Chapter 3 Three

Chapter 3

Lyra POV

My eyes fluttered open, my blurry vision gradually sharpening.

And then, I felt it, a strong wave of pain through my body.

It pulsed through every inch of my body, I felt like a fire burning beneath my skin.

I couldn’t move without feeling it so I took very slow and ginger steps to get up from my bed.

My arms, my legs, my ribs, everything ached. And yet, none of it compared to what burned inside me.

A deep burning hatred.

Hatred for Damon more than anything.

For what he did last night.

He looked me in the eyes and lied with so much ease.

The way he twisted it, he  made me look like the villain.

And the worst part? He got away with it.

Well, no surprise in that really. Cersei, loved Damon as much as she hated me, so of course she was going to take his word over mine.

When I finally forced myself out of bed, I could barely stand.

I pulled on my hoodie and then stepped out to the hallway.

My steps were slow, every bone in my body protesting with each movement.

Then the moment I stepped out of the open, I felt the stares piercing through me.

Pack members paused whatever they were doing the second they saw me.

Their gazes locked on me, full of disgust, judgment, hatred.

Some didn’t even bother to pretend they weren’t whispering behind their hands.

I felt every glance like a slap.

Sometimes I did wish I wasn't as invisible as I was in this pack.

That maybe I could get noticed for good and loved and welcomed by everyone.

Now, I would’ve given anything to disappear and be invisible again...

But that was too late now, the lie had already spread.

The lie that I tried to force myself on him, when it was the other way round.

And who would they believe?

Damon, the golden boy of the pack, the Alpha’s pride, the Beta’s son, and now also the fated mate of the Alpha's daughter.

Or me?

A wolfless Omega. The lowest of the low. A nobody in this pack, just a servant.

It didn’t matter what he did to me. It never did, they would always believe him and not me.

I just kept my head down, bit the inside of my cheek, and pushed through the rest of the day like I always did.

I reached the kitchen, and it was the same treatment even there.

All the eyes of the servant and maids there, lingered on me.

I could hear some of the things they were whispering about.

‘What a slut. She pretends to be quiet, but she's so evil.’

‘Does she hate Cersei that much to try to force herself on her  own mate’

But the shame clung to me like a second skin. But I couldnt breakdown or let it show.

I ignored them, and try to shut the noise around me for the rest of the day.

It was hard and painful, but I got through the day.

The moment I saw the sun gradually began to give way, I didn't waste another second.

I left the kitchen and returned to my room at once.

It was my only safe space away from the torture outside.

I laid flat on my bed, staring at the ceiling, my mind playing different scenarios of how my life would have been in another world.

By nightfall, a message came to my room.

Someone slid it under my door.

I recognized the parchment, it was official. A short note, signed with the kitchen seal.

“Fetch apples from the eastern orchard and drop them by the kitchen.

—”

The orchard? This late?

My stomach twisted.

No one went near the far edge of the territory after sunset.

It was too close to the border between us and the enemy...

It was too dangerous.

But the note had the seal, and it was from her… my stepmother.

Maybe this was her own form of punishment.

I didn’t have the luxury to question it.

So I grabbed my coat, tied my hair back, and slipped out into the freezing air.

The sky above was already dark, a few stars already up.

The packhouse had fell quiet, only saved by a chirping of crickets.

I exhaled slowly, then I moved to the direction of the woods.

The farther I walked into the woods, the colder it got.

The trees loomed like silent witnesses, their bare branches rattling above me.

I kept glancing over my shoulder, half-expecting someone to follow. But there was no one.

Just me.

Like always.

By the time I reached the orchard, my breath came in clouds and my hands were numb. The trees were barren, skeletal, there was no apple  in sight.

It was just a few frozen leaves clinging desperately to the branches.

Why would   send me all the way out here, if she knew they weren't any apples?

Something felt off.

Just then, a sudden chill ran down my spine.

I turned to go back, when I heard it.

The leaves rustling and then followed by fast footsteps behind me.

I froze.

Three shapes emerged from the shadows.

My heart sank in my sight of them.

Cersei. Lizzy. Ellie.

I backed up instinctively, but they fanned out, blocking the path.

Their faces were twisted, full of rage and triumph.

“What… what are you doing out here?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

Cersei stepped forward, her fists clenched. “You think you can try to ruin his life, and mine and walk away?”

I shook my head. “I didn't try to. He.. he hurt me.”

Before I could Tae another step back, I felt it.

Cersei struck first. She landed a  slap so hard my ears rang.

Then, Ellie's fist caught my side next.

I gasped and doubled over.

Then Lizzy joined in and  kicked me in the stomach.

I felt my my lungs give way, I couldn't breathe.

I collapsed to my knees, but they didn’t stop.

They kept hitting and kicking at me.

Cersei grabbed my hair and slammed my head into the frozen ground with a thud.

“Lying little slut,” she hissed.

Her fists rained down on me.

My arms stopped working, my  legs wouldn’t move and my  ribs I was sure they were cracked.

I tasted blood in my mouth, and I could the bruises all over my body now.

I stopped screaming.

And still, they didn’t stop.

The world faded in and out, flickering like a dying candle.

I was nothing but pain, and then even that began to drift away.

Eventually, it ended.

Their footsteps retreated, their voices growing faint as they walked away—laughing. Like it was a joke. Like I was a joke.

I lay there, broken.

My blood soaked into the dirt beneath me.

My breath came in slow and shaky.

I couldn’t move at all.

The stars above me blurred. I wanted to reach for them, to pull myself back. But I couldn’t even feel my hands anymore.

No one was coming for me. This was my end.

And slowly and quietly…

My life began to slip away.

Then the darkness came..