Till death do us part

Chapter 5

“Sister.” She acknowledged with a sad smile.

For a moment I was at loss for words. Her big blue eyes were staring at me with warmth and guilt.

She looked tired and I could see dark circles around her eyes too. She’d obviously been crying but she hadn’t tried to hide the evidence like I had.

A confusing mix of emotions swirled around in my brain. Yes, I was definitely mad at her for endangering my marriage, but at the same time I felt a little sad for our pure relationship that had now been ruined.

After all, Lizzy never chose to be fated to James. No, I had the moon goddess to thank for that. Lizzy had simply reacted to her natural instincts and done what most women would do when meeting their fated mates.

And looking at her now, I could see that she obviously felt bad for her actions. So how could I blame her for something that was out of her control?

I still wanted to punch her though.

“I am so sorry sister.” Lizzy began. “I never ever meant to — I didn’t want to—- I’m so so sorry Avery.” She said, stumbling over her words, and repeating what James had already told me.

A girl I hadn’t even noticed standing beside her suddenly hissed. “Why are you the one apologizing Lizzy? You didn’t do anything wrong! She should be the one apologizing to you!”

Lizzy gasped. “That’s enough Alice! She’s my elder sister and our Luna. Show some respect!” Lizzy scolded her friend who was glaring daggers at me.

I blinked at the girl, finally acknowledging that she even existed. Usually I would force myself to be the perfect Luna. I was always polite to avoid any problems with the noblemen, but today I wasn't in the mood to be anybody's doormat. I already had enough shit on my plate.

“Excuse me? And what should I be apologizing for, if I may ask?” I retorted.

“You’re excused!” The girl named Alison snarled disrespectfully. “You should be apologizing for sending your little goons to harass your own sister! How could you send people to do this to her!” Alison grabbed Lizzy’s face and turned it to the side.

From that angle, I could see an angry bruise on her cheek. It looked really painful, and I felt my old sisterly instincts kick in.

“What?! Liz who did this to you?” I asked but it was her friend that replied.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know. You sent some peasants to throw stones at her and call her a home wrecker! I know you’re just a commoner but this is low, even for you!”

“That’s enough little girl!” I finally snapped. “I will not take another word of disrespect or insult from a lousy looking, over grown child like you. And if you value your tongue, I suggest you crawl back into whatever stinking hole they dug you up from before I lose my temper!” Good goddess! It felt so great to finally snap back at them.

Alison’s face turned bright red with shame and she stormed off looking like she was about to burst into tears at any second now. She clearly hadn’t expected me to retaliate.

I took a deep breath to regain my composure before turning my attention back to Lizzy to ask her what happened.

“Don’t worry about it Sister, It’s the least I deserve after what I did to you. I never ever wanted to hurt you, but the Alpha’s lust was too persistent. I told him to stop but he wouldn’t listen.” She cried.

Her words contradicted his, he said he was the one who told her to stop. But could I really believe him after he already broke so many of his vows to me? He probably just said that so I would be less angry at him.

Lizzy was still sobbing. “I didn’t even want to come here today. I didn’t know how to face you after what happened. But mother forced me. You know how she is. She won’t miss any opportunity to grab as much power as she can. That’s all she cares about.”

I could easily believe that. Unlike me who had two commoner parents, Lizzy had a powerful noblewoman as a mother. And any one who knows my step mother, knows that Mrs Susan would never hesitate to grab the smallest ounce of power she could lay her hands on, no matter the cost.

I bet she even threw a party when she found out her daughter was fated to the Alpha.

“I want you to know that I would have easily accepted his rejection if I could. But you know my about my weak heart. I have no choice in this.” Lizzy began to sob. “Do you hate me sister? I can totally understand if you do.” Her sobs grew louder, catching me off guard.

I was unnerved by her tears and I noticed that people were beginning to stare at us and whisper to each other.

"Please don't hate me Avery," She continued. "I already hate myself for this." Her cries grew even louder than before. "Fine! I'll die if you want! I'll accept his rejection and die if that's what you want. Just please don't hate me Sister."

This was bad. If I didn’t do something now, nasty rumors would begin to spread about how I was treating my sister. I hastily consoled Lizzy and ushered her back to her friends.

I honestly felt at loss for what to do next.

“I never liked that bitch.” A voice suddenly said beside me.

I turned around, surprised to find a tall dark haired beauty smoking beside me. I knew who she was. This was the one and only Lady Brianne. Daughter of the most elite noble man and wife to Ron-- my husband’s best friend and Gamma.

Brianne was a stunning beauty, but also the biggest snob I had ever seen. She was famous for her family name and the fact that she knew she was better than everyone. She spoke to no one lower than her, and even when I tried to be friendly, she coldly brushed me off.

So you can imagine my surprise that she was suddenly talking to me.

I looked around to see if she was talking to someone else, but there was no one else close enough to hear her.

“Sorry, I didn’t quite get that.” I admitted.

She looked at me then. “Your sister, I never ever liked her. I always thought she had this predatory look in her eye. Like she was hungry for something that she shouldn’t have, and it turns out I was right.” She said, before stumping out her cigarette on an ash tray nearby.

“I don’t think I understand what you’re saying Miss.” I replied.

Brianne smiled at me like she pitied me. “I think you do Luna. I think you just don’t want to admit it to yourself. She’s never going to let him go, not now, not even in death. Trust me I would know.”

I was curious now. “How do you know?”

“Ron had a fated mate,” she revealed. “He rejected her and chose me of course. But then she killed herself and Ron never forgave himself, or me for that.

In fact, he blames me in particular for her death, and when he gets drunk, which is quite often, he likes to take it out on me.”

My eyes widened in horror at what she was implying. “Take it out on you, how?” I asked.

Surprisingly, she started rolling up the sleeve of her shirt, and I gasped at the sight underneath.

There were multiple burn marks covering her arms, each one looking more ghastly than the last.

“Since we heal quickly, he prefers to burn me, the injury lasts longer that way. He doesn’t want me to ever forget for even a second that I made him choose between us.”

Then she rolled her sleeves back down. “I know most of you think I’m a snob for keeping to myself, but the truth is that I’m scared that everyone will see my scars and find out how much of a weakling I am.”

“That’s not true! He’s the true weakling! No real man would do that to a woman.” Again i wondered if James knew what his closest friends were doing to their wives. And if he did, did he ever try to stop them?

Brianne gave me that pitiful smile again. “Only you would be kind enough to say such a thing Luna. I wonder if your opinion will change when I’ve finally starts hitting you too.”

I started to protest that James would never do that but she cut me off.

“I heard you have a meeting with the elders of the Council soon.” She said and I nodded.

“Well let me give you a little piece of advice then. As soon as possible, let him go. Give him to her before its too late. No one, not even a Luna can ever come between two fated mates. It’s the will of the goddess.”

I shakily thanked her for her advice and quickly stumbled out of the house. Everything was becoming a little too much for me to take.

Soon it was 4pm and I made my way to the pack's hall where the meeting was going to hold.

James was already waiting for me at the door, and he beamed at me. His smile reminded me of how a puppy looked when its favourite person returned home, excited and happy, like I was the center of his world. It felt amazing to be looked at like that.

But then I wondered, ‘Did he also look at Lizzy like that?. Would he still look at me like that after he rejected Lizzy? or would he leave burn marks on my body too?’ The questions broke my heart.

James kissed my cheeks and asked how the picnic was.

“It was… insightful.” I replied honestly.

“Sounds lovely, are you ready to go in?” he asked and I nodded.

But suddenly, I smelt something wonderful. A delicious mix of Vanilla, chocolate and Lavender, all in one. It smelt divine.

I looked around, quickly scanning my surroundings for the source. That’s when I saw him.

To be more accurate, that’s when I saw the back of his head.

He was tall broad shouldered and fit. He was wearing a black suit and he had the darkest hair I had ever seen.

He was walking into the hall far ahead of us so I believed I just caught a whiff of his lingering perfume.

I was suddenly snapped back to reality when James took my arm and tucked it into his.

“Whatever happens, its me and you till death do us part right?” He asked and I smiled back at the beautiful man I had loved for 3 years.

“Till death do us part my love.” I replied with all sincerity.