Casted out!
Casted out!
The entrance hall was lavish to an extent. The familiar marble floors gleamed beneath the pale spill of day light, chandeliers glittered above, every corner a portrait of wealth.
It all stank of polished lies now for Ciel.
“Hey!”
Ciel froze just as he made way across, heading for the main hall.
Another guard had spotted him, rifle raised, suspicion sharpening his features. “I don’t recognize you. Who are you?”
Ciel said nothing. He raised his hands and slowly turned, but then shot forward in a blink, closing the distance between himself and this suspicious guard.
He was too fast for the guard, and before the latter could shoot, Ciel wrenched the rifle away and snapped the man into a chokehold before he could cry out.
The guard thrashed, eyes bulging as he begged in a forced choke. “Wait– don’t! Please! I’ve got a wife and a daughter–"
Ciel didn't mind and just dragged him into the shadow of a marble column, a blind spot from the staircase. He pressed the man tight against the stone, voice low and lethal.
“Where’s the mayor?”
“In… in his chamber,” the guard stammered. “Private chamber. I can– I can show you. Just don’t kill me.”
“Is he alone?”
The man shook his head forcefully. “No. H has Guards. Always guards!”
Ciel frowned at this, knowing he couldn't face the mayor if he had so many guards with him. Of course it was already a given, after all, Michael's death had something to do with him. He'd want to protect himself being the coward he is.
Ciel didn't mind anyway, he tightened his grip on the bodyguard instead and asked. “How long have you worked here?”
“Months, just months–”
“Then tell me this.” His voice was a growl. “Anyone from Emberborn pack visit in the last few days?”
The man’s eyes widened hearing this, finally connecting the dots. His eyes flicked side to side. “Not… not that I saw.”
His hesitation betrayed him however.
Ciel’s jaw locked. “ If you want to live together see your family, speak!" he showed him his claws that were like blades.
The man visibly shuddered and quickly answered, “ I heard something the other day. The mayor... he was talking to someone on the phone while we were standing in guard. Said they’d help him with the alpha. I'm guessing it's someone from Emberborn. Something about easing the Church’s grip on the mayor, getting the hunters off his back.” He rambled in a cry. "I swear that's all I know."
The words sank like poison.
Ciel’s stomach twisted, rage sparking through every vein. Michael hadn’t been ambushed by chance. He hadn’t simply fallen in a hunter’s trap,, and he hadn't been setup by the mayor.
He had been sacrificed by his own pack!
The elders.
They were Ciel's first suspicion. He knew Elder Jerome played a part but he wouldn't say it was him alone.
'Those cowards! They bartered their Alpha’s life for a fragile illusion of safety, handing him to the hunters to save themselves.'
But it was madness...
Short-sighted, foolish madness. Killing Michael wouldn’t end the hunters’ hunt– it would only embolden them. And now the pack was leaderless, fractured, ripe for destruction.
Unless... Unless the goal from the start was to assume the position of leader.
Ciel’s fingers dug into the guard’s suit. “Who made the call? Did he say his name?”
“I–I don’t know!” the man gasped. “I swear! That's all I overheard–- please!”
Ciel’s frown loosened hearing this. He shoved the man back, leaving him slumped but breathing.
Time was bleeding away, and the false alarm he’d raised wouldn’t buy him much longer.
He slipped back out of the entrance hall, making his way to the back and jumping out over the fence once again. The fury in his chest burned hotter than any fear of discovery.
He needed answers. He needed names. He needed to make the bastards pay!
Clear of the mansion, Ciel cut through a narrow alley to remove the guise of the bodyguard he had on, the noise of the town muffled by high stone walls. His breath steamed in the cool air, his boots crunching on gravel.
And just then, three figures stepped out of the shadows, blocking his path.
Ciel stopped cold.
He knew their faces. They were betas.
Emberborn betas from his own pack!
The loyalty he had clung to like a lifeline cracked in that instant, giving way to a fresh surge of fury.
They didn’t speak. They didn’t need to. Their stance was ready, predatory. It said just about enough.
Ciel squared his shoulders, rage and betrayal coiling into a tight knot in his gut.
“Traitors,” he muttered as he neared his claws and fangs to fight!
...
Back in the pack house.
Alyssa's POV.
My footsteps echoed hollowly in the hall as I descended the staircase, each step heavier than the last. The air felt thick, charged, like something was waiting for me below.
But the sight that met me at the bottom still turned my stomach inside out.
Everyone was there.
The whole pack had gathered in the hall. Elders, betas, omegas, all of them. Every faces I’d come to know these past weeks, some faces that had smiled at me once, now twisted into masks of disgust.
I couldn't care any less, as in my heart, something else was more important. I searched for Ciel among them, my heart thumping and stuttering as I did.
It wasn't until I found that he wasn't around that I could finally let out a breath. He wasn’t here!
But that only made me frown. Ciel should be in the packhouse, after all. Everyone couldn't have gathered in the hall without him knowing. Unless he wasn't in the packhouse to begin with.
And it was only now that I realized, his absence was also in fact, a problem.
Ciel is the one person who might have had my back in this situation. A very grave situation, having seen Jan standing with all the malice in the world in her eyes.
It was evident she was behind all of this.
She stood front and center, her glare sharpened into pure venom. Her arms were folded as though she had already won whatever game was about to unfold.
I noticed Selena too, pale and rigid, her eyes hollow, though whether from grief or loathing, I couldn’t tell. But the hate in her eyes was quite obvious.
My guts dropped seeing her. I knew I'd betrayed whatever trust she had in me.
Of course, I should have known.
But then my thoughts shifted when I saw even Icarus.
He stood against the far wall, arms crossed, body angled away as though he didn’t want to watch, yet his eyes were on me, heavy with a deep frown I couldn’t read.
But he didn’t move. He didn’t speak. He just... Stood there.
Hadn't he said he had to go see his family? Did he return already, or he actually didn't leave and was just ignoring me as I'd thought?
But right now, I realize that I was in a more grave situation than I'd imagined. All of my allies could turn against me here.
So my plan was simple, I'd deny everything Jan alleges.
Everyone knew Jan and I had a feud beforehand, and it would make sense if she was trying to lay false allegations on me now that Michael is no more.
Do I feel bad about having to lie here? Yes, I feel bad. But honestly, I couldn't let Jan win. I have to maintain the trust Selena and Icarus, had in me.
The whispers began just as I stepped in the hall. Murmurs that quickly sharpened into clear, cutting words.
“Traitor.”
“Murderer.”
“She’s the reason Michael’s dead.”
I froze, my stomach twisting. “What?” The word escaped me before I could stop it, barely more than a breath as I looked around frantically in shock and confusion.
I hadn't expected this to be about Michael's death? What are they talking about?
One of the elders stepped forward, as if noticing my confusion. His name escaped me, but I recognized him. He’d always been close to Michael, always at his side, always murmuring advice into his ear. Now his expression was twisted into a sneer as he leveled a finger at me.
“You,” he spat, voice booming through the hall, “are behind Michael’s death.”
The room erupted following his words, and my body shuddered at the heavy accusation.
My ears rang as they all muttered and hissed, voices overlapping in waves of accusation. My breath caught, panic clawing at my throat.
“What are you talking about?” I demanded, though my voice shook, I knew I couldn't let them keep leveling these awful allegations on me in front of everyone. “I have n–nothing--”
“You wanted him gone,” the elder snapped, cutting me off. “You wanted Michael out of the way so you could pursue your interest in Ciel.”
For a heartbeat, I couldn’t process the words. And then it clicked. My heart plummeted and instantly, my gaze snapped to Jan.
She smiled coldly, satisfaction oozing from every line of her face.
“ Oh please, don't pretend. I saw you, Alyssa." Jan said, stepping forward. Her voice dripped with false sympathy, as though she were reluctantly sharing some painful truth. “I went to Ciel’s room to console him, then you came in so I left. I returned to fetch something I’d left behind. And there, did I find you...” She paused deliberately, her eyes flicking to me like knives. “Kissing him and squirming in his embrace."
The room gasped collectively. Wolves snarled, others jeered.
My chest caved inward as heat rushed to my face, shame and fury tangling in my veins.
"I knew you were much of a slut, but, to stoop this low is just insane. You had to kill Michael to satisfy your lust? Someone who'd protected you from the likes of Carl? Someone who'd shown you nothing but care and love?"
“That’s not–” I started, but my words tangled, tripped, and fell into nothing.
Because it was true. Everything she said.
I had kissed Ciel, and I had betrayed Michael. The guilt overwhelmed me, but I know I have to deny it. Or else, I wouldn't be getting away from these allegations of me wanting Michael dead and being behind his death.
That isn't me!
“No!” I burst out, shaking my head furiously. “That’s not it. I wasn’t kissing Ciel!” My voice cracked, useless, drowned out by the chorus of disgust around me. I couldn't even deny it as I fell on dead ears.
I wanted to speak again but then Elder Jerome stepped forward, his presence cutting through the chaos like a blade. His eyes glinted with smug certainty, his voice smooth as poison.
“Enough,” he said, silencing the room with a single raised hand. “We’ve heard enough lies. Alyssa was never one of us. She was brought here by Carl, a human thrown into our world without choice. Perhaps she has hated us for it all along. Perhaps she despised Carl for changing her life, despised the pack for embracing him. Is it any surprise that she would seek revenge?”
“No,” I whispered, shaking my head, tears burning hot at the corners of my eyes. “That’s not true. That’s not–"
Gamma Jerome didn’t pause. “Michael gave her privilege. He protected her. He gave her a place among us, even when he didn’t have to. And this is how she repays him? By betraying him. By aiding in his death.”
The words hit like stones hurled from every direction.
My knees wobbled. My chest ached. I opened my mouth, desperate to scream the truth.
...That gamma Jerome himself had urged me to convince Michael to see the mayor, that this entire setup reeked of him. But the words died in my throat.
Because... what proof did I have? Nothing but my word. And if I accused him now, in this room, I would only tighten the noose around my own neck.
Guilt pressed down like a crushing weight. Michael’s face flashed in my mind. His final moments, the way he’d stepped into the path of death for me and Ciel.
I had betrayed him, even if not in the way they claimed. I had kissed Ciel. I had let weakness win.
Hot tears streaked down my face. I scanned the hall, searching desperately for even one kind gaze, one shred of belief.
Selena's gaze at me was nothing but rage. Icarus’s frown deepened, but he stayed rooted, silent. He wouldn't look at me at all.
Even the woman I’d promised to help leave the pack had her eyes dropped, her face turned away, as though ashamed to even acknowledge me.
No one.
Not one soul!
Amidst my desperate search for trust in me, I saw gamma Jerome’s lips curved into a cruel smirk. “And now,” he said smoothly, “she seeks to seduce Ciel. To bind him to her. To make him her puppet, knowing he will be the next Alpha. Is that it, Alyssa? Is this your grand design? To control us all?”
My expression froze hearing this.
The hall erupted again, wolves jeering, shouting insults that cut deeper than blades.
“Snake!”
“Disgrace!”
“Kill her!”
The words battered me from all sides. I shook my head, sobbing, but the sound of my voice was drowned out by theirs.
Another of the elders, older and sterner, stepped forward. “This pack will not suffer a traitor among us. She cannot remain here. Cast her out.”
“Yes!” voices roared. “Out! Out!”
“Kill her!” someone screamed.
“No.” Jerome raised his hand again, feigning righteousness. “We do not kill our own. The pack law does not allow it. First she has to be no longer one of us. If she is no longer a member of the pack and she persists with her vile deeds, then she can die!”
The words fell like a verdict, final and damning.
Hands grabbed me, rough and unyielding. Betas seized my arms, dragging me toward the doors as I kicked and struggled.
My cries broke the air, but no one moved to help me. The pack watched, their faces carved with disgust, some even with satisfied smirks curling their lips.
“Please!” I sobbed, my voice hoarse, desperate. “I didn’t. I swear I didn’t–”
But my pleas echoed unanswered.
The doors yawned open, the broad day light flooding in. And then I was shoved forward, stumbling onto the cold earth outside. The heavy doors slammed shut behind me, the sound reverberating like the sealing of a tomb.
I collapsed to my knees, sobs tearing through me.
I was alone. Cast out, packless.
And somewhere deep in my chest, beneath the anguish, a spark of something else flared.
I was angry.