Chapter 67 Vanessa's Descent
Vanessa's POV
The afternoon light filtering through the cracked window of our attic room did nothing to warm the perpetual chill that had settled into my bones since we'd been exiled to this hellhole. I lay on the sagging mattress that reeked of mildew, my phone clutched in trembling hands as I desperately tried to avoid any news about Elara, but WolfWatch's notifications kept vibrating against my palm like tiny electric shocks.
The latest notification made my stomach clench: #FutureAlphaKing'sDestinedMate discussion count surpasses 500,000.
My thumb hovered over the screen for several agonizing seconds before I finally gave in and clicked.
High-definition photos filled my screen, each one more nauseating than the last. Kaelen holding an umbrella over Elara in the rain, his massive frame curved protectively around her smaller one. His fingers brushing a strand of wet hair from her face with such tenderness that it made bile rise in my throat. That look in his ice-blue eyes as he stared down at her, like she was the only thing that existed in his entire world.
The comments section was an endless scroll of congratulations and blessings.
[Perfect match! The Alpha King finally found his Luna!]
[Silverstone princess deserves the best, and she got it!]
[Two strongest packs uniting? This is going to change werewolf politics forever!]
[I've never seen Alpha Thorne look at anyone like that. True mates are real!]
[The way he looks at her... my heart can't take it!]
"Alpha King has been waiting for the right one, and she's finally here!"
My hands shook so violently that I nearly dropped the phone. Jealousy burned through my chest like acid, eating away at everything rational until all that remained was this raw, consuming rage. I bit down on my lower lip hard enough to taste copper, the pain doing nothing to distract from the agony of seeing her have everything that should have been mine.
The black and purple bruises crawling up my forearms pulsed with a sickening heat, the physical manifestation of the dark magic backlash that had been slowly consuming me since the blood-draining array was destroyed. They looked like living things beneath my skin, spreading a little further each day, a constant reminder of what I'd lost.
The dark magic Mom and Dad had used to keep me healthy for eighteen years was now turning on me like a rabid dog, punishing me for the destruction of its source. Some mornings I woke up to find new bruises had appeared overnight, creeping across my ribs or down my spine.
I couldn't take it anymore. Switching to one of my carefully maintained anonymous accounts, I navigated to the main trending post and started typing with fingers that left smudges of sweat on the screen.
[A defective wolf who never even awakened, and she gets the future Alpha King? Please. Silverstone Pack is just using bloodline lies to package damaged goods.]
I hit post and watched the comment appear at the bottom of the thread, satisfaction briefly warming the cold hollow in my chest. But it lasted less than thirty seconds before replies started flooding in.
[I'm Elara's classmate and her wolf is powerful enough to wipe the floor with everyone in our year. She also mastered ancient magic that professors can't even perform. Where exactly is she defective?]
[Another jealous nobody trying to tear down someone better than them. Pathetic.]
[Reported for spreading false information about a high-ranking pack member.]
[Imagine being this bitter about someone else's happiness. Get a life.]
My face burned as I typed out another comment, this one more vicious, insinuating that Elara must have used some kind of underhanded seduction technique to trap the Alpha King's attention. My finger had barely lifted from the send button when the comment vanished, replaced by a red warning box that made my blood run cold.
[Violation of Alpha Protection Protocol. Account flagged for review.]
I stared at the screen in disbelief, then immediately logged into another burner account and tried again. Same result. The comment disappeared before anyone could even see it, and another warning appeared. I created a third account, then a fourth, then a fifth, each one banned faster than the last as if the system was learning to recognize my typing patterns and speech rhythms. Finally a system-wide notification popped up that made my heart sink.
[Your device IP has been permanently blacklisted from WolfWatch for repeated violations of community guidelines and Alpha Protection Protocols. Appeal denied.]
The scream that tore from my throat was barely human. I hurled my phone at the wall with all the strength I could muster, watching with savage satisfaction as the screen exploded into a spider web of cracks before the entire device split into two pieces that clattered to the floor, battery skittering across the warped floorboards.
The bruises on my arms writhed beneath my skin like snakes, responding to my rage with pulses of dark energy that made my bones ache. I could feel them spreading, creeping higher toward my shoulders, and I knew with sick certainty that they would eventually consume me entirely if I didn't find a way to reverse the damage.
But how could I focus on healing when she was out there living my life, wearing my future like a crown?
Two hours passed in seething silence as I lay there staring at the water-stained ceiling, my mind spinning with increasingly dark thoughts. The afternoon light shifted to orange, then purple, casting long shadows across our miserable room.
The sound of the downstairs door scraping open made me tense. Heavy footsteps climbed the creaking stairs. The door to our shared attic room swung inward, and my brother appeared carrying a plastic bag that I recognized as coming from the cheapest takeout place in the pack's slums.
He looked exhausted in a way that went beyond physical tiredness, his shoulders slumped and his eyes dull with the kind of defeat. Sawdust clung to his sweat-stained shirt, and there was a fresh cut on his forearm that he hadn't bothered to bandage. Wood shavings dusted his dark hair, and I could smell the sharp scent of pine and varnish clinging to him, mixed with the acrid odor of his own exhaustion.
Liam's gaze swept the room, taking in the shattered phone pieces on the floor, the battery still lying where it had rolled, and my trembling form on the bed. His jaw tightened, but he said nothing as he climbed the rest of the way up and set the takeout bag on the rickety table that wobbled with every movement. The containers inside were already cold, condensation beading on the plastic lids from sitting too long. He must have bought them hours ago and couldn't afford to leave work early.
"Again?" His voice came out hoarse and strained, like he'd been breathing in dust all day. "Vanessa, I told you to stop looking at those platforms. Nothing good comes from torturing yourself."
The concern in his tone, the gentleness he still tried to maintain despite everything we'd lost, ignited something vicious inside me. I shot upright, my entire body shaking with the force of emotions I could no longer contain.
"She took everything from us!" The words ripped out of my throat in a shriek that echoed off the moldy walls. "You're my brother! Why won't you help me make her pay? Why won't you make Elara suffer the way we're suffering?"
Liam's expression hardened, his hands clenching into fists at his sides, knuckles white with tension. "Vanessa—"
"No!" I lunged to my feet, gesturing wildly at our surroundings with arms that trembled from both rage and the dark magic eating away at me. "Look at this place! We used to live in a mansion with marble floors and crystal chandeliers! We had servants who brought us breakfast in bed, gardens where I could walk without worrying about stepping in mud, respect from everyone in the pack! Now we're stuck in this rotting shack at the edge of territory like the lowest omega trash!"
My voice rose higher, cracking with the force of my fury. "The walls leak when it rains! The floor is so warped I can't even walk straight! There are rats in the kitchen and mold growing in every corner! And it's all because of that bitch!"
I could feel tears streaming down my face now, hot and bitter as they mixed with the rage pouring out of me. "Now she even has the future Alpha King! The most powerful wolf in our generation is hers! Kaelen Thorne, who could have anyone, chose her! Why? What did she ever do to deserve any of it while I'm left with nothing but these cursed marks eating me alive?"
"If Mom and Dad were still here, they would never let me live like this! They loved me! They would have fixed everything! They would have made sure I had the life I deserved!"
The table shook as Liam's fist slammed down on its surface hard. "Did I do this to you? Is it my fault you're like this, Vanessa? Wake the hell up!"