The Lycan's Banished True Mate

Elara's POV 

"Why didn't you wash the doghouse?"

The Luna's livid eyes bore into mine like hot coals, and I felt them melting me from the inside out. My tired legs wobbled beneath me, and my heart pounded with so much fear that I thought it was going to rip out of my chest.

"Answer me!"

"It's nothing, Ma'am." I raised my trembling hand and pointed at the mop laying on the floor. "I wanted to finish washing the floors first."

"Who told you that is all I asked you to do?"

She twisted her nose in scorn, and I saw it in her eyes. Undiluted hatred, sheer contempt, utter irritation. But for what? Because I chose to be born?

"You said I should wash all the tapestry in the castle, afterwards I should clean the nobles' rooms, then I should trim the flowers in the yard, then I should wash the floors. After I'm done, then the doghouse, and..."

Ma'am Luna tightened her grip around my neck. As I struggled to let air pass through my constricted throat, a hot, blinding slap landed across the left side of my face. For a moment, my ear squirmed and echoed with vertigo. I thought I was seeing stars.

"You are foolish. I told you to also wash the windows in the castle, and then trim the flowers in the garden. After that, you will handwash all the bedsheets in the house. Then you will make breakfast and wash all the plates in the kitchen. What happened to your brain? Huh, answer me!"

I flinched in fear as her sudden shouting sent darts of shock down my spine. I placed my hand over my mouth to suppress the chattering sound of my teeth. I was terrified of them, afraid for my life, and I wondered how long it would be until I was finally dead. Until they finally killed me. I'd never known peace in my life, and their hatred for me increased every day. I begged the Moon Goddess to take my life, but she wouldn't answer. I didn't even ask to be born. I didn't want to continue like this.

"Answer my question, Elixir," she bellowed again, "or have you contracted the disgusting illness that killed your useless mother?"

Pain welled up in my chest, and my throat began to constrict as unshed tears choked me. She was right; my mother did die of an unusual illness. But I was only two years old, and Martha had been the one looking after me. Martha died of a heart attack when I was ten years old, and I had been suffering ever since.

Not long after my mother died, my father, Alpha Kaelen of the Silvercrest Pack, married another woman, Sylvia. A year later, Sylvia gave birth to twins: a girl named Siena and a boy named Zane. Later, they had a third child, a girl named Faye. Sylvia, my stepmother, hated me so much that she not only turned my father away from me but also confined me to the deepest part of the Silvercrest castle, where no one knew of my existence. I worked as a slave, worse than a servant, because the other servants at least had three meals a day. No one knew my real identity. I was wasting away, day after day.

"I'm not sick, Ma'am Luna," I whispered softly. "I'm just a little tired. I haven't had anything to eat since yesterday morning, and you asked me not to eat until I finished up my work."

"Do you even deserve to be alive?" She paused for a few seconds when I failed to answer, then burst into a peal of mocking laughter. "Do you even deserve food? You're a werewolf, Elixir, but you don't have a wolf. You are useless and empty, an outcast who would be banished from the werewolf lands if we hadn't been keeping your secret. But it won't be long now. We will soon kick you out!"

I nodded submissively and returned to the floor I was scrubbing, hot tears blurring my vision.

"Good morning, Momma."

I looked up from the wet floor and saw Siena and Faye. They were dressed beautifully, and the smell of their expensive perfume engulfed the atmosphere.

"Why is she scrubbing the floor like she's going to die?" Siena asked with irritation, pointing at me.

"Just look at her, Mom," Faye agreed. "She's so ugly."

"Leave her alone, please," the Luna said dismissively. "Her life has been destroyed already. Focus on yours."

Those words hit me hard, but were they not true?

Siena and Faye hated me so much that they would do anything to make me feel sad and dejected. They never had to work or do any house chores. They attended the best schools in the land, while Martha had taught me how to read from old newspapers and children's textbooks. The two girls could go anywhere they wanted at any time, but they still derived unexplainable pleasure from taunting me and putting me down.

But as cruel as my stepsisters were, they were nothing compared to my stepbrother, Zane.

Zane, the only son of Alpha Kaelen, had grown up to be a completely spoiled brat. He lacked any shred of sexual restraint and chased after anything in a skirt, sleeping with almost all the ladies in the pack. Worse still, he harbored sick, twisted fantasies about me. Just last month, he had cornered me in the dark laundry corridors, pinning me against the stone wall. He attempted to sexually assault me, his heavy hands tearing at my ragged clothes. He would have gone through with it if Sylvia hadn't walked in. However, Zane had just casually adjusted his clothes and walked away like he wasn't about to do something distasteful. Sylvia hadn't reprimanded him; instead, she slapped me, viciously accusing me of dressing provocatively to tempt her precious son.

"I think we should just kill her, Mom. She's disgusting."

"Yes," Faye agreed.

Before I could even process the words in my head, a hard kick landed in the center of my belly. The blow sent me sprawling across the cold, wet floor. The bucket of water flew up into the air and, before I could react, landed squarely on my head, spilling its murky contents all over my face. The hall I'd been struggling to clean was ruined as the dirty water flowed everywhere, soiling everything.

Tears rolled down my face. As I tried to stand up, I slipped in a puddle and fell face-down onto the hard stone. They burst into laughter while my head throbbed with agony.

"We're off to the beach, Mom," Faye said casually. "We'll be back in the evening."

"Okay, my lovelies. Enjoy yourselves."

The Luna watched until the girls were out of sight. Then she turned to me, the smile on her face transforming instantly into a vicious scowl.

"How long will it take you to finish the work, Elixir?"

I looked around at the absolute mess the floor had become, and fresh tears rolled down my cheeks. I had no strength left, and now I would have to start all over. My stomach was tightening into painful knots from hunger, and my bruised knees could barely touch the floor anymore.

"We have to prepare for the council meeting."

I tried gesturing to her that I would have to start from scratch, but she raised her hand and slapped me hard.

"You have two minutes to finish cleaning up this place, or else you will be in deep trouble."

When Ma'am Luna turned to leave, an idea came to my desperate mind, and I grabbed her hand. I tried to tell her with shaky lips that I was weak and hungry, that I didn't have any strength left, and that she should at least give me some food and a few minutes of rest.

"I will finish the work after I rest," I pleaded, tears streaming as I realized these could be the last drops of hydration in my body.

I knew she heard me, but I couldn't understand why she violently snatched her hand out of my grip and slapped me again.

"How dare you touch me!" she roared furiously as I clutched my burning cheek. "How dare you even ask me for food!" She began to advance toward me. "Do I look like your mother?"

I shook my head.

"Do I look like I care about you?"

I shook my head again.

"Why should I give you food when you haven't finished your work? Do you think I'll feed you for free? Just imagine, you rat, you vermin!"

Before I could even shake my head in response, she suddenly reached behind her and pulled out an iron rod. I opened my mouth to tell her how sorry I was, but before the words could form, the heavy rod landed on my head, right above my eye, bursting the flesh open and battering my skull. Blood rained from my forehead into my eyes, and the blinding pain made me feel like my eye was going to roll out of its socket.

But Ma'am Sylvia wasn't done. She kept beating me with the iron rod, my shoulder, my neck, my ribs, my chest, until I slipped and collapsed onto the cold floor. The sound of my skull hitting the ground exploded in my ears. The impact shot through my body; my neck snapped back, and my lips smashed against the stone. Blood started gushing out of my nose and mouth, but she didn't stop swinging. Very soon, I didn't have enough strength to breathe. I prepared to take my final breath and close my eyes in death.

Then, her phone rang.

"Hello?" She placed the phone to her ear. "Oh, really?" Her face immediately lit up with excitement. "That's very delightful. I'm in the council hall, supervising the servant's work." She paused for a few seconds and headed for the door. "Oh, that's so beautiful, honey. This is a dream come true! I'm so happy right now. The girls actually went out, but they'll be back before evening. I should break the news to them? That'll be very nice."

Luna Sylvia walked out of the hall without casting another glance at me, leaving me bleeding on the floor.