Chapter 4 Harsh reality!

Valeria's POV

"No... I did it for my sister," I said softly, my eyes closing as the pain surged through me. It wasn't the kind of violation people expect-but in his own way, he still forced me. He cornered me, left me no choice. Yes, I walked into that room on my own... but only after I begged him-again and again-not to choose Summer. I even got down on my knees and pleaded with him.

She wasn't even eighteen yet-still a minor. My mother would die from her heart condition. In that moment of desperation, I offered myself as tribute, even if it meant a life of slavery-something worse than death. But he just looked at me with mockery and made that disgusting proposition.

He told me that if anyone had to be the Alpha King's whore, it might as well be me. From the very moment he set his twisted, fixated gaze on me, that had been his intention. He exploited my desperation for his own gain.

Declan glared at me, his words sharp and accusatory.

"You could've waited for me, Vale. We could've figured something out together. I would've begged the Alpha to spare her," he said, his voice thick with frustration. "But no, you chose the easy way out-spread your legs for the Alpha, like it was nothing! Do you have any idea what you've done to me? I'll be a joke to the entire pack!"

"Easy?" My voice broke, the pain of his words slicing through me. I couldn't hold back the tears any longer. "How dare you say it's easy? Do you have any clue what I've endured these past few days?" I screamed, my heart shattering with every breath.

"I didn't know you'd come back so soon. I asked around, but no one could tell me where to find you. They were taking her tomorrow! If you had been here, I would never have fallen into the Alpha's trap!"

"Oh, so now it's my fault? That you acted like a cheap whore-is that on me too?" he barked, pacing like a caged animal.

"What was I supposed to do then?!" I cried, wiping my face furiously. "Let them take her as a slave to a tyrant? Tear her from the pack and possibly die in months? Let my mother die from the grief? I'm her older sister!"

"Valeria..." he muttered, shaking his head with contempt. "Sometimes I wonder if you're really that pure and noble-or just plain stupid."

He looked at me like I was a stranger. His eyes-once warm-were now filled with disgust. "You're the only one who thinks you have a sister and mother. That delusion exists only in your childish, abandoned orphan mind."

"You're so desperate for affection, so eager to belong, that you blindly please the woman who never loved you."

"She uses your weakness-your need to be accepted-to manipulate you. And you fall for it every time."

"You're a fool to defend a sister who only envies and resents you. You're pathetic. How could I have ever loved someone like you?"

I stared at him, stunned, unable to believe the cruelty in his words. There wasn't even a trace of the affection he once had for me.

"No... no, you're wrong. They are my family. They took me in when no one else wanted me," I whispered. "I know I messed up. I know I gave in to the Alpha. But I fell into his trap-I swear I didn't want this."

I stepped toward him, begging, sobbing, trying to fix everything my choices had shattered.

"I'll do anything if you'll forgive me. I'm in love with you after Zarek. You don't know how hard I prayed for you to come back, how desperate I was."

But Declan pulled back, avoiding even the brush of my fingers. The way he looked at me made me want to shrink into myself and disappear.

"Don't even think I'd pick up what someone else already used and even on my own pack. It's repulsive to even look at you."

Silence fell between us-sharp and suffocating. In my mind, I could only hear the heart-wrenching howls of my wolf, wounded by her mate's rejection.

"It's okay," I whispered brokenly. "I understand. I have no one to blame but myself. I failed you."

"You can dissolve the bond-even if it shatters my heart, I'll accept it. I'll set you free to live your life however you want."

"I'll bathe in strong-scented leaves. Tomorrow, no one will know I carried the Alpha's scent. No one will know I was ever with him."

"No one in the pack needs to know I'm your mate. I'll take it to my grave. No one will point fingers at you because of me," I said, my voice trembling.

"But I'll know," he growled. "And that's enough. Every time I see the Alpha-or you-I'll remember your betrayal. Any love I had for you has turned into disgust and resentment. So don't ever come near me again."

"If you see me-walk the other way. And if you can't-then lower your head. I never want to see your filthy eyes looking at me again."

He spat beside my bare feet.

I didn't lift my head. I didn't beg. I just stood there, frozen, listening to his footsteps as he walked away.

I didn't cry anymore. I was in too much shock. I'd lost too much today.

The guilt was unbearable.

All the maybes haunted my thoughts.

Maybe if I had waited a little longer.

Maybe if my family had agreed to flee like I suggested.

Maybe if I hadn't succumbed to the Alpha's blackmail.

Maybe if I'd had real parents from the start and wasn't just an orphan...

But this was reality now. And I had to face the consequences of my own choices.

***

Smack!

A harsh slap landed on my already bruised face.

"I don't know how I could trust something so important to an idiot like you," my mother hissed through clenched teeth, seething with hatred.

I had braced myself for this. From the moment I stepped into the house, I knew she'd be furious that I didn't achieve anything with the Alpha. After my father's death, her attitude toward me completely shifted. At times, I found myself wondering if she was even the same person.

"Mother, I did everything I could," I murmured, touching my stinging cheek, head bowed.

Always bowing. Always submitting. Always trying to please.

"Everything you could? You did nothing! I should've known better. Why did I ever think you'd save your sister when you've always been jealous of her?"

"Now that they're taking her, you must be thrilled, right? This is what you wanted, isn't it?" She shoved me, and I lifted my head in disbelief.

"How can you say that? You have no idea what I had to do for Summer. No idea..." My voice cracked as I fought back tears. "I gave up half of my soul-for nothing."

"Oh, here we go. Saint Valeria. Save your pathetic tears. They only ever worked on my husband."

"What did you even have to do? Just spread your legs for the Alpha. And apparently, you weren't even good at that, you idiot."

"You... knew?" I took a step back, horrified. My small room suddenly felt too small.

All this time, I'd hidden the Alpha's harassment to protect her, ever since my father died. I ran home, bathed in strong-scented leaves so she wouldn't notice... to protect her heart.

But she knew. And still, she sent me to him.

"Of course I knew. What, you thought I was as naive and prudish as you?"

"Oh, please. Don't look at me with that pitiful expression," she scoffed, her green eyes cold and sharp-the eyes of the woman I'd called mother, loved as a daughter.

"You want sacrifice? I sacrificed when my husband brought home an abandoned orphan and told me to raise her like my own."

"I gave you food, shelter, a place in this pack. So whatever you have to do for this family, you'll do it-without complaints. It's your obligation. Your payment for our generosity."

"You failed on purpose, didn't you? Well, you're going to fix it. Even if you have to sleep with that Alpha a thousand times, you will make sure they don't take my daughter."

"Or I'll make your life worse than hell, Valeria. Do you understand me?"

She took a threatening step toward me, her wolf on the verge of emerging.

"If you don't convince the Alpha, if they take Summer-you'll regret it. So tomorrow, put on your best whore dress and seduce him. Or don't ever come back. Do you hear me? Never come back."

She slammed the door shut, leaving me shaking.

"Valeria, I can't take this humiliation anymore. Let's leave-let's escape this pack. Nobody wants you here," Nyra whimpered in my head.

Her mate's rejection had broken her. She barely spoke now, her voice only a whisper.

She wasn't to blame. But she suffered too. The bond hadn't fully dissolved yet, but we already felt the searing pain of rejection.

"Where would we even go?" I whispered through tears, curling into my bed. "My eyes are already swollen from crying..."

"We'd be outcasts. Anyone could take us-make us slaves. Nyra, the world out there is terrifying. I'm just a little wolf..."

"So what will you do then, Valeria?" she asked softly. "Will you give in again? Will you become the Alpha's mistress-is that who you'll be?"

I had no answer. I closed my eyes in silent agony, the image of my father flashing through my mind.

So brave. So, kind. The only one who ever truly loved me.

Declan was right. I had always been so pathetic.