Lorelei POV
The second she pressed play, loud moans filled the room. Breathless. Unmistakably female. Then came a low groan, followed by the wet slap of skin against skin and the creak of a bed frame.
Harlan's expression darkened as he watched, veins bulging at his temples.
From the sound alone, it was obvious what was happening. Sex.
My stomach twisted violently. I hadn't had sex. Not with Jaxen. Not with anyone. I was still a virgin. I knew I was. Every stolen moment with him had stopped at kisses, at touches, at promises whispered against heated skin. He had never crossed that line.
But the video kept playing.
Callista tilted the screen so Harlan could see more clearly. Elara leaned in, her hand flying to her mouth.
The footage was grainy, filmed from a distance through what looked like a cracked door or window, but it was clear enough. A girl with pale blonde hair spread across a mattress, her legs wrapped around a man's hips as he thrust into her.
The girl's face turned toward the camera for one perfect, damning second.
My face.
And the man on top of me was not Jaxen.
Dark hair, yes. Broad shoulders, yes. But the jaw was wrong. The build heavier, rougher. A guard, maybe. Some random warrior. Not him.
My knees buckled and I grabbed the edge of the desk to keep from collapsing.
How could that be?
I was still a virgin. I knew my own body. The video had to be fake. Edited. Manipulated. Something. Anything.
After a few more seconds, Harlan shoved the phone away so violently it skidded across the desk and clattered to the floor.
"You slut!" he roared, lunging at me. His fist connected with my jaw.
Pain exploded across my face and I tasted blood.
"You've been whoring yourself out behind our backs," Harlan snarled, grabbing me by the throat and squeezing. "While we fed you, clothed you, tolerated your existence. You spread your legs for some filthy boy and thought you could steal from us too?"
Callista stepped forward and added softly, "I didn't want to show you, Papa. But I had to. She's been sneaking out at night. I followed her once. I heard the moans. I saw the man leave her room before dawn. She's been playing everyone."
A sob tore out of me around Harlan's grip. "It's not real. Please. It's not me. I didn't—"
He slammed me against the wall. My back struck stone so hard the air rushed from my lungs.
"Shut your mouth," he hissed. "Guards!"
At his command, the doors burst open and two men stepped inside.
"Take her to the courtyard," Harlan ordered, his voice shaking with rage. "Strip her and tie her to a pole. If she survives, lock her up for a week."
"Father, no!" I gasped. "Check my body. Please. A healer. A healer will know I'm still a virgin. It's a lie."
"A healer's time will not be wasted on a whore," Elara spat, her eyes colder than I had ever seen them. She looked at me with such disgust it hurt more than his fist. "To think I birthed you. Do you know how much damage this would cause to Callista's reputation ? You are mirrors of each other. If the pack sees you as a common street walker, they will look at my pure Callista and wonder if she is made of the same filth."
That's right.
Callista and I looked alike.
What if—
No. That made no sense. Callista was cruel, yes, but she was always seen as pure. And I was the one in a secret relationship with the Alpha's heir.
But when my gaze lifted to hers and our eyes met, I saw something flicker there. Something sharp. Calculating. It vanished just as quickly, replaced with wounded innocence.
The guards dragged me outside, my pleas swallowed by the open air. My clothes were ripped from me until I was left in nothing but my underwear.
Cold air slapped against my bare skin, raising goosebumps and making me shiver violently.
They tied my wrists to a wooden pole in the center of the courtyard. A small crowd began to gather, whispers spreading like wildfire.
The faint bite marks Jaxen had once left on my shoulders only made everything worse.
The cursed daughter. Punished again.
The guard lifted the whip, cracking it once through the air for effect.
"Hold it."
Jaxen stepped out from the crowd, his expression hardening as he took in the scene.
His hair was damp, his shirt slightly unbuttoned—almost like he had run straight here from the training ground.
Those blue eyes locked on me first, fury flashing in them, raw and almost feral.
"What the hell is this?!" he said sternly, his voice cutting through the air and sending confused whispers spreading through the crowd.
Before Father could explain, Callista rushed forward. "She stole from Father and was planning to elope with her lover." Her voice trembled as she spoke, but that only made Jaxen's brow knot together.
His gaze shifted to me once more. He knew he was my only lover. Confusion flickered across his face—then suspicion.
Before he could get another word out, Callista started playing the video.
Jaxen snatched the phone from her grasp, practically shoving his face into the screen as the loud moans poured from the speaker again.
He watched silently, jaw tight. When he reached the part where my face appeared, his eyes narrowed. He zoomed in with two fingers. Paused. Rewound. Played it again.
"How do you know she's the one?" he finally asked.
"What do you mean?" Callista tilted her head. "It's her face. Everyone can see. Unless you know anyone else she shares such a striking resemblance to."
Jaxen went quiet again, and this time when his gaze landed on me, it was filled with uncertainty. Almost doubt. My stomach dropped.
"No…" I blurted, my voice cracking. "I didn't do it. You have to believe me. Please…"
"Jaxen," my father said, having had enough, stepping forward. "You might be the heir, but I'm still your Beta. Allow me to discipline my own daughter as I see fit."
Jaxen looked like he wanted to say more. His fists clenched at his sides, but the hierarchy was ironclad. He wasn't Alpha yet. He couldn't override a Beta punishing his own blood without starting a war in front of the pack.
So, with a stiff nod, he turned and walked away.
My heart shattered into a thousand pieces as I watched him turn his back on me. The crowd parted for him, and he disappeared into the shadows without a single backward glance.
The tears I had been fighting finally spilled over, and I screamed as the first lash tore across my skin.
By the tenth strike, my vision had blurred. Blood ran warm down my back, mixing with sweat and dirt, sticking to my skin. Every breath burned. Every second stretched into something endless.
Through watery eyes, my gaze found them.
My father. My mother. My sister.
Standing close together like a perfect family watching a criminal receive her punishment.
Elara's hand rested lightly on Harlan's arm, the picture of a supportive wife. Harlan's face remained carved from stone. And Callista stood between them, her expression solemn, almost sorrowful, as if this hurt her too.
They looked like a painting. A family portrait.
The Beta. His wife. Their golden daughter.
And then there was me.
How had my life come to this? I couldn't stop the thought from forming. My only crime had been being born second.
Because of a prophecy.
The prophetess had whispered it the moment my mother's pregnancy was revealed.
Twin girls. One light. One shadow.
The light, the one born first would bring glory to the pack. The shadow would bring ruin. One would rise as Luna. The other would be the end of everything if she was not controlled.
My parents chose our roles the second they saw my eyes open.
They chose to believe I was the shadow. The curse. The one meant to be chained, beaten, erased.
And they had done it so well.