Chapter 22 Ashley
Elena’s POV
I stood frozen in the hallway long after Scott’s words settled.
Ashley.
My sister.
The same person who had accused me of stealing, who said that she saw me doing it.
The same person who watched as I was beaten and humiliated because of her lie.
My heart felt like someone was stabbing it.
“Why is she here? I don’t have to see her,” I said quietly, talking to myself.
Clara studied me carefully. “No, you don’t. Liam will back you on that.”
I knew he would. That almost made it harder.
But answers were standing at the gates of this pack, wearing a face I used to love.
“I’ll see her,” I said after a moment. “But I won’t promise anything else.”
Scott nodded. “I’ll stay close.”
We walked to the pack entrance, I walked slowly, lost in thought.
I couldn't help but think about how close we were, always messing around, I would tell her anything.
I remember crying on Ashley's shoulder when Rose and her stupid friends had started making fun of me for being wolfless, Ashley told her that she was a bitch and she should leave me alone.
And then there were the other memories.
Her eyes avoiding mine.
Her silence.
Her accusation.
Ashley was standing just inside the gates, the guards were watching her carefully.
She looked thinner than I remembered, and her hair was dull, not the rich golden I knew. She wore a simple dress which was weird cause Ashley loved tight jeans and tops, it always brought out her curves.
When she saw me, her eyes widened.
“Elena…” her voice cracked.
I stopped a few feet away from her, keeping distance between us. “What are you doing here?”
She swallowed hard. “I needed to see you. I heard what happened at the council. I heard you almost died.”
I didn’t say anything.
She gulped. “You look… different.”
“So do you,” I said coldly.
Silence stretched between us, heavy and uncomfortable.
“I didn’t come to pretend nothing happened,” Ashley finally said. “I know you hate me.”
“I don’t hate you,” I replied, surprising myself. “That would mean I had to care enough.”
She flinched like I just punched her.
“I deserve that,” she whispered.
Clara shifted beside me but didn’t stop her from talking.
Ashley wrung her hands together. “I need you to know why I did it. Why I said you stole from the Luna.”
My jaw tightened. “Go on.”
She looked at her hands. “Rose threatened me. She said if I didn’t blame you, she would accuse me instead. She said I’d be punished,whipped and sent to the lower camps.”
My heart twisted painfully.
“She told me you were already marked,” Ashley continued. “That no one would question it if it was you. I was scared, Elena. I didn’t want to be hurt. I didn’t want to die.”
“So you chose yourself,” I said quietly.
“Yes,” she sobbed. “I chose myself.”
The honesty burned worse than lies.
“I know I watched them beat you up for a lie, she muttered. “I am still haunted by what happened that day Elena, you have to believe me. I was foolish and scared and I didn't stop it.”
I felt tears around my eyes, I refused to let them fall.
“I lost everything that day,” I said. “My home. My dignity.”
“I know,” Ashley cried. “And I’m not asking you to forgive me. I just—I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t tell you the truth.”
I looked at her for a long moment. She looked smaller than she ever had. Not powerful. Not cruel.
Just weak.
“I don’t know if I can forgive you,” I admitted. “Not right now. Maybe not ever.”
She nodded, tears streaming freely now. “I understand.”
There were so many things I wanted to say. So many accusations lodged in my throat. But one question burned brighter than the rest.
“There’s something I need to know,” I said slowly. “Do you know anything about how I came to your family? About before?”
Ashley froze.
Her reaction told me everything.
“You do,” I pressed.
She hesitated, then nodded. “Mom told me once… she said you were found.”
“Found?” My heart started racing.
“She said Alpha Derrick picked you up near the pack border,” Ashley said softly.
“You were just a baby. Alone.”
My breath caught.
“He didn’t want anything to do with you,” she continued. “I never understood why.
He just… handed you over to our parents.
Told them to raise you as their own.”
“And the necklace?” I asked urgently.
Ashley nodded. "You had it on you."
My fingers instinctively moved to my chest, where the necklace rested beneath my clothes.
“Did she say anything else?” I whispered.
“No,” Ashley shook her head. “Only that it was important. And probably dangerous since you were always screaming if they tried to take it off.”
The world tilted slightly.
Everything,the rogue attack, the glowing, the voices, the obsession with my death,it all connected to that moment at the border.
To who I really was.
I took a step back, needing space to breathe.
“Thank you for telling me,” I said quietly.
Ashley looked at me with fragile hope.
“Does that mean—”
“It means I have answers to find,” I interrupted gently. “Not forgiveness.”
Her shoulders sagged, but she nodded. “That’s fair.”
Guards stepped forward, signaling it was time for her to leave.
As Ashley turned away, she paused.
“Elena… I really am sorry.”
I didn’t respond.
Because some wounds were too deep to heal quickly.
And right now, my past was catching up to me faster than my heart could handle.
As the gates closed behind her, one truth rang loud and clear in my mind:
I wasn’t just a girl who had been cast aside.
And I was done being in the dark.