Scarlett opened her eyes and was looking up at the ceiling from her bed. She stroked her head, moaning as her head ached a little.
"You're finally awake, child." Stella hurried over to her as soon as she heard her voice echoing throughout the room. "I was ready to give your parents a call to come get you to the pack's doctor."
Scarlett made herself sit down and inquired, "What happened to me?" despite the discomfort and sudden weakness.
Stella replied, "You passed out in the bathroom, and I had to bring you in here."
As she approached her, she felt her forehead and saw that she was starting to get hot. She said, "Have you felt this way since you arrived here?"
"I have never passed out before," Scarlett informed her. "In the past few days, I've had nausea several times. I told myself that it was just my body responding to being in the same room as Leah." Stella shook her head and laughed.
"No, even though that seems like a good explanation, I'm afraid it's not, my child."
"So I'm sick then? Do you know what it is?" she asked.
Her face took on a terrified expression, which caused her heart to race. "Tell me what it is then?"
"Before I retired eight years ago, I worked as a midwife to a few women," she paused and continued, "I don't want to frighten you, my child. Your symptoms are early signs of pregnancy rather than indications of being sick."
When the elder woman uttered those things to Scarlett, her face became pale, and all she could reply was, "No! It can't be. This can't be happening right now."
She began, then paused, recalling the night she'd passed in the stranger's bed over a month before. Her world fell apart in front of her eyes as her heart plunged into her gut.
Though it only happened once, she was aware that pregnancy could also happen that way. She committed a mistake that put her life in danger of being ruined.
It wasn't fair to her. Since coming to the pack, she had not established herself well, and now everything would be ruined.
"It's true." Scarlett was holding the pregnancy test kit nervously and it had two red lines on it. She fell to the ground as if she had lost all strength.
Why is this happening to her right now?
And yet again, she saw her world fall apart in front of her eyes as her heart plunged into her gut.
Scarlett felt she had to tell her parents about her current situation as soon as possible, so she spent hours sobbing while sitting on the floor. She couldn't imagine the expression on their faces-they would all be very disappointed with her, and who knew how horrible it would be?
They would all be judging her. She slowly opened her eyes to the dawn of a new day as the brightness burst through the window covering her face. These days, the break of dawn happened more quickly, and even though it was precisely six o clock, the sun was already shining outside. As she got up to sit, she realized that the previous night she had passed out after crying for several hours on the bare floor.
Her eyelids were heavy and hurt, and her head was pounding now. She got herself up off the floor, walked over to the door, and opened it when there was a knock at her door. Rex and Jet, the Alpha's personal guards, were in front of her.
"The alpha requested that we bring you." Shaking her head, she looked alarmed. She was unable to go; her father would notice her the look on her face and inquire as to what had happened, pressuring her into speaking before she was ready.
Unless he knew, it was also too early for him to summon her. She dismissively shook the idea. She was certain Stella would never ruin her in that way, therefore there was no way for him to know.
She nodded hesitantly, following them since she understood that to say no to them would be to ask for trouble for herself. She wiped the last of the tears that had fallen and blinked the remaining tears back into her eyes, which appeared somewhat puffy.
The time was a few minutes past the hour of eight, several hours into the night, and this was the latestbtimd her father had called to ask her to come see him.
For whatever reason, it needed to be important. When they got to the living area, the Luna and the Alpha were there, waiting for her. Behind them, Leah had that familiar sinister smirk on her face that made Scarlett fume with anger.
Scarlett remained silent, wondering what evil Leah had used to frame her. She said, trying to speak as quietly as possible, "Father, I was told you wanted to see me," keeping her head lowered because she had been crying for the past hour and didn't want the Alpha to notice her tears and inquire further.
"Indeed." He replied, not with a very kind tone.
"Would you like to share something with us?" She shook her head, keeping her head down. She needed time, and now wasn't the perfect moment to tell anyone this reality. It would have been simple to tell her parents this information if she had gained their favor since moving here, but do far, she hasn't. The truth would only make everything fall apart.
"No, I don't have anything to share, dad."
"If so, why has there been a rumor since yesterday circulating the entire pack that you are pregnant?" Douglas asked in a voice that was even more irate.
The Alpha gave Scarlett a furious glare as her head lifted in response to his remarks, causing her heart to skip a beat. How on earth did he find out?
Just then, she caught a glimpse of Leah grinning triumphantly out of the corner of her eye. Her entire body shook in front of their angry eyes. "Dad, I-"
He interrupted "So, do you refute it? Do you still not accept that you are expecting a bastard?" She had nothing to say and was unable to say anything. She was faced with an angry exchange of words from her parents, and all she could do was cry out in front of them.
"It was a mistake to endeavor to bring you back home. With your miserable parents who did not raise you well, you were better off living a life of misery. You have done this to make us shameful, and all you have done is bring disgrace on the name of the Cynfaels. Up until this point, the House of Cynfael has had a spotless reputation throughout numerous generations. You hereby declare yourself unworthy of the name Cynfael, and I take it from you. I disown you, and I order you never come back to this family."
She shook her head and instantly fell to her knees, shedding tears all over her face. "Please don't do this to me, Father. I apologize for not informing you sooner; I just learned about it yesterday."
"Quiet! This is probably a part of your deception, for all we know. You just lie and cause difficulties like that." Elsa lost her temper, and her voice was as stern as her husband's. She had never witnessed her parents being so angry, and it broke her heart to know it was aimed at her.
"No, mom, I promise, that's not true."
"This is how you pay us back for our attempts to be good parents to you?"
"That's not what this is, mom."
"Words of your vile deed has spread far and wide across the pack estate, reaching even the council of the Lycans. They are ready to take you away right now. You will be tried for your despicable deed and held accountable. You will receive a punishment appropriate to your despicable behavior. I hope the moon goddess grants you forgiveness."
Just as he was about to conclude his sentence, the door opened and three men dressed in white regalia entered the house and came over to her. The need to bolt up and flee was overwhelming, but she was too weak to move. The men approached her and grabbed her shoulder, yanking her violently to her feet.
Because she was considerably smaller than the males, they could easily take her and she would be unable to resist them.
"Please, dad," She called out for him to step in and help, but he remained unfazed. She wept the entire time the men hauled her from the pack estate across the Lycan council court. The pack members all came around to see her humiliation looked at her with contempt and animosity. She lowered her gaze to the ground after observing the first few hundred people give her that expression because she couldn't take the expression on their faces.
They left the pack estate and reached the council's court more than twenty minutes later. There were two pillars on either side of the entryway to the large white building. She watched people entering and leaving from where she and the men were standing, and she also saw some people being dragged out in shackles and to the back.
One thing connected them all: they appeared to be broken. It had only dawned on her that such a place existed, and she knew she didn't want to walk inside. The men hauled her up the stairs without regard for what she desired.
She stopped when she heard the final person she intended to find today call, "Scarlett!" It was Mason.
The men holding her did not drag her along like they had before. After waiting for him, Mason appeared in front of her in under thirty seconds.
"What betrayal did I hear you perpetrate?" His hands tightened over her face as he ordered. She attempted to pry it off but failed.
"They called you an unfaithful whore, saying you were simply trying to destroy me and you have no shame." He grabbed her face and forced her to look at him.
He had cheated on her and broken his promises to her, and she couldn't believe he had the gall to call her names and accuse her when he wasn't even innocent himself. He was no better.
"What are you saying, Mason? You literally cheated on me with my....." Scarlett received a slap hard enough to have her spin around and fall to the ground.
"Silence. Even though you've known the truth for a while, you still intended to trick me into getting married and blame me for the pregnancy. Wasn't that your plan all along?"
She was shocked that he held such low regard for her, and her eyes grew wide, but she remained silent because he had already made up his mind about what to believe. She saw him for the hypocrite he was, and her rage obscured her anguish. He was just like her viscous sister Leah. To assume he was any different from her was foolishness.
"I've been made to look foolish for being your mate by your whoring act. You have brought my family, myself, and everything I stand for to shame. I, Mason Stone, reject you, Scarlett Cynfael as my mate for your heinous deed."
She was aware of the significance of this; she understood the meaningful weight his words carried for a rejected mate. Never being able to lift their heads or feel the joy that only a mate could provide, a shattered mate lived their lives in agony and disgrace.
Not only was the anguish unbearable, but she was also upset that he had never truly thought of her as his mate. Being aware that Leah has always been his preference.
He turned his back on her and carried on talking. "Today, in front of the pack and the moon goddess, I reject you, and in front of everyone who cares to....."
"I, Scarlett Thorfinn accept your rejection, Mason Stone." She yelled, interrupting him.