Chapter 2 The necklace

Elena’s POV

“Where is it?”

The slap came before I could even understand the question.

My face snapped to the side from the force, a sting burning across my skin.

"I don't—I don't know what you are talking about," I whispered, my body trembling.

I thought back to everything that had happened this morning up until the guards dragged me to the main hall, where I saw everyone waiting there including my parents and sister and of course, Rose and Kelvin, both sporting a smile.

While I was still lost in thought, Luna Chrysta grabbed my hair and pulled my head up so hard I almost cried.

Everyone watched, my parents looked like this was the most boring thing they'd ever seen, no one would have thought they were the same people who raised me.

Ashley just stood there refusing to look at me as her shoulders shook.

“Tell them, Ashley,” I begged quietly. “Please… tell them I didn’t do anything.”

Ashley flinched but said nothing.

Not a single word for me.

Not a single truth.

"Luna Chrysta's ruby earrings," Alpha Zack said coldly from his chair. "They were in Elena’s drawer."

I shook my head quickly. "I didn’t put them there! I didn’t—I would never steal—"

Another slap. Harder. My knees gave out, but Beta Marcus shoved me upright again.

"Stop lying!" Luna Chrysta hissed. "You think I'm stupid, you little bitch. I know a thief when I see one."

"I didn't steal anything, please," I muttered as tears i could no longer hold back kept falling from my eyes.

Beta Marcus shoved me to the ground. My knees cracked against the stone floor.

“Enough,” Alpha Zack said. "You’ve embarrassed this pack, girl. Ungrateful little stray."

The word sliced deeper than the beating.

Stray.

Wolfless.

Motherless.

Worthless.

I bowed my head, breaths shaking, heart pounding so hard it hurt.

"I don't know who put those there," I whispered. "But it wasn't me, I would never dare steal from the Luna."

Ashley finally moved.

She stepped forward slowly, eyes full of guilt and something darker.

"I saw her" she said loud enough for everyone to hear.

My heart dropped.

"I saw her sneaking into the Luna’s quarters earlier today. I didn’t want to believe it but… I didn’t know what else to think."

"What—no, that's not true" My voice shaking.

"Ashley, please tell them the truth." I begged her.

She looked down. “I’m sorry.”

But it wasn’t an apology.

It was a sentence.

Luna Chrysta growled as she stepped forward. She grabbed my face, disgust written all over her face.

“Ungrateful orphan. We should have left you in the woods where you were found.”

Beta Marcus yanked me to my feet. "What shall we do with her, Alpha?"

Alpha Rowan leaned back, voice cold. “Punish her. Let the pack see what happens when someone steals from its leaders.”

Before I could think, Marcus took off his belt and struck my back.

I curled into myself as I screamed from the pain that tore through my body.

The second hit came.

Then the third.

A growl ripped from Marcus with every swing, as if my pain fueled him.

When the seventh lash, I could no longer breathe.

By the tenth, I could no longer see.

My body was fire and ice. My mind a distant ringing. My chest heaved as I tried to whisper, “Please…”

But the room only echoed with more accusations.

More disgust.

More betrayal.

Ashley turned away.

She couldn’t even watch the punishment her lie created.

Eventually the Alpha raised a hand. “Enough. She’ll live.”

Marcus dropped the belt, as his breath panted for air.

This sick bastard was getting off on my pain.

I lay on the floor, all my strength drained out and I couldn't move.

“She will not attend tonight’s Council Gathering as a guest,” Alpha Zack said. “But someone needs to serve and clean. She can do that.”

The Luna sneered. “Yes. Let her serve the very people she disgraced.”

A laugh broke out among the wolves.

I closed my eyes as humiliation and pain washed over me.

“Yes,” Alpha Zack said. “Tonight she will wear servant’s clothes. She will bow to everyone. No wolf drinks or eats unless she fetches it.”

I swallowed. It hurt.

“And tomorrow,” the Luna added with ice-cold delight, “she will be cast out of the pack. She no longer deserves our roof.”

My heart stopped.

The world stopped.

Ashley made a strangled noise—part guilt, part relief. I couldn’t tell.

I looked up at her through blurred eyes.

“Why?” I muttered, my voice cracking from all the pain I was feeling. “What did I ever do to you?”

She stepped back.

And said nothing.

Beta Marcus grabbed my arm. “Get her cleaned up. She’ll serve tonight.”

Luna Chrysta approached one last time and leaned down until her breath ghosted my cheek.

“Remember this, girl,” she whispered softly. “Tonight, you will crawl… and tomorrow, you will beg.”

She straightened and walked away with Alpha Zack at her side.

One by one, the others followed.

And soon I was alone in the cold hall, bleeding on the stone floor.

My vision blurred as tears finally fell freely.

I wasn’t crying because I was beaten.

Or humiliated.

Or betrayed.

I was crying because by tomorrow I'd be a rogue.

I would be hunted down and killed.

At least, that's what happened to werewolves who actually had wolves.

I shivered as Beta Marcus hauled me off the ground.

"You'd better not embarrass the Alpha again tonight," he growled.

I whispered back, voice almost gone, "Tonight… will change everything."

He laughed. "Yeah. For you? Probably for the worse."

But as he dragged me toward the servants’ quarters, my fingers brushed the pendant at my neck.

It pulsed.

Warm.

Alive.

Please goddess, help me just this once. I prayed, hoping she would listen just this once.

"Sleep well. You'll need it." Marcus threw me on the floor of my room as he walked away.

I crawled to my bed, hoping to get some sleep knowing that tomorrow my life would change forever.