The Betrayal

I excitedly clung to the letter as I gazed longingly at it. "What do you think, Dad, about the fact that I might require a new dress for this particular occasion?"

The smile steadily dwindled away as his expression stiffened.

Dad looked down at my perplexed face, "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you can't go to that event, Cassandra. You are an Omega, and your presence doesn't matter in that place. You are not allowed to be in Carter's vicinity going forward, and you will not see him."

Dad's comments were like hot blades stabbing through my heart, worse than how Carter treated me, I frowned, gently shaking my head in confusion. I couldn’t understand why he was being so austere with the situation. As much as I wanted to stay calm, the disappointment and pain were too heavy for me to pacify the agitation I felt.

I never wanted to yell, but it was impossible for me not to raise my voice, "I know what I’m doing! Carter loves me, Dad! I know you are disappointed in me for being a weak Omega, but Carter never sees me that way! He treats me fairly, and he will choose me!" 

Dad’s eyebrows furrowed. He looked well composed, but anger was reflected in his eyes, "Cassandra, my lovely daughter, what you don’t understand is that an Alpha will never take an Omega as his Luna. He has to find a strong and ideal mate to strengthen his reign as an Alpha, and I will never let you destroy yourself just because of that tiny faith you have for that guy. He is not for you!"

I wasn’t sure whether it was about my stubbornness or his strong dislike of Carter, but it still upset me.

"Dad, you don’t understand—" 

My hands were shaking. I wanted to explain—to convince him more—but he shook his head dismissively and then slammed the door behind him. I ran towards Dad to apologize, but my eyes widened after realizing he had locked me up in my room! 

"No," I whispered, touching my forehead on the wooden door as tears ran down my pale face.

***

I didn’t sleep well last night. But I'd already made a solid decision.

After making a quick choice of wearing a black lace dress with heeled shoes, I sneakily climbed the window of our house, making sure Dad and Troy were already gone from the house. I had to be there with Carter, and no one could ever stop me from what my heart was telling me. Maybe I’d just apologize to them afterwards. There was no way I could ever stay in the house thinking that Carter might probably be waiting for me when he called my name to join him on stage tonight. The thought made me feel giddy and scared at the same time. And I couldn’t wait to see him.

The building wasn’t too far from home. So I just casually walked down the street, just like everyone else in the pack who got invited to the event. I felt the letter almost crumple in my hand. I was so nervous that I could hear my heart drumming inside my ears.

I knew Dad would eventually forgive me because all he wanted was for me to be happy. I wanted to be with Carter and stay by his side. Just thinking about it made me smile widely, picturing myself while both of us were standing in front of the crowd. Carter was the only happiness I needed.

Nothing else.

No one else.

I was surprised by how crowded the place was and heard through people that Alphas from the other packs were also present at the convention.

A girl whispered the name ‘Alpha Hunter of the Black Haw Pack’ while giggling. It was confusing because that pack was a defiant and selfish one and had been at war with our pack for decades! The territorial issues were impossible to settle due to their absurd demands. Our pack suffered miserable trauma after losing so many people during those wars.

And my Mom...

I frowned. My heart was heavy. Did the Black Haw Pack have something to do with my mother’s death? And why was their presence needed to witness Carter’s ascension as the next Alpha of the Midnight Pack?

"Cassy!"

I searched for that familiar, jolly-sounding voice yelling my name. My lips stretched into a wide smile when I saw my best friend, Macy, who also came from a Gamma family like me.

"Oh, I’m happy to see you before the ascension begins!" Macy embraced me tightly. "How are you?"

"You are too visible with your wavy red hair, Mace." I chuckled at her. "It’s not too difficult to find you. And oh, about that..." The smile on my lips disappeared, remembering the fight that happened between me and my dad. "Dad is so pissed with me."

"Carter, I know." Macy shook her head gently, giving me that discerning look.

I rolled my eyes and then sighed heavily. "Dad doesn’t want me to attend this convention tonight. He doesn’t believe that Carter loves me despite me being an Omega. I know he will choose me!"

"What?! Don’t tell me your Dad doesn’t know you’re here!"

I looked at her guiltily from the corner of my eye and lowered my head, feeling bad about everything I did just to prove to everyone that Carter was not the kind of guy they thought he was. "I have to sneak out just to get in here, and I hate it, Mace."

Macy’s small, freckled face softened. She took my hand and squeezed it tight. "You don’t have to worry about it, Cass. I know Sir Xanthros will understand. He loves you. He is just too paranoid for your safety. But now that I am here, everything will be alright. I’ll stay with you the whole night if I have to."

"Thank you, Mace." I smiled at her, teary-eyed. All the tension in my body relaxed. "But first, I think we should go inside the hall."

While we walked further inside the hall, two enormous men escorting a girl caught my attention. Guard dogs. I knew something was wrong when I saw how they handled the terrified girl between them as they dragged the poor girl toward the back of the hall. Scaring people to stand back and make way for them.

Macy moved closer to me with her wide, baffled eyes and whispered, "Oh goodness! I can’t believe I am seeing this, but I got extra hot tea somewhere that that girl is a gift for the Alpha of the Black Haw Pack. Alpha Hunter, I mean."

I wanted to pay attention to her, but I struggled to get a glimpse of Carter on the stage with all his new delegates and the other Alphas sitting on the stage.

"I heard he has a problem. Like problems with controlling his sexual impulses? I’m not sure. But it’s scary that he even killed his stepmother for fun and collected women to abuse. I think he is a huge pervert!" Macy continued with her gossip.

I suddenly felt scared for my friend. "You better watch out for the words that come out of your mouth, Macy. You have no idea how dangerous those words are!" I scolded her, too focused to remember the awful information Macy shared about that Alpha Hunter.

I grabbed her forearm, pulling her between the crowds of people towards the stage.

"Let’s go!" I hissed at her.

"Wait! Where—"

Hardly halfway to the middle of the hall, the microphone made a high-pitch ringing sound, and I saw Carter standing from his seat, ready to announce something in front of his pack.

My heart rammed against my chest. I swallowed a huge lump in my throat as adrenaline pumped into my veins. I stared at Carter’s handsome face. The passion in me was so intense that I could barely breathe.

"Call my name, Carter. Say it!" I whispered to myself.

Carter’s voice echoed, "I want to thank you all for sharing this wonderful evening with me as the new Alpha of the Midnight Pack! But before anything else, We all know that it is imperative to have a powerful and astounding woman to help me lead this pack to peace and prosperity, so...

"Kaya Miller, come here, love."

Macy sharply gasped and turned her head to look at me, wide-eyed and confused. "What the—"

At first, I thought I just misheard Carter. Did he really say Kaya’s name?

I saw Kaya Miller appear on stage and kiss Carter. The tumultuous cheering of the crowd reverberated in every corner of the hall, celebrating their new Alpha and his Luna.

I suddenly felt empty. Numb. Confused about what was happening! My whole body felt so heavy, and yet I was shaking to the core. I wanted to scream, but no voice came out of my throat. My eyes went blurry, and my head went dizzy. My mouth opened, but I couldn’t breathe. I was a grenade ready to explode at any moment.

It was a nightmare.