Chapter 4 Chapter 4

Odette

I had always thought my stepmother loved me. I thought her warmth was real.

But the horrifying truth finally hit me: Martha had hated me from the very beginning. She hated that she was forced into an arranged marriage with an Alpha who was obsessed with his dead mistress—my mother. She hated that she had to raise me, the daughter of her husband's mistress. And most of all, she hated that my father favored his bastard daughter's face over his legitimate family.

And Serena... my sweet, responsible sister. She hated me, too. She resented that I was a free-spirited ballerina who got to chase her dreams, while she was burdened with the duty of being the perfect heir. She pretended to love me, but she was always boiling with jealousy.

Serena never wanted to marry Kael. She wanted a gentle Alpha she could control, or a Beta like Josh who would follow her orders. She didn't want a scarred, dangerous murderer. So, the mother and daughter had played this whole scheme. They told Josh to break my heart so I would be vulnerable. They manipulated me into putting on the dress to "save" our father. And now, they were using their fake injuries to frame me as a power-hungry villain. They got to keep their perfect reputation, Serena got my mate, and they got to get rid of the "monster" Alpha by dumping him on me.

"It's a lie!" I screamed, my voice cracking with desperation. I turned to Alpha Kael. "Please, you have to believe me! They set me up!"

But Kael’s eyes were like ice. He looked at my beautiful wedding dress, and then at Serena's bloody, torn clothes. The disgust on his scarred face deepened. Why would he believe me? I was standing in a stolen dress.

I turned to my father. "Papa, please! Martha put the dress on me! She told me you would be killed if I didn't take Serena's place! I swear to you!"

My father marched up the steps of the wooden altar. He didn't look like a father trying to find the truth. He didn't believe me. He didn't care about the truth.

"You wicked, ungrateful bastard," my father spat, keeping up his angry performance for the crowd. "You dared to attack your sister? You dared to embarrass me?"

"Papa, no—"

Smack.

My father’s hand struck my cheek so hard I fell to the wooden floor of the altar.

"Lock her in the dungeons!" my father ordered his guards, his eyes flashing with a dark hunger. "I will deal with her personally."

A cold, paralyzing terror gripped my chest. Personally. If he locked me away in his quarters, I would become his prisoner forever.

I looked at the faces of the Mist Rain pack. My people. They were glaring at me with pure hatred. They wanted me to drown. They had always hated my bastard status, and now they had the perfect excuse to discard me entirely.

I was completely alone. Betrayed by my mate, my sister, my stepmother, and my father. I could not live in this pack anymore. Mist Rain was not my home; it was a cage.

I slowly pushed myself off the floor. My cheek throbbed, but my tears completely dried up.

"Wait," I said, my voice eerily calm.

The guards stopped. Everyone stared at me.

I looked straight into my stepmother's eyes. She held her breath, terrified I would expose her lies. But what was the point? No one would believe the bastard omega over the Luna. So, I decided to give them exactly what they wanted, because it was my only ticket off this island.

"I did it," I said loudly, my voice ringing out over the silent beach.

Josh smirked.

Serena hid a deep sigh of relief.

I turned my back on the family that broke me and looked up at the scarred and terrifying rogue Alpha. He was furious, completely disgusted by me, and yet, he was my only escape.

"I wanted the power," I lied, staring dead into Kael's furious, icy eyes. "I wanted to be your Luna. And now that you have marked me, Alpha Kael... I am your wife by the law of the werewolf state. On top of that, I am your mate. You cannot leave me behind."

"What a shameless bitch!" Someone asked, "Did she have no shame? She deserves death for forcing her presence on the Alpha! he can snap her neck in a second! What a brave opportunist!"

"Why did you want to be my Luna?" His cold and terrifying voice rang in the air.

"Because..."

What do I say?

I am not going to be a loser betrayed by all.

So, what if he kills me?

At least, I will die with power.

"Because I have heard stories of your bravery....and I fell in love with you. My ex-boyfriend...he was a terrible lover. He may look tall, but he is not tall everywhere...you get it, right?" I whispered. I have lost my mind.

"Odette!" My father's voice boomed. "Have some shame!"

"Father! When you did not like my stepmom in bed, you found my mother! Then, why must I, a daughter of an Alpha, settle with a man like Josh who does not even have a satisfactory dick?"

I saw Josh's face burning in shame. "Stop Lying Odette!"

"If I was lying would I go to the extent of scheming behind my sister to marry the big old Alpha here?" I raised my brow.