Xira POV
My legs felt like they didn't belong to me. Standing beside my mates filled me with a dread and I knew without a doubt that bad days lay ahead.
The sanctuary doors loomed, looking like a path to freedom. For a slight second I imagined running through those doors, escaping.
Once again, the sight of Axel's head, lifeless and displayed, jumped back behind my eyelids.
That would probably be my fate when they caught me.
I shuddered at the horror which waited for me and for a second a part of me envied Axel. At least his ordeal was over, mine was just beginning.
When I dared to look up, I found the stately man and the priest talking to each other in hushed tones, their heads bent together.
Then the stately man saw us, he gestured towards me.
"Xira," The priest said, a faint, almost imperceptible smile on his lips. "This is Lord Aster. He oversaw the transfer of power."
My gaze slid from Lord Aster to my father. Edmund Varleen. The former Alpha. He came towards me but Elias immediately stepped before him.
"What do you want with my mate." Elias demanded.
Despite the confusion of the rituals and everything, I felt my heart leap at the way he said "My" so possessively.
No one had ever referred to me as My anything.
"So I won't be allowed to speak with my beloved daughter before you take her away to be tortured?" My father cried.
I stared at him in amazement. Since when had I been beloved? It felt like my father had been possessed by some spirit because the way he was acting was very strange.
"Please allow the father speak to his daughter one last time." Lord Aster implored on behalf of my father.
For a moment it looked like Elias was not going to listen but then he walked out of the room along with Lord Aster and the priest.
As soon as the door closed, my father's tears dried up, disappearing like the fatherly concern he had just shown me.
"Now you might be of some use to me at last." He glared at me like I was the reason we were in the position we stood in.
"The only way I can gain back my place as Alpha is if I am guardian of your fatherless sons."
My brow furrowed in confusion.
When did I have sons and why were they fatherless?
"I need you to get pregnant soon for the Alphas." He ordered. "Soon as you are with child, they will die."
I stared at him, revulsion seizing my breath.
He wanted to sell me just so that he could gain power.
He must have seen Axel's head when he came in. Yet, he wanted me to have children for me who could do that.
I opened my mouth, ready to ask him if the twins looked like fools who would bed their enemy's daughter and get her pregnant but I sensed this was not the time to air my views.
I felt choked by anger and I found myself shaking.
"So," I said, my own voice sounding alien and cold to my ears. "This is what you traded your life for. My life."
My father's head snapped up and all the calculation left his eyes. In its place was disgust.
In a move as fast as lightning, I felt a blow to my middle and I doubled over in pain.
His new mode of communication was going to cause me to have a hunch.
"How dare you question me." He spat. "You seem to forget what you are..."
"You are a whore mutt who is only good for rogues." My father continued, and my blood ran cold. "A disappointment."
"A whore mutt?" I whispered, the words tasting like poison.
"Yes!" He roared, his frustration finally breaking through. "You reek of their scent because you are nothing." He gestured wildly at the twins. "Why do you think you were a suitable offering? A purebred she-wolf of Stormfang would have been an insult. But you... you are nothing. A dirty half-breed, already stained. It was easy for me to part with you. You should have been born a son."
The floor fell away. The world went silent, except for a high-pitched ringing in my ears.
Now, here was the core of his issue.
Instead of a strong Alpha son who would help him along his conquests, all he got was a daughter.
A weak, cursed child.
My mind flashed back to all the times I had been taunted for my lack of a scent.
Blamed for every problem under the sun.
"You better do as you are told, if not!" He threatened quietly, "The blood of the entire pack will be on your hands."
Then, the door went open with a creek.
Father grabbed me into a hug then whispered into my ear, sending my heart racing.
"We need to get rid of them, or else everyone will suffer. Only you can do this."
"It is time to leave, Edmund." Lord Aster said smoothly, as if he were simply concluding a business meeting. My father didn't look at me again.
Elias loomed at my side while Luther watched me with cold calculation.
"Come" Luther said, the first words he had spoken to me directly. His voice was a low rumble, devoid of emotion.
I didn't move. I couldn't. My limbs were frozen, locked in place by a terror so profound it was paralyzing.
A sigh of exasperation. Then, rough hands grabbed me, hauling me to my feet. My head swam.
I didn't struggle as Elias propelled me out of the sanctuary and into the main hall.
The few pack members still lingering scattered before us, their heads bowed, their eyes averted.
They saw me.
They saw my white dress, the badge of my betrayal.
They saw the scent of the twins clinging to me, the mark of their ownership.
And they saw what they thought was the truth.
Whispers began, slithering through the hall like snakes.
"Look, It's the curse."
"I thought she would be killed."
"Mated to the twins."
"Always knew she was a whore who would betray her pack first chance she got."
I was a ghost in my own home, a spectacle of shame. They led me down a familiar hallway, the one that led to the Alpha's quarters. My father's old rooms.
My stomach dropped as we approached the room and I could feel my knees weakening at the thought of what would happen to me behind those doors.
I was flung into the room by Elias, and I ended on my belly, on the floor.
I scrambled up to my knees and watched nervously as Elias walked towards me and caressed my cheek, causing my nose to flare.
Their presence around me was raising conflicting feelings of disgust and want. One minute I wanted to breathe them in and the second moment I was reminded of the type of monsters they were.
The type who would not hesitate to tear me apart for fun.
"Take off your clothes." He said, his voice stern and cruel and I gulped.
I took a cautious step back, shivering like a wet dog at the thought of what they would do to me.
From the corner of my eye, I watched as Luther poured a drink and then sat down to watch Elias and I.
"Get On your feet and get everything off!" Elias roared.
This time I did what he asked without hesitation.
The room was cool, yet I found I was sweating heavily.
A huge lump gathered in my throat while I fought to keep the tears in my eyes from rolling down.
I would not give them the pleasure of hurting me.