Fated To Three, Betrayed By All… Until She Rose. Chapter 8: An unknown

Leilani.

The silence that passed between us as soon as my words ca out was deafening. I wrung my fingers together, silently praying that they would leave alone now... that after this, we will all count our losses and go our separate ways.

—At least that was what I wanted for them... for Chalice. For myself.

But I was wrong.

My mother was the most stunned of all of them. And then—

*Crack*

"You ungrateful bitch!" She yelled as she slapped hard across the face. "After everything we’ve done for you, this is how you repay us?!"

I wanted to ask her what they’ve done for since I was six besides ruining my confidence and making a mockery of , but I didn’t. Instead, I bowed my head and closed my eyes, ignoring the feel of their eyes drilling holes into my skin and the growing agitation in the air.

"You’d go this far just to show how hateful and jealous you are of your sister? Unbelievable!"

My tears made my eyes sting. My cheeks hurt from being smacked so hard. My head felt heavy too, but I managed to remain upright. Until my father snarled;

"I don’t care if you want to cut ties with us." He seethed. "In fact, I don’t care about anything concerning you at all. But first, you’ll have to be punished for everything you’ve done. You’ll be punished for killing your grandmother—"

"Have I not been punished enough for that already?!" I snapped, interrupting him as flashes of the several tis I was whipped in the past two days fleeted across my mind.

His palm connecting with my face was the last thing I saw before imnse pain exploded on my left cheek, busting my lips in the process. I fell into the bed, this ti, not bothering to hide the tears as they streaked down my face.

My father scowled. "No. No punishnt is enough for a hateful loser such as you." He seethed. "You need death! You deserve that!"

For a very brief mont, my eyes snagged on Chalice to find her smiling at , her face a mask of self-satisfaction. She grinned subtly before turning to father, and then she whispered;

"Daddy, she’s suffered enough. Just look at her! So please..."

"She’s this spoiled because you coddle her too much!" This ti it was Gavin who bit out. "And she’ll keep committing these petty cris if we don’t do anything about her."

"You call her cris petty?" Father snarled. "She killed my mother! She invited rogues into the pack! That’s murder and treason. Cris that should be punished with death!"

As soon as his words slipped out, my breath hitched. A aningful silence settled in the room, and then suddenly, father’s eyes twinkled with malicious delight.

"I’ve disowned her. She’s even gotten emancipation docunts to cut ties with us. So she’s not a part of us anymore."

"Malakai... what do you an?" My mom voiced out, her voice shaky with unbridled fear.

"That she should be killed. That’s the punishnt for her cris, isn’t it?" He yelled, turning to my mates who have been as still as statues since the bring of this whole conversation, and at his voice, they blinked, turning to pin with their usual death glares.

"Kael, Caelum, let’s not do this to Leilani. She’s hateful I know. She tried to kill , I know. But she’s battered as it is. Let’s plead with her instead, maybe that way, she’ll not feel so offended by us!" Chalice wailed, going to stand beside Kael and Caelum as she blinked up at them with tears falling down her pretty perfect cheeks.

Zevran, on the other hand, didn’t move. He didn’t flinch. He simply stared pointedly at , his gaze conflicted.

"Your father is right." Kael answered coldly after a mont. "I fear we cannot do anything to save her. She brought this upon herself."

His words made feel like I’d been doused with icy water. It literally took the breath out of my lungs and stabbed my heart so deep, I was sure I would die from the pain.

In tears, I shook my head, my lips trembling as I looked up at them. "I didn’t do it." I muttered, but that made my father angrier as he smacked my face so hard, I heard my skin tear.

"This is why she has to die." He spat.

For a fleeting mont, I couldn’t believe my ears. I couldn’t believe that the man I’ve called my father for nineteen years could wake up one morning and say things like this about . I couldn’t believe that my family would one day be discussing my death like it was a movie on TV.

My heart plumted. My soul sank.

Maybe once, I used to pride myself in the fact that I’ve gotten over them. Maybe I used to think that there was nothing else they could do to get under my skin... to hurt .

But I was very wrong.

These people devised new tactics everyday to break . To shatter . And right now, they’ve won.

I doubled over as if visibly hurt, squeezing my eyes to block out the painful sight in front of . My mates were in this room. They were watching. They weren’t doing anything.

"Guards!" My head whipped up when I heard Caelum speak suddenly, and at the sound of his voice, two guards rushed into the room. "Take her away." He said, "Make sure she’s whipped ten tis for hurting Chalice, twenty tis for hurting her grandmother and an additional fifty tis with the hot whip for committing treason."

"Also, make the female slaves parade her around the pack house when you’re done. Make sure everyone knows what stuff she’s made of and the cris she committed." Kael added, and if I was hurt before, then I was definitely destroyed now.

"I didn’t do anything." I cried out again, my voice thick with pain and anguish. "I really didn’t. How can I prove my innocence to you?"

"So you’re saying that grandma pushed herself down the stairs? And that the chat on your phone was fake?" Gavin snarled, coming to smack my forehead so hard that my vision waned for a nanosecond.

I shrunk back but didn’t back down. "I swear, I didn’t. I would never."

"She’s so stubborn. Take her away!" My father seethed and with that, the guards rushed over.

A choked sob slipped past my lips as the guards forcefully looped their arms around mine. And right before my family and mates, they dragged off to the unknown.

Oh, and I almost forgot. Chalice, the spiteful bitch, couldn’t hide her pleased grin as they dragged away.

And I couldn’t help but wonder how no one else besides saw it.