The Truth and Escape

It was silent in the woods, as Steve and Maddie stared at Ellie, puzzled to see the outsider here, when she should’ve gone hunting for food.

“Ellie. To what do we owe the pleasure of seeing you here?” Maddie asked in a sickeningly sweet tone.

“Don’t bother playing nice,” Ellie said with a light sneer. “I heard everything. Not just from you two, but mom and dad- No… Lila and Aiden, too! All this time, despite everything I did for you all, you guys just used me! I know you hate me, Maddie, but everyone else, too?! Even you, Steve?!”

Maddie became livid by how this werewolf was acting, especially towards her lover. “Hey! He doesn’t have to take your attitude!”

Ellie turned her attention to her ‘sister’ in rage. “On the contrary, after everything we’ve been through? Not to mention the fact that we are mates! I deserve answers! Do you have any idea how high a treason this is for a werewolf! Steve, how long have you been with Maddie behind my back?!”

Rather than be flustered by the question or by how Ellie was acting, Steve scoffed at her. “’How long I’ve been with her behind your back’? More like ‘how long have I been with her at all’,” he began, to his mate’s confusion. “You think I was with Maddie after our bond as mates awakened? That’s far from true. I’ve been with her long before you came of age. Then you became old enough, and I was practically forced to live out my life with you. A werewolf who I did not want to be with, and initially felt nothing for. Thankfully, your parents already found a way to help free me from this ‘curse’. Well… Their reason for doing it was different, but it still helped me all the same. As much of a pain as it was to continue pretending to be your ‘beloved’ mate, if it meant being with the werewolf I really love, all those years of enduring the forced reaction was worth it.”

Ellie could not believe what she was hearing. It was common knowledge that a werewolf would remain with the mate they were destined to be with. Though it was possible for them to fall for another, it was only for as long as they were not with their destined other. But Steve? He clung to his feelings for Maddie… while having his bond with Ellie? All this time, he was pretending to be a loving werewolf to his own mate! She trusted and loved him with all her heart… But as it turns out, he never felt the same for her… Such a confession fully opened her eyes, her mind was now made up.

“What we had may have been something that was decided by the Moon Goddess, but I really did love you,” she began. “You, on the other hand… It’s one thing to reject what was already decided, but to cheat on me behind my back regardless? You’re no proud werewolf for doing that! And if you think I’m going to participate in the remaining rites and complete the swap, you have another thing coming! I will not be used as some puppet… Never again! If the swap gets complete from doing the rite, then ceasing further participation reverses the progress, doesn’t it? Once my wolf is back, don’t expect us to be together again.” Without another word, Ellie turned around to leave.

“And where do you think you’re going?!” Maddie questioned.

“You were the ones who made it clear how much of an eyesore I am. I’ll do you the favor of leaving.” As soon as Ellie answered, she began to walk away.

Before she could get far, however, she sensed something approaching and quickly leapt to the side, narrowly avoiding a strike from Maddie. Taking a good distance from her ‘sister’, Ellie was shocked to see a crater formed where she once was.

“You’re not going anywhere. Not until our wolves are swapped!” Maddie exclaimed, rushing at her with her other arm pulled back.

Ellie managed to avoid another strike from her, which left a small scratch on her face, and quickly moved away from her assailant once more. Once she retained a good distance, Ellie brought her hand up to her cheek and was shocked to feel it bleeding.

‘Maddie… She hit me?!’ Ellie gasped. Of the many times they had sparred before, Maddie never even managed to touch a single hair on Ellie’s head. She may have overheard the part about her ‘sister’ holding back on her, but she didn’t think it was true, much less to this extent!

Maddie clicked her tongue when she saw the scratch she inflicted. “Looks like you still have some fight in you. Even though you’ve been doing that rite for almost three years. I thought you would’ve been a lot weaker by now. Really goes to show how strong your wolf really is. A wolf… that rightfully belongs to an Alpha heiress.”

Ellie sent a glare at those words. “A werewolf is born with the wolf the Luna Goddess gifted them! You know that!”

“True. But even a goddess can make a mistake. The Wolf Swap Rite corrects that mistake. That being said, we can’t have you leave with my wolf!” Maddie resumed her assault on Ellie, who continued to struggle in avoiding her strikes while trying to find an opening to counter attack.

As the one-sided assault continued on, Ellie’s shock with the situation rose. For her to struggle against Maddie to this extent? To not find any chance to strike back? It was just unreal to her! Was this because of the Wolf Swap Rite?!

‘If I’m having this much trouble just avoiding her, I don’t think I can last in an actual fight,’ she thought. ‘I have to get out of here!’

Unfortunately, the moment she thought that, Ellie tripped on a pebble and fell to the ground.

“You’re mine!” Ellie looked up and saw Maddie coming at her with a fist pulled back.

The downed werewolf thought fast and grabbed a fist full of dirt off the ground below her, tossing it at her adopted sister’s face. The assailant slid to a halt as the soil got in her eyes, in which she frantically tried to rub out in stinging pain.

“Now’s my chance!” Ellie muttered to herself, shooting up to her feet and attempt to make her escape.

With how much she was focused on avoiding Maddie’s attacks, however, she completely forgot about Steve, who came up from behind and slammed his fists down on her head. Though the attack knocked her down, she was far from out, as she glared up at her ‘mate’.

“Hmph. Should’ve known it would still take more than that to take you down, if you could still avoid Maddie’s strikes,” he said.

Ellie thought it hurt to hear his true feelings towards her, and even witness his betrayal. But getting attacked by her own mate? That hurt on a whole other level.

Eyes scrunched up in rage, she shot up and swung a hand at Steve, in which the male werewolf caught in his hand. He then tightened his hold in a vice grip, slowly crushing her hand, causing Ellie to fall to her knees and let out a cry.

“Oh, don’t worry. I won’t kill you. Just going to bring you home. After I make you pay for what you did to my real mate,” Steve said, much to Ellie’s disbelief. Did this werewolf… truly feel nothing at all for her?

Biting down the hurt she was feeling from their bond, the female werewolf spat out a good amount of saliva at her mate. The spit got him in the eye, disgusting him as he released his hold on her in favor for clearing his eye.

“Aah! Did you really just do that?! That was nasty!” he gasped, desperately wiping the saliva out of his eye as best as he could.

Caressing her hand, Ellie glanced at Maddie and Steve, both whom were still recovering from her dirty tricks. She did not waste another second and hastily ran away from the pair.