Chapter 1: Betrayal.
Elara.
.
.
“This is ridiculous..” I muttered, rubbing my temples. The platter of ribs were splattered on the floor, staring back at me mockingly. I had just prepared these as Damon's dinner and apparently, Freya believed they were poisoned and threw them on the floor.
“You have no right to speak to me that way you witch!!” She spat, swaying her hips with her arms crossed. “It's bad enough that you let yourself in here. Now you try to poison my brother?”
I ignored her, and bent down to pick up the juicy slabs of meat on bone. A soft sigh escaped my lips. “Freya, Damon hasn't had anything since he left for the provincial meeting this morning. If you could just let me give him dinner, I'll be out of your hair.” I said quietly. She was insufferable when it came to her brother, and not in a good way.
She laughed, a sound so strangely sinister and filled with hatred I didn't understand. Slowly, she stormed towards me, and gripped my jaw in one quick motion. Her eyes flashed wolf as her claws lengthened, tearing my skin ever so slightly. “You filthy thing.” She hissed. “Growing wings, I see. Now let me remind you. I am the Alpha's blood sister, which means I can tell you to do whatever I want, whenever I want. You will not object.” Her claws dug deeper, and I clenched my jaws to refrain myself from reacting.
“Yes, Freya.” I answered in a hushed tone, avoiding her gaze. She retracted her claws, drawing a small trail of blood as she marched out of the kitchen, leaving me to wallow.
I am the Luna, aka, the Alpha's mate, yet I have no fucking say in my own house.
Again, this is ridiculous.
The familiar scent of greenery and fur wafted into my nose, and my head turned to where Roscoe, my dog was poking her head through the doggy door in the kitchen. I opened it up for her, and she immediately attacked the ribs on the floor.
They were no good anyways.
“Elara…we need to talk.” Deep, husky, and startling ravaged my ears, and I froze.
“Jaxon, don't do that…” I exhaled, trying to calm myself. He smiled softly, and rested his hands on the countertop. He gestured for me to sit on the counter stool behind, and poured us each a glass of orange juice.
It was my favorite.
“Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you.” His voice was weirdly quiet. “Your anniversary with Damon is coming up, and normally, as his Beta I'd be in charge of preparing everything for the celebration. But as your best friend, I need to know if you want to go through with it.” He said in one full breath, as if he'd been rehearsing it for days. His dark eyes held so much emotion I thought they would collapse from the strain.
I stared at him wide eyed for a while, then burst into fits of laughter. He seemed taken aback from my reaction, and held my hand on reflex. The gesture made me pause, and he retracted his fingers immediately. “Why would you think I wouldn't want to go through it?” I asked softly, smiling.
He bit his lower lip, still looking at me. “With everything that's been going on, are you sure?”
I took a deep breath and exhaled. “I'll be fine, Jax. You just do your job, and everything will turn out okay. Damon is a good Alpha, he doesn't treat me like the rest.” I reassured him. I might personally resent Damon's mom and sister, but my love for him was enough to tolerate their constant backlash.
“If you say so. I'll always be here.” A strange emotion flickered in his eyes, and he got up to leave. The kitchen door shut with a soft click, and my shoulders slumped.
I really hoped I believed what I said.
“Finally.” I said breathily. A new set of ribs were displayed beautifully on the tray, and I pay myself on the back for a job well done.
I hung my apron up, and my stomach rumbled in need. “You'll eat later.” I whispered. My wolf whined at me, and I shunned her as well. She had been a very bad girl lately.
Grabbing the tray of ribs and making sure neither Freya nor Elder Lydia were close by to toss these on the floor, I made my way upstairs towards Damon's room. “Please don't be mad at me…” I prayed silently. It has taken me twice the amount of time to prepare these ribs because I had to go hunting again, all by myself.
Damon hated when his dinner was late, and even though he never said it out loud, I always felt the rage whenever I delayed.
I took a deep breath, and lifted my hands to knock on his door when the unmistakable scent of another wolf wafted into my nose, making me freeze on the spot. My wolf turned alert, whining and scratching against my insides.
Did Damon have a visitor?
Is that why he hadn't come downstairs to ask for his food already?
I took a deep breath, unable to zone in on the wolf's scent. It was familiar, and that feeling sent a deep pit crashing through my stomach.
I calmed my racing nerves, and opened the door.
My heart fucking dropped.
“Damon, why don't you switch positions? You'll get it in deeper….” A female voice, one I recognized (unmistakably) to be my own sister, whispered breathily.
“You are one greedy female aren't you?” Damon rasped, but did as she said, switching positions so that he was grinding her from behind. He grunted and moaned, while she whimpered and begged as he thrust deeper and faster into her. Betrayal and pain were right in front of me, on my mating bed, and in my face.
“You feel so good Amara…” Damon released a low growl, one that he had never given me when we mated, and sank his teeth into Amara's nape. She squirmed, arching her back as the pleasure flooded through her system.
They both hadn't noticed my presence.
In that moment, I felt the excruciating agony my wolf was going through as she ravaged the space in my head, begging to be let free, most likely to rip apart the female who was on the bed with her mate.
Ribs, plates, forks, and my heart fell to the floor, shattering.