Chapter 6 - Exile

Lyra,

I ran blindly into the dimly lit forest, my bare feet slapping against the loamy earth as branches whipped my face. Heart pounding, lungs burning, I pushed on relentlessly into the sheltering embrace of the ancient trees.

Damien's betrayal had shattered me to the core, leaving me gutted and hollow inside. And now to learn that I carried the offspring of our clan's most hated rival?

The graveness of it all threatened to push me to hell of regret which I might never escape.

"How dare he?... Why would he bring the Semen of our pack Enemy?

"Why is he doing this to me?" I sobbed, tears streaming freely down my cheeks. "After everything we endured, how could Damien be so cruel?"

Ria remained muted within the reaches of our shared bond, withdrawn into some unreachable depth inside my mind

Her usual strong presence had receded, leaving me adrift in a turbulent sea of desolation with no anchor to cling to.

What would my father say if he learned of this unforgivable misunderstanding?

As the alpha's daughter, my purity and fidelity were meant to be inviolable, held sacrosanct until I took a proper mate.

And follow the pack rules of not interacting with the Enemy pack.

Instead, I had been violated in the most unforgivable manner possible.

To have a Blackmoon's heir now spurring in my womb.

Father would see me as the bearer of horrific abominations, progeny that must be exterminated lest they corrupt our noble bloodline.

Knowing him, My own father would show no mercy, his wrath descending upon me in an unstoppable conflagration fueled by the weight of ancestral duty.

But I hope he will grant me a listening ear.

Anguished howls tore from my throat, the sound equal parts utter misery and denial of the path my life had taken. I could envision the mocking taunts and disdainful sneers of my packmates washing over me in crashing waves, their barbed words lacerating every last shred of self-worth as they branded me a failure. A stained, ruined omega - worthless and pathetic.

"Why must the whole world torment me like this?" I keened to the shadowed boughs hanging overhead, silhouetted against a stuttering glimpse of silvery moonlight.

My hands unconsciously drifted to cradle my still flat tummy, the burgeoning swell almost imperceptible but carrying unimaginable weight.

Within that consecrated space pulsed the embryonic essence of my unborn - innocent lives conceived through vile treachery and desecration. Damien's profane defilement of our bond was the spark that ignited their existence.

But Gabriel's thunderous proclamation of them being 'born of his celestial fire' reverberated through my consciousness in profane harmonics that I couldn't fully dismiss or comprehend.

Was the larger-than-life alpha's sincere declaration to be true? And if so, what unholy power had he wielded that transcended all known boundaries?

These were my children that I carried, formed from my own flesh and spirit. But thanks to the perverse machinations of those who should have safeguarded and cherished that miracle, they would be regarded as scourges to be exterminated with impunity.

The absolute rejection and cruel judgment I had always endured from my pack would now be revisited upon my own progeny as well.

"I cannot...I will not allow that to happen," I rasped through gritted fangs, nails scoring the trembling skin of my abdomen as a fresh wave of cold clarity pierced the roiling fog of despair.

"I cannot let my kids go through the Bully... The torture I went."

This has to be a profane blessing from the goddess.

To carry this heir is a miracle, I would preserve and shield it with every ounce of my strength.

Whether emerging from the defiled ashes of a broken vow or the cosmic primacy of an strongest alpha, these pups were mine. My flesh, my spirit, my lineage - and I would slaughter any who dared threaten them with seamless impunity!

But how? Where could I possibly seek sanctuary after this treachery?

And I don't think Gabriel...the strongest Alpha would accept me?

A bitter denial coiled through me at the thought of ever seeking refuge among the humans?

No maybe old sage, if not them what other options existed?

I was drifting, untethered and adrift within the raging vortex of forces so immense they threatened to scour me into oblivion. Only one desire, one purpose remained - the ferocious need to safeguard my nascent brood from a cosmos that would deny their existence with merciless finality.

"I need...I need to find someplace safe," I murmured, hugging my tummy tighter as if to shield my pups from the pervading darkness and fatal certainty. "No matter the required sacrifice or depravity, I'll do whatever it takes. For you, my darling ones...my heirs, born of so much torment yet embodying my entire world's hope."

The words felt like ropes being cast out into the void, grasping for purchase against the churning currents.

One found blessed traction as Ria's soul at last stirred from its quiescent isolation, her tone carrying the scorched weight of shared tribulation.

"We will weather this storm, daughter-alpha," she rasped in an uncharacteristic cadence of steely resolve alloyed with flint-edged determination. "We have endured insults and injuries from all quarters, yet never have we faltered or surrendered our pride."

"This...innocent lives are our blessing, Lyra. Borne of defilement, yes, but their blood remains the legacy of our spirit. Our souls are as one - and no force among the heavens or Hell shall ever sunder that!" She whispered.

A wheezing chuckle escaped my lips at her strained attempt at gallows humor, though the acknowledgement infused me with renewed vigor even as my limbs creaked with protesting fatigue.

Climbing to my feet in a swaying sort of upright sprawl, I wiped the tears and grime from my cheeks then turned my gaze to the horizon with an unflinching ferocity alien to my usual nature.

Whatever destiny awaited me on the path ahead, I would meet each turn and every obstacle with the savage intensity of a mother wolf defending her den.

These pups in my womb were my only certainty, my final defiance against a cruel existence that would see me falter into despair.

And no force in all creation would be permitted to extinguish that tenuous flicker of hope and love pulsing deep within.

....

The first rays of dawn filtered through the canopy overhead, rousing me from an uneasy slumber.

Wiping the dried tears from my cheeks, I steeled myself and rose on shaky legs. I had to return to the pack, no matter how much dread coiled in my gut. They were my family and deserved to hear the truth from me, no matter how ugly or scandalous.

With a fortifying breath, I turned my steps toward the heart of our territory and broke into a loping run, muscles protesting from the exertions of the previous night. Trees blurred past in a kaleidoscope of greens and browns as I bounded over gnarled roots and patches of undergrowth.

"They don't know anything about my babies so I can gather my things and escape." I muttered.

All too soon, the familiar scent of wood smoke and animal musk wafted through the crisp morning air - the unmistakable signature of my packmates' den site just ahead.

Rounding the final rise, I slowed to an apprehensive trot, ears pricked for any signs of alarm at my return.

"Stop where you are!.... Stay right where you are!"

The brusque shots rang out in stereo from the treeline as two of our pack's burliest sentries materialized, closing in with hackles raised and fangs bared. I froze mid-stride, hands instinctively cradling my abdomen as the wolves advanced in an unmistakable combat fan.

"P-Perry? Zek? What's going on, it's me! Lyra!" I sputtered, backpedaling a step as their intent became evident.

"We know exactly who you are, Omega," the larger of the pair, Zek, spat the honorific like a curse. "The traitorous whelp caught redhanded carrying a litter of mutant crossbreeds!"

My breath stalled in my lungs, eyes bulging in shock. They knew? But how? Unless...no. No, Damien wouldn't dare violate our clan's sanctity by spreading such venomous lies. Would he?

"That's insane, you're mistaken!" I cried, shooting a panicked glance toward the den site, now conspicuously empty and still. "Just let me pass to speak with my father! There's been some kind of misunderstanding or—"

"Silence, bitch!" Perry barked, muscular shoulders tensing as if ready to pounce. "We received orders directly from the Alpha himself. You're to be remanded to the holding pit until he decides how to proceed with your dirty activities!"

A blow resonant as the impact of a meteor lanced through my midsection, leaving me reeling. Did my father already know about my pregnancy?

And his reaction was to have me imprisoned as if I were a criminal?

No...no, this was some terrible mistake, some distortion of the truth that would resolve itself once I could plead my case in person.

He was my father, my alpha - once he understood the complex circumstances, he would surely show mercy and keep me from harm. Wouldn't he?

"Please, you don't understand!" I begged, backpedaling two steps for every one of the sentries' inexorable advance. "I need to speak with him immediately, to explain everything before he passes judgment!"

"He's made his ruling clear as crystal," Zek rumbled in that infuriatingly pedantic tone of his. "You are henceforth property of this pack until the abominations are...dealt with. Now stop stalling and come along peacefully before we're forced to tranq and drag you like the disobedient omega you've proven to be!"

The implications of his words spawned a crawling dread that leeched what little remained of the color from my features. They couldn't seriously mean to...?

My hands flew to cradle my tummy, curling around the nascent lives within in a pitiful womb-to-womb embrace.

In that instant, I knew with horrifying certainty that I wouldn't receive even a scrap of mercy or compassion. Not from my own kin.

In their eyes, I was a failed, stained breeder who had willingly committed procreational heresy by conceiving hybrid scourges that threatened the sanctity of our lineage.

And my father, the alpha...he had passed the death sentence on those innocents with ruthless finality.

Is that what would happen to me?

Shiver makes my stomach curdle through me in waves, disgust at the extent of my own sire's calloused depravity chilling me to the core.

How could he, my own flesh and blood, condemn babes still in the womb in such a manner?

And to inflict that genocidal decree upon his own grandchildren, no matter their unorthodox parentage!

"No..." I rasped, fingernails scoring my forearms in a paroxysm of rage and denial. "You can't, I won't let you!"

Zek simply shrugged one bulky shoulder in nonchalance. "Say what you will, breeder - you were bound for the pits regardless after what we witnessed."

Witnessed? A dawning sense of horror began creeping through the haze of terror and revulsion gripping me. They spoke as if they had intimate knowledge, a front row seat to the sordid affair that sparked this chaos in the first place.

Oh Sweet Mother Moon...they couldn't possibly mean...?

"You saw?" The whispered accusation leached from my lips, draining what little composure remained. "You vile, loathsome curs dared to bear witness to my defilement? To watch and revel while I was profaned and betrayed in the worst possible manner?"

Memories detonated with sickening force - Damien rutting atop Seraphina's smug, sneering form like a slavering beast, their writhing bodies locked in the throes of basest carnal indulgence.

The sight that had unraveled me, shattering my world into pieces.

And it seemed these two alpha-addled cretins had enjoyed their own box seats for the unveiling of that depraved circus!

I saw only shades of crimson fringing my vision, my soul hazing over in a dense miasma of smoldering acrimony and disgust.

How dare they, how dare any of them! Burglars who had staked claim to my devastation and made sport of it while I slowly crumbled beneath the weight of that abject violation!

Power roiled through me in scorching currents, building toward an inevitable cataclysmic eruption fueled by volcanic Source until the mortal coil containing me shuddered in sympathetic overload.

Something profound shifted in the cosmic loom through which our existences were woven, every atom and strand of this fragile reality going taught as bowstring in preparation for a reality-shattering detonation.

Through the wavering lens that was about to be birthed, I seemed to perceive every physical phenomenon occurring in concert with sharpened clarity.

This disassociation from normal perception only accelerated as that bottomless wellspring of power swelled to encompass my entire continuum, reality's ruptured fabric trembling and beginning to fray at the periphery under the strain.

I recall how my father treated me...

"BEGONE FROM MY SIGHT, WRETCHED VERMIN!"

The words blasted free in a thunderclap of profane dominion, my entire being resonating with transcendent focus distilled into their sublime articulation.

It was neither a shriek nor a bellow, but pure weakling...

The guards showed no mercy, shackling my wrists and dragging me to the pack court, before the looming stare of my father, Alpha Rowan Silvermood. His face was a stony mask of contempt as he regarded me from his throne of gnarled oak.

"Father, please you must listen!" I pleaded, straining against my bindings. "This is all a terrible misunderstanding!"

His lip curled in revulsion. "Silence, whelp! Your actions speak louder than any pathetic platitudes you might spew." He rose, towering over me with a look of such withering disdain it felt like physical blows.

"My own daughter...defiled and bred by that monstrous Blackmoon Enemy!" He spat the words like a curse. "You've allowed his cursed seed to take root within your wretched womb, polluting the sanctity of our noble bloodline!"

"No, father, you're wrong!" I cried desperately. "It wasn't willing, Damien he—"

"Enough of your lies!" He roared, stalking down until his shadow consumed me. The rage contorting his features was like staring into the heart of a supernova. "Your vile words are an abomination against everything our pack stands for. You are a black stain, a festering wound to be lanced and cast out before it can fester further."

I shook my head wildly, choking back sobs of denial. "Please...don't do this. They're innocent, your grandchildren! I'll leave, go into exile, but don't hurt them!"

For a fleeting moment, his expression wavered, some ancestral spark of compassion piercing the hatred. Then his face twisted into a rictus sneer.

"You are born a weakling begat from a human, a mistake to begin with... a filth... And them...they are no kin of mine." His words were drawn razored wire across my soul.

"As alpha, I cannot abide such sworn enemies within our pack territory." He raked me with a withering glare of finality.

"You are hereby expelled from these lands and the Silvermoon pack, rogue. Take your Hell-wrought mistakes and flee before I am forced to kill the child you carry!"

The words lanced through me like reverse-edged hellfire, incinerating the final vestiges of familial bonds and eviscerating what little remained of my core self-worth.

Darkness swirled and I felt myself pitching backwards into the void, dimly aware of an explosion of pain and fury through my telepathic link with Ria.

"Unforgivable...inconceivable...the alpha's actions...I cannot abide!" Ria uttered, her mind voice was a hoarse, guttering rasp of outrage.

Then she descended into a bottomless well of silence, and my entire world went black.

How can he be so evil?

Get her out of my sight! Now!