~JADE~ “Please wait here, Luna; the elders will call for you shortly.” Said one of the two gaurds who had escorted me to the council hall upon request by the council elders. Closing the door of the council hall behind him, the guard moved to the other side of the hallway, looking away from me, while the second guard proceeded to walk a few feet down the hallway away from us.I had woken up this morning with an aching heart and bile rising up my throat like every other morning since the morning my life took a drastic turn. After the argument with Hunter in his kitchen two mornings ago, he stopped coming home. I have not the slightest clue where he goes, but I sure as hell know what he does, if the pain I feel every time is any indication. It still baffles me how easy it is for him to switch up on me like this. He didn’t even care to give it time, or at least wait until a verdict had been passed. And if I am being honest, I have already given up hope of any sort of reconciliation bet
~JADE~ My body moved on autopilot as I walked into the wide expanse of the council hall. The hall was mostly used for large gatherings in the pack, for pack ceremonies, parties organised by the Alpha family, and sometimes rented on a discount for pack members who needed it for personal ceremonies, like birthday parties, or sometimes parties held after a mating was completed. Only a few selected people celebrated their union, and Hunter and I were supposed to celebrate ours officially after his ascension ceremony. I was informed that these were usual rites, despite the fact that we had already marked each other and were mated under common law. However, Hunter qualified as noble blood because, although not a royal, he was an Alpha heir. It was customary that after his ascension as Alpha, he should have an official mating ceremony during which his fated luna or chosen luna would be blessed by a high elder or priestess presiding over the ceremony, and the luna would be welcomed into th
~JADE~ “What the fuck is this about?” Hunter all but growled as he shoved me into what I presume must be a small office in the council hall, and the sound of the door slamming shut behind us enclosed the threat in his growl in this tiny space. I couldn’t even bear to harbour shame with the way he had dragged me from where I stood before the elders and all the way across the hall into this tiny room. It still remains quite unfathomable to me how easy it was for him to change from a loving and doting mate to this man who cannot even seem to stand the sight of me. Not one iota of respect did he think to grant me, almost as if I was never worth a thing to him. “I have a few questions.” "If this is another plot of yours to gaslight me with your words or to beg, save your breath.” Hunter snapped. “It is neither of the two; I just want you to answer my questions with honesty. All I need to know is the truth, and once I hear the truth from your mouth, I’ll accept your rejection like y
~JADE~I don't even think I remember when the trial started. No. I shook my head mentally; this wasn’t a trial because there wasn’t even anything to try here. This was some twisted judgment-day shit going on. This ceased to be a trial from the moment my own mate didn’t even believe me or try to fight for me. After accepting Hunter’s rejection, I walked out of that tiny office space with my heart in the pit of my stomach. Was it naivety because he was the first man I ever loved and I didn’t see things I probably should’ve noticed? Looking back at everything that has happened throughout the two years of our relationship, I guess I was just too naive to see things for what they really were. Hunter was always territorial and possessive, and one time when I complained about it to my mother because he was being too restrictive, she told me that was normal for Alpha wolves and their mates. She said wolves were territorial, so it made sense. I used to get all happy when Hunter would beco
~JADE~ Did I make the right choice when I answered that Hunter wasn’t the father of the child I was carrying? It may not have been the right thing to do given the kind of mess I am in already, but their shocked expressions were more than enough satisfaction for me in that moment. Hunter and Alpha Orion were the ones who looked the most shocked by my response. I guess Hunter probably expected me to insist the child was his and use that as an excuse to hold onto him and beg for mercy, but I was done with begging him to see me and to hear me after I accepted his rejection. He didn’t even believe me these past few days that I have been trying to tell him that I was carrying his child, and suddenly he’s shocked that I am not clinging onto him. What was there to cling onto in the first place? The shocked expression on their faces didn’t last long and had quickly turned into disgust as soon as the meaning of my words had settled in. Hunter had snarled to show his disgust, and his pa
~JADE~ The whip whistled through the air as it came down on me, cutting through my skin effortlessly with a bitter sting that only became harsher with each lash. I had to stop counting somewhere along the way, unable to focus on anything else aside from the fire hot pain that seared through my body with every merciless stroke of the whip. My vision blurred with welled up tears; despite the tears raining down my cheeks, more waterworks welled up in my eyes, and it wouldn’t stop pouring. All my attempts to simply dissociate from this very moment seemed futile. All I could think of and feel was the pain on my back, my arm, and every part of my skin that the whip lashed onto. Despite my tears, the only satisfaction I didn’t give Hunter or the audience that gathered around was the sound of my cries. I bit back every moan, swallowing around every choked sound of anguish that threatened to spill out of me. My body flamed in agony, and each blow from the whip propelled my frame forward
~JADE~ The dance of shame was just as they called it. I’m not sure what I expected given the name, but this truly was the dance of shame. I wasn’t given the liberty of a minute of rest, nor was I accorded the courtesy to either get cleaned or even have my wounds treated. The open cuts on my back from the whip that hadn’t healed yet trickled blood down my back, and the wound stung continuously as my sweat dripped into it. They could’ve at least given me a few minutes with the pack doctor; a few healing herbs to cover my wounds would’ve helped, but none of that happened. I was dragged away from the platform where I was publicly flogged, branded, and jostled through the streets of the pack, half-naked. A few of the mated she-wolves in the pack rallied behind me, clapping as they sang the words of my shameful deeds and dishonour. The elders followed behind; Hunter and his family and my family were also in the crowd behind me. I could still faintly smell Hunter and the familiar scent of
~JADE~Levena whined softly as my thoughts reached her: ‘We don’t need them. We’ll be fine.’ My wolf grumbled, attempting to reassure me. ‘They’re casting us out, like we never mattered. They’re treating us like we were never a part of this pack, like we weren’t family. How can we be fine, Lev? I am pregnant; we’ll be alone in the woods with no one.’ I reminded her; perhaps she’s forgotten all about the pregnancy that I lied about. ‘We will find help; we will find a new pack; the goddess knows we are innocent, and she’ll never leave us stranded. She’ll send help.’ She replied with conviction, and I shook my head. The goddess watched me all these years while I suffered under my aunt’s brute force and did nothing. Shouldn't the goddess have predicted that I'd be discarded by my mate? Yet she still went ahead and made Hunter my mate. ‘I have no faith in the goddess Levana. I doubt if she even exists, because all she’s done is watch me suffer; she never came to my aid, and I don’t see