It was silent in the woods, as Steve and Maddie stared at Ellie, puzzled to see the outsider here, when she should’ve gone hunting for food.
“Ellie. To what do we owe the pleasure of seeing you here?” Maddie asked in a sickeningly sweet tone.
“Don’t bother playing nice,” Ellie said with a light sneer. “I heard everything. Not just from you two, but mom and dad- No… Lila and Aiden, too! All this time, despite everything I did for you all, you guys just used me! I know you hate me, Maddie, but everyone else, too?! Even you, Steve?!”
Maddie became livid by how this werewolf was acting, especially towards her lover. “Hey! He doesn’t have to take your attitude!”
Ellie turned her attention to her ‘sister’ in rage. “On the contrary, after everything we’ve been through? Not to mention the fact that we are mates! I deserve answers! Do you have any idea how high a treason this is for a werewolf! Steve, how long have you been with Maddie behind my back?!”
Rather than be flustered by the question or by how Ellie was acting, Steve scoffed at her. “’How long I’ve been with her behind your back’? More like ‘how long have I been with her at all’,” he began, to his mate’s confusion. “You think I was with Maddie after our bond as mates awakened? That’s far from true. I’ve been with her long before you came of age. Then you became old enough, and I was practically forced to live out my life with you. A werewolf who I did not want to be with, and initially felt nothing for. Thankfully, your parents already found a way to help free me from this ‘curse’. Well… Their reason for doing it was different, but it still helped me all the same. As much of a pain as it was to continue pretending to be your ‘beloved’ mate, if it meant being with the werewolf I really love, all those years of enduring the forced reaction was worth it.”
Ellie could not believe what she was hearing. It was common knowledge that a werewolf would remain with the mate they were destined to be with. Though it was possible for them to fall for another, it was only for as long as they were not with their destined other. But Steve? He clung to his feelings for Maddie… while having his bond with Ellie? All this time, he was pretending to be a loving werewolf to his own mate! She trusted and loved him with all her heart… But as it turns out, he never felt the same for her… Such a confession fully opened her eyes, her mind was now made up.
“What we had may have been something that was decided by the Moon Goddess, but I really did love you,” she began. “You, on the other hand… It’s one thing to reject what was already decided, but to cheat on me behind my back regardless? You’re no proud werewolf for doing that! And if you think I’m going to participate in the remaining rites and complete the swap, you have another thing coming! I will not be used as some puppet… Never again! If the swap gets complete from doing the rite, then ceasing further participation reverses the progress, doesn’t it? Once my wolf is back, don’t expect us to be together again.” Without another word, Ellie turned around to leave.
“And where do you think you’re going?!” Maddie questioned.
“You were the ones who made it clear how much of an eyesore I am. I’ll do you the favor of leaving.” As soon as Ellie answered, she began to walk away.
Before she could get far, however, she sensed something approaching and quickly leapt to the side, narrowly avoiding a strike from Maddie. Taking a good distance from her ‘sister’, Ellie was shocked to see a crater formed where she once was.
“You’re not going anywhere. Not until our wolves are swapped!” Maddie exclaimed, rushing at her with her other arm pulled back.
Ellie managed to avoid another strike from her, which left a small scratch on her face, and quickly moved away from her assailant once more. Once she retained a good distance, Ellie brought her hand up to her cheek and was shocked to feel it bleeding.
‘Maddie… She hit me?!’ Ellie gasped. Of the many times they had sparred before, Maddie never even managed to touch a single hair on Ellie’s head. She may have overheard the part about her ‘sister’ holding back on her, but she didn’t think it was true, much less to this extent!
Maddie clicked her tongue when she saw the scratch she inflicted. “Looks like you still have some fight in you. Even though you’ve been doing that rite for almost three years. I thought you would’ve been a lot weaker by now. Really goes to show how strong your wolf really is. A wolf… that rightfully belongs to an Alpha heiress.”
Ellie sent a glare at those words. “A werewolf is born with the wolf the Luna Goddess gifted them! You know that!”
“True. But even a goddess can make a mistake. The Wolf Swap Rite corrects that mistake. That being said, we can’t have you leave with my wolf!” Maddie resumed her assault on Ellie, who continued to struggle in avoiding her strikes while trying to find an opening to counter attack.
As the one-sided assault continued on, Ellie’s shock with the situation rose. For her to struggle against Maddie to this extent? To not find any chance to strike back? It was just unreal to her! Was this because of the Wolf Swap Rite?!
‘If I’m having this much trouble just avoiding her, I don’t think I can last in an actual fight,’ she thought. ‘I have to get out of here!’
Unfortunately, the moment she thought that, Ellie tripped on a pebble and fell to the ground.
“You’re mine!” Ellie looked up and saw Maddie coming at her with a fist pulled back.
The downed werewolf thought fast and grabbed a fist full of dirt off the ground below her, tossing it at her adopted sister’s face. The assailant slid to a halt as the soil got in her eyes, in which she frantically tried to rub out in stinging pain.
“Now’s my chance!” Ellie muttered to herself, shooting up to her feet and attempt to make her escape.
With how much she was focused on avoiding Maddie’s attacks, however, she completely forgot about Steve, who came up from behind and slammed his fists down on her head. Though the attack knocked her down, she was far from out, as she glared up at her ‘mate’.
“Hmph. Should’ve known it would still take more than that to take you down, if you could still avoid Maddie’s strikes,” he said.
Ellie thought it hurt to hear his true feelings towards her, and even witness his betrayal. But getting attacked by her own mate? That hurt on a whole other level.
Eyes scrunched up in rage, she shot up and swung a hand at Steve, in which the male werewolf caught in his hand. He then tightened his hold in a vice grip, slowly crushing her hand, causing Ellie to fall to her knees and let out a cry.
“Oh, don’t worry. I won’t kill you. Just going to bring you home. After I make you pay for what you did to my real mate,” Steve said, much to Ellie’s disbelief. Did this werewolf… truly feel nothing at all for her?
Biting down the hurt she was feeling from their bond, the female werewolf spat out a good amount of saliva at her mate. The spit got him in the eye, disgusting him as he released his hold on her in favor for clearing his eye.
“Aah! Did you really just do that?! That was nasty!” he gasped, desperately wiping the saliva out of his eye as best as he could.
Caressing her hand, Ellie glanced at Maddie and Steve, both whom were still recovering from her dirty tricks. She did not waste another second and hastily ran away from the pair.
A long time of running later, Ellie felt herself get tired and, upon seeing no one coming after her, stopped right by a large, thick tree.“Looks like I lost them,” she muttered. “But… now what do I do…?”Ellie knew it was only a matter of time until Maddie and her family gather up some werewolves to search for her, force her back home and complete the rite. Should that happen, her escape would be for nothing. She could try to fight back, but with how weakened she got because of the Wolf Swap Rite, if what Maddie said was true, there was no way she could hold them off like she used to.“Why is this happening…?” she wondered aloud. “What did I ever do to deserve this? Mom… Dad… Why did you abandon me in the woods if this was going to happen…?”Overwhelmed by the events leading to her situation, Ellie could only silently cry.Minutes into her crying, Ellie heard something from deeper into the forest, catching her attention, and ceasing her tears. “Hello? Is someone there?” she called.N
Once Ellie was brought back to the pack… everything changed. For one thing, her pack mates- her friends- or whom she once viewed them to be, all turned on her. Called her traitor to her own kind. Some even tossed scraps and rotten fruits at her. To say she was baffled by the sudden treatment would be an understatement. She couldn’t believe the people she once got along with all turned on her so easily. Worse off, she heard claims and whispers about how it was expected of her… as a stray werewolf.It was not just their treatment towards her that changed; unlike before when they usually treat Maddie as though she did not exist, the pack treated her with a lot of respect. The very same respect… that they gave to Ellie. From the way Maddie accepted their sudden change, as though it was something extremely natural… Ellie could tell… Even the whole pack was in on this act. They never really cared about her; they only cared about Maddie! The thought and realization of that hurt so much… Elli
The full moon shined throughout the darkness. On this supposed lovely night, a bound Ellie was getting dragged to the plaza for the last rite. Apparently, since it was such a big event to happen, Lila and Aiden decided to make this public, so everyone in the pack can formally welcome their future Alpha as the Alpha she was meant to be.It truly left a bitter taste in her mouth, though… All those looks of expectations, the joyful expressions she was seeing on these werewolves? Before the rite, before she found out the true intentions behind it, they used to be directed to her, making her feel proud to be a werewolf of this pack, and wanting to live up to many expectations.Tonight? Not even a glance came her way. No… All this attention was for none other than Maddie, who was especially giddy with what will happen next.‘I hope she gets what’s coming to her soon. Her, and everyone else,’ Ellie thought, as she got tossed onto a familiar circle next to Maddie.“Brothers and sisters of the
“Maddie! Maddie, what happened to you?!” Steve was the first to act, as he rushed to Maddie’s side once more, holding the girl close to him. “S-… Something… hurts…” she spoke in a strained voice. “My chest… My heart…” As soon as those two words left her lips, a thought crossed her mind, as Maddie glanced at Ellie. Like her, she saw her now-worthless sister was also experiencing some kind of pain in her chest, only she was toughing it all out. Not that that mattered; what mattered most was the fact that the pair seemed to be experiencing the same pain, at the same time. ‘Don’t tell me…!’ Maddie grew enraged when another thought came to her mind. “It was you… wasn’t it…?” she began. “As some last ditch effort to get back at me for taking what was rightfully mine… You casted some kind of curse on me, didn’t you?!” Ellie- fighting through the pain still- was baffled by the accusations. “Excuse me…? What are you talking about? I don’t know any sort of witchcraft, unlike you,” she mana
“That’s Alpha William!”Ellie- fighting against the wave of exhaustion the moment she was saved from her execution- widened her eyes when she heard who her savior was. He who was none other than that injured, delusional werewolf she found in the woods. Well… She wasn’t sure if she could call him her savior now. Not if he’s really that Alpha William of the Devorare Pack.The Devorare Pack is a pack consisting of the most vicious werewolves ever known. Any living being said to enter their sight will die in the most gruesome manner, be they prey, werewolf, or otherwise. Why, even the omega werewolves- normally incapable of combat and rather spend their days fooling around- can hold their own against other non-omegas, or so rumors say. And out of everyone in that pack, their Alpha is especially the most dangerous. He who is said to be most especially brutal and cruel to his enemies.While she knew exactly who Alpha William and his pack were, Maddie was purely clueless, if her confused exp
With the greetings done, Jen brought his attention to Ellie. “Alpha. This werewolf…”“Call her our guest. For now,” William simply said, his tone stating no further talk about the topic. Though his tone brought more worries to Ellie about her situation, Jen bowed in respect.“Yes, Alpha. Ah. About the werewolf who brought that group of intruders into our home…”The moment the Beta changed the topic, Ellie could sense the air around William grow heavy, sending a horrible chill through her bones.“I assume you have them hostage?” the Alpha questioned.“Why yes, Alpha. In fact, because we had sensed you coming earlier…” Jen looked past the crowd behind him, where a pair of werewolves brought over a heavily injured, scrawny teenage werewolf towards them. The scrawny boy struggled to get out of his captor’s grip, only for his efforts to be in vain, for neither one of them budged an inch. One of the ‘guides’ tossed the captive werewolf down, before their leader.William knelt to the downed
Ellie was left utterly speechless by the words that came out of William’s mouth. Did she hear him right?!“You brought me here… just so you could have an heir?!” she questioned.“Or a heiress. So long as the pup is strong,” he practically confirmed, much to her increasing bafflement.“No! You might as well have left me for dead back there! What makes you think I would ever agree to this?!”“How about the fact that I am offering you a place to stay?” Ellie looked on in slight puzzlement at the offer. “You’re a smart werewolf. I’m sure you know that no pack would ever take in a stray like you. Much less a stray with two scents. Even if you do leave, there is nowhere for you to go.”The female werewolf gritted her teeth when he pointed that out. While she was not sure about her having two scents, she was well aware that there was not a single pack sane enough to take in a lone werewolf like her, at the very least. However, that was more of a reason to just let her die back there!“You th
“He is also my lover.”Ellie felt the world stop at those words- the confirmation of her suspicions- as a wave of emotions rushed through her, mainly hurt and disgust. While she did not know why she felt hurt by those words, she knew she was disgusted. Not that she was seeing a real same-gender couple, but more that one half of that couple thought she would be okay in baring his child while he was in that sort of relationship! What in the world was he taking her for?!“If you already have a lover… why bring me here? Calling me your mate?” she unknowingly asked.While Jen seemed a bit surprised by the questions, William bluntly answered, “I believe I already told you why. Unless if your hearing is even worse than an Omega’s. I need an heir slash heiress. A next-in-line for the Alpha position with my blood. Someone I can trust to lead the future generation of the pack. As much as I love Jen, sadly, we are both men. We cannot have a pup.”“The harsh truth of reality…” the Beta sighed in