Elise's.

I stare at myself in the mirror when they are finished and barely recognize the woman looking back. I look just like my sister. I look like an alpha, confident and strong.

It is the best lie I have ever told, and it is written on my face.

My mother comes to inspect me, circling me like a predator examining prey, a relieved smile on her face. "You will do," she says finally. She hands me a small vial. "This is an alpha pheromone perfume. Apply it to your wrists and throat every morning. It will mask your omega scent."

I toke the vial with trembling fingers. This is how they will hide what I am. With makeup and medicine and perfume, they will transform me into something I am not.

"Remember," my mother says, her voice cold. "You are Elise Ashford. You are strong. You are confident. You do not cower or cry or show weakness. If you reveal yourself as an omega, the Lycan King will kill you. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Mother," I whisper.

She studies me for a long moment, and I think I saw something flicker in her eyes, regret, perhaps, or guilt. But it was gone so quickly I must have imagined it.

"Then go," she says. "Save your sister. Save your pack. And do not shame us further."

Those are the last words my mother says to me. Not "I love you." Not "be safe." Just a command not to shame them.

I walk down the main staircase for the first time in years, through the entrance hall where servants line up to watch me go. Some look sad. Others look relieved. None try to stop this from happening.

Outside, a carriage waits. It is black and windowless, meant for transporting prisoners or valuable cargo. Guards stand ready, warriors from our pack who will escort me to Bloodstone Fortress.

My father is there, but he does not speak to me. He nods once to the guards, and they move forward.

One of them wraps silver chains around my wrists. The metal burns against my skin, silver weakens werewolves, keeps us from shifting or using our full strength. It is meant to show the Lycan King that his debt is being paid, that the Ashford family is sending their daughter bound and humbled.

But I know the real reason for the chains. They do not trust me not to run.

The guard helped me into the carriage, and I sat on the hard bench inside, my chained hands folded in my lap. Through the small window in the door, I can see the estate I grew up in, the only home I have ever known.

My father turns and walks back inside without a backwards glance. My mother did not even come outside to see me off.

The carriage lurches forward, 

 I was leaving my house, the only place I have known since I was born. I pressed my face to the small window, watching as the Crescent Moon Pack estate grew smaller and smaller behind us, until it disappeared completely.

I was alone now.

The journey will take three days, the guards told me. Three days to reach Bloodstone Fortress. Three days until I meet the man who will either believe my lie or see through it and kill me.

I lean back against the hard wall of the carriage and close my eyes. I will not cry again. Tears will not save me. Nothing will save me.

I am Elena Ashford, the worthless omega daughter, disguised as an alpha princess, being delivered to the Beast King as payment for a debt.

And I have three days to prepare for my death.