Chapter 4 Four

• Sophia's POV
• The week crawled by with Lucy doing everything in her power to break me.
• Training felt like a daily death sentence. Everyone saw how she singled me out, how she pushed me harder than anyone else. But because she was the soon-to-be Luna and I was nobody, no one dared speak up.
• Every day I went home with more injuries than the day before. My arms were littered with cuts, my legs bruised, and my ribs ached with every breath. Giving up crossed my mind countless times, but quitting wasn’t an option. This training was mandatory. We were all expected to be able to defend the pack in case of an attack.
• I grabbed my bag with trembling hands, ready to return to the pack house. My clothes clung to my bleeding skin, and every step felt like glass shards digging into my flesh.
• “Everest.”
• Her voice made me flinch, a groan slipping past my lips. Why did fate insist on throwing her in my path every single day?
• I turned around slowly. Lucy stood there with her arms folded, smirking.
• “You’re still bleeding?” she drawled. “A regular wolf would have healed by now.”
• She paused dramatically, tapping her chin with mock thoughtfulness. “Oh, right. You’re not even a wolf.”
• Her little army of minions burst into laughter. I clenched my fists, staring at her blankly. That insult had lost its sting days ago. Now, it was just an annoying buzz in my ears.
• “Yes, I am bleeding,” I said dryly. “If you’re going to insult me, at least be creative. That one’s getting old.”
• Everybody gasped in shock, not expecting me to respond and her face tightened in annoyance.
• Without giving her a chance to retaliate, I turned and walked away. It was cowardly, but I didn’t have the physical strength to challenge her today. She would beat me into the ground, and I wasn’t mentally prepared for that. I was still trying to accept that I was wolfless and my mate didn’t want me.
• When I finally reached my room, I sank into the tub, hissing as the water stung my cuts. Tears pricked my eyes but I forced them back. Crying wouldn’t change anything.
• I wrapped my wounds with strips of cloth since I had no bandages. Exhaustion dragged at my bones, so I lay down, ignoring the pain, and closed my eyes, letting sleep swallow me.
• I woke up to loud banging that rattled my door. My heart lurched. Mistress must be back with her troubles.
• I scrambled out of bed and flung the door open. Guards stormed into the room without a word, pushing past me roughly. Confusion twisted in my chest.
• What is happening?
• Alpha Levi was there too, standing tall in his black shirt and combat pants. His expression was stone cold, and he didn’t spare me a glance.
• “Alpha…” I whispered, my voice trembling. “Is something the matter?”
• “Someone broke into the Treasury,” he replied, his tone clipped. “Important documents and the royal seal are missing. Every room is being searched.”
• “Oh… okay.”
• My stomach sank. The Treasury? I’d never even been near that part of the pack house.
• I pressed myself against the wall, watching them tear apart my small room. Clothes were thrown to the floor, my thin mattress lifted and tossed aside.
• Lucy’s perfume hit my nose before I saw her. She appeared out of nowhere, hooking her arm through Levi’s possessively as she smirked at me.
• “Any progress?” she asked sweetly.
• “None yet,” Levi answered, his jaw ticking. “This is the last room.”
• “Then we’ll find it here,” she said, her gaze cutting to me like a knife.
• My eyes widened. What was that supposed to mean?
• She tilted her head with faux innocence. “I wouldn’t put it past a wolfless, rejected outcast like her to steal. Maybe it’s her revenge plan. Who knows, maybe she was planning to run away.”
• “I didn’t steal anything!” My voice came out high-pitched with panic.
• “Like I said…” She shrugged, smirking. “Who knows?”
• “We found them!” a guard suddenly yelled.
• My heart stopped.
• What… what did he mean found them?
• I watched in horror as he pulled out a small leather bag from under my bed. I didn’t recognise it. He emptied it onto the floor, and papers spilled out along with a golden seal and a silver key.
• Alpha Levi’s eyes darkened with rage as he stared at the items. His aura rolled off him in suffocating waves, and I stumbled back.
• “No… no, I swear I don’t know how that got there. Someone must have put it there!” My voice cracked as I pleaded, but his eyes only burned darker.
• “How. Dare. You.” His growl rattled the windows, and I flinched as tears filled my eyes.
• “Please, Alpha… I don’t know how it got there… I swear on everything, I didn’t do it…”
• “Enough!” he roared, his aura slamming into me. My knees buckled. “Do I look like a fool to you?”
• I sobbed, my chest tightening until I couldn’t breathe. My vision blurred with tears.
• “I didn’t do it, please… please believe me…”
• Lucy’s sharp laugh cut through my desperation. “I always knew there was something off about her. Useless in everything. And now look – stealing from us, betraying us… She’s probably been planning this with our enemies all along.”
• “No! That’s not true!” I cried. “I don’t even know anyone outside this pack! Please…”
• “Arrest her,” Levi commanded coldly. “Throw her in the darkest dungeons. No food. No water. She will rot there until we decide what to do with her.”
• As the guards grabbed me, my screams echoed through the hallways, but no one looked back. My mate didn’t even flinch as I was dragged past him, sobbing.
• In that moment, I realised something.
• Being wolfless and rejected was painful.
• But being hated and betrayed for something I didn’t do… was a different kind of hell entirely.