Chapter 1 Banished
~Elara’s POV
I didn't hear anything before I saw it. The door to our room was wide open.
Marcus naked. And so was Lyra. My stepsister lay beneath him, her legs wrapped around his waist, her fingers digging into his back as he thrust into her without shame. The sound of skin on skin slapping, their breaths hitching, hitting me harder than any slap ever could.
My mind went blank as I stood there, unable to look away, then Lyra saw me. Her lips curved slowly, deliberately, as if she had been waiting for this exact moment.
“Well," she said sweetly, not even bothering to cover herself, “you're home early."
Marcus didn't stop. He didn't even look guilty, when he finally glanced at me, his expression was bored—annoyed, even.
“Shit," he muttered. “You weren't supposed to be back yet."
I stood there, frozen in time, my heart pounding so hard that it hurt. "Marcus,” I whispered, my voice breaking. "What…what is this?"
Lyra laughed softly. “Don't insult us by pretending you don't understand."
She shifted beneath him, deliberately tightening her hold on his hips, making sure I saw everything. "He's mine, Elara. Always has been."
“That's not—" I shook my head violently, a desperate try to erase whatever I've just witnessed. “You're lying."
Marcus sighed and pulled away from her at last, grabbing his pants. “Stop being dramatic."
Dramatic.
“I loved you," I said, my voice shaking. “We were together for two years."
He shrugged as if I'd just commented on the weather. " You were convenient. A quick fuck.”
The words sliced through me, deeply.
"I needed someone warm in my bed," he continued flatly. “Someone quiet, who wouldn't expect much."
Lyra sat up then, completely unashamed. “You really thought the future Beta would mark a wolfless girl?”
She stood, naked and proud, walking towards me like a victor approaching a defeated enemy, and it sure felt like that. “I'm his true mate-to-be. Always was. You were just filling space."
My knees buckled, as I tried so desperately hard not to let a single tear drop.
“I kept you around because you were useful,” Marcus added. " But I was never going to mark you, Elara. Don't be delusional.”
That was when something inside of me shattered entirely. I just stood there, gaping at them wordlessly as my tears threatened to spill.
Lyra leaned closer, her voice dropping to a whisper meant only for me. "Oh, and I've already told the elders.”
My blood ran cold. "Told them what?”
"That you tried to seduce him,” she said lightly. "That you tried to trap my man into a mating bond.”
The room blurred instantly, “No," I breathed. “You can't."
She smiled. “Too late."
~~~~
They came for me before the sun could rise. Two guards dragged me through the halls, barefoot and shaking, my protests greatly ignored. Pack members stared as we passed, whispers slicing through me like ice-cold shards of broken glass.
“Shameless."
“Wolfless trash, wannabe."
“Trying to steal the Beta."
Immediately inside, I was thrown to my knees in the Great Hall.
The Alpha—my stepfather— sat on the raised podium, his expression carved from stone. My heart thrummed, clawing at my ribs. He never liked me, only tolerated me since he married my mum, saying I was a weak link to his family's name.
Marcus stood beside him, and Lyra clung to his arm, her face carefully arranged into wounded innocence and fake concern.
“Elara," the Alpha said coldly. “ You stand accused of seduction, manipulation, and attempting to trap the future Beta into a mating bond."
“That's a lie!" I cried. “They betrayed me. I caught them—”
"Silence,” he snapped.
I flinched, the word slamming into me like a physical blow. Lyra stepped forward, tears shimmering in her eyes. "She's always been jealous," she said softly. "She knew Marcus was meant for me, but she tried to force herself into his future.”
Marcus nodded once. "She wouldn't let it go.”
I looked at him, disbelief choking me." You're letting her do this.”
He didn't meet my eyes. And that hurts more than all the lies.
"No defense will be heard,” the Alpha declared. “Your presence disgraces this pack."
His gaze never softened, but I tried anyway. “Father…father please I—"
“You're not deserving to call me that!"
He bellowed, his fist clenched beside him.
My chest burned. “You raised me," I whispered. “You know me."
But he just continued to glare at me. Tears streamed down my face violently as I shook my head, the pain too much for me.
“By the authority of Crescent Hollow," he said, rising to his feet, " I banish you from these lands.”
The hall erupted in murmurs.
I just knelt there, motionless as the words kept ringing in my ears. The room suddenly spinning at a dizzying pace.
“Before dawn," he continued, “you will cross our borders and never return. Your bond to this pack is severed."
Pain ripped through my body, sharp and burning as a scream tore from my chapped lips. It was as if something invisible tore away from me. The land I had grown up on rejected me.
The Alpha's voice was merciless. “You have ten minutes."
Ten.
Minutes.
The guards hauled me up and shoved me towards the doors. No one stopped them, and none of them spoke up for me. The satisfied look on their faces made it clear.
It was good riddance to the dirt that had plagued their land.
As the gate opened and the cold night air rushed in, I looked back one last time. Marcus still didn't look at me.
Lyra smiled.
And as I was thrown into the darkness beyond the pack borders with just a duffel bag and no coat. I understood one terrifying truth.
I wasn't just banished.
