Chapter 2: Betrayal

Bella’s speech receives a thunderous applause that fills the hall.

“Aden…” I turn to face him, only to see his eyes on Bella. There is a dreamlike smile on his face as if he is transfixed by her. 

And all around, murmurs of praise begin to rise, with heads nodding at the speech that spills out of Bella’s red-painted lips. 

The guests gush, saying they never realized how talented she was before. They praise her speech, proclaming how great it is.

But it is not her speech. It is mine!

Bella stole my speech! The speech that I had written, crafted, and worked painstakingly on day and night! And Bella had stolen my speech, word for word!

“Why is she doing this? How can you allow this?! You know how hard I worked for this!” I ask in disbelief.

Dad comes up to us, his eyes also on Bella. “Liliana, I don’t see how you worked for this, you went missing the night before the ceremony only to pop up mere minutes before the ceremony started. Luckily, we had Bella to stand in for you. And look, she’s a natural on stage. The delivery of her speech is so much better than yours. So eloquent, so mature, it’s perfect!”

Aden nods his head profusely. “Yes,  she’s doing a wonderful job! Luckily, we have her.”

I cannot believe this!  If I hadn’t known better, I would have thought that all the hard work came from Bella. I would almost have believed their 'had to' if I didn’t know the speech was moved up. 

I say, "But I could have made it in time."

Dad folds his arms across his chest and tsks at me, “You shouldn’t have gone drinking last night. It’s your own fault.“

“But –” 

“And look at you.” Dad shakes his head. “I am so disappointed in you, Liliana. What on earth were you thinking wearing this dress to the ceremony? ”

I look down at my dress; it is a high-collared knee-length gown in a rich shade of midnight blue made of delicate chiffon with a floral print and it would have passed for an elegant dress if not for the thigh-high side split. 

Bella had insisted on me wearing this dress, saying the dress I had originally chosen was too boring and dull. In fact, she had told me it was dad’s suggestion, and Aden had also complimented on the dress!

I look to Aden, surely he would take my side? He knows very well that he was the one who made me go drinking last night, saying that if I truly loved him as his future mate then, I would join him and Bella for drinks. 

“You only have yourself to blame,” Aden mumbles under his breath before quickly averting his eyes. 

I feel anger coursing through my veins.  “How could you…”

One of the guests turns his head around, curious at the tone of my voice and I quickly suck in my breath. I need to keep my cool. I smile at him and pretend to be immersed in Bella’s speech.

Bella points a laser light pen at the screen. “And now, I present to you a video I prepared…”

My brows furrow. What video? There’s not supposed to be any video in the presentation.

“This video will showcase our two packs working together as a team to widen our territory…oh!”

The crowd gasps. My eyes widen as I stare at the video playing on the massive screen. 

It is a video of me! And someone is kissing me! 

“Oops, my mistake,” Bella quickly interjects with a giggle, trying to click a button on the remote to stop the video but like a nightmare, it continues to play.  “It’s the wrong video. It’s just Liliana and Aden kissing last night. But aren’t they just sweet? A big round of applause for the sweet couple everyone!”

There is no applause. The joyous chatter among the guests dies down to a deathly silence and one by one, the eyes of the crowd leave the screen and land on me.  

The man in the video is not Aden. One would have to be blind to believe otherwise.

But for the life of me, I do not recognise the man in the video! Just what is going on?!

Bella tries clicking on the remote again but somehow, the video zooms into the man’s face and clear enough, I’m sure I do not recognise this man.

“Goddess!” someone from the crowd shouts” That’s Joe Black, the notorious rogue!”

Everyone gasps. “Rogue?!” another person says in disbelief. “Liliana was kissing a rogue?!”

Disgust fills the air as the crowd closes in on me demanding to know what had happened. “How could you do this to Aden?” someone shouts.

“An utter disgrace!” another sneers.

I raise both hands to stop them. “I…I didn’t! I don’t even know him!”

“Oh, you did, sweetheart. You enjoyed every minute of it,” a voice booms from the very end of the hall and the crowd parts like the red sea to reveal a ragged-faced man.

The rogue from the video!

He runs a hand through his oily hair and flashes a crooked smile before swaggering over. Instinctively, I take a step back but the crowd circling me pushes me forward to face the rogue.

“We had fun together last night, didn’t we, sweetheart?” The rogue begins to boast about his supposed one-night stand with me and a hush falls over the crowd. 

“You lie,” I hiss, anger pulsating through my body. 

But the rogue’s assaulting scent brings back fragments of what happened last night,  like pieces of an unfinished puzzle.

That is when I remember.  

The rogue wasn’t kissing me, he was trying to rape me!

I remember choking for air in the deserted alleyway of the bar, blindly clawing at the rogue, my breath coming out in strangled pleas. 

I remember crying out to Bella for help. I remember trying to mind-link Bella, who had given me candy just minutes ago but was nowhere to be found.

I remember trying to shift, trying to fight back but failing because my body was limp and weak as a newborn. 

I remember growing increasingly desperate as I shouted Aden and Bella’s name again and again but received no response.

Now I understand that Aden must have already escorted Bella back home at that time.

I remember how I thought all hope was lost,  and I remember closing my eyes in defeat.

That was when he appeared.

The door of the bar swung open savagely, striking the walls so hard that the sound of cracked bricks filled the air.

And in a move too quick for the human eye to see, a fist, massive and strong, crashed into the rogue’s face and the rogue crumpled to the floor like a sack of potatoes.

I shivered and kept my eyes shut but a masculine scent of pine, cedar and leather filled my senses. And strangely, the man’s scent took away my fears. 

Silence fell briefly upon the alleyway before a voice of rich, deep timbre and powerful beyond reason spoke. It was the voice of the man who had saved me.  

“Leave now, or die,” he said to the rogue, his voice emotionless and cold.

Without another word, the rogue got to his feet and scrambled off, tripping over his jeans on the way. 

I tried to get up but my body failed me. And I would have fallen onto the ground if it were not for strong arms that caught me at my waist.

Our eyes met; my emerald green and his haunting silver. And instantly, an invisible bond, stronger than life itself formed between us; a bond so irrevocable I knew the life that I once lived would never be the same again.

Mate. That was my mate.

“You whore!” Aden’s roar interrupts my thoughts -- he grabs me by my neck, his nails sinking into my skin. He slams me against the wall behind my back. 

“No, Aden, please… I didn’t… with him… He tried to force himself on me but someone saved me!” I try to explain but the words do not come easily. It is hard to breathe, let alone talk. 

“Hah!” Someone from the crowd laughs sarcastically. “How can a mere rogue attack an Alpha’s daughter? With Alpha blood coursing through your veins, you’d have pulverised him in seconds!”

I cough, “...I am telling you the truth! Nothing happened between us.”  I struggle against his suffocating grip. Small ragged breaths escape my throat. I cannot breathe…. he is killing me.

“Let her go.” A man calls out. It is Henry, Aden’s father.

The nails that dig into my skin finally loosen and I fall to the ground, gasping and coughing for air.

“Goddess!” someone gasps and points at me. More gasps and soon, whispers start to weave between the bewildered guests.

“See this!” the rogue storms up to me and points at me. 

I look down, my eyes widening in surprise as realization sinks in. Aden had accidentally ripped away my collar during the struggle and before I can react, the rogue forcibly tears off my dress. It pools to the ground, leaving my semi-naked body for all to see.

“See this?!” he points to the bite marks on my chest.  “They’re from our one-night stand. She kept asking for more!”

Humiliation, shame and anger - I feel them all. With trembling fingers, I quickly pull my dress back up to cover my body.

I try to pull myself up, but end up stumbling at Aden’s feet. “I…must have…been drugged, Aden. I’m telling the truth…” I beg him, a hand tugging at his pants but he lashes out his leg and rams his foot into my stomach. Hard. I double over and heave in pain. Goddess, it hurts… 

“Sounds like a convenient excuse,” Aden sneers. His words cut through me like a poisoned knife. How can he choose to believe in a rogue over me? We grew up together, yet he refuses to listen to me. Tears well in my eyes.  

“We are calling off the engagement. We Emerald Pack cannot accept a whore as our future Luna,“ Henry says, his tone unyielding. “My son’s position in the Alpha King’s council must be protected.”

Hearing this, dad comes pushing through the crowd like a madman. “No, Henry! Don’t do this! You can’t just discard us!! We had an agreement!”

Our pack needs theirs. Aden’s pack is far more powerful than ours and the allegiance is the only way to strengthen our weakening pack. Trembling, dad goes on his knees and bows to Henry, begging for another chance. It breaks my heart to see dad like this, pleading with them like a beggar. 

“Dad…please…you don’t have to do this, “ I try to save the last of dad’s pride but he cuts me off with a stinging blow across my face, so much so that blood pools in my mouth. 

“Quiet! This is all your fault!” he roars before turning back towards Aden’s parents. 

But Henry remains unmoved. “We’ve made up our minds. Aden deserves better.”

The crowd readily agree and one by one they start hurtling insults at me. “Yes, Aden deserves better than a pack whore!”

Dad turns to me, his eyes filled with a murderous stare. “You have shamed me!” He raises his hand, ready to land another blow and I squeeze my eyes shut. Dad, please, no…

“ENOUGH!” A commanding voice slices through the air and immediately, the taunting stops. A woman, who had been silent all along walks up and my breath hitches. 

Mom!

The guests part like the Red Sea to my way for her. Calmly, mother walks through the crowd. No one dares to stop her when she pulls me behind her and gently places a shawl to cover my body.

“I believe in Liliana. And I believe everyone is innocent until proven guilty,” she says. Then, turning to the rogue, she orders the guards, “Lock the rogue up. Have him questioned and find out the truth about what happened.” No one dares to speak up against her. 

Then, politely,  she urges the guests to leave, promising a thorough investigation. But as the guests begin to leave with words of comfort to my parents, their eyes conceal a cruel mockery that pierces my soul.

It’s funny how life can be, one minute I’m the beloved pack princess and now, I’m the pack whore.

Avoiding their accusatory gazes, my eyes inadvertently fall upon Bella who is now standing by Aden's side. And what I see shatters my world.

An expression I have never seen before dances on Bella’s face. It is an expression of triumph, perhaps, even of arrogance. Her lips curl up and a sinister smile plays upon her lips.

No, I have seen this look before. The kind of sparkle in her eyes when she was handing me the candy, was exactly the same. 

At the time, I had thought she was playing a prank because the candy had a strange smell to it. But she had said that it was what Aden liked, so I went ahead and swallowed it.

Suddenly, everything becomes crystal clear. 

I am sick because the truth is horrible beyond belief. 

The candy. The rogue. The video. Everything has come together.

She had drugged me and orchestrated everything.

How could I have been so blind?!

Fury fuels my every step. I storm towards her, desperation threading through my voice. “You drugged me! You betrayed me!!”

Bella jumps behind Aden and clings tightly to his arm. “Liliana, why are you blaming me for your own greed, lies and lust for the rogue?” She wipes back a tear that never formed and claims, “I gave up my mate for you!!”