CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 1

Gingerly, I removed the silver-colored shawl covering my face with trembling hands to see burnt skin.

I raised my head to see the large looking glass before me, distorted and black, and my reflection gazed back at me.

With the other eye blind, one gazed back at me. With horror, I had learned to conceal her face every time I walked out, and my fingers traced the outlines of my charred face.

I had a brief moment of seeing myself as the attractive girl I had always been. The girl who was constantly the object of attachment's affection. The bright girl whose face turned away from the sight of her horror.

With her stunning silver hair, emerald green eyes that reflected the vibrant greenery of a blooming rose, and mouth that would have made any girl blush, she was the stunning daughter of Wildfire Pack's Alpha.

These dark green eyes peered back at me, but just one of them did now. Not to mention those stunning lips? They had vanished too, to be replaced by charred flesh.

Upon initially seeing my deformed reflection in the mirror following the accident, I attempted suicide, but my husband's presence kept me alive.

He'd called me "Lyra," his love luminous in his dark brown eyes. The way they are, you are gorgeous. Regardless of how your face looks, you are stunning."

I had let myself go into his body and let him hold me while I sobbed after he had finished.

It's not that I held Alexander responsible for my burns; rather, it was he. My legs were burned and I was forced to use a wheelchair as a result of my attempt to save him from the mysterious fire that had unexpectedly broken out in the hotel room we were staying in. It was all worthwhile because my spouse was spared and he still loved me even though the accident also took away my voice and left me declared silent.

Finally, I was going to give it back to him, to make his love worthwhile. After years of marriage, I had gotten pregnant at last!

Out on the table, printed on paper, were the results. I would finally have a kid with him, even if I was woofless. One day when I was feeling ill and the doctor told me I was pregnant, Alexander urged him to come check on me. Ever since then, I had concealed the information, reserving it for our unique evening – our wedding anniversary night – this evening.

I felt my pulse race at the thought of my partner and husband, Alexander. I was thrilled that today marked our fifth wedding anniversary. Anxious? Indeed, in light of possible remarks from others, Though my face was covered, I was nonetheless delighted as I entered the enormous hall.

That I had a husband who loved me despite my current terrible appearance would have made Grandpa happy. Weirdly, for someone who was my mate, he had opposed Alexander and me getting married. However, it seemed like unfounded concerns. or just a simple fatherly affection.

With a start, I took a deep breath as the bell's chime echoed through the long corridor, dragging me out of my reverie.

The moment was at last here; it was time.

I snatched the black mask from the top of the desk and wrapped it around my face in haste, replacing the ethereal silver garment. I took extreme care as I put the silky scarf back over her face.

My heart hammered fiercely with each ring of the bell. Though there was a hint of trepidation within me, I was undoubtedly excited. Back when we used to celebrate our wedding anniversary, I would dress up in exquisite detail and put my face on show, enticing everyone in sight.

My face had turned into an ugly jumble, my legs had vanished irreversibly, and one of my eyes had been destroyed. If others found out what had happened to me, I would find it difficult to be respected.

With a deep breath, I rolled my wheelchair back into the big hall, my pulse racing to the sound of the bell.

When I got to the big hall's door, I stopped to adjust my shawl so that it covered my blind eye, but before I could stop myself, I pushed open the doors.

The one person in the world to me, my husband Alexander, caught my attention as soon as the door opened. I thought my heart would explode with delight when my wolf, Marise, whispered "mate."

He had dark brown eyes, shaggy brows, a trim frame, and a well-fitting three-piece suit that fitted him nicely. I took in everything about him.

Even though I had only been apart from him for a few hours, it seemed like years. That was the force of the mate bond. Not to mention my affection for him.

I pulled her chair closer to him, and it wasn't until I got to the center of the hallway that I heard everyone's murmurs. I was a little less happy when I noticed several of the elders standing to my right shaking their heads in... pity.

Did anything go wrong? Were they able to find out anything at all?

Alexander was staring at a female at his side when I turned to look at him again for confirmation. My closest friend, Vivian Quinn, was the stunning female by his side. She was elegant and sensual with long legs. Since Alexander and I had always been friendly—Alexander had always been kind to my friends—I didn't find it odd that he was grinning at her.

Alexander turned to face me and cleared his throat as I spun harder into the "aisle."

"Now that she is here, let us commence." Saying to all of them, he said. My weird sensation got stronger. It was generally the priest who had to speak first before reuniting us as a group. This was not always the case.

This was wrong—Alexander hadn't smiled or spoken to me since I came, let alone gazed at me with affection.

The priest cleared his throat, and Alexander answered him beckoning.

The reason we're assembled here is to see Lyra Avery of the Wildfire Pack and Alpha Alexander Kieran, the new Alpha, separate today. Alpha Alexander, now you may begin.

I wasn't sure what to think. And what did the priest say? By separation, what was he trying to say? Did any other Wildfire Pack member go by the name Lyra Avery? The priest's words were beyond my comprehension.

Not with excitement this time, but with my brain whirling and my heart racing.

Trying to see whether he could read the questions there, I widened one eye and studied Alexander. And just what was going on?

With a look that was quite unlike the loving one I was familiar with, Alexander looked down at me.

And he said, "I, Alexander Kieran, the new Alpha of the Wildfire Pack, reject you, Lyra Avery, as my mate and the Luna of this pack."

My mind was all I could hear ringing, and then I felt the mate tie between us break, ripping at my soul and knocking me to the ground. I was met with intense agony after that.

I had burnt in the fire, but nothing prepared me for the anguish I was experiencing now. It hurt terribly. If I had been able to speak, I'm sure I would have been screaming because my eyes were burning and I could feel the roaring and shrieking of my wolf inside me. With my body trembling uncontrollably and hoping that nothing bad would happen to my unborn kid, I clutched at my chest and held my stomach, hoping the anguish would stop.

Nothing compared to the shock of betrayal to the sorrow I was feeling. Alexander would never have treated me this way. Certainly not the Alexander who had comforted me during my worst moments. Unlike Alexander, I had been rescued from the fire outbreak.

Though I tried, I was unable to come up with any instances in which I might have harmed him. I had thrown myself entirely at his feet, given him everything. I led and took charge of everything, even while he was lying with me in bed. He had never shown me any passion in bed, but where was the passion when he was all a wife could ask for outside of the bedroom? Where exactly did something go wrong?

There was an unquenchable heat in my heart.

I was lying on the ground, clutching my injured face for what seemed like years. I shivered at the vast emptiness that was now in my heart when the ache finally dissipated.

I felt hollow within; the part of me that felt like the rhythm of his heart had vanished, leaving the other half of me feeling confused, scared, shattered, and desperate.

I looked up to see Alexander staring down at me with a sneer when I was abruptly hoisted up by someone.

"Remove her mask." I shivered as he spoke to the guard securing me. 'No! Kindly! Do not! As expected, nothing came out that I wanted to say.

After my face was violently torn off, the shawl was removed, and then the mask. When I heard cries of contempt from the audience, I closed my eyes.

"Dear Lord, the Goddess." I perceived the priest speaking feebly.

"A witch!" A second individual stated in passing.

"Close your eyes, honey, don't look." The youngster heard a woman's voice, seemingly that of a mother. That voice and all the others that followed talked with a tone of blatant contempt.

Tears that would not fall burned in my body and made it tremble once more. I was cautioned by Alexander not to tell anybody about the fire incident. He had claimed that it was in his best interests. Now, he had not been thinking about my welfare. I wanted to rescue Alexander, so no one would ever know that I was like this. Both speech and self-defense were out of the question for me.

"Take her out!" The first thing Alexander uttered since my face was unveiled was abrupt, so I looked up at him.

His visage surprised me, I wasn't sure what to anticipate. Maybe sympathy, maybe even a tiny bit of the love he once showed, maybe suffering, maybe regret. His look spoke nothing of any of it. Negative. All that could be seen on his face was pure disgust. With his chest protruding and his actual feelings finally out, he stood as straight as he had always been.

I saw that he stood erect. It was clear that he had not felt the same level of agony that I had. It was that way; the one being rejected had all the anguish, while the one being rejecting felt none at all. As if she'd been as expectant as Lyra to see regret on his face, my wolf whined.

"Take her out!" When Alexander repeated himself, they became agitated and dragged me from the hallway after I was forcibly pulled to my feet.

Grandfather... This kind of humiliation would never have been permitted by Grandpa. My grandfather could have rescued me. Granny would never have let someone treat me that disrespectfully, given his powerful gait. Having lost Grandpa, Alexander had assumed his place in the pack, leaving me by myself.

With no wheelchair and no means of support, I was forced into their room as the door between Alexander and mine opened. The door swung shut behind me with a loud noise as I held my tummy to keep it off the floor.

At last, as the guard left, I lost it and started crying uncontrollably. The mirror hit the floor and broke as I took the tablecloth from a drawer that was in the space.

Without worrying if it would rip my hands, I took hold of a jagged fragment of the mirror and examined it closely. I fixed my gaze on the blackened skin on my face, the scars that ran parallel to each other, and finally, the tears that came out of my single eye. I couldn't comprehend how Alexander

He could have described this face as lovely. As it happened, he had just been covering up his own emotions. With a whine, I hurled the mirror across the room, only for it to shatter into little fragments.

I really was ugly.