Chapter 51 The Clone

Chapter 51 The Clone
Aurelia

The pack-house had become a pressure cooker.
Whispers hissed through every corridor, every meal, every glance that landed on me like hot coals.

To say the pack was livid about Zhayad handing Irina over to my father—as Ravina had so dramatically phrased it—was putting it mildly.

She’d spun the story masterfully: I’d manipulated their Alpha, twisted the mate bond, forced him to trade one of their own for a cursed witch who couldn’t even breed.

And that was totally different from what happened. Ravina? She was a damn sweet-mouthed story weaver. She lied way too much. If she did it for a living, that woman would be fucking rich.

Over eighty-five percent of the pack had swallowed the lie hook, line, worm and sinker.

The hostility doubled overnight. Zhayad grew quieter, more withdrawn. His shoulders were always tight, his jaw always locked, and his eyes more shadowed than I'd ever seen them.

He blamed himself for the gloom that had settled over OnyxFang like fog.

I had no one to confide in. No friend or ally.

Today, the weight of every accusing stare was overwhelming. Breakfast was worse than usual. Zhayad had left at dawn with the shifter warriors to hunt the warlocks still impersonating our people and sowing chaos.

The females at the table were bolder without him nearby.

“Will Irina ever come back?” Mirvina asked loudly, her fork hovering over her eggs. “It’s been a week. They must be torturing her now. Oh, poor Irina.”

The others sighed, long, theatrical sounds, then turned their scalding looks on me.

The eggs in my mouth turned to ash. I forced them down anyway, throat tight.

“I’m sorry.” The words tumbled out before I could cage them.

Mirvina lifted one perfect brow, surprise flickering across her face.

Why was I even apologizing? Empathy had always been my default setting, I couldn’t switch it off even when I wanted to.

“He didn’t mean to make it seem like Irina was worthless to the pack,” I said under my breath.

I hated myself for saying anything at all. But I continued.

“He was torn. He hesitated before finally making a choice.”

Mirvina barked a laugh, slapping the table.

“We heard he called for help through the mate bond and all you could do was stare and do nothing.”

She leaned forward, her eyes narrowing.

“Not that the Alpha would ever need help from his mate to win a fight, but you could have at least pretended to care about your father.” She sucked her teeth.

The others murmured their agreement. My stomach twisted. I stared at my plate, the food blurring.

Why did I say anything at all?

Mirvina had already hurt me once, after Zhayad forced her and Irina to apologise, to press their lips to my knuckles like I was some kind of queen.

I'd had to wrap my fingers in cloth, nursing the bruises they left behind.

So why did I still care if she felt betrayed or hurt?

The words spilled out anyway, quiet but sharp.

“You're so intoxicated with your hate for me that you're blind to how you're being manipulated by Irina and her mother. Irina wouldn't have been sent off with the warlocks if she'd just said no to her mother's plans.”

Mirvina leaned forward, her eyes narrowing to slits, ready to defend Irina.

“You're sitting on a throne that should never have been yours. You bewitched our Alpha. Irina was groomed for years to take that spot, and then you appeared out of nowhere with your filthy warlock magic. Why shouldn't we hate you?”

I swallowed the burn in my throat.

“Did I have anything to do with why Irina slept with Mace? If we're going to pick blames, tell me what I ruined exactly, by being the Luna. I was an outcast for years until Zhayad selected me. Irina and her mother brought us here, conspiring with my father, even going as far as sleeping with Mace. Lance loves her—do you know that?” I let the words flow, tired of holding them back in all the time.

The girl seated across from Mirvina muttered under her breath, “You don't know what you're talking about.”

“Oh, I do.” I ground out. “Why do you think she threw herself in to save Mace from execution, even though he was never really going to die? You’re all ignorant. You don’t know what’s going on.”

Mirvina’s laugh sliced the air. You know what I thought to myself in this moment? I didn't like this Mirvina. At all.

“We know your arrival turned this pack upside down. That’s enough.” She whipped out.

Silence crashed over the table. The others stared, some with open loathing, some with uneasy curiosity.

The eggs in my mouth tasted like dust now, no longer ash. I pushed my chair back slowly.

The scrape of wood on tiles sounded too loud in the quiet.

Mirvina lifted her chin, smirking.

“Running again, Luna? Where's all that bravado now?” She taunted. The other girls snickered behind their hands.

“I've been quiet, calm, patient, but it seems I have cheated myself where you lots are concerned. Step up and challenge me if you have the stomach for it. I fought my childhood best friend last week when she appeared in my room, I can do worse to anyone who insults my person.”

They all exchanged glances, weighing my threat.

Finally, Mirvina opened her mouth to talk back, but a scout's presence shut her up.

“There are disguised warlocks in the building.” His dirty blonde hair fell over his face as he kept shaking his head from side to side, as if there was a thought in his head he wanted to get rid of.

“We need to get rid of them now.” I said urgently.

“That’s the problem,” he was still shaking his head. “There are two of you with us right now, and we don't know who the real Luna is between you two.”

I frowned, looking around and freezing when I saw myself on the other side. No, not myself. A cloned version of me. A warlock disguised as me.