FIVE

“Esmeray,” I heard my best friends voice before my eyes slowly started to flutter open. Nothing came into view first, just a white fog. So I made it to heaven? I felt a little excitement at the bottom of my stomach. My lips tried to form a smile, but it felt stiff. 

“Esmeray!” Ailana exclaimed with more excitement “She’s awake,” 

Did my best friend follow me to heaven? Ailana had an amazing life on earth, why did she die with me? I closed my eyes again and when I opened them the second time, her face came into view, and another unfamiliar face, and then a third face that made me gasp. I bolted upright, but Zayden’s strong arms held me back. 

“Slowly,” he hissed, annoyance quickly crossing his features. It took a few seconds before I recognized my surrounding, and I cursed silently. So I wasn’t in heaven after all. I’m in Ailana’s room. A drip is connected to my left hand and the nurse attending to me looked overly uncomfortable, her eyes kept darting to the door and back again as if expecting someone to barge in. 

My head drummed with pain, my body still had many cuts on them, but every shard of glass had been removed. My right thigh was bandaged, and I feel sore all over. 

I cringed from Zayden’s touch, my heart picking up an unrhythmic beat as fear gripped me. My eyes started to water immediately “Please, don’t hurt me. Please, I promise I’ll work for the damage I caused,” I shivered as memories of what happened started to return. Last I remember, I’d been thrown into the dungeons under the instruction of my mate, what was I doing in Ailana’s room? 

“He’s not going to hurt you,” Ailana sucked in a sharp breath before turning to glare at her brother “I’ll make sure of it,” 

“Can I leave now? The drip is almost exhausted and she is awake now,” The nurse asked, pulling all our attention to her. She looked scared, and if my guess is right, Ailana had forced her to come attend to me, because no member of the medical staff will treat me if it wasn’t an order from a higher rank, and even at that, it’ll never be in the pack hospital, which explained why I was in Ailana’s room. 

I understood why she was afraid. She’d lose her job if the main doctor or if the alpha finds out that she helped treat me. I was a slave, an outcast and a traitor. I didn’t deserve any form of mercy. Something clicked in my head again and I started to rise to my feet as another fear gripped my heart. Thankfully, Zayden did not try to hold me back and Ailana came to my aid, helping me sit up. 

If the alpha found me in his house… I flinched at the thought of what he’d do to me. I was forbidden from coming anywhere close to his abode. On many occasions, he’d even warned me to stay away from his daughter, and even though I tried, Ailana didn’t make it easy to stay away from her. 

“You mustn’t mention this to anybody,” she warned the nurse who nodded frantically “Leave,” 

The nurse bolted from Aila’s room with speed, banging the door loudly in her attempt to hurry out. Zayden put some gap between us, going to stand at the door the nurse had just fled. 

“She needs more rest,” he declared. 

“Since when do you care?” Ailana glared at him, and he smirked, leaning against the wall. 

“I don’t,” he says blankly “I only agreed to release her from her cell so she’d stay alive to face the consequences of her actions. She can’t die yet,” his words felt like needles piercing my skin. 

This is the one person that was supposed to love me, but he enjoyed watching me suffer. He’d go to any length to cause me pain for a crime I didn’t know the first thing about. 

I didn’t know my parents had any plans of dethroning the former alpha up until the fight started. A day before that day, my mom had wanted to take me and Leander to her sister in another pack, but my dad had insisted we hide with the others in the safe house. The safe house is where pack members that are not warriors hide whenever there’s an attack on the pack. I’d thought there were threats on our pack when I heard the exchange between my parents, but how could I have know that my parents were the attackers? 

In the few years I’d known them, I never heard my dad question the Alpha’s seat or say that he deserved it. It could have been the fact that I was not exactly close to him. He’d been Alpha Roman’s beta, but my mom was an omega. Leander was the one with beta blood, the only child he ever acknowledged. 

I wonder how things would have been if Leander had survived. One thing I know is that I’d not have allowed him live this kind of life. My life has no purpose, but it would have if Leander had stuck around. He’d been a smart little kid, taking after my dad in most things, but he’d never have been a traitor. I wish I’d died in his place. Why didn’t that bullet hit me? If Leander was alive, he’d have done better than I’m doing now. 

“You are unbelievable Zayden. How can you be so cruel? How can you lock her in a cell with several shards of glass in her skin? How can you even suggest she works to pay for breaking some useless plates? There’s hardly a day that something doesn’t get broken in that kitchen, but she has to pay for it and be punished too because she’s Esmeray?” Ailana barked at her elder brother who didn’t look fazed by her words. 

I just want to get out of this house before the alpha comes, if not, then I’ll die a real death by his hands. I’m not sure how long I have been here, and except the alpha and his Luna are not on pack lands at this time, which is very unlikely, chances are they’d be here any time soon. 

“She is a traitor. How can you even be friends with a traitor?” Zayden snorted, his words relaying his irritation. I’d rather not sit here and watch the siblings argue, or else I’d have bigger fish to fry. I started to pull the needle from my vein, careful not to injure myself. 

“She’s no traitor,” Ailana frowned “She’s my friend, and I don’t think that is something you’ll understand. Don’t you even have any conscience? This girl has had to suffer some terrible things in her life for crying out loud,” 

“You see, that’s the difference between me and you Aila,” Zayden says mockingly “You are soft, you are weak. It baffles me that you’ll even consider going up against me for my birthright. You are unfit to be alpha, a disgrace for associating with failure. Silver moon does not need a weak alpha. I’m the only one deserving of the seat. I’m the first born of the family. I’m not weak. I know how to dish out punishment to offenders. I’m not soft,” he glanced in my direction, the smirk still on his face. 

“You can’t even manage one woman for a week. How do you intend to lead a pack?” Ailana shot back. 

I felt a familiar knot at the bottom of my stomach at this particular topic. Ailana has no idea I’m mates with her brother or she’d never have brought it up. I’m not exactly proud that every girl has seen and tasted my mate’s cock in this pack. 

“It’s not my fault that I’m hot,” he shot back. 

“You are cheap, that’s what you are. You lack value and self-respect,” she hissed, turning back her attention to me. 

Zayden hissed, “You better get her out of here else I tell Dad you had her here all day,” he threatened. I started to panic, hurriedly making my way to the door with Ailana behind. I didn’t want to hear anymore, and I particularly did not want the alpha to meet me in his house or his daughter’s room. 

Remember when I said nothing ever worked for me? I’d meant it, which is why the Luna chose to return home earlier than usual, bumping into me on her way out. 

I gasped, moving to shield behind Ailana. 

“Mom,” Ailana smiled up at her mother. 

The Luna looked me over, but doesn’t say a word. She brushed past us, Zayden gloating and following behind her. 

Ailana escorted me out, and even when I tried telling her to go meet her mother, she shrugged it off. She escorted me till I got to my little cubicle and made sure I was well settled. But how could I rest knowing the Luna had seen me in her house? The alpha must have heard of it already, and I know the Luna hadn’t reacted on the spot because she has something deadly up her sleeves.