Ivory
I stared in shock as Jaden pulled out a paper from his pockets and held it up, before giving it to someone to have it projected.
I gasped as I read the letter.
< I hate my twin sister. She's so beautiful and I'm not. She always gets all the attention, and I want her life. So I'm gonna kill her right after the prince takes me as his mate.>
I was already shaking my head just as another noise broke through the crowd.
"No, no, this can't be. I didn't write that." I cried out just as Jaden was already speaking again.
"It's also in her hand writing, so can everyone see? At the end of the day, all freaks can't be trusted." He bellowed and I tried arguing but I wasn't listened to.
People soon began to shove me around, pulling at my limbs and hitting me at the same time and that made my hat mistakenly come off.
Gasps filled the air as my hair fell all the way to my waist, framing my face. A panicked feeling shot through me and I quickly tried grabbing the hat but it was already too late.
Disgust filled their faces as they all began to point at me.
"Look at the freak's hair!"
"It looks so weird and scary. I heard it smells rotten!"
"This hair is evil. The white colors symbolizes doom."
"A freak like this doesn't deserve to live in the same pack as the rest of us!"
Trying to cover my hair with my hands was pointless cause it was just too long. I've tried cutting off my hair countless times but it grows back instantly. That was what made my parents fully believe that I was undoubtedly cursed.
In all the ruckus, guards I didn't even notice approaching suddenly gripped my arms and began to pull me away.
I screamed, I protested and I begged for them to let me go but they didn't listen.
"Good! Lock her up!"
"So she almost killed our future Luna? Disgusting!"
"Served her right. I've always hated her."
I called out to my mother and father as well, desperate for anyone to please help me, to defend me and save me from this situation.
But my parents and older brothers stared on without doing anything.
~~~~~
"Why? Why deceive me this whole time?" I cried out from behind the bars at a smirking Jaden. He was standing beside Iris, and my parents and brothers were also present.
"Honestly? I never loved you."
His words managed to rip my heart again, along with the sight of him pulling Iris into his side and tenderly kissing her head. "I've always loved Iris instead. It was all a plan between your parents and I. Since you clearly don't have a great relationship with them and therefore would never confide in them, I only acted like I loved you and was gonna accept you so you'll fully trust me, and be able to tell me if you started noticing anything unusual happening to you… like suddenly developing magical abilities for example."
I gaped at him in shock, confusion blurting my mind.
"But that's… impossible. I'm a werewolf with gamma—"
"You're a null." My father cut me off. "And the mark on your spine which you were born with, meant you might or might not awaken magical abilities at age sixteen. So we decided to wait and see if you'll be of any use to the family."
I couldn't believe my ears as I listened to my father's cold voice.
"But so far, even after clocking sixteen, nothing changed, you still continued to be a useless embarrassment, so there's no use keeping you around anymore." Elias spoke with a sneer this time and my heart pummeled all the way to my feet.
"So… you're getting rid of me?" I whispered numbly, now realizing why they made up that lie of me planning to poison Iris. It's clearly so it would make sense if no one sees me ever again after they get rid of me..
When the silence dragged out, my heart completely shattered.
My own family and my mate, they want to seriously get rid of me?
"Please." Tears of desperation slowly filling my eyes, my heart racing. "Don't hurt me. I beg of you." I gripped the bars tightly.
"Oh honey, we aren't gonna hurt you." My mother rolled her eyes as she spoke, sounding irritated like she believed I was being too dramatic. "We're just gonna make use of you, that way, all the years we spent being embarrassed by your existence would amount to something at least."
The rest of my family members nodded while Jaden spoke.
"I'm gonna give you to the firewolf in exchange for a deal."
It took a few minutes for his words to register within me, I completely stopped breathing at first, then I began to hyperventilate, gasping and choking while panic roared through my veins.
"Seems like you know who he is by your reaction." Iris crooned with a chuckle, and I couldn't hold back my frightened cry even if I tried.
Who doesn't know The firewolf?
The famous cursed alpha of the north, who every other alpha was afraid of. The one whose wolf could breathe fire, hence the nickname. He had the whole north territory to himself and the other packs knew better than to ever challenge him.
Because of how powerful he is, he's long since forced every pack into sending him a maiden every three years, to prevent him from unleashing his wrath on those who fail to comply.
No one knows what he does with those maidens. Some rumors claim he feasts on their blood, others say he uses them for a blood sacrifice.
But one thing is certain, and it's that none of those women ever survives.
I know that the year for every pack to send out their tribute to him is in the next two years, so why do they want to hand me over to him?!?
"Please." I cried out, unable to breathe while my whole body trembled. "I beg you, anything but that please."
Jaden laughed in my face. "The deal's been sealed and he's coming for you tomorrow."
After they all left, I remained in the cell till night fell, still unable to believe a day I eagerly looked forward to ended up being like this.
At this point, I was tired from crying and just wanted to wake up from this horrible dream. It was pitch dark and i couldn't see a thing.
When footsteps began to echo, fear swelled within me till a match was lit and I stared into the eyes of a crying Reina.
"My lady!" She cried as she fell to her knees and gripped my hands through the bars. I clutched onto her as I cried hard, relieved that the only person who treated me like a person still believed that I wasn't a bad person.
"I know you didn't do it, my lady." She whispered fiercely and my heart squeezed tightly with so much emotion just as she began to unlock the cell, making my eyes widen from shock.
"Where did you get the keys from? This is dangerous, Reina." I cried out worriedly as she helped me out of the cramped space.
"I don't care, I'll not let you stay there." She spoke adamantly even as her voice shook. I clung to her tightly, my heart pounding while I prayed to the moon goddess that we don't get caught.
We managed to sneak out of the cell, and we even made a turn without still getting caught.
I was starting to feel relieved when a guard was suddenly announcing loudly that I've escaped. Bright lights were then switched on and we were caught.
"No, please goddess, no." I cried out but it was clearly already too late. I pulled Reina closer to me while tears poured down my face, knowing that I just roped Reina into my mess this way.
The guards surrounded us and instantly tried separating us, and despite my pleas, she was ripped from me and dragged off while I screamed for her.
I didn't notice Jaden approaching me till he was right in front of me and slapping me so hard across the face, making me crumble to the ground.
"You dared try to escape?" He thundered darkly and I sobbed just as he crouched in front of me and jerked my head up by my hair.
"You disgusting scentless freak. If only you had parted your legs for me this whole time, then I'd have made you my concubine instead of sending you off to your death. But you were such a prude, always asking me to wait until marriage." He sneered down at me as those low vile words washed over me.
"Your little maid would be killed for daring to break you out, and of course, you'll be taken away by the soul eater tomorrow."
All the blood left my face as I gasped in horror, clutching his leg before I could stop myself. "Please no, you can't do that. You can't kill her, please. She's just a kid, she didn't think before doing that, I swear. Please, I beg of you." I cried desperately while my mind reeled from dread.
If anything happens to Reina, I'll never be able to forgive myself.
He scoffed before kicking me off him. "Blame yourself for her death."
He walked off after that, leaving me to cry and scream in dejectedness.