Chapter 5 – Banished and Replaced

Elara

The sunlight crept through unfamiliar windows, rousing me from a deep sleep. My eyes fluttered open to a room I didn't recognize - rich velvet curtains, ornate furniture, and... A handsome sleeping peacefully beside me. That's when when it all comes to me.

I jolted up, last night's memories rushed back in a flood, making my cheeks burn hot with shame and something else - a strange new warmth that seemed to pulse through my entire body.

The drugged wine. His burning fever. My choice to stay and help him.

My hand flew to my neck, finding the tender spot where he'd marked me. A mark that shouldn't exist - we weren't true mates. The Goddess hadn't blessed us. But in his drug-induced haze, Blayze had claimed me anyway.

"What have I done?" I whispered, carefully sliding out of the silk sheets.

Standing made me dizzy, but not in an unpleasant way. I felt... different. Stronger somehow, like liquid energy hummed beneath my skin. Was this because of his mark? A wolfless girl wasn't supposed to feel this way - wasn't supposed to feel anything at all.

The ornate mirror across the room drew me in. I barely recognized the girl staring back. My eyes seemed brighter, almost luminescent. My skin had a subtle glow that had never been there before. And the mark - there would be no hiding it. The evidence of our forbidden night stood out stark and clear against my pale throat.

"I should go," I murmured, gathering the borrowed ball gown. Blayze still slept deeply, the drug finally worn off. Would he even remember marking me? The thought sent an unexpected pang through my chest.

I took one last glance at him. Even in his sleep, he was handsome - dark hair tousled across the pillow, strong features sleeping peacefully. Part of me ached to stay, to face whatever consequences came next together. But reality crashed down like a bitter wave. He was the Alpha's son, future leader of our pack. I was nobody - worse than nobody now. Last night was a mistake born of drugged wine, nothing more.

The palace halls were mercifully empty as I crept through them, praying no one would see me. The morning sun had barely risen - maybe I could make it home before anyone noticed my absence.

But luck, as always, wasn't on my side.

"Where have you been?" Linda's voice cracked like a whip the moment I eased our front door open.

My stepmother stood waiting in the foyer, still wearing her elaborate ball gown from last night. Dark circles under her eyes told me she'd stayed up all night, probably hoping to catch me sneaking in like this.

"I... I was helping someone who was sick," I stammered. Not exactly a lie.

"Sick?" She stalked toward me, eyes narrowed to slits. "Is that what you call it? The whole pack is talking about how you bewitched the Alpha's son into dancing only with you! Even his father couldn't get him to dance with anyone else!"

I backed away, but she followed like a predator cornering prey. "It wasn't like that-"

Her hand shot out, yanking my hair back with brutal force. The movement exposed my neck - and Blayze's mark.

Linda's face went white, then red with unholy fury. "You WHORE!"

The slap caught me off guard, sending me stumbling into the wall. "What kind of magic did you use?" she screamed. "A worthless, wolfless nothing like you, carrying a mating mark? It's impossible!"

"I didn't use magic!" I protested, tears stinging my eyes. "He was drugged, I was just trying to help-"

"SILENCE!" Her voice carried through the whole house. Footsteps thundered down the stairs as Misty appeared, her perfect face twisted with malicious glee.

"Oh my," Misty purred, descending the steps like a queen. "What have you done now, little sister?" Her eyes locked onto my neck and widened with theatrical shock. "A mating mark? How... desperate."

"You've brought shame to this family for the last time," Linda snarled. "Taking a mark without the Goddess's blessing? It's sacrilege! An abomination!"

Neighbors were gathering outside our door now, drawn by the shouting. Linda's grip on my arm tightened as she dragged me onto our front porch, displaying me like a criminal at the stocks.

"Look!" she announced to the growing crowd. "My stepdaughter - a whore who tricked herself into a mating mark! No wolf, no blessing, no shame!"

Gasps and whispers rippled through the crowd like poison. Some looked disgusted, others pitying. Misty's friends giggled behind their hands, whispering about how they always knew I'd come to a bad end.

"For this crime against pack law," Linda continued, her voice ringing with authority as beta female, "I hereby banish you from this family and this pack!"

The word hit like a physical blow. "Banished?"

"Mother, you're too kind," Misty said sweetly. "The law says any unmated wolf who takes a mark without blessing should be executed. To preserve the sanctity of true mates."

The crowd murmured in agreement. I watched in horror as parents pulled their daughters closer, as if my shame might be contagious. One mother was already lecturing her teenage daughter. "See what happens to girls who don't respect the Goddess's will? Better dead than marked without blessing."

But strangely, the tears wouldn't come. That new warmth still hummed through my veins, making me feel oddly... free. I'd hated every moment in this house anyway, every second under Linda and Misty's cruelty. The mark on my neck might have ruined me for any future mate, but maybe that was better than being trapped here forever.

I rushed inside to pack my meager belongings, but a snippet of conversation froze me in place.

"...can't believe the plan failed," Misty was back in her room whispering furiously to Linda. "You said the wine would make him mark me!"

"How was I to know he'd spend the whole night mooning over her?" Linda hissed back. "No matter. Once you're properly introduced as the real Elara, he'll never know the difference. And she'll be long dead by then."

Ice flooded my veins as understanding dawned. The drugged wine. The way Blayze had burned with fever. It had all been their plan - to force him to mark Misty. But it had backfired spectacularly.

"The ninja wolves are already on their way," Linda continued, voice dripping with satisfaction. "By sunset, there won't be any evidence that the real Elara ever existed. And you, my darling, will take your rightful place as Blayze's mate."

'But mom the mark? What about the mark?" Misty asked worried.

"Don't worry about anything, I'll make sure no one would suspect you." She smiled.

I pressed a hand to my mouth, stifling a gasp. They weren't just planning to banish me - they were going to kill me. Erase me entirely so Misty could steal my identity, my mark, my future.

As I crept up the stairs to gather what little I owned, my mind raced. I had to find a way to expose their plot. Had to warn Blayze. But first, I had to survive.

The mark on my neck tingled, that strange new power still coursing through me. I might be wounded, heartbroken, and alone - but I refused to be their victim any longer.

I just had to figure out how to stay alive long enough to prove it.

But my thoughts was disturbed by a shadow moving past my window - dark-clad figures slipping through the trees. The ninja wolves were already here.

Damn it. Time had run out. If their plan works out I'll be dead in no time.