CHAPTER 2 - Cheated and Expelled

Lyra’s POV. Twilight was on the horizon, the smell of rain in the air. The diminishing light cast long shadows across the manicured lawn of Blake’s parents’ home. I slipped through them and up to the bay window. There, I caught sight of my father and Vivian engaged in a lively conversation with Blake's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Bishop. I hesitated on the porch steps, unwilling to interrupt their gathering, but desperate to see Blake. Tonight was my big night. I just knew I would change. I might even find out that Blake was my— No, I couldn't go there…thinking of Blake as my future mate. I didn't want to jinx myself. With a quick glance at the adults inside, I crouched low and traveled around to the back where Blake lived in his self-contained apartment over the garage. My fingers trembled on the railing of the outside stairs, betraying the mixture of nerves and excitement running through me. It had been weeks since we'd last spent time together, I wondered if things would be different between us. As I reached the top of the stairs, muffled sounds drifted from behind Blake's closed door. Moans. Gasps. The unmistakable creak of bed springs. My cheeks flushed hot as the implications sank in. I froze outside the door, part of me wanting to flee back down the stairs and pretend I hadn't heard anything. But the other part needed to know if my ears had deceived me. Before I could stop myself, I grabbed the doorknob and threw open the door. "Blake, what the he —" The words died on my lips at the sight before me. Blake and Viola… tangled naked in his sheets. Viola let out a sharp shriek and yanked the blankets over herself. "Lyra!" Blake scrambled off the bed, grabbing his jeans off the floor. "I can explain." Rage boiled inside me, piping hot. So great was my anger, I couldn’t speak. My younger sister— half of my flesh and blood— with the male who promised to be there for me. On tonight of all nights. How could they? Viola recovered first, her lip curling in a sneer. "Well, if it isn't little miss goody-goody, come to steal Blake away. Sorry sis, but he picked me." Her taunt cut through my shock. "You scheming witch!" I lunged for her, my right palm open and primed for a bitch slap. I got a good one in before Blake grabbed my arm, holding me back from further destruction. With satisfaction I noted the red palm print on my cheating half-sister’s pale face. "Lyra, stop! This isn't what you think." I wrenched my arm from his grip. "It is what I think! I'm not blind, Blake. I know what I saw." Hot tears stung my eyes. After everything we'd been through, he chose Viola over me. Viola, who had tormented me almost from the moment she and her mother stepped foot into my father’s home. Blake ran a hand through his tousled hair. "I didn't want this. The Alpha...he ordered me to be with Viola. For the good of the pack." I blinked, stunned. "What?" "It's true," Viola taunted, a smug smile playing on her lips as she stretched languidly. "Daddy's looking for powerful pups to lead our pack. And you, Lyra? You're too feeble. You can't even transform." Her words crashed into me like a resounding slap, the sting reverberating through my being. She spoke the undeniable truth - without the ability to shift into a wolf, I was deemed worthless in the eyes of Wolfsong. It was a fact known to all, myself included. How could Blake ever choose me when Viola could offer him everything? Color me foolish for harboring even the slightest glimmer of hope that he cared. Yet, despite my better judgment, I recoiled as if physically struck, Viola's cutting words piercing deep into my core. Useless. Weak. Those damning words sliced through my mind. Each repetition akin to a serrated blade piercing my heart. And as if to mirror the lowest point of my life thus far, thunder rumbled in the distance, the crack of it, sealing my downfall. Viola's smirk widened, her eyes glinting with cruel delight at my pain. Inside, something in my mind howled at the injustice. I wanted to roar and claw and tear, to prove her wrong. But I had no wolfskin to slip into. Only this fragile human flesh. "That's enough, Viola," Blake growled. "You've made your point." He turned to me. Regret carved on the features of his face. "Lyra, I—" I held up a hand, silencing him. I would not hear his excuses. Why should I when the truth glared bright and ruthless? I was not enough for him. Not enough for this pack that was supposed to be my family. Viola, now dressed in Blake's shirt, sauntered over to him, pressing against him possessively. "Face it, sis. You don't belong here. Why don't you just leave?" Voices reached me. Gasps of shock. Blake and Viola weren't the only witnesses to my humiliation. Both sets of parents had come to see it too. "Lyra?" Vivian's voice cut across the fabric of the night. "What are you doing here?" Viola suddenly grasped her cheek and slid to the floor howling. "Mama. Mama. She attacked me. She pulled my hair. Scratched my cheek. She said such awful things..." She then broke out into wretched sobs, her thin shoulders heaving. Blake, apparently wanting to choose the winning side, gave me a look of disgust and said, "I tried to hold her back, but you all know how freakishly strong she is." The parents all agreed, nodding to each other as Vivian pushed me roughly aside. Reaching the only child she loved, she snapped her dark eyes up at me in a venomous glare. "I want her gone, Mama." Viola begged, voice breaking. “Please, just make her go away." Vivian rose slowly to her feet. I knew what was coming. I had received a thousand of them before. Still the pain that exploded in my cheek shocked me with the viciousness of it. Rust and salt filled my mouth. My head swam from the force of it being knocked into the wall. With blood leaking from my lips, I looked up and saw my stepmother's dark eyes boring into me, full of accusation and contempt. "How dare you attack your sister? I always knew you were jealous of Viola, but this is a new low, even for you." I struggled to my feet, cowering against the door. I opened my mouth to defend myself, to explain it was all a lie, but no words came out. Vivian had already made up her mind. She would always take Viola's side over mine. Vivian went on, driving the knife deeper into my heart. "You were lucky to live with us despite your lack of abilities. But now you want to harm the future Luna of our pack? Get your shit and begone, Lyra Evergreen. As for me, the current Luna of Wolfsong, I hereby expel you. Consider yourself a rogue." My stepmother's words stung. I looked at my father. He coldly regarded me as if I were just a piece of unrelated rotten meat. "Today is my birthday, Daddy.” Happy birthday to me. He shook his head. His gray eyes flat and deadly. His jaw set in stone. "I curse this day as the day you killed your mother.” He went on, refusing to look at me as he said, "Vivian's right. You need to leave. Tonight." The rejection hit me like a boxer’s fist, his indifference more painful than any shout or slap. I was his daughter, yet he discarded me without a second thought, believing Viola's lies without even considering my truth. I blinked back hot tears, refusing to show weakness. "As you wish, Father," I said, my voice strained but steady. "I'll gather my things and go." "No," said Vivian with a growl, "I changed my mind. You may steal something from the house. Just go. Go with the filthy clothes on your back." My shoulders slumped as I turned to leave, Viola's smug smile taunting me. She had won this round, and succeeded in her petty mission to drive me out. But this wasn't over. One day I would become stronger and wiser… And I would show them how wrong they were about me. As heavy drops of rain fell from the dark skies, my blond hair became matted and plastered to my face. The small amount of makeup I had applied was now running down my cheeks in black streaks. With a heavy heart, I made my way down the stairs and into the woods, the familiar path blurred by the downpour. My tears mixed with the rain as I trudged forward, feeling lost and alone in this desolate world. The smell of wet earth and damp leaves filled my nostrils, adding to the melancholy atmosphere. As thunder rumbled in the distance, I couldn't help but weep for what had been lost, and what may never be found again.