สนมร้างรักขอทวงบัลลังก์

Alicia POV

The first thing I felt was pain as my father’s stick hit my back again and again. I bit my lip until it bled, trying not to cry but the tears still ran down my face.

“You useless girl!” Beta Damien shouted, his voice loud and angry. “You can’t do anything right!”

The broken cup lay on the floor, milk spreading across the marble floor. My knees hurt from where I had fallen when I tripped.

“I didn’t mean to…” I tried to speak, but another strike cut me off, burning across my shoulders.

“You dare talk back?” he snapped. “I should have thrown you out the day you were born. You’ve brought nothing but shame to this family.”

Behind him, Clara stood in the doorway, a small, smug smile on her perfect face. I saw her pull back her foot, the same one that had tripped me just moments ago.

But I stayed quiet. Father would never believe me, not over his precious Clara.

When the last whip touched my back, I fell forward, struggling to breathe. My father dropped the stick with a sound of disgust.

“Clean this up before I return,” he growled. “And if I see your face again before the ceremony tonight, you’ll regret it.”

I bent on my knees, picking up the broken pieces with shaking hands. My back burned, but the pain in my chest was worse.

The soft click of heels made me look up.

Selene, my step mother, stood in the doorway, her lips curved in that sweet smile that never touched her cold emerald eyes.

“Oh dear,” she said softly, almost kindly. “Such a shame. But clumsy girls always break things, don’t they?”

I bowed my head, holding the sharp shards so tightly one cut my palm.

“You should really be more careful, Alicia,” she said, stepping closer. “My husband is already angry. Imagine how embarrassed he’ll be if you show up to the ceremony tonight with bruises.”

Her voice was soft, but her words sank into me like poison.

She crouched and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear like she cared.

“You’ll behave tonight, won’t you?” she whispered, her smile turning sharp.

I nodded silently, my throat too tight to speak.

“Good girl.” She straightened and turned away, her dress sweeping the floor. “Oh, and clean this mess quickly. You wouldn’t want get whipped again”

Her soft laugh echoed down the hall, leaving me bleeding and alone on the floor.

I was born with a curse.

My mother died the moment I took my first breath, and my father swore I should’ve never been born. From that day forward, I was nothing but a shadow, hated, unloved, and forgotten.

Clara, my older twin, took everything I ever dreamed of, our father’s love, Selene’s favor, the strength of a proud wolf, and the man I gave my heart to. She had shifted early, at fifteen, a strong, perfect she-wolf. I, on the other hand, remained wolfless even at eighteen, a Beta’s daughter who couldn’t shift. 

A disgrace.

And Selene, my father’s second mate, made sure to always remind me at every instance.

With her perfect raven hair and fake sweet smiles, she turned our home into a battlefield where I could never win. She filled my father’s head with lies until all he felt for me was hate, and turned my sister against me, always making it seem like I didn’t belong in the Melbourne family. Sometimes, I wonder if Clara is really her daughter, because the love she gave her was the same hate she poured on me.

She made me the housemaid, scrubbing floors, polishing boots, running errands, anything to keep me in my place.

Later today, while mopping the main hall, Clara strutted past in her lily white gown. She kicked over the bucket of dirty water, drenching me from head to toe.

“Oops,” she said, her smirk cruel. “I almost forgot, wolfless girls should remain on their knees.”

Selene’s calm, honeyed voice followed.

“Don’t just stand there useless, Alicia. Clean it up before the Alpha sees you like this. We wouldn’t want to embarrass Clara on her big night.”

I swallowed the humiliation like I always did. But nothing could prepare me for what came next.

I used to believe that one day Derrick, my childhood friend, the Alpha of Silvermoon Pack, would really see and choose me despite me being wolfless. We made a promise to get married to each other, or so I thought, and for years I held onto that fragile dream like it was my lifeline. But  tonight everything fell apart and burned that hope to ash.

The full moon loomed above, casting a cold silver glow over the pack grounds. Wolves howled in celebration, not for me, but for Clara.

I stood at the edge of the hall, invisible as always, watching my twin in a white gown that hugged her figure, its tail sweeping the ground like a queen’s robe. She looked radiant, her golden hair catching the moonlight, her smile victorious as Derrick, my mate, stood proudly at her side.

My chest twisted painfully. That was supposed to be me.

Then Derrick’s voice rang out, clear and commanding, silencing the pack.

“Alicia Melbourne,” he called.

My heartbeat skipped. Every eye looked at me.

I stepped forward, legs trembling, hope flickering in my chest, maybe he had changed his mind but Derrick’s blue eyes were hard as steel when they met mine.

“For the sake of this pack, for its strength and its future, I, Alpha Derrick of Silvermoon, reject you as my mate.”

The words slammed into me like a blow. Gasps rippled through the crowd. 

“You are not worthy,” Derrick continued, his voice cold, without compassion. “You are wolfless, weak, and a disgrace. This pack deserves a Luna who can stand at my side, not a weakling.”

“Yes!” the crowd roared, their voices echoing.

Hot tears streamed down my cheek, but Derrick didn’t stop. He wrapped his arm around Clara’s waist and pulled her close.

“Clara Melbourne will be my mate, my Luna, and the mother of this pack’s future. She is strong and you are not. She is worthy where you have failed.”

Clara’s smirk was pure victory as she looked at me.

“Oh, sister,” she said coldly, loud enough for everyone to hear. “At least now you can stop embarrassing yourself. You were never meant to stand next to him.”

Laughter broke out around me, cruel and sharp.

Then my father, Beta Damien, stepped forward. His face was a mask of disgust.

Gasps turned to cheers. The crowd began to part, forming a path toward the gates. Some threw stones, others hurled insults 

“Wolfless freak!”

“Get out, curse-born!”

“Clara is the true Luna, not you!”

“Beta’s daughter? More like Beta’s disgrace!”

“Go die in the woods where you belong!”

Each word felt like another wound opening on my skin, their words cutting deeper than claws.

I kept my head high, but inside I was breaking apart. My heart ached so painfully, it was as if my ribs would snap in two.

Selene stepped towards me, her emerald eyes glittering with triumph.

“It’s for the best, Alicia,” she said softly, almost the way one might speak to a dying animal. “This pack deserves peace. You’ve been a burden long enough.”

Clara’s smirk widened. “Go, Alicia. You’re nothing to us now.”

“Don’t drag your feet, Alicia. The pack doesn’t need your shadow haunting us.”

I turned one last time, praying Derrick would stop me to say something, anything. But he only stood taller, his arm around Clara with pride in his eyes.

Just when I thought the humiliation was over, a deep rumble echoed through the courtyard, the sound of powerful engines rolling through the gates.

Three sleek black SUVs pulled in, their tinted windows glinting under the moonlight. 

The pack fell silent.

I stayed frozen, confused. My breath caught when the lead car door opened and a man stepped out, the entire pack dropped to one knee instantly. 

He looked taller, broader, more fearsome than any wolf I had ever seen. His golden eyes glowed, commanding absolute silence.

A delta in the crowd whispered, voice trembling, “The Lycan King…”

My stomach dropped. The Lycan King?