The Letter

But before River could flee, Echo spoke with a slight trembling voice. "Gonzalo… I told you not to...”

He cut her off, but if River didn't know better, she could have thought she heard some hidden pain in his voice.

“Echo. It's now or never. She has to know to stop her childish fairytales, and that's what I did. I told her as it should be!”

Disbelief choked the air out of River, leaving her gasping like a fish out of water. She needed to trust in Echo. Her sister wouldn't do this to her.

Her gaze darted towards Echo, searching for a sign of amusement in them. Perhaps, a hint that this was all some joke. That Gonzalo was pulling a fast one on her.

But Echo's face remained blank. It wasn't amusement, nor was it a triumphant countenance. It was a cold, lonesome neutrality in Echo’s eyes that sent a wave of nausea crashing over River.

"Echo," River's shook as a plea escaped her lips. "Tell me it's a lie. Please, Echo. Just say it's not true."

But Echo wouldn't meet her gaze. An abrupt emotion crossed Echo's face then, a quick pang of guilt perhaps, but it was quickly gone as it came. She looked away, her gaze drifting to the celebratory decorations as though the scene unfolding before she held no interest.

River stood in silence, watching her loving, supportive, and only sister turn on her like all the love she had been showing her was all lies.

With a cry, she dropped to her knees and outstretched her hands to reach out for her sister. "Echo! Don't do this to me! We're sisters!" She clung to Echo’s legs, sobbing on them. “You can't do this to me after knowing everything… I have been through.”

Echo shifted, attempting to free her legs from River’s hold, and that was when River was forced to face the truth; her betrothed had really betrayed her with the one person she loved the most in the world.

And thus, she held her chest, sobbing intently. She had forgotten what raw pain felt like, but now, she’s had a reminder. She felt exposed – vulnerable like a wounded animal stripped bare for the world to see.

He did this. Gonzalo McGruff did this. That bastard did this. Suddenly, a surge of hatred for him began to overwhelm her like he wasn't the one she had spent her entire life loving from a distance.

She turned to him with fury blazing in her eyes. “You, Gonzalo, what nonsense are you spouting?" she spat, kicking at him in the clumsiest way possible. "Get serious, Gonzalo! Did you hit your head on the way here?"

A sardonic smile danced on Gonzalo's lips. "I've been trying to tell you, River," he said with a calm voice that was devoid of any emotion that might betray his true feelings. "But you wouldn't let me speak. You were always so quick to jump to conclusions."

“Shut UP! You already said this before! Trying to tell me what?" she shouted, her voice rising with each word. "That you're a lying, cheating coward?”

Some of the guests began to murmur. They sure would go home with this gist as souvenirs.

A smirk appeared on Gonzalo's face, but it was quickly replaced by a strained indifference. "I never wanted to hurt you, River. But I can't take a weak mate. My pack needs a strong Luna."

A cruel laugh escaped River's lips, shutting him up. "Weak?" She stopped kicking him. "Was that why you slept with me, Gonzalo? Was that why you didn't send me away? Why do you make me have sex with you? To test my strength?"

The gasps came in simultaneously.

“What?”

“Is he going to take the two sisters?”

“He has sex with her? Gross.”

However, the gravest of reactions came from Echo who had been formerly indifferent. “What?!” The single word came out in a gasp, her eyes wide with surprise.

River whirled on her sister, taking the chance to press more guilt into her. "Yes, Echo!" she shouted. "Not only are you a betrayer, but a liar and a thief as well! You stole my betrothed, my future, even after I…after I…"

Shame choked the rest of the words back, but she knew she wasn't the only one who wouldn't sleep tonight.

Gonzalo remained silent, Echo, however, turned to River.

“No," she shook her head. “It's not like that. I—"

But River wasn't interested in excuses. The well of trust in her had run dry, leaving behind a gaping hole of emptiness in her chest.

"Get away from me, both of you!" she roared. “You will regret this, both of you. I swear on all that is sacred, you will regret the day you crossed River Sassalos!”

With a final withering glance at the pair who had just ruined her, River stormed out of the hall. The festive music that had been a source of soothe to her suddenly irked her.

Hot tears streamed down her face, as she ran. She didn't care where her feet were taking her, only that she put as much distance as possible between herself and the packhouse - between herself and the people who had betrayed her in the most devastating way.

She finally reached her room, and after shutting the door behind her, she collapsed on the floor. Tears streamed down her face as she surveyed the room that once held happy memories.

Everything felt tainted now. That dressing mirror that she and Echo had sat with Echo gave her all the motivation she needed to face Gonzalo.

She scoffed to herself now, sniffing. “So all of that was a lie?”

She stood up and with trembling hands, she flung open her dresser drawers, grabbing only the essentials: clothes, a few coins she'd saved, and a worn leather-bound journal – a gift from her late mother.

As much as she wanted vengeance right now, a stronger emotion burned hotter within her – the need to escape. To flee from the pack, from the memories, and most importantly, from the superheated pain of betrayal.

She wouldn't let them define her. She would rebuild her life, a life where she wouldn't be judged by her omega status. Gonzalo would regret ever rejecting her.

She would work to become even better than the kind of woman he claimed to want. If the people of her pack, her own people wouldn't appreciate her, she might as well go to a place where no one would judge her.

The human world.

She had heard of rogues lurking around the borders and preying on stray wolves like herself, but she really just couldn't wait any longer. She was tired of this all.

She grabbed her backpack and was set to go when she suddenly heard shouts of her name.

It was Echo and Gonzalo!

No. What were those two doing coming for her? She wanted away from them. Did they really think she’d allow them to play the ‘brotherly’ and ‘sisterly’ role after everything they’d done to her?

She hurried to the door but suddenly remembered something. Her mother’s letter!

It was a memento she held close. The only thing her mother gave to her before the day she was killed.

“Keep it safe, River," her mother had said. "Don't open it until your twentieth birthday, my precious girl. Nobody except your sister should know of it too. It holds your destiny."

Right. She needed to retrieve that letter. She had waited all of those years to read it just as she’d done waiting for Gonzalo.

However, there was one teeny tiny problem. River had foolishly given the letter to Echo for safeguarding. Back then, she didn't trust herself enough not to read it before her twentieth birthday.

However, her mother had warned against reading it before her twentieth birthday.

“Here goes nothing…” River grunted to herself as she tiptoed out of her room, swallowing back a sob.

Who had known that the sister to whom she had given her entire life to was a betrayer? A cold and heartless one at that.

The hall was deserted, but a faint murmur of voices confirmed they were coming for her. Both of them. Echo and Gonzalo. She wouldn't make it to the forest with them hot on her heels.

With a surge of adrenaline, she dashed towards Echo's room. Her sister’s room was the antithesis of River's – a contrast to the wild disarray that reflected River's impulsive nature.

Order reigned supreme here. Bookshelves lined the walls, neatly aligned. Clothes were folded with military precision and tucked away in drawers. Even the air held a faint scent of lavender.

ARGH!

River couldn't take this anymore. Why did Echo have to be so - perfect? She had no time for jealousy now, anyway.

Her eyes darted around, searching for the safe Echo had described. And then, she found it. There tucked in a corner behind a heavy line up of books, it stood.

It was an imposing oak chest bound with iron. Its surface was sculpted with runes that gave an ambiance of an ancient power. It radiated an otherworldly aura, unlike anything River had ever encountered.

What the hell was the letter about anyway?

"The safe can only open with your blood, Ry. Mum made it so. Don't ask me, I don't know why too.” She remembered Echo’s instruction sometime ago.

A sour taste filled her mouth at the memory of her sister, but the need to reclaim what was rightfully hers overpowered the resentment.

Taking a deep breath, River pricked her finger with the tip of a broken comb from Echo’s nightstand. A bead of blood welled up on the finger, and with trembling hands, she pressed it against the cold metal of the safe's central lock.

Time to embrace her destiny just as her mum had told her.