The Fall Of Trust

Gwen’s POV

I knelt down, my face pressed against the cold, hard ground, the weight of the ceremony heavy on my shoulders. My heart pounded in my chest, each beat echoing in my ears like a drum. This was it—the moment I had waited for, the moment I had dreamed of. Soon, Damien would lift me up, his hand warm and strong, claiming me as his Luna. The pack would cheer, and our love would be solidified for all to see.

Elder Thea’s voice rang out, clear and commanding, “Alpha Damien, claim your Luna, and let the pack see the strength of your union.”

Her words sent a shiver down my spine, and with a trembling hand, I lifted my right arm, offering it to Damien. This was it. Any second now, he would take my hand, and we would be united forever.

But instead of the warm touch I expected, a chilling, low giggle reached my ears—a sound so out of place, so foreign, that my heart froze. Slowly, I raised my head, my gaze searching for Damien’s familiar face. What I saw sent a jolt of fear through my body.

His eyes—they weren’t the deep, comforting green I knew so well. They were red, glowing with an unnatural light that radiated power and malice. This wasn’t the man I loved. This wasn’t my mate anymore. This was someone—or something—else.

“What are you doing, darling?” Damien’s voice dripped with mockery, his lips curling into a sneer that twisted his handsome features into something terrifying. His gaze bore into me with a cold, calculating disgust that made my blood run cold.

Elder Thea’s voice cut through the tense silence, “Damien, pick Gwen up and claim her as your Luna. The pack needs to see this bond.”

Damien didn’t even turn to acknowledge her. His eyes remained locked on mine, his voice a casual drawl as he interrupted her, “Yeah, yeah, I heard you the first time.”

He stepped back, his stance widening as if to distance himself from me. My breath hitched as he addressed the pack, his tone laced with disdain. “What a pity. How stupid can one be, huh? In all my existence as the king of rogues, I’ve never met a woman as foolish as you. And to think you came from royalty… It baffles me.”

His words struck like a dagger, each one cutting deeper than the last. I felt the sting of tears gathering in my eyes, my voice breaking as I whispered, “Damien…why? What are you doing? Why are you speaking to me like this?”

His laughter filled the air, harsh and grating, echoing in the silent hall. He waved a hand dismissively, addressing the entire pack as if I were nothing more than an insect beneath his feet. “See? Stupid!” He spat the word out like it was poison, stepping further away from me.

“People of the Crescent Moon Pack, hear your Alpha and hear me well. I, Alpha Damien Nightshade, reject you, Gwen Silverfang.”

Time seemed to freeze, the world around me slowing to a crawl. My ears rang, a deafening silence that drowned out everything else. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. His words replayed in my mind, over and over, as if they were on a loop.

“Damien, what about what we shared? I thought you loved me?” I asked, trying to be sure of what was going on, this could turn out to be a prank.

He laughed bitterly as he stared at me. “Love? I never loved you, Gwenevier. You were only a means to an end, you’ve given me what I wanted and I don’t have any need for you again,” he spat out in anger.

Elder Thea’s voice cut through the haze, filled with desperation, “Damien, stop this nonsense once and for all. You need your Luna beside you.”

Damien sneered, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Ah yes, a Luna. And I have one.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw movement. Elara stepped forward from the crowd, her figure draped in one of my dresses, the fabric clinging to her like a second skin. The sight of her, so familiar yet so wrong, sent a wave of nausea crashing over me.

What was happening? This wasn’t the plan we had, this wasn’t the plan we talked about. Why was Elara walking towards Damien with that sly smile on her face? I felt my chest tighten as I struggled to breathe. This should all be a dream.

Damien’s arm snaked around her waist, pulling her close as he leaned down to kiss her—right there, in front of everyone. I watched, frozen in place, as their lips met. The humiliation burned through me, scorching every nerve. My stomach churned, bile rising in my throat, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away.

Elder Rowan growled loudly, his anger showing at this point. “What do you think you are doing, Damien? You can’t reject Gwen.”

Damien didn’t pay any attention to him as he continued in his deep kiss with Elara. I felt my heart shattering into a thousand tiny pieces as I knelt there watching everything play out before me. The pack members went about murmuring, while some shook their heads in disbelief.

When Damien finally broke the kiss, he turned back to me, a cruel smile playing on his lips. “Oh, you’re still here?” His voice was a mockery of concern. “You took the tea laced with wolfsbane last night. Any moment now, you’ll be dead.”

Shock rippled through me, my mind struggling to comprehend his words. The tea… Elara had brought me that tea. She had stood by my side, offering comfort, all the while knowing what she had done. Betrayal cut through me like a knife, sharper and more painful than anything I had ever felt before.

It was then it dawned on me that Elara’s ‘thoughtfulness and kindness’ was only a ploy to get me killed. She had been serving me that tea for a while and I thought it was because she was being thoughtful but it turned out to be a betrayal, one I couldn’t come to comprehend.

Before I could fully grasp the depth of this treachery, Elder Rowan, the beta—one of my father’s most loyal followers—rushed toward Damien, his body a blur of motion. But before he could reach him, Damien moved with a speed and ferocity I had never seen before. In one swift motion, he plunged his hand in the beta’s chest and ripped out of his heart, the blood still pulsing from the lifeless organ.

The pack erupted into chaos, as gasps and murmurs rang through the hall. I stared around as I watched pack members run in different directions, my vision blurred with the intensity of the situation.

“What have I done to myself and to my pack?” I muttered to myself as I felt my tears run down like an open stream. I stared at Elder Rowan’s crumbled body on the floor and I felt the urge to scream, to wake up from this terrible nightmare but it felt like I was stuck in this side of the world.

The world titled on its axis, my vision swimming as Damien turned to me, his eyes glowing brighter, more terrifying than before. He held the heart in his hand, the blood dripping onto the ground, staining the earth red.

In a voice barely above a whisper, he uttered one word—a command that chilled me to the bone. “Run.”