The Mark of Betrayal
Arabella Thornhill:-
"What the hell is going on over here?" I asked, shocked, my voice trembling due to the pain of betrayal, with tears streaming down my face as I looked at my mate Declan, the Alpha of the Moonstone pack, in a compromised position with my best friend Nina, who looked utterly shocked to find me standing at the doorway of her room. I can't believe he is cheating on me, with none other than my best friend, right after a few minutes of pronouncing me as his Luna in front of the pack after the ceremony an hour ago.
"Arabella, wh…what are you doing over here?" Declan asked, stammering as he pulled away from Nina and tried to reach for me. "Babe, trust me, this isn't what it looks like. I can explain. Just please let me explain."
"Are you f*****g serious, Declan? You have been caught naked, having s*x with my best friend, and you are saying that it's not what it looks like? What's there to explain, huh? What?!" I yelled angrily while glaring at Declan and Nina, who were trying to cover themselves with the sheets.
"How could you do this to me, Declan? How?! How can you betray me like that right after our ceremony? Right after mating with me? I loved you, Declan. I trusted you more than anything; this is how you will repay me. By cheating on me with my best friend? Why?" I demanded and looked over his shoulder at Nina.
"And you? You are my best friend, Nina. How could you betray me like this, too? We have been friends since we were kids. I considered you my sister." I asked in disbelief, pure anger taking over. My wolf was losing control in my head, asking me to give her control.
"Babe, please…" Declan tried to touch me with his filthy hands when I took a step back.
"Don't! Don't you dare touch me!" I spat, pointing fingers at him and Nina. "You both disgust me. I don…." I wasn't able to finish the sentence when I felt a sharp pain at the back of my head like someone had hit me with a brick, but before I could process what was happening around me, everything went pitch black in front of my eyes, and I passed out.
By the time I regained consciousness, I found myself tied up on the chair with the ropes dipped in wolf bane, making me weak and providing me and my wolf an unbearable pain all over my body. The blood was dripping out of my head while I tried to free myself but failed.
"Alaya….Alaya, are you there? Are you okay?" I tried to talk to my wolf in hopes that she would know what to do, but in response, all I got was a painful whimper of agony.
"Pain…so much…pain…weak," my wolf answered me in broken words inside of my head. "No…Not mate…not our mate," she murmured when the door to the dimly lit room burst open and entered Declan, with his parents and Nina in his arms with a smirk on their faces.
"Rise and shine, sleepy head," Declan announced after stepping before me and gripping my chin with his sharp claws.
"Why am I here? What's happening, Declan?" I asked, between pain and tears in my eyes.
"Well, since there is no use of you anymore, so I think it's time for us to tell you the truth before taking your pathetic life away," Declan spoke, his voice void of any affection.
"Th…The Truth?" I asked, barely in an audible voice.
"Yes, the truth, you b***h. Thank God that now I won't have to pretend to be a sweet, nice, and caring mother figure towards you." Declan's mother, Helena, snapped after landing a slap on my face and stabbed me with a dagger on my shoulder, emitting a painful scream out of me.
"Tsk…Tsk…, dear Arabella," Nina spoke, caressing my cheek where Helena had just slapped. "You were such a fool and naïve person for never seeing the truth in front of your eyes. You see, Declan over here is not yours, mate, but mine." My eyes widened when she said that and I looked at Declan who was laughing at me with his parents.
"What? Did you really think an omega like you would get to be mated to the Alpha?" Nina asked when Robert stepped forward with the wolf bane herb in his gloves-coated hand and forcefully put it in my mouth until I swallowed and burned in pain and agony from the inside of my body. I spat blood out of my mouth, looking at everyone with a helpless gaze.
"Nina, stop messing around, my love. She had suffered her whole life thinking she was an omega when, in reality, she was the true Alpha of this pack, with alpha blood running down her veins." He spoke, his voice filled with mocking sympathy. "After all, she is the daughter of the real Alpha and Luna of the moonstone pack."
"What do you mean by that?" I asked, breathing painfully, my voice echoing in the silent room when a weak elderly couple was brought inside the room I was kept in, looking miserable and so much in pain. They gasped when they looked at me and called my name. The woman's face resembled mine, and the man's eye color was the same as mine, and so was his hair color.
"Arabella," they spoke weakly, "Our daughter."
"Arabella, darling. Meet your parents, Alpha Xavier Thornhill and Luna Gianna Thornhill, the real leaders of the moonstone pack." Declan announced, "Your parents never died, Arabella; you were never an orphan, neither an omega. You were the born leader of the pack, but before you knew about it, we attacked your pack when you were just a baby.
I killed a dozen of your pack members and took over your pack. You see, my foolish Arabella, the power is not given but taken or, more like, snatched. I, with the help of my parents, snatched it away. My parent and I would have killed you that night, but we couldn't because to truly take over the moonstone pack and secure my position as the Alpha, I needed your blood to solidify my claim over the moonstone pack and become the most powerful Alpha alive in the history. Too bad you didn't know how powerful you were until tonight when you were so close to your death.
You really thought I loved you, Arabella? Oh, come on. I was just using you. You were just a pawn in my game. I needed you for my benefit, and now that I have what I wanted, there is no longer any use for you and your parents to live." He spoke and nodded at his parents.
"We love you," was all I heard my parents say in a low voice until their heads and hearts were ripped out of their bodies right in front of my eyes.
"Noooooo! Nooooo!" I cried and screamed as their blood came splashing on my face, and I watched their lifeless bodies fall to the ground.
"I am going to kill you. I am going to kill all of you." I yelled and cried, "Moon goddess….Moon goddess, please give me the strength to fight. Help me, please!" I pleaded with the Moon goddess and watched the persons I once thought were my friends and family laugh.
"You really think Moon goddess will come to save a stupid werewolf like you?" Declan asked, gripping my hair tightly with a dagger in his hand. "There is one last thing you should know before you die. I was never your, mate. I made you fall for me by making you drink the love spell. Your real mate has always been close to you, but you never saw or felt it. Why? Because you were under my spell, and trust me, your mate was a lot more powerful than me."
"Who…" my words were cut off when I felt a sharp pain below my heart and looked down to find a dagger stabbed inside of me. Declan whispered something in my ear. Since the pain was too much to bear, I didn't hear it properly, and my vision began to get blurry. I watched Declan burning the whole place down with me still breathing until all I saw was myself surrounded by flames.
"Arabella…..Arabella! I am coming. I am going to save you!" I heard the deep yet painful voice of a man from nearby and watched a masculine figure behind the flames, fighting to come inside to save me. Since I was taking my final breaths, my vision was barely there. I knew this was my end, but I refused to die like this. During my last breath, I vowed to return and avenge my parent's death and take back what belonged to me.
"I….I am going to return, Declan, and this time, I will be more powerful than you think and make you pay for everything you did to me. I promise." Those were the last words I spoke before darkness surrounded me, and I took my last breath.