The Alpha I Hate: Orion Nightshade

"Smile, Aurora," my best friend, Chloe whispered into my ears, squeezing my hand to calm me down. But it felt as if she was squeezing my heart instead. I was trying so hard to hold in my tears as they were threatening to escape my eyes.

I knew this day was coming; I had been preparing for it, but it seemed too soon. The scene in front of me is the most hurtful thing that I have ever witnessed.

The man I was secretly in love with had found his mate, and she wasn't just anyone. She was my sister. My twin sister, Elara. And of all days, he chose our birthday to announce Elara as his mate, in front of the whole freaking pack. Our birthday, but she was the only one being celebrated while I sat here in the crowd, looking almost invisible.

As if announcing her as his mate and future Luna wasn't enough, my breath caught in my throat as I watched them share the most intense kiss ever. The pack members cheered and clapped for them.

I should be used to this. This isn't my first time seeing them kiss or make out, but every time, the pain is fresh. Ever since our family moved to the Ravenclaw pack five years ago, I have had the biggest crush on Alpha Orion Nightshade.

I prayed to the moon goddess day and night that Orion would be my mate. I tried so hard to get his attention, but he never noticed me. Instead, he went after my twin sister. With her stunning smile and revealing dresses, she easily captures everyone's attention. Meanwhile, I was stuck behind my thick glasses, struggling just to get a look from him or from anyone, at least. I felt invisible, watching from the sidelines as she effortlessly stole the spotlight.

"If someone sees you like this, they are going to think you don't wish well for your twin and the Alpha, they'll take it as a bad sign," Chloe whispered to me again.

She makes it sound so easy. The Alpha in question is her older brother. Chloe has been my best friend since we moved to their pack. "It hurts like hell," I muttered, taking off my glasses to clean off the tears that were threatening to escape.

"It's just a crush, Aurora, I'm sure you'll be over it in no time." I have had a crush on Orion for five years since the day I set my eyes on him; the crush developed into one-sided, unrequited love.

"Come, let's go congratulate them." Without waiting for me to answer, she dragged me by the hand until we were standing beside the couple, my parents and every important member of the pack.

Orion's eyes were glued to Elara, a look of pure adoration on his face. His hand cradled her waist like she was made of glass, there was a softness in his gaze, the kind you see when someone is lost in love.

I stood there, feeling every inch of my heartache, watching as he treated her like she was the most precious thing in his world. It was the way he looked at her, as if no one else existed, as if she was all he could see.

Chloe had blended in perfectly with the crowd, smiling and laughing. She belonged there. Me? I was on the outside, always the outsider. My parents didn't even notice I was gone. They never did. I needed an escape.

I walked out of the party and into the mansion, clutching my chest, feeling a sharp pain in my chest. What used to be jealousy had turned into something far worse, like a knife twisting in my heart with every step I took. My vision blurred, but I forced myself forward, desperate for air, for space, anything to ease the crushing weight that was suffocating me.

I reached the pack house, my breath ragged as I leaned against the doorframe.

Just as I managed to steady my breathing, I heard a voice behind me.

"Aurora, are you okay?"

It was my twin. Of course, she found me, even here. I wasn't sure if I was relieved or if it made the pain worse.

I forced a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just needed some water."

She looked at me weirdly, "You know you didn't have to come in here to get water." That was true. How do I tell her that I ran away because I couldn't endure the pain of watching her and Orion together, loving themselves? The thought of it made me feel like I was a witch.

"You are happy for me right?" She asked and I suddenly felt guilty. She is my twin; for goodness sake, I should be happy for her and not run away from our party.

More like her party because she was the only celebrant. They brought in one cake with only her name on it. Everyone I love was only looking at her, giving her all the attention. Chloe was the only one who wished me a happy birthday. To others, I was an invisible mutt, always have been, and probably always will be.

"Of course, I'm happy for you. You finally found your mate."

"I know, right? Who would have thought that Alpha Orion of the Ravenclaw Pack would end up being my second chance mate." She was sounding too ecstatic. Elara's mate died when she was sixteen. According to her, she felt something snap in her heart, and she knew he was dead. She never got to meet him. I never found my mate, and my parents think that there's something wrong with me.

I could only imagine the feeling; Orion was five years older than us, and today was our twentieth birthday. He was the most powerful Alpha in North America and he was feared by many. Let's not talk about how he looks like a god. Being his mate was something every female wolf dreamed of.

I adjusted my glasses. "I'm really happy for you sis." I was truly happy for her but I was hurting.

When I saw Orion for the very first time, I instantly developed feelings for him. The first person I told about it was Elara and she told me to take my eyes off him because I wasn't his type and he was way above our league. I was surprised when, two years ago, on our eighteenth birthday, they declared they were in love.

"Come, let's get you something to drink."

"I don't drink and you know that," I protested.

"Nonsense. There is always a first time for everything." An Omega approached us with a wine tray. Elara gave me a glass of wine, and I took a sip. It didn't taste as bad as I imagined. I took another sip and another until I finished the content in my glass. She took my empty glass and shoved another one in my hand, I downed the content in one gulp. My head was starting to feel light but I didn't mind. Anything to numb and forget the pain in my heart.

A maid called on her attention, whispering something in her ears and she handed me the other glass. "Please, can you give this drink to Orion in his room? I want to get something outside, I'll be right back." She walked out with the maid.

I shook my head as my vision suddenly became blurry. I dropped my empty glass on an empty table, holding the filled glass tightly as I climbed the stairs. I adjusted my glasses to see better, but it didn't help; I felt different.

I knocked on Orion's door, my hand shaking so badly I could barely keep it steady. When the door swung open, I found myself face to face with him, his eyes a little unfocused, like he'd had too much to drink. My body trembled as he grabbed my waist, pulling me inside the room with a firm grip. My heart pounded so hard I could feel it in my throat, I had never been this close to him before. The room was dim and I could barely make out his handsome face.

He took the glass from me, drinking the entire content and flinging the glass away as it shattered on the floor. "I fucking missed you," he slurred, before crashing his lips against mine, the kiss blowing my senses apart. Every thought, every sound, vanished as his lips devoured mine, leaving nothing but the wild heat between us.

"Orion."

"You are fucking perfect." His hand fondled my body as he took off my clothes. I tried to stop him but my body felt too weak.

Everything felt so wrong and I felt trapped.

I woke up gasping as freezing water drenched me, my body jolting before I felt a sharp, stinging slap on my face. The pain was excruciating and I screamed out my lungs, my heart pounding wildly. I immediately got off the bed, only for my feet to land on something sharp. I cried out when I felt the glass cutting into my skin, the pain shooting up my legs. If I thought the slap was painful, the glass cutting through my feet was more than I could bear this morning.

My whole body was drenched with ice water, I blinked, trying to focus, but everything around me was a blur. I couldn't see anything. I was a blind bat without my glasses. I needed my glasses. I squinted into the haze, my chest tightening with fear as I realized I wasn't alone. Everything was blurry, but I noticed movements and eyes watching me, and I realized I was naked.

I grabbed the duvet nearby, yanking it over myself with shaking hands. Tears burned in my eyes, blurring my vision even more, and I struggled to keep it together.

How did I end up naked, what happened to me last night?

"Who is there? Please... My glasses, can someone hand me my glasses?" My voice was barely audible. I regretted not wearing a contact lens; it was so much better than glasses.

"Elara? Are you there?" I felt a sharp pain in my womanhood and more panic filled my heart.

"You blind bat!" I heard Elara's cold menacing voice. "You are supposed to be my sister but you are nothing but a whore and a desperate relationship breaker! How could you do this to me?!"

"Elara, you have to calm down." That was my mother's voice, and I felt relieved that my mum was there; at least someone would explain to me what was going on.

"Mum, please tell me what is going on. Where am I and why was I naked?" I tried to reel my mind to remember the events of last night but nothing was coming. All I could remember was running into the house after Orion engaged my sister, and then she gave me a drink. I couldn't remember anything beyond that.

I didn't want to think about the pain I was feeling down there, the thought could make me go crazy.

"Don't call me your mother! There is no way I gave birth to you! I didn't give birth to someone who would sleep with her twins' fiancé the night of their engagement. This is the height of wickedness." Her voice was cold. My parents had never denied the fact that they loved and cherished Elara more than me but my mum had never spoken to me the way she did just now.

My eyes stung as tears threatened to escape. "What are you talking about? I didn't sleep with Orion," I protested, but the pain in between my legs said otherwise.

I prayed with everything I held dear that they were wrong and I didn't just lose my virginity to my sister's fiance, the man I had been in love with for the past five years.

"Don't you fucking call my name again with your filthy mouth!" Orion growled, his voice voice was enough to make the room rumble.

"You are such a wicked being, standing there looking all innocent but your heart is filled with hatred and wickedness. How could you do this to me?" Elara said and started crying.

"Orion, why would you cheat on me with my sister? Am I not good enough for you?" Her voice became louder.

"Baby, please... I'm so sorry. There's no way I would've slept with your sister if I wasn't drugged," he pleaded. "There is no way I would have slept with this disgusting piece of trash." His words cut deep into my heart and it bled.

"What do you mean, I drugged you?" My voice cracked, trembling in confusion. "I would never-"

Before I could finish, his hands slammed around my throat, crushing any air left in my lungs. My body jerked, and I clawed at his wrists, desperately trying to loosen his grip.

"I warned you," he hissed, his face inches from mine; through my blurry vision, I could see his eyes burning with a fury I'd never seen before. "Never to say my name again, you filthy, blind bitch."

Tears slipped down my cheeks as his grip tightened, squeezing the life out of me. This was the first time I'd ever felt him this close, his breath brushing my skin, his scent overwhelming my senses. But instead of the warmth I once longed for, all I felt was pain.

And he called me a blind bitch.

I couldn't see his face without my glasses, but I didn't need to. The disgust in his voice cut deeper than his claws ever could. The pack always mocked me, calling me a blind bat. I tried to ignore it, numbing myself to their taunts, but it still hurt. Elara always laughed along with them. And now, today, he called me blind too.

The pain twisted inside me, it was sharp and burning. I wanted to scream, wanted to bite and make him feel what I felt. But I couldn't. I couldn't even breathe.

"Please, Alpha."

He released me and I slumped to the floor. "I want to see you in five minutes." That was all he said before he left the room with everyone.

I have never felt the way I was feeling inside right now, I couldn't explain it. Orion almost snuffed the life out of me seconds ago and my mum didn't do anything to stop him.

Someone handed me my contacts, and I put them on. I didn't recognize the room, my eyes landed on the bed and I saw blood stains. All I could remember from last night was the party, Elara giving me a glass of wine and asking me to give Orion another glass as she went away with the Omega. How come they are saying I drugged and slept with Orion?

The blood stain on the bed was evidence that I lost my virginity to my crush, my sister's fiance and I couldn't remember a thing.

The maid who gave me my contact helped me get dressed. I was thankful she got me some new clothes as the one I wore last night was torn to pieces and littered on the floor.

"They're waiting for you in the Raven's Pit," she murmured, her gaze filled with pity.

My heart plummeted. The Raven's Pit was a place of no return, a dark chamber where werewolves who committed unforgivable sins were dragged to be judged, tortured, and sometimes even executed. No one who has ever been punished in that room left the same way they came in if they left at all.

They were going to decide my fate there? But I didn't do anything wrong!

The guards dragged me to the Raven's Pit, their hands gripping my arms like iron. The pack members were throwing disdainfully at me as I was being dragged in.

"Shameless slut!"

"Blind bat."

"Betraying your own twin, this is the most disgusting thing I have heard in history."

News has spread about what happened. It's not even up to an hour and they already heard about it. Everybody in the pack loved Elara. I was okay with being the invisible twin. Chloe was the only one who ever saw me for who I was. I wonder where she is, she would definitely come to my aid as she knows me too well.

The Raven's Pit was worse than I'd imagined, dark, cold, and stinking of blood. The guards shoved me to the ground, forcing me to kneel. My knees hit the hard floor, pain shooting up my legs, but I didn't dare cry out.

I saw Chloe walk towards me. I was glad she was coming to my rescue only for her hand to swipe across my face with the heaviest slap I have ever received in my life. I fell at the impact and was roughly yanked back up to my knees by the guards.

"Fucking blind bat!" I guess there is now no reservation with who calls me that. I have indeed become a blind bat. "I told you to fucking get over your crush on my brother, but you didn't listen. You decided to drug him to have a taste of him. Did you enjoy him? Are you satisfied with hurting him and your twin?" The noise broke out from the hundreds of wolves present.

"I took you as my sister and you did this to me? You deserve to die!" Chloe's angry voice was enough to send me to the grave. "I didn't think you could be this shameless."

It's official, everyone now knows that I had a crush on their Alpha. That was a secret I shared with her and Elara years ago, and she promised to keep it a secret, I guess she couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Was that the reason you disappeared last night? To get my brother drugged so that you can take advantage of him? Were you that bittered that you couldn't take seeing your unrequited, one-sided love of five years become your sister's mate?"

My eyes burned with tears, she wasn't stopping. She was trying to mock me publicly and she was succeeding. The crowd went wild as "blind bat" filled the Pit.

"Chloe, you have to believe me, please, I didn't do anything wrong to your brother. I didn't drug him. Elara gave me a glass of wine to give to him and I don't remember any other thing that happened."

"You are lying!" She screamed, giving me another hot slap; she was wearing different rings on her fingers as the impact tore my skin, and I felt blood drop from my cheek.

"I lost something too. I lost my virginity and I don't even remember anything that happened. Why would I do that to myself?" I was desperate, I needed someone to listen to me.

"You have always wanted him for yourself. You wanted him to be the one to take your virginity, have you forgotten you told me that?"

The wolves burst out laughing while some looked at me in disgust. That wasn't how it happened, I had jokingly told her two years ago that I would love Orion to take my virginity if the moon goddess blessed me with him as his mate. It was our 18th birthday, and I was praying that Orion would be my mate, but things took a wrong turn when he announced my sister as his better half.

My hands were trembling, she tried to slap me again but her father's voice stopped her.

"Enough, Chloe!"

Alpha Cyrus, Orion's father, sat at the front with the pack elders. I had my contacts on so I could see clearly. I could feel his eyes on me, cold and merciless.

"Aurora Night," he said slowly, his voice heavy with authority, "You drugged my son last night, had your way with him and almost broke his engagement with his mate. And for that you'll never be forgiven."

A wave of gasps and murmurs rippled through the room. My heart sank. "No... no, it's not true!" I tried to speak, but one of the guards kicked my abdomen and I crumpled to the floor.

A large screen came on and it was a video of me knocking on the door of Orion's room. I handed him the drink and he chugged it down. The video wasn't complete, what about when Elara gave me the drink?

"The glass was tested and it turns out you drugged my son. This is a betrayal to the Alpha family and the entire Ravenclaw pack."

Alpha Cyrus doesn't talk much. He gave up his position as alpha to his son after he almost died at a rogue attack. His son has been leading the pack ever since and has built a name for himself.

Alpha Cyrus only comes out when the issue is grave. Seeing as he is leading my case, it's a sign that I'm doomed.

The room seemed to close in on me, voices yelling for my blood. Some wanted me banished, others demanded my death. I bit back the urge to scream, to tell them it was all a lie, but it would be pointless. No one would believe me.

Tears blurred my vision as I forced myself to look up. Somewhere in that crowd, Orion was there, watching silently. He hadn't said a word. Hadn't stood up to say otherwise. His silence hurt more than anything they could ever do to me.

Up until a few moments ago when Chloe exposed my secret, Orion had no idea that I had a crush on him, so it was understandable that he didn't know how much he was hurting me without even doing anything.

He wanted me dead, same as my parents with Elara who sat there like I was not their blood. Everyone was looking at me with hate. The fact that Chloe exposed all my secrets made everything worse.

According to the Ravenclaw pack, what I was accused of was actually a huge crime, punishable by death or banishment. Elara was given the opportunity to choose the punishment I would go through before the final judgment. I watched on my knees as my twin chose the most excruciating punishment to be meted out to me. Hatred burned through me as I knelt there.