FREYA

The stench of fresh blood filled the hallway. I stumbled back, my hand cold from terror and my gaze fixed on one thing.. Zara.

“Oh my God,” I whispered, taking in the scene in front of me. Zara, the chief maid's daughter, lay at my feet with her mouth slightly parted and her pupils dilated. She looked like she was peacefully asleep but that wasn’t the case. Zara was dead and I know I just put myself in a difficult situation when I touched her in an attempt to help.

Now my hand was soaked with blood, sweat drenched my skin and my heart kept skipping a beat.

“What do I do? What should I do?” I bit my nails nervously, thinking about what to do but that was the beginning of my terror.

“Goodness Freya!” Willow screamed, drawing the attention of passerbys. Today was the moonbinding ceremony and everybody was to bring their daughters who were turning eighteen to the palace. I was one of them, Willow and Zara too. You can imagine the excitement when I thought I was finally going to be free from the torture I have been enduring in this pack. I was not an omega but I was treated far worse than that.

My brother, Julien, is the Beta and best friend to Alpha Finn but me, I am just a strange, weak and pathetic wolf to the pack. I was seen as the easy peasy target for people to vent their anger on and my brother, he just watched and did nothing. Sometimes, I wish I was still with my cruel aunty back in the human world other than being treated like trash among my own people.

“I.. I,” I couldn’t form a complete sentence. “She…” My voice trembled at any attempt to talk.

“You killed her!” Willow screamed, pointing accusing fingers at me. My eyes widened in shock. Willow was supposed to be my best friend and best friends don’t do this. For a moment, I was hoping she would laugh it off and say she was just joking with the words she just spat out but it never happened.

“I.. didn’t!” I screamed with a patched throat. I felt the world closing in on me, the air in the hallway thickened and the only thing I could hear was my heart beating as though it wanted to escape from my chest.

“I swear. I didn’t kill her.” I stumbled back again, tears flowing down my face.

“Then who did!” That was Miss Phylis, Zara’s mom. How do I explain this to them? Who will believe me? Afterall, I was just a thorn in their ass and I bet they all want me gone. I didn’t think Willow would do that either. I was with her in the kitchen a few moments ago and had only excused myself to use the washroom. How possible can it be for me to commit murder in just a fleeting second?

“Oh Freya, why did you do it?” Willow dramatically held her chest and fell to her knees. “I told you to leave the knife in the kitchen but you insisted on taking it.” I froze in confusion. What the hell is Willow doing?

“If I had any idea this is what you wanted to do, I would have stopped you.” Tears filled her eyes but only I knew those were fake tears. “Willow, why… why?” I just couldn’t pinpoint why she was doing that.

“You could have just waited for the moonbinding to find your mate. Why were you jealous because Zara said she wished the Alpha was her mate?” Gasps filled the hallway at Willow’s statement. I even released gasps too because I was as surprised as they were. I don’t remember ever having a conversation like that with Zara. Even though Zara and I were friends, we were not that close to be having a conversation like that.

“We never…” I tried to speak but a slap cut me off. I bit my lip as a result of the force that came with the slap. It hurt so badly that tears brimmed my eyes again.

The slap was from Miss Phylis. She grabbed my dress and pulled me closer to her. “What did you do to my daughter, Freya?” She hissed, tears flowing from her eyes. “Why did you do it? Why? Is it a crime for her to wish she was with the Alpha? How could you be so cruel?!” She fell down in tears still holding the hems of my dress. “She was my only daughter. Why couldn’t you just leave her alone?” She crawled back to Zara who looked very pale now.

“I’m sorry-” I tried apologizing as guilt washed over me. Even though I didn’t kill her, I still felt bad for Miss Phylis. “Don’t even dare!” Miss Phylis thundered her eyes all red from tears. “Do you think your filthy sorry will bring back my daughter?!” She gently let go of the body. “I have been nothing but good to you Freya. I never for once harboured any hatred against you but now, I hate you more than anything and I swear to the moon goddess, I won’t stop till I give you a worse death than what my Zara got.” My hands turned cold from terror… Miss Phylis meant every single word she said and I knew it. The once loving old maid was now looking at me with nothing but disgust and a taste for revenge.

I just wanted nothing more than for the earth to open up and swallow me. The people around me kept whispering, each statement pierced deeper into my heart.

“A murderer,”

“She is a witch.”

“I heard she killed her parents.”

“She needs to be punished for this.”

My legs couldn’t keep up any longer as I slumped to the floor weakly. My eyes took in the surroundings… Miss Phylis with Zara’s now cold body in her arms, the people around looking at me with eyes full of disgust and Willow smirking with a sinister look in her eyes.

Today was supposed to be the happiest day of my life… the day I get to meet my mate and perhaps leave this hellhole but everything is in ruins now. Thank you for this fucked up life Moon Goddess.