Chapter 17: Lies and Vodka

Vanya popped her head out of her white cotton nightdress, jumped into bed, and pulled back the covers to tuck herself in. She sighed and looked up at the ceiling. Her core echoed with confusion, loneliness, and pain, which had become a familiar sensation for her. While the fact that Ares was her mate constantly jeopardized her position in the pack, she knew that having more mates would only make matters worse. Nonetheless, she was not desperate for a mate or for other mates. Unless the moon goddess was particularly kind to her, she was content with just one. However, if Moira was correct and having mates meant bringing in Lupus Deus, she would be forced to reject them. 
*I would have to reject Ares.*
Slowly, tears pricked her eyes.
Then there’s Randall. What was she going to do about him and the fact that he was engaging with a rotter? And should she tell Alpha Callum what she had seen? Could she betray the man who had given her a second chance at life?
As the tears silently began to fall down her cheeks, she asked herself this question, *You have no idea what’s going on with your life now, do you Vanya?*
Then her phone rang abruptly in the silence of her bedroom. Taking a quick glance to see who it was, she chose to ignore it.
*Oh, so now you suddenly decided to call?* With a huff, she answered but then quickly cancelled Ares’ call. It had become her way of telling Ares to leave her alone. 
She looked at the clock and noticed it was only past nine in the evening. She turned off the lights and closed her eyes, sniffing and pushing the heavy feelings aside. After a long day of scouting and all of her other duties, sleep came to her almost right away.
In the middle of her sleep, she was startled by a knock on the door. She rolled over in bed, groggily glancing at her clock as it chimed. 10:00 p.m.
*What the heck?* She tried to shut her eyes and ignore whoever was on the other side of the door, but when they didn't go away, she stumbled out of bed, turned on the light, and walked toward the door.
"What the hell, Selene?" she asked, half pissed as soon as she saw her sister outside the door. "What do you want?"
"They’re sending you away to The Capitol," Selene blurted out while catching her breath.
"What?!"
"You heard me, Vanya. You must leave the manor immediately."
"I'm not sure I understand what you're talking about. They're sending me away, but I have to leave now?" She wondered aloud, slightly perplexed. "Where in the world should I go?"
"Go exactly where you want to go! You told me before you hate The Capitol. Remember?" Selene said in a rush in an effort to get Vanya out of there as quickly as possible.
"Well, I didn’t really say I *hate* The Capitol. It's just that I prefer to live here rather than there with those royal asses."
"Exactly my point!"
"No, I don’t－"
"Which is why you have to leave now." Selene shoved Vanya aside and entered the room. "I will help you pack."
"Wa-wait! Wait a minute," Vanya stepped in front of her when she was about to walk to the closet, "I don’t think I’m prepared to pack and leave now. I can’t just leave."
"Why not?"
"Because I’ve nowhere to go. And I'm completely confused right now. Why don't you tell me what the hell is going on first? Why are they sending me to The Capitol? And who told you?"
"Oh! Vanya, I’m sorry if this whole thing is very confusing to you," Selene said, though not really apologetically. "But we might not have any time left."
"Well, I’m not leaving."
"I’m trying to help you here, Vanya. We may disagree on some things, but I care about you."
"And I truly appreciate it, Selene. But I don't want to make any hasty decisions right now. Let's take a seat and you can enlighten me. Can you do that first before packing my stuff for me?" she asked.
Selene shook her head slowly and Vanya couldn't help but faintly smile as she walked alongside her sister to the loveseat. It was obvious to her that Selene's desire for her to leave the pack outweighed her desire to help her.
"All right, now tell me everything," she said as she sat down next to her sister.
Selene sighed and bit her lower lip before saying, "It was dad who told me and mom."
"What exactly did he tell you? I don't want you to leave anything out. Tell me everything he said to you and mom." Vanya’s heart was beginning to pound so loudly in her chest that she was certain Selene could hear it.
"Alpha Callum has asked Lachlan to take you to The Capitol to serve Lady Katarina as one of her ladies-in-waiting. . . for the rest of your life," Selene told her. Her expression was calm, but she was intrigued by Vanya's response.
"What?" Vanya whispered? She suddenly looked so lost and even betrayed. "Why?"
Selene shrugged. "Isn’t it obvious?"
She stared at her for a moment before shaking her head in disbelief. "No. I don’t understand."
*Because you are Ares’ mate*! She wanted to scream at herself.
"Vanya, you’re human. You might have trained well and may be able to shift, but you are still a human."
*A fake silk.*
"I couldn’t believe it myself at first," her sister wen on. "I mean, I've known Alpha Callum to be a compassionate and just leader. But you must understand, Vanya, that what he is doing right now is clearly for the good of the pack," she tried to explain.
"Good of the pack?!" Vanya instantly shot from her seat. "What good would it do to send me to The Capitol? That's bullcrap, Selene!!"
"Calm down. Haven’t you known that your presence has caused quite a stir among the western packs?"
Her eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"
"Sit down first."
She sat back down quickly, staring at her sister.
"I'm sure you're aware that the western and eastern packs aren't particularly fond of each other. The fact that Alpha Callum allowed dad to turn you has made the other packs in the west a little unhappy. We're just lucky that the Black Hollows pack is the largest and controls the majority of the western territories," Selene explained to her, smiling.
She exhaled a sigh. "Things are absolutely not making any sense right now."
"It all makes sense, Vanya. They see Alpha Callum's decision to allow dad to turn you as a weakness. They see *you* as a weakness." Her sister moved closer to her and held her hand. "That is why, Alpha Callum has decided to send you away. As the pack's leader, he must make that difficult decision. He can't afford for the other packs to turn on us. No matter how big we are, he must keep the peace. I’m sorry, sister."
"Fuck this!" She abruptly stood up. "Wait here."
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to ask Ares if he's aware."
Selene rushed toward her. "Oh, please, don't waste your time."
"Why?"
"Well..." she cleared her throat, continuing, "He knows."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes! He was present when Alpha Callum assigned Lachlan to take you to The Capitol. Come one, dear sister. He is, after all, his general. How could he not know?"
Vanya was startled and found herself unable to move. It was only now that it all made sense to her. It had to be about her transfer to The Capitol when Ares called her. Selene was right.
"Please take a seat. I know it's a lot to take in," Selene gently guided her back to the chair, where she sat reluctantly.
She remained silent for a long time, her eyes wide with shock, or rather, confusion and betrayal. Her mind screamed that it couldn't be true, that it was all a dream. Her gaze met Selene's, and she wanted to get into her thoughts to be certain, but when she saw her sister's eyes clouded with tears, she knew she was telling her the whole truth.
She had never seen Selene shed a tear before.
Her face went blank; she couldn't show Selene how distraught she was. It hurt. She felt betrayed, and she couldn't, wouldn't say it, but her heart was broken, shattered into tiny pieces. The pack was her only home now, and Ares was her mate, and no matter how much Alpha Callum had resisted her fate with his own son, she had never lost her respect for him.
That is, until now.
"They want me to leave and become Lady Katarina's lady-in-waiting. After all I have done for the pack. I worked very hard to become what I am now. I wouldn't be a damn good hunter unless I worked twice as hard as the natural bornshifters." She bit her lower lip, fighting back a new wave of tears that threatened to spill from her eyes.
"I’m so sorry, Vanya. I know I haven't always been the best sister to you, but... I've grown to love pissing you off." Selene spoke in a sad tone, but her lips twitched with amusement. "I'll miss you terribly."
Vanya returned her smile for a brief moment. "It’s so unfair."
"I know and I completely understand. I mean, I want Cassian or Ares for myself, but it appears that the moon goddess has other plans."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I like them both, but they're obviously not my mates, or I would have felt it. So, it’s easy to say that they are mated to other lycans. It's unfair."
"Hmmmm…" was all Vanya said before swallowing an imaginary lump in her throat. "When did Dad say Lachlan was going to take me to The Capitol?"
"Over the weekend. Let me know if you need anything. Okay? I really mean it." Selene walked to the door and just as her hand reached for the knob, Vanya softly called her. She turned around, a puzzled expression on her face.
"We’ve never really had drinks before."
"What do you have in mind?" she asked.
"Vodka?" Vanya replied.
"I don’t really drink, but you know what? I will tonight. For you, my dear sister."