Chapter 4- The Enemy I Cuddled

Chapter 3- The Enemy I Cuddled

AURELIA POV

The holding cell was murky. Cold. The luxurious ballgown I wore felt like useless armor that only crushed me down with its weight. The earrings I carefully picked some time this morning were somewhere on the floor.

The hum of festivities continuing above my head made the walls of the cell vibrate.

I sat there, my head leaning against the wall, my mind replaying the events over and over and over in my head. Like a broken record.

It all didn’t make sense. None of it did.

Not the death of Ol’ Vale. Not how he died. Not my sister testifying against me and vowing on her soul that she saw me commit the heinous crime.

Not Ronan being mute to my ambush.

Everything had been going so well. So fucking well I had no idea where the clusterfuck began. Was it when I finally moved to the ballroom?

Was I supposed to have stayed outside the entire time? Doing what?

Questions. So many fucking questions and they were driving me to insanity.

I was on the edge of biting my own arm off when the door to the holding cell clicked open.

Strawberries and cotton filled the cell, followed by the sound of the heels clicking onto the hard floor. I knew who it was before she appeared fully. Still dressed in her elegant red gown, black hair bundled behind her in a low bun that accentuated her perfectly molded face.

Selene, even though she stabbed me in the back, was as beautiful as ever.

She stopped dead in front of my cell and stared down at me. That hard look. I saw it. In the ballroom. I had thought I was imagining things, thought she had maybe spaced out. But no. It was intent.

“Not so high and mighty anymore.” She tsked, crossing her arms over her chest and looking down at me like a speck of dust beneath her two thousand dollar Jimmy Choo’s.

I gathered all the remaining strength and got to my feet. Slowly, I stalked towards the bars separating us. Something flashed in her eyes, her composure crumbling. She gulped audibly, her eyes darting towards the door like she was looking for an escape. I tasted her fear on my tongue, and I almost bubbled over with laughter if I wasn’t so full of questions.

“It was you, wasn’t it?” It wasn’t a question. Not in a way I asked for. Her throat bobbed with another hard swallow, her chest rising and falling in rapid breath.

“You poisoned Ol’ Vale.” I continued, my eyes pinned on her with a hard glare. “What I fail to understand is why him?”

I grasped the two bars and the act seemed to send a reminder to her mushy brain that I was jailed, and I couldn’t possibly hurt her. Not that I would. Despite everything, she was still my baby. Still my sister.

“Why?” One word.

She sighed, scanned her manicured fingers before staring at me with what I could only describe as burning hatred.

“Maybe I just got tired of you.” The words hit me like a whiplash.

“Maybe I got tired of always living in your shadow. Maybe, I got tired of always being compared to my effortlessly perfect sister who could never do any wrong in the world. Maybe I got tired of all the second-hand praises that came my way like they were more of a favor than anything. Maybe…” She shrugged casually. “Just maybe, I got tired of watching you take everything that was supposed to matter to me.” Her voice cracked before hardening again.

“You didn’t even have to try, Aurelia. Things just… chose you.”

Silence stretched in that dingy cell as her words hung between us like a bad omen.

I… was shocked. I wanted to say something. I wanted… Heck. I wanted to hug her. To tell her that she was never a second choice, that she was perfect. Even more so than I was. That she was everything I ever loved.

But the lump that had suddenly formed in my throat and the rapid humming of blood roaring in my ears made it impossible to form any words.

I just stared at her.

“Even now, with all the world hating on you, you still look at me like I mean nothing.” Anger flared in her words. I sighed heavily, then took a step back.

“That is not true, Selene. You know that!”

“Do I?” She roared angrily, her eyes flashing slits of gold, her wolf growling just beneath her surface.

“You always made me feel like I was nothing. You always made me feel like I could never measure up to your standards. I studied harder than you ever did, and I worked harder than you ever did. But somehow the entire world only ever saw you. Even Ronan. The poor bastard that father took in with his shitty pack… He only had eyes for you. Not even once did he ever glance my way.” Her voice broke, and I saw the broken child underneath all that bravado. My throat dried up. The bitterness in her tone startled me. This was not envy. It was not a childish crush. This sounded older. Deeper. Like a wound left to rot for years.

“Is this what it’s about? Ronan?” I couldn’t believe it. But then, it made sense. It all tumbled to the front of my mind and made fucking sense.

Selene’s face changed instantly. Like the name Ronan itself was a sharp knife digging inside of her heart. Raw hurt and pain flashed across her face. The kind no amount of pride could hide.

“You love him.” I countered. It wasn’t a question. No. Her expression alone told me all I needed to know. “You have always loved him.”

“It doesn’t matter.” She let out a small whisper. “Whether I love him or not…” She pursed her lips. “None of that matters. Because he only ever saw you.”

A scoff rolled off my tongue from pure shock.

“I have loved you more than I have loved any other person in my life. I watched you grow up. I nurtured you. Not father, not mom. I did.” I slapped my chest hard.

“And you think I treated you like nothing? I was always the one cheering for you. I taught you how to ride your damn bike. I was there when you lost your first tooth and told the entire pack that my baby sister was growing. I was there to bandage your bruised knees whenever you fell down during training. I was there for your first shift. When the rut came and you went in heat for the very first time, I was the one who set up your nest in the caves deep in the mountains. I saw your firsts, and I celebrated each and every single one of your milestones.” A bitter laugh escaped my throat as I spun around and slapped a hand over my forehead. Then stilled and stared back at her.

“Just where did I go wrong with you?” The words came out in a whisper. Soft. Desperate.

She blinked away tears before blowing a breath out of her mouth. She shook her head, stilling herself.

“And yet somehow, you still took the one thing that could have been mine.” She laughed bitterly.

“Anyway, enough with the sob stories. Your end is here, Aurelia.” She smoothed the nonexistent creases on her gown. “After all, Father believes me. Everyone believes me.” She scooted closer.

“And since I am not as cruel as you, I am going to give you an out. Save you from the impending doom. You know…” She let out a soft chuckle.

“Davon Vale wants your head. His exact words.” She shook her head. “Men are so gullible. Not long ago he was licking the ground you walked on. And now, he won’t even stand the mere mention of your name.”

I just… I couldn’t listen to any of this.

I was.. defeated. There was no going back from this. My sister hated me. And I didn’t know what to make of it. I couldn’t stomach the mere thought of it.

Just where did I fail with Selene? Just how did I not see how far hatred had riled her up?

Jealousy. Not hatred.

My wolf grunted in my head, causing me to sigh for the umpteenth time.

“Anyways. I want you gone, sister. I want you off these lands. I want you far away from this pack. I want your name erased from every other book belonging to this family. I want you gone!” My eyes widened at her implication. She couldn’t possibly mean…

“No!” I breathed out, standing and walking towards the bars until I was face-to-face with her. “You cannot banish me for something I did not do.” A growl slipped smoothly past my throat, and her neck slightly bent.

But she fought.

“Oh yeah? And how actually are you going to prove yourself?” She arched a brow, and when my shoulders slumped a knowing smirk formed on her face.

“Exactly.” She took a step back, keeping a much safer distance between us.

“I am extending an olive branch. The choice is yours, sister.”

“Leave… Or simply die!”