he silence was palatable.

 They all feared this intruder, no one was moving, no one was saying a word. It made me wonder, who was this man? 

Slowly, I lifted my head. A man stood there. Tall. Broad shoulders. He wore all black, his clothes perfectly fitted. 

But it was his face that made my breath catch. He was handsome in a way that seemed almost unreal.

Sharp jaw.

High cheekbones.

Dark black hair that fell over his shoulders. His eyes held me frozen. They were golden. They glowed slightly in the darkness, like they had their own light. 

He was looking down at me with expressions that was unreadable. Behind him, I could see the crowd. Everyone had their heads bowed. Some had dropped to their knees.

Fear was written across every face.

 "I asked a question and expect answers" he interrupted. "Alpha Kael ," my stepmother's voice came out shaky. She stepped forward, "We didn't know you were here.

We-" Alpha? This was Alpha King, Kael Drakemoor.

 The most powerful Alpha in the entire district. The one everyone feared.

And he was standing right in front of me. Celeste suddenly rushed forward, tears streaming down her face. Real tears this time, I noticed. She was scared.

 "Alpha King," she said, her voice trembling.

"This girl... My stepsister.

She's a menace. She tried to seduce my fiancé. When he refused her, she attacked him and tried to frame him for assault."

 My stomach drop. She was lying again. And this time to the Alpha King himself, would I be killed tonight for a lie?. 

Will I die like my father did? 

Damien stepped forward too, his head bowed respectfully.

"It's true, Your Majesty.

She forced herself on me. I pushed her away and she got angry.

That's why her dress is torn. She did it to make it look like I attacked her.

"No," I whispered. My voice was so quiet I wasn't sure anyone heard me.

 But the Alpha King's head turned toward me. Those golden eyes found mine again.

"Is this true?" he asked. 

I stared at him.

Someone was asking for my side of the story.

Someone was actually asking me what happened. 

"No,"

I said again, louder this time.

My voice shook. "No, it's not true." "She's lying!" Celeste shouted.

 "She's always been a liar! She's always caused trouble!"

 "Silence." The Alpha King ordered, his voice came out calmly yet the single word made everyone go quiet.

 Power.

 He took a step closer to me. Then another. He crouched down until he was at my level, his golden eyes boring into mine."Tell me what happened, the truth," he said quietly.

 I swallowed hard. My throat felt tight. Could I trust him? Would he believe me when no one else did? His eyes were intense but not cruel.

There was something in them that made me think maybe, just maybe, he might listen. "I was upstairs," I started, my voice shaking. "Arranging the rooms. It's my birthday too, not just Celeste's.

But I was working while she had her party." I don't know why I needed to say that part but I my heart trusted in his golden eyes. 

I saw his jaw tighten slightly but he didn't interrupt.

 "Damien came into the room," I continued.

Tears started falling again but I pushed through. 

 "He cornered me. I told him to leave, that he was Celeste's fiancé.

But he wouldn't listen. He said I should be grateful someone like him wanted me.

 He tried to- He tried to force himself on me." My voice broke and I couldn't stop the sob that escaped.

 "He grabbed me. He kissed me even though I fought him.

He touched me.

 I bit him and pushed him away as hard as I could.

 I ran.

He chased me and grabbed my dress. That's how it got torn.

I came down here to tell Celeste what happened but-" "She's lying!" Vivian interrupted.

 "Your Majesty, please don't listen to her. She's always been trouble.

Everyone knows about her!!"

 "I said silence!"

 This time the Alpha King's voice came out as a growl, low and dangerous. He stood up, his full height towering over me.

He looked at Damien. "Show me your face." Damien hesitated but lifted his head. There, clear as day, was the mark I'd left when I bit him. Still bloodied and swollen.

 The Alpha King stared at it for a long moment. Then he turned to me. 

"Get up" he said and held out his hand to help me up, I slide my hand into his. There is a spark of electricity is feel as I struggled to stand with shaky legs. 

He examined my face, my torn dress, the bruises forming on my arms where Damien had grabbed me. 

When he seemed to have had enough, his golden eyes flashed with something. Something dark and angry but it didn't scare me.

 I stared at him as he turned back to the crowd. 

"This girl was assaulted. Anyone with eyes can see that.

The man has marks from being bitten. Her dress is torn from being grabbed from behind, not from the front.

 She has bruises on her arms which shows she was being held down." "But Your Majesty-" Vivian said, wanting to say more lies. "I'm not finished."

The Alpha said, his voice was ice cold. "I have seen enough to know that this girl is telling the truth." 

The finality in his words made my knees buckle,  nearly giving out again. He believed me. The Alpha King believed me. "Your Majesty, please," Celeste begged.

"She's just-" "Enough!" The Alpha's eyes flashed with gold light. Something primal radiated from him.

 Power.

Raw, terrifying power that made everyone step back. He looked at me again and his expression softened slightly.

 "Come with me,"

he said, squeezing my hand slightly.

 "You don't have to stay here." I stared at his hand. Then at his face.

 Leave?

With him?

Where would we go? "I..." I looked back at the house.

At Vivian and Celeste.

 Despite everything, this was still the only home I knew. "I'll be fine here," I whispered. "Thank you for believing me, but I can't-"

 "You can't?"

 His eyes narrowed. "Did you not just tell me how you've been treated? How you've been abused for months?" 

"Yes but don't worry about me," I said quietly. "I'll be fine." He studied me for a long moment. Then he turned to Vivian.

 His expression was hard, cold and terrifying. "If I hear that something like this happens again," he said slowly, each word deliberate, "if I hear that you people go around hurting innocent people.

I will return.

 And I will not be merciful." Vivian's face went pale. She nodded quickly.

The Alpha King looked at each person in the crowd.

"Do you all understand?

 No one dares lay a hand on her again" Silence. Then everyone nodded, their heads bowed. He looked at me one last time.

There was something in his eyes I couldn't read as he let go of my hand. 

Was it concern?

Frustration?

 Worry? I can't tell. 

"Remember what I said," he told Vivian again. "I will know if anything happens to her. And you do not want me to come back."With that, he turned and walked away. 

His footsteps faded into the darkness. He left but his aura still had everyone frozen.

 I stood there, with my hands pressed to my chest and unrestrained tears streaming down my face.

 The Alpha King had believed me. He'd defended me.

He'd warned them not to touch me. But as I looked at Vivian's face, at the hatred burning in her eyes, I knew one thing for certain. 

His warning wouldn't be enough.

The crowd slowly scattered.

 The excitement had ended.

The party was over. They would all go home to rest but my tale would not rest.

They would keep talking about the crazy girl who tried to seduce her sister's fiancé. The cursed daughter of a traitor.

 Wrapping my arms around myself to ward the cold away, I took slow steps toward the back of the house.

 I reached the back door, the one I always used. The servants' entrance.

 Even before my parents died, even when my father was still Beta Councilman, Vivian had made sure I knew to use this door.

Not the front.

Never the front.

 That one was for Celeste. I pushed the door open slowly and the hinges creaked. My heart started to race, expecting something bad to happen like always.

 I hope and hope that maybe the Alpha King's warning would actually work. Maybe they'd be too scared to touch me now. 

He'd made it clear that I was under his protection.

That anyone who hurt me would answer to him. Maybe things would finally get better. I took another step into the dark room to find the switch when the lights suddenly blazed on, blinding me.

 I threw my hand up to shield my eyes and as my vision cleared, I saw them. Vivian and Celeste stood blocking the hallway.

 Both of them stared at me with hatred in their eyes. Behind them, the house was empty. All the servants had been dismissed. 

All the guests were gone. We were alone. "What do you think you're doing, mutt?" Vivian sneers at me as I tried to step around them. 

My heart started to pound even harder. "I'm just going to my room,"

 I said quietly.

 I kept my hands around my body. "Your room?" Celebrate laughed, but it was a cold, bones chilling laugh.

 "Mother, she really thinks she has a room here?" She said to her mother. 

"The Alpha said-" I started. 

"The Alpha isn't here now, is he?"

Vivian interrupted, stepping forward. "It's just us." And I started to back up until my back hit the wall. "Please. He warned you. He said if you hurt me-" "He'll never know,"

Vivian said simply. "No one will know.

 You're going to have an accident tonight, Elara. A terrible, tragic accident. And by morning everyone we would mourn the death of the lying seductress"

 "No." I shook my head, I had no idea what they planned but it scared me.

 "Please, don't do this." Vivian's hand came out of nowhere. She slapped me so hard across the face that my head snapped to the side.

Pain exploded across my cheek. Before I could recover, Celeste grabbed my hair and yanked me forward.

I screamed as she dragged me down the hallway.

 "Stop! Please!" I cried, trying to pry her fingers from my hair.

 "Shut up!"

she screamed, throwing me to the ground. My body hit the floor hard and the air knocked out of my lungs. 

Before I could move, Vivian's foot connected with my ribs. I curled into a ball, trying to protect myself.

But they wouldn't stop.

 Celeste kicked my back. Vivian stomped on my arm. I heard something crack and raw pain shot through my whole body. "You thought you could embarrass us?" Vivian hissed, grabbing my hair and pulling my head back.

 "You thought the Alpha King would save you?" 

"Please," I sobbed. "Please stop."She let go of my hair and my head hit the floor again. 

They dragged me through the house and out the back door. My body screamed in protest. Everything hurt. My arms. My ribs. My face. Blood dripped from my nose and mouth.

 Outside, I saw a pile of my belongings in the middle of the yard. My clothes. My books. The few things I had left from my parents. Everything I owned. Celeste pulled out a match. "No!" I tried to crawl toward the pile but Vivian kicked me in the stomach, and pinned m to the floor with her feet. 

I watch helplessly as Celeste lit the match and threw it onto the pile. 

"No" I whisper as everything burned brightly under the night sky; my mother's journal. My father's watch. The blanket my mother had made for me when I was a baby.

 All of it turned to ash. "Can you see what you are?," Vivian said, standing over me. "Nothing.

You have nothing.

You are nothing."

 I stayed under her feet, watching the flame dance. I couldn't speak. Couldn't move. The pain was too much. Then Vivian reached into her coat and pulled something out. Even through my blurred vision, I recognized it. 

A Moonblade. 

The weapon was ancient, forged from moon silver. It glowed with a faint blue light. I'd only seen one once before, in a book about werewolf history.

 "No," I whispered. "Please, no."

 "This blade has a special purpose," Vivian said, examining it in the firelight, the blade reflected the orange of the fire. "It destroys the connection between a wolf and their human.

Permanently." she said, smiling gleefully. My eyes widened. "You can't- Please-""Let's see how special you really are," she said coldly as she raised the blade and then plunged it into my stomach. 

A raw scream tipped through my throat. The pain was unlike anything I'd ever felt before. It wasn't just physical.

It was deeper.

Worse.

Like something inside me was being torn apart. It was the feeling of my wolf dying. The being that had been with me since I was eighteen. A important part of me. My other half. My strength when I had none...she is being ripped away from me. 

"Arghhh" I screamed again as hot tears streamed out of my eyes. She was dying. Her howls inside my mind tore me apart. I could feel her trying to hold on, trying to stay with me. But the Moonblade's magic was too strong. 

"NO"

 I screamed so loud that I tasted blood at the back of my throat. I want to fight to keep her but she couldn't stay. The blade wouldn't let her. One final painful howl echoed through my mind and Vivian pulled the blade out of my stomach. "Say your goodbyes you piece of shit" Celeste said to my face. I felt her breath on my face.

I felt the way blood poured from the wound. I heard the cruel laughter but nothing made sense.

 I was in too much pain. My wolf had been killed. The overwhelming pain made me scream one more time.

 Vivian crouched down beside her daughter, her face close to mine, making sure I saw her victorious smile.

 "So where's your Alpha King now?" she whispered.

"You thought you could have your way, didn't you? Thought someone would finally save you?" She grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at her. 

"You're just a worthless...nothing" she said slowly.

 Each word was deliberate. Meant to hurt as deeply as the blade that had killed my wolf. "And no one is coming to save you. No one ever will." She let go of my chin and my head fell back to the ground. 

 A gasp slipped past my lips as through fading vision, I watched them walk away. Back into the house. Back to their warm beds and comfortable lives.

 The fire eating up the remnant of my life brightly, but everything remained dark as I laid there in the darkness, bleeding. My wolf was gone. 

My identity as a werewolf had been stripped from me by my own family. Could I even dare to get up and fight for my life?

Breathing was difficult. 

Every drag of air I took into my lungs made the pain; a lone tear slid down my temple as a weak sob left my bruised lips. 

The cold air blew over me and I shivered. I laid in my own pool of blood in front of my own home.

 The fire was starting to die out, taking with it the lasts of what was left behind by the only people who ever loved me.

 The space my wolf used to occupy is painfully silent. A precious part of my soul that had been carved out. Another silent tear run down.

 Without my wolf I was worthless, the world would never accept me as a werewolf, I would never be able to feel my mate. 

I was already nothing but having a wolf strengthened me, and being able to look forward to a mate comforted me...but now I had nothing. 

The door to our house opened widely and Vivian stepped out, I flinched at the spot, bracing myself for what would happen next. She didn't say anything, she just stood over me with a straight face. "Get out," Vivian ordered coldly, her voice cutting through the night.

 "Get out of here. If I see you here in the morning, I'll finish what I started." I tried to speak, to say something, anything, but no words came.

Just a choked whimper. The sound made her deliver a kick to my stomach, right where the Moonblade had stabbed me.

 Right where the wound was still bleeding. Pain exploded through me. White-hot and blinding. I screamed, but the sound was weak, barely more than a broken sob.  

"Did you hear me?"

Vivian demanded, "Leave. Now. Or I'll kill you right here and tell everyone you ran away. No one will question it.

No one will care." She crouched down beside me, her face close to mine. I could smell her expensive perfume mixed with the smoke from the fire that had burned all my belongings. 

"It's over for you mutt. You are not wanted" she said before standing up to leave me there. She didn't look back. 

"Please..."

 I manage to croak but nothing, she left me there. Left me bleeding and broken in the dirt like my life was nothing.

 And maybe I was truly nothing. Without my wolf, what was I? Just a broken girl with nowhere to go and no one to help her.

 I don't know how long I lay there. Time felt strange. My body kept trying to heal itself the way werewolves naturally do. But without my wolf, the healing was slow. So painfully slow.

The bleeding wouldn't stop. The pain wouldn't fade. I was dying. I knew it. I could feel it. But something inside me refused to give up.

Some stubborn part of my soul that wouldn't let me die here, in the dirt, where Vivian wanted me to. I had to move. I couldn't stay here. With every ounce of strength I had left, I rolled onto my side. The world spun. My vision went black for several seconds. When it cleared, I was gasping for air, my whole body shaking. I pressed my hand against the wound in my stomach.

Blood seeped through my fingers, but I don't give up. I dragged myself forward, moving inch by inch.

My arms shook with the effort.

My stomach screamed in protest. Every movement felt like dying all over again. But I kept going.

 I began to head to the woods. Maybe I could hide there. Maybe I could find someone to help me. I didn't know. I just knew I couldn't stay here where Vivian could find me in the morning. 

The edge of the yard felt like it was miles away. My arms kept giving out. My vision kept going dark. But each time, I forced myself to keep moving. To drag myself forward just a little bit more. I left a trail of blood on the grass, a path leading from the house to the woods.

Evidence of my escape. But I couldn't do anything about it. I could barely move as it was. Finally, after what felt like hours, I reached the tree line. Darkness swallowed me as I pulled myself into the woods.

 The temperature dropped immediately. It was colder here, away from the house.  I dropped to my knees when my legs couldn't hold me any longer. The ground was rough. Roots and loose rocks dug into my body as I crawled. I heard water somewhere ahead.

The stream, my safe spot, the water called out to me soft and peaceful. Pushing as hard as I could, I crawled toward it.

My arms gave out twice. Each time, I had to lie there for several minutes, gathering strength, before I could move again.

 When I finally reached the stream, I collapsed on the bank. I wanted to scoop water but I couldn't go any further. My body was done. I had nothing left to give. The moon shone down on me, a full moon, strong yet soft. 

This is it, I thought as I looked up at it. This is where I die, alone in the woods. Just like Vivian wanted. The thought should have scared me, but I was so tired.

 Too tired to care.

The pain was starting to fade now, replaced by a strange numbness that spread through my body. It feels oddly good...like everything I have always wanted. Maybe death wouldn't be so bad. Maybe it would be kinder to me. Maybe I'd see my parents again.

Maybe they were waiting for me somewhere beyond this pain. My eyes started to close. Then I heard something. 

It sounded like footsteps. Heavy footsteps coming through the woods behind me.My eyes snapped open. Fear cut through the numbness I felt. 

Had Vivian changed her mind?

Had she come to make sure I was really dead? I tried to move, tried to drag myself away, but my body wouldn't respond.

MI was too weak. I could barely turn my head. The footsteps got closer. Louder. Crunching through dead leaves and broken branches.

Then I saw it. A wolf emerged from the shadows between the trees. But not just any wolf. This was something else entirely. It was massive. Larger than any wolf I'd ever seen in my life.

Its fur was pure black, so dark it seemed to absorb the moonlight around it.  

Fear shot through me, cold and sharp, cutting through everything else. The wolf stood at the edge of the trees, perfectly still, watching me where I lay broken and bleeding on the ground. 

This was my cue to run but I couldn't. I have no ounce of strength left in me. I could barely keep my eyes open. The wolf took a step forward. If I hadn't lost my wolf it would have been easier for me to fight back.

I lied to myself. "Please," I whispered, though I didn't even know what I was begging for anymore.

 The wolf moved closer.

MI could see its massive muscles rippling beneath its dark fur. Its paws were huge, easily bigger than my hands.  

This was a predator.

 A killer.

And I was a wounded prey lying helpless in its path.Fear gripped me completely now.

 The wolf towered over me staring down at me intently. This was how I would die. After everything I'd survived tonight, this was how i would die.

 The wolf let out a menacing growl and opened its powerful mouth, showing me its teeth. I draw in a breath and closed my eyes bracing myself for what would happen next.