The Traitor and the Betrayed

As soon as I stepped through the Pack's archway, my parents, Marcus and Margaret, were already blocking my path.

Marcus used the Alpha's Command on me to force me to speak. "Before Sophia passed out, she told us you took her antidote!"

Even under the pressure, I simply answered coldly, "She was already poisoned by the vampire's poison. You're really going to trust the word of someone who's out of it?"

He was trembling with rage as his claws shot out, and he lunged at me. I easily moved to the side, and he missed me.

Margaret stood to the side and spoke in a hurt tone, "Anna, don't you know how much your sister, Sophia, cares about you?! She got hurt protecting you. She wouldn't have lied!"

My mother was right!

Ever since Sophia had come back to the pack and was confirmed as Marcus's biological daughter, she had never once blamed me, the one who had been adopted. Instead, she treated me better than any real sister would.

Whenever we went out and ran into danger and I didn't have enough strength, Sophia would step in front of me.

She was also the one who had originally suggested going with me to the Shadow Forest. If I passed the trial, I would finally form a formal bond with the Pack.

I had just killed the beast that had harassed the Pack for a long time when a dozen vampires burst out of the bushes and instantly surrounded Sophia. I did not even have time to wipe the beast's blood off me.

Their leader moved so fast that all I saw was a blur. Then, the silver blade laced with poison in his hand had already cut open Sophia's throat. Blood spilled from Sophia's neck as she looked at me, her eyes full of despair.

I did not move to save her.

Instead, I took the vial of antidote from Sophia's belt during the confusion.

The memory of what happened made me laugh coldly. "I was also doing everything I could to escape back then. I had no time to worry about her."

"You traitor!" Marcus snapped, his voice shaking.

After what happened to Sophia, Marcus had been busy taking care of her, and he hadn't managed to get any rest at all. His eyes were completely sunken, and his face looked worn out.

He stopped releasing his aura, and he started pleading with me instead. "Margaret and I saved you and brought you home all those years ago, and we raised you like our own. Have we ever treated you badly? We took you into the pack, yet you still chose to betray us!

"Sophia is our only biological daughter. Even if you don't care about kinship, shouldn't you at least be loyal to the pack?!"

Seeing how grief had taken its toll on him and made him look even more worn out, my chest tightened. However, my voice was still just as cold as I said, "I'm just a Beta. How could I possibly steal the antidote from the Alpha's daughter? Don't blame me for everything."

"Blame it on you?" Marcus finally exploded, and his aura began to warp because of his fury as his claws came toward me again.

Once again, I stepped sideways and dodged the attack. However, Marcus's claws slashed his own arm instead. Blood poured out of the deep gash in no time.

"Alpha, are you alright?!" Margaret cried, immediately rushing to his side to check the wound.

However, her scream drew the other werewolves over.

"Isn't that the Alpha's adopted daughter?"

"I heard a venom-coated blade was used to cut Sophia's throat while she was protecting her adopted sister, Anna. But not only did she leave Sophia to die, she even stole the antidote."

"What a selfish werewolf! It must be because she's jealous Sophia was born with the Alpha's blood!"

Sophia's fiancé, Lucian, rushed over upon hearing the commotion.

Lucian and I had grown up together.

Before Sophia came back, I had been his chosen mate. But after she came back, Fate had finally revealed the savage truth.

Sophia was Lucian's destined mate.

Standing before the bond decided by the Moon Goddess, all the determination that a fake like me had was shattered.

Sophia knew how I felt, so she had never gotten too close to Lucian in front of me. She had even kept finding excuses to push the ceremony back.

"So what?" I said coldly. "I met Lucian first. Sophia's only trying to make herself feel less guilty."

Margaret gritted her teeth as she said, "Anna, how could you be so vicious?! It was all because Sophia was missing back then that you even had the chance to stand in for her as the future Luna! How could you claim Lucian as your mate anymore?!"

The people around us agreed as well.

"Exactly! Anna stole an identity that was never hers to begin with!"

Lucian's gaze was filled with disappointment. He had always thought I was just a little hotheaded but ultimately someone kind. He had never imagined I could be this vicious.

I was done listening as I turned and walked toward the pack's compound.

My parents transformed in a heartbeat, using their giant wolf bodies to block my path again. "If you don't hand over Sophia's antidote today, you're not leaving this place!"

The accusations around me were getting louder and louder, almost as though they were trying to drown me in them. The pack all started shouting at me.

"Treacherous traitor!"

I shut their voices out and looked toward the distant Shadow Forest. That was where the Vampires had attacked Sophia.

I still remembered how Sophia had smiled at me before we left. "Anna, once you officially join the Pack Bond, you can protect me then!"

Her dimples really showed when she smiled.

There was a bitterness in my mouth.

Because I was truly the one who had taken her antidote.

When I took the vial of antidote from her belt, her blood had stained my hands.

Her eyes had been full of pain and confusion.