Chapter 1: ABADONED

ATHENA'S POV

“Get out and never come back!”

The voice of my father resonated in my ears as he spat on me whilst talking.

Mother was there also. She wouldn’t even look at me.

I turned to her. “Mother, I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me!” I pleaded.

“Athena, You do not belong here. There is an evil inside you and it spreading so fast. You shouldn’t be amongst us. Leave!” she said in a loud tone.

“Why would they do this to me?” It wasn’t my fault.

I never intended to kill Jonas. I got angry and things went haywire. 

He was standing right in front of me saying all sort of things about my late baby sister. 

I was angry. I couldn’t take it anymore. My inner wolf came out. I tried to calm it down but it wouldn’t listen. The shift was swift and before I knew it, I slit his throat with my sharp claws.

He bled all over my clothes and another member of the pack walked in and saw what had happened.

They wouldn’t just hear me out. 

“I do not want to see you here, anymore. You are not mine! This pack rejects you and I say so on behalf of the Alpha. Out!” he shouted.

“Take her away from here, far off from our territory. She is a forbidden fruit!” he spat on my face and walked away.

He wasn’t willing to hear me. Mother turned her back on me as the other werewolves came and carried me out. 

They pushed me and kicked me hard. 

I cried.

I could feel my heart failing as they carried me carelessly and threw me to the ground when they got deeper into the woods.

“Ugh” I grunt as I am kicked in the stomach again.

They won’t stop kicking me.

“Demon! Jonas was my friend and you killed him,” one of the werewolves who stood around said.

“I’m sorry. I…….” I stuttered.

A hit landed on my face before I could utter another word.

“What should we do with her?” one of them muttered.

“Her father doesn’t want her anymore. We should beat her and dump her body somewhere,” another responded.

Before I could say another word in protest, I was once again assaulted by blows and kicks. 

There are cuts and blood stains all over my body, and slowly, everywhere begins to darken.

I lose strength and stop struggling.

Before I knew it, one of them slapped me in the face, bringing me back to reality.

“Your death would mean nothing to nobody. The pack forbids an evil like you!” his voice echoed

I lay there helpless as my nose bleed and I cough out profusely.

I am beaten and injured within every inch of my mortal body. Even If I can still move, what could I possibly do? 

These men are pack warriors trained to fight. 

There was nothing I could do against them.

I am suddenly aware of the sounds of rushing water, and my heart picks up even faster as they lifted me.

“Let’s dump her body into the river,” I heard one of them say.

This is it; my end.  They must think I’m dead already.

It's not fair. I don't deserve this. I can't die like this.

“Please… help me,” I whimper but no response. Without delay, I am thrown high up into the air, and for just one eccentric moment, it feels terrific.

Free, like I am flying, and then gravity steps in. I fall so fast that I can't breathe between my aching ribs before submerging in the frigid, ice-cold water.

The force at which I hit the water is so jarring that I swear I feel a bone crack. I can't swim; my limbs are useless, but somehow, I manage to float on my back.

I don't know how long I float downstream; I am aware of the jagged rocks that bump and scratch at me, the sun moving through the sky and finally setting, and the crickets coming out to sing.

But as for being consciously aware of all these, no. I am not. I float in and out of consciousness, never fully passing out as if something was stopping me from doing so.

And I know for sure, that the moment I lose consciousness, I die. Owing to that, I courageously hang on for as long as possible.

Perhaps someone would come and save me before I give up the ghost.

I was carried by the current of the water and it felt like I spent days not until my head hit a rock as the water poured me out.

I opened my eyes slightly and all I could see was thick woods. “The water must have brought me here,” I thought.

I laid there for hours with no one to come to my aid. I wander the woods like a lost soul for days, bleeding.

Everything became blurry as I fell back to the ground.

Suddenly, I become aware of running paws approaching me from afar.

Many paws. I think someone is coming for me.

Soon, I am cradled into the arms of a man which sets off all alarm bells in my head. No one in the pack treats me gently.

“Who are these people?” 

I still can't move. From the corner of my eyes, I see the wolves shuffle away as someone's footsteps can be heard walking closer.

A pair of green boots come within my eyesight. The man beside me bows his head to the person before stepping back.

“What is this?” a female voice, filled with authority, demands.

An unfamiliar one.

“Who are these people, for goddess's sake? And what do they want from me?”

“We picked up her scent some minutes ago while on patrol. She is still breathing, ma,” the man who carried me, answered.

“What about our other scouts?” the woman asked.

“We are clear. There seem to be no intruders reported to be around. She appears to be the only one here,” the man replied.

“You can't be too sure. Send the wolves to do another sweep before reporting back to the pack house,” she said, her eyes now turned towards where I was laid.

The young woman walked towards me, bent over, and looked me straight in the eyes. My vision was still blurry so I couldn't make out her face and the tattoo on her neck seemed to have caught my attention. It was that of a butterfly and it seemed like it was moving as I tried to stare it closely.

“Who is she?” I thought.

She wore a glove that had strange markings on them and this got me a bit scared.

“Do you think she is a rebel? Perhaps we should kill her right here,” the one who carried me said.

“Go ahead, she is dead anyways,” the young woman said.

“No….please…” I stammered.

“No!”

“Stop!” a voice from behind echoed.