Chapter 1

Emelia's POV.

Betrayal and forgiveness are best seen as something akin to love. I have been betrayed many times in my life yet I still somehow find a way to forgive. I had been betrayed by my mate when I caught him cheating with another woman.

'You're wolf is weak Emelia. I don't feel any connection between us,' he'd said, before rejecting me as his mate. For the very first time, I felt what it meant to get stabbed in the heart. I felt excruciating pain that took over my whole body and following that pain came an emptiness inside me. I had lost a part of me, I had lost my wolf.

Yes, I was betrayed by my own wolf, I didn't know if it was even possible. But ever since the day David rejected me, my wolf stopped talking to me and my body felt hollow. I lost all my powers, but I accepted my fate.

And after all that had happened to me, after all I had suffered and endured, I still decided to forgive. I forgave David when he apologized and got married to someone else and I had forgiven my wolf for abandoning me.

I thought deep love required forgiveness, but I had forgotten that extreme betrayal requires revenge.

And today, for the very first time in my life I was going to choose revenge over forgiveness when my parents decided to betray me.

"How can you sell me to that monster?" I yelled, tears flooded my eyes and I could hear my heartbeat drumming in my ears but I wasn't going to cry, not right now. I wasn't going to let anyone think that I was weak, not again.

"Emelia, lower down your voice. You're talking to your father," my mother tries to intervene but I'm not having any of it. I needed answers. I have suffered my whole life and yet I have been nothing but good and forgiving. I won't let my fate unfold like this, I won't become a slave to a monster.

"Tell me, father, why? Am I not your blood anymore? How can you do this to me?" I asked, but this time my voice quivered. I tried to remain as calm as possible but how could one remain composed when your own family was ready to throw you under the bus?

My father stayed silent for a bit and then turned to face me.

For a moment I thought I wasn't looking at my father. This man standing in front of me only seemed to possess the face of my father, but not his thoughts or ideas. I felt like I was staring at a stranger.

"You've been nothing but a disgrace to our family Emelia, to my name. You have been weak all your life, but this is your chance to prove yourself useful. Think of your brother," he replied, his voice was firm, never quivering even once. He didn't stutter, didn't even consider his words for a moment like he had been waiting to say this for a long time.

My mind froze, I couldn't grasp the reality of this moment. Had I never been loved? Not even by my mate or my parents? Hell! My own wolf abandoned me, wasn't all this enough of a sign that I was so unlovable that no one wanted to claim me?

Was I always meant to be an angel and not a God? Had this been my destiny ever since the beginning?

My own parents were going to sell me to the ruthless Alpha King, knowing that he'd be taking me as his slave and not as his bride. That I'll merely be used as his pleasure object, that he's going to do whatever he'd like with me and wouldn't even bat an eye.

"So I have to prove myself to be useful by agreeing to become a slave to a monster who knows nothing but to kill people?" I scoffed, "I guess it's true then. The hamster eats its own offspring for survival. Just to save your own pack and your territory, you're going to sacrifice me," I say bitterly, staring directly into my father's eyes.

SMACK!

My father slapped me across the face; it happened so quickly that I barely had any time to react. My mother let out a gasp but didn't dare to move an inch, didn't feel the urge to help or protect her own child. I felt a sharp stinging pain all over the right side of my face and I knew my face would be bruised by morning.

I looked up to meet my father's gaze, to try and find even a hint of regret or guilt for hurting her daughter like this but I couldn't. The only thing that resided in his light blue eyes was disappointment, I had yet again disappointed him by voicing my own thoughts, by claiming my body as my own.

"Enough of this nonsense! You are to be wedded to the Alpha Damon tomorrow and till then you're not allowed to leave this place," he ordered, and I knew that his heart had turned stone cold. No amount of begging or pleading would change his mind or melt his heart, so I decided to take matters into my own hands.

"All my life I've been told what I'm supposed to do and what I'm supposed to be, but I have had enough. I am not going to let anyone own my body and I will certainly not become a slave. I REFUSE TO MARRY THE ALPHA KING," I felt my heart ache as soon as I finished my sentence, but I endured the pain anyway. I turned and made my way towards the door to leave the room for better, but little did I know that this conversation was far from over.

"You're not going anywhere Emelia." I heard my mother's voice from behind. I'd never heard her speak like this to me before, and what did she mean by that?

"Guards!" she called and three men in armor came running inside.

My eyes widened and I panicked as I saw the guards approaching me, "What? What....are you doing?" I questioned, as one of them tried to grab my arm. I flinched, but I wasn't a match to these men.

"Lock her up and make sure she doesn't escape. I don't want to see anyone near her room. Do you understand?" she addressed the guards and they nodded in unison. My eyes shot towards her direction and as our eyes met, that's when it hit me that my parents were willing to go to any lengths just to save their pack, their territory, and to save themselves.

I was the great sacrifice, for once, they thought I was being useful instead of being a burden.

I tried to fight the guards but I knew I wouldn't be able to handle three men at once. Still, I fought with all the strength left in me, and I tried to escape their firm grip but I realized even my strength wasn't enough for me.

So finally, I let my tears run free. The tears that had been stinging my eyes because I kept holding them back for too long, trickled down my cheeks as the guards took me away. Yet again, I was dogged by my misfortune.