Ruby
“How dare you, Lilith, or whatever you call yourself? You are a monster and a mate-stealing bitch. How could you be so cruel? You are not sane to be a Luna.” I spat angrily, clenching my first.
I couldn’t fathom how someone could be so cold and heartless as to mutilate an innocent man simply for disobedience.
“He deserves it for obeying the words of a nobody,” she said, turning to the injured warrior and walking slowly towards him in a taunting manner that made his eyes widen. He shifted back in fear, and before I could understand what was happening, she picked up his detached left hand and began chewing.
“That’s what you get for disobedience.” She said this and licked her bloody lips. “Your hand will serve as my dinner tonight,” she laughed loudly before turning her gaze to me, a look of undisguised disgust etched on her face.
“Bring the papers,” she says, signalling another warrior, who swiftly approached, carrying a paper, which I assumed was the resignation paper.
“Open the gate,” she instructed another, and I could see fear in their eyes as no one moved as they all stood there shaking in fear.
“Don’t worry, I won’t bite if you don’t bark, so be a good boy and open the gate,” she mocked, staring at Rot, who ran like a little girl and unlocked the gate with shaking hands.
With a haughty sneer, Lilith snatched the resignation paper, walked towards me, and, without a word, threw it at my face. The paper fluttered down and landed on the ground; it was a stark symbol of my perceived insignificance in the face of her new-found authority.
The cold, calculated manner in which she had executed terror underscored the harsh reality of my position within Liam’s pack.
“How dare you treat me like a nobody? I am the true Luna of this pack, and I deserve respect.”I asserted, my voice carrying a blend of authority and frustration.
Lilith, taken aback by my defiance, momentarily halted, her disdainful expression momentarily replaced by surprise.
“You should have done us all a favour and died. That way, you would have spared yourself from this humiliation,” she sneered, her words dripping with malice. I straightened up, determination burning in my eyes.
“I won’t let you erase my identity. I am Luna Ruby, and no amount of cruelty can change that.” I spat, and Lilith laughed loudly, sending shivers down my spine. It was cold, and it left an unsettling feeling in my heart.
Who the hell was Lilith? Where the fuck did Liam meet such a crazy bitch?
“You’re nothing but a shadow of the past. This pack has moved on, and you’re no longer a part of it. Not even your mate wants you,” she said, and in a blink of an eye, she raised her legs, and I felt a hard kick to my leg, which sent me to the ground.
“Fuck!” I screamed in pain.
Ouch, that hurt like a bitch.
“Luna!” Andrew’s scream filled the air as he rushed forward.
“Stay back, please,” I muttered, almost in tears. “Don’t come closer,” I begged, pain coursing through my body as I knelt on the unforgiving ground. I couldn’t let her harm him, just like she had done to the young warrior. I would never forgive myself.
“Ouch!” I let out another painful scream as I felt her hands grip my hair forcefully, almost ripping it out of my hair.
“Sign this if you dream of walking out of here alive,” she said, pointing a pen directly at my eyes.
The cold, unyielding gaze in her eyes made my heart skip a beat, a reminder of the life-altering decision I was being forced to make under the threat of violence, knowing fully well that she was heartless enough to stab my eyes, so I had to be careful.
If only my body wasn’t weak enough, I would have easily transformed into my wolf and taken her down easily.
But fuck my luck.
I was in between life and death as the pen hovered menacingly in front of my eyes, its ink poised to etch my submission onto the document. My mind raced, torn between the instinct to protect Andrew and the realisation that defiance might invite more brutality.
Andrew’s voice, filled with concern, cut through the tension. “Ruby, please, don’t let her break you. We’ll find another way.” Lilith tightened her grip on my hair, pulling my head back.
“Sign it, or I’ll make sure your defiance costs you more than just pain,” she hissed, her threat echoing in the air, and I knew very well what she was capable of having witnessed firsthand.
I reached for the pen, and a bitter taste of surrender lingered on my tongue. The weight of my decision settled on my shoulders, and with each stroke of the pen, it felt like I was signing away a piece of myself, succumbing to a reality where cruelty reigned supreme.
I was going to be an omega. A weakling and a lowlife.
A sigh of defeat escaped my lips as I signed my name, the ink on the paper sealing my compliance with the heartless demands of Lilith. Thankfully, she released my hair, and I slumped to the ground, a mix of exhaustion, and I was sure shame was boldly written all over my face.
It’s official; I was an omega.
Andrew moved closer, concern etched across his face. “I’m sorry, Ruby. I couldn’t protect you,” he whispered, his eyes reflecting a shared pain.
Lilith snatched the signed document, a triumphant smirk playing on her lips. “Good choice, Ruby. You’ve learned your place.”
“I will make you regret this,” I glared, and before she could respond, the air shifted as I sensed the presence of my mate, and I gazed up at him to see him strode into view.
Liam. My precious mate.
Lilith smirked at me and then turned swiftly to my mate, smiling graciously at him. She clapped her hands as he made an entrance, while he, on the other hand, had his steel grey eyes fixed on me in a hard glare with a mix of anger and resentment, which was a contrast to the bundle of joy I left at home.
“You have no right to demand respect as you are no longer recognised as my mate and Luna!” he bellowed, his words a venomous reminder of the fractured bond that once held us together.
“I told you we should have declared her dead instead. Now look at her acting all dramatic and tough; she even made me stain my hands.” Lilith sneered at me.
Liam actually wanted me dead. Fifteen years of us loving each other were all for nothing.
I stared into his eyes in a pleading look, trying to reach out to him through our shattered bond, and I felt the atmosphere becoming tense as it thickened. I tried sending images of our happy moments together, but he blocked them out, and I was forced to watch Lilith, my heartless replacement, approach him.
I painfully watch their eyes locked in a romantic manner and a silent understanding passing between them.
I felt a sickening churn in my stomach as I braced myself for what was about to unfold as I took in her seductive body language.
She moved with calculated grace, her steps deliberate and confident. When she reached him, she tilted her head slightly, a seductive smile playing on her lips.
My mate, once mine, met her gaze, and in that moment, he surrendered to her advances. Their lips met in a passionate kiss, and time seemed to slow.
Every second felt like an eternity as the pain in my head intensified. It was as if a storm raged within me, tearing through the remnants of hope and love that clung desperately to my heart.
His response to Lilith’s touch was immediate, a cruel affirmation of his rejection. The place echoed with the sound of their kiss, a haunting melody that underscored my heartbreak.
The ground beneath me felt like it might crumble at any moment, and I wished for the earth to open up and swallow me whole.
Death seemed like a merciful escape from the torment of witnessing the one I loved embrace another, sealed with a kiss that shattered the last fragments of my broken heart.
After some kissing for what felt like forever, Lilith broke the kiss with Liam, and a sly smirk curled on her lips. Her eyes, filled with triumph and malice, turned to lock onto mine, mocking the vulnerability and pain etched across my face-a deliberate move to exacerbate my torment.
Her calculated expression was a searing taunt that cut through the already-shattered pieces of my heart.
Have you ever loved someone to the point where it hurts to breathe?
Yet I mustered the courage to face the brutal truth. I looked into his eyes, my voice barely steady.
“Do you truly want to reject me?” I whispered shamefully.
“Have some dignity,” I heard the distant voice of my wolf say, despite being weak.
She must really be disappointed in me, as this was the first time she had communicated with me in a while, but I was doing this for my son. He needs a perfect family.
I was hurt and desperate as I awaited his response.
“Yes.”
The word was a harsh blow, cutting through the fragile remnants of what we once shared. I felt the whole place closing in on me as the weight of his rejection settled heavily on my shoulders.
What was I expecting? That he would take back his rejection?
“Fine,” I whispered, the bitterness of acceptance coating my words. I locked eyes with him, searching for any flicker of remorse, but his gaze remained indifferent.
I was vulnerable, yet I summoned the strength to confront not just him but his animalistic side.
“What about your wolf? Does he want to reject me as his mate too?” I asked, and at this point, desperation etched my features as I called on his wolf with the last glimmer of hope in my voice.
My question hung in the air, carrying the heavy burden of our shattered bonds and the fragile hope that the primal connection between us might resist the painful choice he had just made.
“Yes, and he will prove it,” Lilith answered with a smirk.
My breath caught as I watched Lilith whisper something in his ear, a sinister exchange that triggered a transformation in his eyes. The once familiar steel gaze now burned with an eerie, haunting shade of red. Dread settled in my chest as he moved with inhuman speed, hurtling towards Andrew, who wasn’t fast enough to back away and save himself.
The sickening crunch of tearing flesh reverberated through the woods as he callously ripped Andrew’s heart out. Time seemed to freeze as Andrew’s lifeless body crumpled to the floor, a grotesque tableau of the unimaginable brutality that had just unfolded.
Shock held me captive, my limbs heavy and unresponsive, as I grappled with the horror of witnessing not only the rejection but the unfathomable violence that had befallen someone who had stood by my side.
And the only thing that kept ringing in my head was how I had killed him.
I killed Andrew.
My stupidity killed him.