Height Of Betrayal

CHAPTER ONE

ARAMIAH

Aramiah Vernon, the princess without a wolf. Or you could call me what all the others did. Pathetic.

Useless. Worthless. You could also call me the child of woe— to add a little bit of spice to the undying ridicule. I wasn't different from a speck of dust, or one out of ten thousand leaves on a tree.

Ordinary wasn't quite the word to place me because ordinary could mean good, but all my life? Bad was the only word I'd been nurtured. It hovered over me like the darkest shadows.

The sky was heavy with promises of rainfall, and I walked faster, feeling the cool wind on my face.

It was the first day of the new month, and I was filled with so much happiness as I walked happily to my Azareth's house— my mate.

It had been two full moons since I discovered that Azareth was my fated mate. Not only that, he was the only man who ever made me feel like I mattered. I'd been stuck in the shadows for so many years that finding Azareth was the best thing that happened to me.

 My grin spread from ear to ear at the mere thought of seeing him again. I got to his manor, and the guards welcomed me in, and I went straight for Azareth's room. His father was an elder in our pack, my father the Alpha. Well, former Alpha. He died a long time ago.

I headed straight for his room but stopped in my tracks when a certain voice danced into my ears. My heart skipped a beat, and I leaned against the narrow walls to get a grip on myself.

"Oh yes! Azareth! Right there!" A woman's erotic voice filled the air, and I froze at the spot.

Azareth? My heart started to pound like a band of drums, and my vision grew blurry. I understood nothing of what was going on. This had to be a joke, or a prank! I shuffled closer to his door, and the voice hit me again, offsetting my balance.

"Fuk!! Azareth. Oh! Yes, right there, right there," She screamed in pleasure, and I felt my heart seize.

A thousand thoughts ran through my mind, but the one that really stood out was how much I recognized that voice. 

"No. No…" I muttered. "It can't be-" 

I fought back my tears as I instantly felt betrayed. It weighed heavily on my shoulders, and I felt myself crumble under the heaviness. What was Azareth doing with another woman?

"Fuck, I'm going to cum.." I heard him groan, and that brought me out of my streams of thoughts.

Taking a bold step, I placed my hands on the doorknob and twisted it. Luckily for me, the door was not locked. I opened the door wide and saw Azareth with another woman locked in an intimate position.

A gasp spilled from my throat, but no other word could be uttered. My brain adapted to a sudden blankness. My world had stopped, and time followed, seizing, while the scene froze before my eyes, and all I could do was weep without control.

"Azareth! How could you!!" I screamed at the top of my voice. I always practiced self-control, but it all slipped past me in the moment.

Tears trickled down my cheeks helplessly. Azareth released himself into her the moment I yelled, and he immediately turned to see who the intruder was. The once familiar room had turned into something I no longer recognized.

He was covered in sweat, and his hair was disheveled, the same blonde hair I'd always admired. Why was the room spinning?

"Aramiah…" He called out, wiping off the sheen of sweat that had gathered on his forehead; then she slowly climbed off the woman he was fucking, the confusion heavy in his eyes. 

Their bodies were covered with the bed sheets. And I couldn't see her face.

Moon goddess, let it not be-

Let it not be her. Please.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, grabbing a shirt which he wore; then he slowly reached out for his pants, which he also wore.

I scoffed in disbelief. How dare he ask me what I was doing in his room when I just caught him with another woman? Speaking of the woman, my eyes traveled to the woman on the bed, and I only received another blow to the face.

"Beulah?" I uttered with a croaky voice. My cousin was right there. She was lying on the bed.

Beulah was the woman who was with Azareth.

But how could she? I trusted her a lot. She was the first person I told when I discovered that Azareth was my mate.

"Aramiah.." Azareth called again, and I turned to face him.

"I asked what you're doing here?" He questioned, and I looked utterly confused. He should be begging, not looking like he didn't care about this.

"What am I doing here?" A sob slipped my lips.

"I just caught you sleeping with my cousin, and you're asking me what I'm doing here?" I asked in disbelief.

"And so what?" Azareth snapped, stopping in front of me.

"I guess you should get done with it, Azareth. It's a good thing she came here. It will make things a lot easier for us.." I heard Beulah say, and when I looked at her, she had a wicked smile on her face. There wasn't a hint of remorse in her expression.

"Do what?" I asked in confusion.

"I, Azareth Enid, reject you, Amariah Vernon, as my fated mate!" He announced, and I felt a sudden sharp pain in my chest.

I just got rejected. It couldn't get worse than this. I'd finally arrived at the rock bottom that I'd always feared. "Azareth, why?" I asked softly, my voice a crooked whisper. 

"Because you're worthless, Amariah, can't you see!!" Beulah fired from where she lay on the bed. She sat up a bit, swinging her hair back. "You're worthless and useless.." she said again. "The entire pack knows that."

"Beulah, I trusted you!!" I yelled at the top of my voice.

I just faced the biggest betrayal of all time. It was all too much.

Too much pain. Too much hurt. I felt like my heart was being pierced by a thousand daggers. My chest felt so stifled that even breathing felt like such a chore. I was breaking apart, fast.

"I don't want anything to do with a wolfless mate. Beulah is ten times better.." he said, smiling at Beulah.

At that very moment, I felt like vomiting out my lungs. I suddenly felt disgusted by their actions. I took a good look at the both of them venomously before storming out of the room.

I could at least leave with my pride intact, or I tried. 

I tried.

******

I walked straight into our castle, my eyes brimming with tears. I'd just left an inn where I took two shots of men's alcohol.

Just two shots. And no, it didn't help with the pain. It just made the ground softer than usual. The pain was just too much for me to handle. I was rejected for being wolfless, and weak.

My parents were long dead, and my uncle and aunt ruled the kingdom. Beulah was their daughter.

 I was climbing up the surprisingly wobbly stairs as I wanted to be left alone when I bumped into someone. I looked up to see my strict uncle's height towering above me. His face was not so different from a scarecrows. I seethed, trying to hide my pain and the stench of alcohol that seemed to plague me.

"Excuse me…" I muttered, trying to get into my room as quickly as possible, but he held me back.

"Amariah, Thank God you're here. I went to your room to get you but couldn't find you.." he informed me, and I narrowed my eyes in confusion as I wondered what he meant by that.

The excitement in his voice was a bit too obvious. Nothing good ever came from my uncle being excited. I inhaled deeply, waiting for the next bad news.

"Uncle, what do you want?" I asked. The fact that he came to my room personally to get me means that whatever was up was very important.

"Come with me.." he said, grabbing my hand, and he immediately dragged me down the stairs.

He didn't even care to see that I was hurt; he was my father's brother, for goodness sake, but he never bothered to ask the reason why I was crying. Rather, he'd grant me another bruise to nurse.

I didn't have it in me to be surprised anymore.

I went downstairs and saw my aunt there, obviously waiting for us. I felt the hair at the back of my neck stand, and I stood before those two. An eerie feeling lingered in the air, killing me a bit more on the inside.

Then, being together with me always meant trouble. It was either they were trying to scold me, or bad mouth me for letting my parents down as I had no wolf.

"We brought you here because we've made a special arrangement for you.." my aunt Beatrice announced in a stern voice, and I wondered what she meant by special arrangements.

I hoped they did not mean it by locking me in the dungeon, because, as long as I was concerned, we were way past that. 

No, we got past that two weeks ago. 

"Wh..at do you mea..n by that?" I stuttered in fear, looking from side to side. The look on their faces said it all.

"I…" Beatrice paused as we felt the presence of someone walking in, and the room suddenly went silent.

I didn't care about who it was, nor was I planning to see who the person was. The cruel world might as well go fuck itself as far as I was concerned.

Like my mate fucked my cousin. The hurt sliced through my heart again. Maybe I should have drunk more.

As the room went silent, my aunt's words died on her lips. I could feel a presence behind me, but I didn't dare to turn around. I was frozen in place, my heart pounding in my chest. And then I felt it - a tingling sensation running through my body. I could feel my hair stand on end, and goosebumps rose on my arms.

It was the same exact feeling I felt when I first met Azareth. But this one was more intense. Hotter. My skin was on fire, and my eyes twitched. What was happening!? 

My eyes widened as the realization hit me like a ton of bricks. The same feeling I had when I first met Azareth was now coursing through my body. But this one had me crashing to the ground.

Could it be?