Chapter 2 Betrayed

• Kiara.
• I'd always been conscious of the end of things. Like when I finished my wolf training and learned how to turn into a full wolf without the pain, slashing and panic. Or like when I first learned to wield a shield. This was an end I hadn't quite envisioned. I hadn't, for a million years, expected to be rejected by my mate. Not even once.
• After Chase stormed out of the room, I'd remained rooted to the spot, unable to move. I had no freewill and my chest hurt. It was an unbearable pain that I couldn't shake off no matter how hard I tried.
• The door swung open again and this time, it was my parents that walked in. By now I had tears streaming down my face and couldn't even look at them. My mother stepped in fully and glanced around the room. When I finally looked at them, I could see the disappointment. It was just too much. "You've embarrassed this family, Kiara!" My dad roared. "I am so disappointed in you."
• I had seen him angry countless times in the past but only ever at my sister. Never at me.
• "I didn't do anything, dad," I said. "I swear, I don’t understand what is happening, but I did nothing wrong."
• "Oh really? So you did nothing wrong? You merely slept with two wolves when you had a wedding coming up?" My mom said, sarcasm dripping down her tone. She sounded different, her tone almost lifeless, like we were now strangers to each other.
• "I don't know what happened," I managed to say.
• "I am done with this nonsense! You disgust me! And you should know that as at today, you are no longer a member of my family, you are off the family tree!" My dad spat. I could see in his eyes that he meant it.
• "What? Dad, I have always been very good, should that not even give me the benefit of doubt, even if it is a little. This was one mistake that I have made and it one that I don’t even understand myself! I could swear that I was drugged and placed here because I clearly remember nothing. You can't do this to me now. It was one mistake!"
• My dad balled his hands into fists and yelled, "It was one mistake but this is the most consequential. You have disgraced not just yourself and this family but the entire pack. Our integrity has been rubbished all because of you and this one mistake, I would not have any child ruin my legacy for any reason at all, not even my favorite child!"
• I continued to sob into my palm. I couldn't believe it. My life was slowly coming to an end right before my eyes and I couldn't do anything about it.
• My dad gnawed his teeth and I stepped back. Then, they turned and began walking away.
• "Mom…dad…please don't do this to me. Don't abandon me, please!" But they didn't turn around to look at me and soon they were out of my line of sight.
• My sister, Kylie suddenly popped in and crossed her hands over her chest. She watched me cry but said nothing. After a while, I thought of it and scurried over to meet her.
• "Please help me, sister,” I said and clasped my wrists in front of me. I didn't have time to think anything through. All I knew was that I was being antagonized by everyone around me and needed as much help as I could find.
• “You’ll have to get out of the Valley," said Kylie.
• “Huh?” I couldn't understand what she meant but what was even more concerning was how it seemed like my situation brought her immense joy and satisfaction. Or was my mind merely playing tricks on me? I could swear I saw a smile pull at the corners of her mouth.
• “We’re not having this discussion," she threw at me. "You'll leave the Valley and never return."
• "What are you talking about, sis?" I questioned, confused. "I have my whole life here. I have Chase…"
• She scoffed. "You think you still have Chase? Oh no, dear sister. Chase will never belong to you and this—all of this that's happened is proof you can never beat me to that chance."
• “Kylie—”
• She smacked her lips and breezed around the room, circling around me like a predator. I hadn't known there was a side to her that was this venomous but here it was.
• “What on earth are you talking about, Kylie, I... said I needed your help?” I said to her. "You could help me explain that we were together last night, that we were both drunk and... all that."
• "The rules hardly apply to you," she blurted out, leaving me confused as to how whatever she was simply ignoring all I was saying to says hers.
• "What?"
• "You were always the pretty one, the kind and smart one, the one everyone trusted but me? I was judged every darn time. Heck, I'm even way past finding my mate. Chase was mine yet-"
• I was very confused at this point as I wondered where all of these was coming from, what on earth was happening?
• "Come on, you know I cannot control that, Kylie," I said. "This is not the time for our sisters’ spat, please. I just need you to tell everyone that this isn't real. I would never do this. You know this, Kylie."
• “I am not doing anything at all for you, Kiara. You deserve all that you are getting right now."
• I stopped short in my tracks as I suddenly put one and two together, all of a sudden, it all made so much sense to me. "You spiked my drinks?" It was not supposed to be a question but the moment it left my mouth I realized I'd poised it as one. "You did this to me?"
• "Yes! So what? You ruined everything, you deserve what you get!" She screamed as her hands smacked my cheeks. The slap was loud as it resounded across the room and I stumbled backward, shocked by her daring heart. Hot tears streamed down my face. I brought my hands to my face to cover the pain but it was still there, on my face and across my heart. This was the ultimate betrayal.
• "I don't understand," I said. I was holding out for more. I was silently praying that I was wrong both in body and mind; that she couldn't have set me up for this but the more she stood there, the more certain I was that it was her. The slap only served to prove me right.
• She laughed. Then clasped her wrists and moved around the room. "Chase was mine all along and you took him from me."
• "I didn't take him away," I said. I cleaned the tears hurriedly with the back of my hands and licked my lips. "He's my mate. He was only your best friend. We don't choose our mates."
• "Oh but we can," she said. "We could if we wanted but no one cared about how I felt. I was the black sheep of the family and you were the perfect one, you just show up, point at what you want and get it."
• "T...that's…not true, Kylie," I said. I felt it then: the pain, the anger and the betrayal all coming together in one straight line where nothing felt real anymore.
• She raked a hand through her hair and began to laugh again. I bit down against my tongue to keep myself from hurling words at her. I stopped only when I felt a stab of pain and tasted the blood on the tip of my tongue.
• "I want you to feel it now, you bitch!" She growled. "I want you to feel the world against you."
• "How could you do this to me?" I yelled. "We're sisters!"
• I couldn't believe it. Everything still felt unreal to me. Chase had stood there to reject me and while I hadn't yet accepted his rejection, I was feeling the pain and heat of frustration. Then, there was the issue of my parents abandoning me. How could they? This was the first mistake they'd found me in and they'd let me go? Now, my sister was here, ruining my last chance of sanity. I wanted to scream and thrash and tear apart the room and her but I couldn't, I did not even have the strength to.
• "Sisters?" She sneered. "You're a weak wolf who can only do so much yet was loved by everyone all because of some beauty. Sisters my foot!"
• It was all I needed to hear. As much as the tears were threatening to fall, I held it in. A tear escaped however and as my vision blurred, my sister's smile widened, taunting me.
• She said, "So guess who'll be the Luna to the Alpha now. I'm going to marry Chase so you can as well say goodbye to the Valley. You have nothing now."
• I couldn't back down now, right? I was done wallowing in self pity even with this pain. I needed to hurt her just as much but I had just one card left to play. "I'm carrying Chase's child," I threw back at her.
• When I imagined telling my family about the child, I'd imagined clean ecstasy. Now that the moment had come, the words had formed but there was no happiness or pure joy. This felt dirty, even to me. How could my sister do this to me?
• Her nose flared and she moved away from the window. Her strides were quick and her eyes burned with a kind of animalistic urgency I couldn't quite place. This was my sister, someone I thought I shared a bond with but when she was in my face, it felt like I was looking back at a stranger.
• "You're spewing nonsense again, aren't you?" She yelled. Her eyes sparked and I saw her mouth twitch. Did she want to turn right here? I wondered if she was willing to let this go so far but I couldn't care less. She was a venomous person and I needed a chance to clear my name and turn my reputation around.
• "What do you think? I'm carrying Chase's child," I repeated.
• She threw her head back to laugh. It didn't reach her eyes. "You really think they'd believe you? After being caught in bed with not one but two wolves? To everybody, you are just a whore now, a slut that would sleep with anything, even omegas at the expense of loosing a whole alpha. You literally have zero worth now. Look around, no one cares anymore about what you would even say."
• "They are going to," I said. "Surely there will be someone at the bar where we met yesterday who'll act as a witness. I was there with you yesterday and we both know it."
• "Tell that to people who still actually care," she said. I could tell that my confession of a growing child in my womb greatly disturbed her. I knew that and yet I couldn't stop. I hated that she'd put me in such a situation from which I couldn't hold out hope.
• "When I find proof, I'm going to make sure you take responsibility for all of this," I said.
• "Oh please! Shut the hell up already!" She growled.
• "I'll make you pay for this, Kylie, I swear!" I growled back.
• Kylie stepped closer and her hands suddenly jerked forward. The moment cold steel hit my stomach, I realized that this was the end. There was, in all honesty, no greater betrayal than being stabbed by my own sister.
• "You deserve to die," she said as she twisted the knife again and pushed it deeper until I could feel myself slipping away.
• I couldn't speak. I had not seen this coming—this slow death and when I began to spit out blood, a lone tear escaped.
• "You don't deserve him," she spat, pulling back with a smirk. I gazed into her eyes and for the first time, I saw the emptiness staring back. Exhausted, I started to fall, too tired to fight, while she continued laughing.
• "Looks like you'll be heading to hell before me, dear sister. Greet the devil for me, will you?" She said while darkness started to engulf me.