Chapter 8

Two of the warriors clamped my hands together and chained them, while my parents and the others watched without doing anything. There was no trace of pity or mercy in their eyes or expression. Instead, it exuded regret and disdain. My parents seemed to regret being my parents.

This made immeasurable pain course through me; from my heart, it spread to every part of my body. Nothing hurts more than the pain of rejection and hatred from the people you call your parents, especially when you never saw it coming. If anyone had ever told me a day like this would come, I would have called the person a blunt liar. 

"Walk faster!" I heard one of the warriors yell at me with a hot slap that made my skin burn in sharp pain. I tried soothing the pain with a palm-rub, but my hands were clasped together, making it impossible to do so and provoking the pain to hurt intensely. 

They pulled me like a slave, and I was swung into the empty cart so hard that my head hit hard on the wall, which was built with hard wood. I felt numb as more misery coursed through my body, causing it to shiver. I started to cry, but lost all strength as the door of the cart was shut, leaving me in the dark and quiet surroundings, except for the clanking of the chain binding my wrist. Everywhere was distant and cold. I felt what it meant to be abandoned by the people you loved.

My parents could have saved me, but their hatred for vampires blinded their eyes and hearts. They could have told them he escaped from my room and I couldn't hold him down. Instead, they gave me out, all because I saved him. 

They had also joined hands in hitting me.

Was this the parent that cared so much for me? They knew I might be killed, yet they never thought of a way to save me.

Slowly, I sat up, crying so hard as my lips quivered at the heavy thumping in my chest; my head wouldn't stop pounding and causing my eyes to hurt me intensely, especially with the hot tears searing their way down my cheeks.

My head leaned against the cart's wall, and the past came taunting me once more, causing me to screech in agony. In the blink of an eye, the future I planned for myself came shattering right in front of me. Just when I thought it was going in a better direction.

Having a nice and caring parent, finding my mate and having him show me attention and love. He had also promised to take me to the Royal Pack house to see his parents, the Alpha and Luna, to introduce me as his Luna. He promised to love and protect me forever.

I can vividly remember those words from Torian's lips. He said it that night when I visited him, before the sex. Right before he had his way into me, he promised me a lot, and I had no choice but to give him my body, which he devoured pleasurably.

Now, I am heading to the Royal Pack house, not like his Luna, but just like a slave who would be rejected by her mate. The most hurtful part was that I was passing through all this for a man who was already out of my life; out of the pack, far away from me. He would never come back to see me. He would forget I ever existed and find his mate who would love him happily with him. 

I was so dumb as to not think of this until it was too late.

Finally, the cart stopped, and my heart grew so heavy that I struggled to breathe. Every part of me trembled at the thought of what I would be facing inside there. 

"No, please. I don't want to be made a rogue or be killed; both would lead to my end. The other creature out there would hunt me down and devour me if I was banned and kicked out of the pack.

Just then, the door of the cart was opened, and I turned my gaze to the exit door, only to see those hateful glares of those warriors who seemed to resent me so deeply that I had wronged them in the past.

"What are you waiting for, you cheap whore?" One of them growled, with contempt and disgust vivid in his tone and the way he stared at me. 

"I'm not a whore!" I mumbled in irritation at his words as I crawled out with struggle since my hands were shackled, but someone gripped my hair that moment and yanked me out in such a way that I found myself falling heavily to the ground with my hair ripping in agonizing pain that made me cry out.

"Shut your mouth!" His voice rumbled into my ears, and every part of me melted as I realized it was Torian.

"Torian!!!" I shrieked, and he pulled me up to look into his face, which had a disdainful expression.

"I keep hating you each time I remember our past and the fact that I am your mate. You disgust me!" He spat, and I quivered at the strain, searing my head at his pull on my hair.

"Please…. Please, st…op" my voice cracked and trembled, but he seemed to hate me more as his grip tightened, soaring my pain.

"Torian, stop staining your hands by touching her filthy body, please," someone chipped in, and I cornered my eyeballs to see his new girlfriend standing at the side with her hands folded as she scowled at me.

"I can't wait to reject her!" He gritted and tugged me away so hard that I landed on my butt on the rough ground, sending a sharp pain through me as I felt a cut from a rock which was beneath me. I cried out again, coughing and panting as sweat covered my body and face, but no one cared about me as the guards pulled me roughly into the building while she laughed scornfully at me.

We got to the door of the Royal Palace, and my blood ran cold as I heard the angry voices inside. I wished the ground would open and swallow me so I wouldn't meet the torture and death coming, but instead of the ground swallowing me, the door was opened by one of the guards, and now I was faced with the deadly glares from everyone in there.

For the first time, I saw the Alpha, and it made my heart stop right inside my chest. He was such a huge and muscular man, with a scar on his face and tattoos on both arms. I couldn't deny the striking resemblance to Torian, who wasn't that way for his mother.

But then, his stare at me was so dangerous that I lost my ability to breath.

There were only three people sitting while the others were warriors: the Alpha, Luna, and the Beta without his mate.

At that moment, Torian also walked in with his girlfriend and they both took a chair beside the Alpha and Luna, sending their icy stares at me too.

"That's the bitch that saved the vampire!" He gritted, and I grimaced at him, wondering why he suddenly hated me so deeply. It was better if he only wanted me for sex; it was fine if he didn't like me for being nerdy and bookish, but what is it about this sudden resentment that makes him want my death?

"So it is all true?" I heard someone else growl from the side, and I turned to see that he was the Beta. From his scent, I knew who he was. It made me hate him, knowing he was the father of that lady who took Torian from me. I can't believe I still think of Torian when my life is at stake.

"She is the daughter of our best pack hunters, yet she decided to betray her pack! Hey, why did you do it?" The Luna asked with a deep frown.

"I don't know what came over me, he...."

"She is an obsessed freak, mom!" Torian chipped in, and I flicked my teary eyes at him.

"Why did you rescue him?" The Alpha finally spoke out with the coldest voice I had ever heard in my life, and it chilled me to the core, especially at the trace of suspicion I noticed in his expression.

Just then, my parents and other pack hunters were ushered in, and they all took positions on the empty chairs there, facing me like strangers. Not even my parents acted like they knew me.

"I thought he wasn't harmful. It was just out of pity; nothing else. " I cried, and he let out a brief chuckle, adjusting his robe. I saw the Beta also giggle evilly, and his daughter equally had a lopsided smile, which all made fear grip me.

"Call in the witch," the Alpha ordered, and my brows furrowed sharply at his statement as I peered at him confusedly.

"Why? Why call her a witch? " I asked immediately, and I saw the smirk on his face.

"You are scared the Alpha will find out the truth about why you saved that vampire, right?" Torian's new girlfriend spoke out to me, and I darted my gaze to her, squinting my eyes as I tried to understand what she was talking about.

"We are wiser than she thought. The witch will expose her secret! " As our gazes met, the Beta stated gruffly, gritting his teeth.

"I'm eager to find out why she saved the vampire!" My father chipped in, and I recalled that they were also there.

"You all are acting weird! I am wrong for saving him, but...

At just that moment, the witch stomped in, clad in a red and fetish gown with bare feet.

"You called for me, Alpha?" She bowed low, while I stared at them with a sneer.

"Check why she saved a vampire that was almost caught by our hunters. We know there must be something fishy." The Alpha stated, and she turned to me sharply, peering into my eyes like she was searching for something in there.

"It was only out of mercy and pity at how wounded he was," I murmured to the witch, but just then, she screamed in fear, moving back as if she had found something shocking in my face.

"What is it?" I questioned her alongside the others, who were also eager to hear her.

"Why?" Why would you do that? "she half-yelled at me, wagging her head.

"I've told you it was sheer pity. I, I, I...

"Shut up!" she shouted this time, panting as she turned to the Alpha and the others.

"The vampire she saved is the son of the vampire king! And she had saved him because he promised to help her kill Torian for breaking her heart and choosing another lady over her." The witch was announced, and everyone screamed in horror and rage, while I stared at her with my mouth wide open, wondering if she was joking, I also caught a glimpse of the satisfying smirk on the Beta's face and that of his daughter.