Shattered Promises

Jessamine's P.O.V

Returning to the pack house the following morning felt like marching straight into a calculated execution. Every fiber of my being screamed with a suffocating heartbreak. I knew exactly where my sister was. Sloane spent the entire night right upstairs, sleeping soundly in the alpha’s bed. She was currently wrapped up in the sheets, held tightly in the arms of the exact same man who had promised to love me forever a mere two days ago. My throat felt like sandpaper. It cracked with every shallow breath. Drinking water did nothing to wash away the raw devastation pumping through my veins. The heavy betrayal anchored itself in my chest, a physical weight making it hard to even breathe.

Yet, as the lowest-ranking member of this pack, the luxury of grieving was strictly forbidden to me. I had a job to do, and failure was never an option here. The royal Lycans were scheduled to arrive at our pack borders very soon. I was forced to handle the disgusting aftermath of the pack's drunken mating celebration. My knees ached as they dug into the hard wooden floorboards of the great room. I kept my head down, scrubbing a coarse bristle brush against the grain of the dark wood. The nauseating stench of dried vomit and stale alcohol burned my nostrils. This vile mess painted the floorboards, a stark reminder of the party that ultimately destroyed my life. If I did not clean it perfectly, the higher-ranking wolves would likely shove my face straight into it. My only goal was to wipe up the filth, sanitize the floors, and escape this building before anyone else bothered to wake up.

Heavy, deliberate footsteps suddenly padded across the wooden floorboards, halting right behind my crouched form.

The footfalls echoed through the massive empty room. I froze in place. My knuckles turned stark white around the handle of my wooden scrub brush, but I kept my focus locked on the putrid puddle right in front of my knees.

"Jessie?"

The soft voice hit the back of my neck. Thick goosebumps erupted across my bare arms and shoulders. He used the tender, affectionate tone that once made me feel cherished and shielded from the cruelty of this pack. Hearing it this morning just filled my mouth with the terrible taste of ash. My stomach churned with nausea. Having the only person I ever trusted suddenly transform into the direct source of my deepest terror was a sickening plunge into reality. The physical beatings I took from other pack members over the years were nothing compared to this agonizing emotional slaughter.

I reached blindly for the plastic spray bottle resting near my shin. "Please, just leave me alone. I need to finish my work."

Max did not listen. He closed the physical distance between us. The familiar warmth that used to bloom in my chest whenever he was near was dead, replaced by a freezing sheet of dread wrapped tight around my ribs. My hands shook as I pulled the trigger on the spray bottle, drenching the dried bile in harsh chemical cleaner.

"I figured you would be down here early to clean. We need to talk about yesterday. Look at me, Jessie." Max demanded, his voice shifting to carry a hard edge of deep irritation.

The nickname grated against my eardrums. It was a vicious reminder of what everyone in this house called me. Messy Jessie. The weak, clumsy, unshifted human who scrubbed their dirty floors. Max was standing right behind me, demanding a conversation while his fated mate—my own sister—was likely still naked and dreaming in his massive bed.

I ripped the thick rubber kitchen gloves off my hands, tossing them into the soapy water bucket beside me. I pushed myself up from the damp floor and spun around to glare directly into his face.

"Why should I look at you? I will never trust another word that falls out of your mouth again. You lied to me for four years, Max. Four years of lies!" I shouted, staring at the man I thought I would marry.

"What exactly did I lie to you about?" he challenged.

"Everything! Why don't we start with you claiming to love me? Or maybe your constant reassurances that you hated my sister? You sat there and told me she was a vicious, manipulative bitch. And now she is your mate!" My voice cracked as the resentment boiled over the edge of my restraint.

Max flexed his jaw. His perfectly carved features twisted into a dark scowl. The rich brown of his irises darkened rapidly as the pitch-black glaze of his wolf swirled to the surface. He hated being challenged by a human.

"Do not stand there and tell me I did not love you, Jessie. You know damn well that I did! But that was before the moon goddess intervened and I found my fated mate. If you had just shifted like a normal wolf, you probably would have found your own mate by now, and none of this would have ever happened!" Max bellowed, his broad chest rising and falling heavily.

My jaw dropped open in raw disbelief. Even the hungover wolves passed out in the adjacent rooms might wake up from his booming voice, but I did not care. Did he seriously just blame his cheating on my biological inability to shift? He weaponized my biggest pain to justify climbing into my sister's bed.

"You cheated on me with my own sister! You swore up and down that you did not care about my human status. You fed me those pretty lies, telling me I was enough. But you were just using my lack of a wolf as a convenient excuse to end our relationship and discard me if you didn't find your mate last night!" I countered, gripping the edges of my dirty apron.

Normally, this level of pure fury would spark something deep inside me. I used to pray the sheer force of my anger would trigger my dormant wolf to rip her way to the surface. But today, the well was barren. My anger evaporated into an exhausted emptiness. The wolf I kept begging for vanished. There was just me confronting this monster.

"I originally came down here this morning to make amends with you, because you are my best friend. But since you brought up Sloane, we need to address a few things. If you want to throw a pathetic pity party because we broke up, fine. But do not ever disrespect my mate again. The way you treated your future Luna in public last night is unacceptable. If you dare cross that line again, you will face severe punishment." Max delivered the dark threat with his shoulders squared, channeling his full Alpha authority.

He expected me to cower. He truly believed calling me his best friend would magically erase the jagged knife he shoved into my back. Then he used the threat of the pack dungeons or the whipping post to force my submission. My silence was not born of fear. I stared up at the hulking Alpha in front of me and felt nothing but profound, bitter pity. I survived years of torment from this pack. They could lock me up, starve me, or beat me. I was still breathing. Max attempting to throw his weight around just proved how truly weak he was.

"Is that you talking, Max, or is that Sloane? Because I know this is not you. She has already sunk her claws into you. Her corruption has already taken root." I stared blankly into his darkened eyes. "I warned you before that her jealousy and manipulations would ruin everything. With her sleeping in your bed, whispering her toxic poison right into your ear, this pack will crumble. And you will be the cause of it."

Max roared in denial.

Blinded by raw rage, he lunged forward. He moved with the terrifying speed of an apex predator. His massive hand clamped down around my right forearm, jerking me forward. His fingernails elongated into jagged, thick wolf claws in a fraction of a second. The sharp tips sliced straight through my skin. They shredded my flesh, puncturing deep into the muscle. The pressure of his crushing grip was agonizing.

My bone groaned under the unbearable, crushing force of his hand.

I shrieked in pain. He squeezed harder, his black eyes blazing with uncontrolled fury. The sickening, sharp crack of my bone breaking echoed through the great room. A blinding flash of white-hot agony shot up my arm. My legs turned to jelly, giving out beneath my weight. I collapsed onto the floorboards in absolute torture.

The gruesome sound of my fracturing bone acted like ice water to his enraged beast. Max's eyes widened in sudden horror. His wolf snapped back into submission out of shock, and he hastily dropped my mangled arm.

"Jessie... I didn't mean..."

I scrambled backward on the floor, pulling my fractured arm tightly against my chest. Warm blood poured freely from the deep puncture wounds. The crimson liquid stained my sleeve and dripped onto the floors I just cleaned. Tears of pure pain streamed down my cheeks. My heel clipped the industrial trash bag as I backed away, my chest heaving with rapid breaths.

Before Max could step toward me again, his stance turned rigid. His expression went blank. His brown eyes glazed over rapidly as a mind-link pulled his attention away from our bloody confrontation.

"The Lycans are here." Max blinked, snapping back to the present. He stared down at the blood dripping onto the floorboards, looking sick with guilt. "Jessie..."

"You should go. It is disrespectful for the future Alpha to be absent when greeting the Lycan King at the territory border." I gritted my teeth, forcing the words out through the searing pain.

I used my uninjured left hand to clumsily wipe the wet tears off my face. Grabbing the heavy plastic trash bag with my good arm, I staggered to my feet and began dragging it toward the back kitchen door to throw it out. I did not look back at him. Let him drown in the guilt of breaking the bones of a human girl.

Max did not argue. The desperate urgency to meet the royal pack overrode his regret. I heard his heavy boots sprint rapidly toward the grand entrance. The massive front doors slammed open as he bolted to join his pack.

The great room fell dead silent. I knew this was my chance. It was now or never.

Every single wolf in this territory was distracted by the arrival of the ruthless Lycan King. All pack members would be standing at the southern gates in formation. I slipped out the rear exit, dumping the trash bag into the metal bins behind the kitchens. The morning air bit at the fresh, bleeding wounds on my arm. The heavy adrenaline pumping through my system dulled the worst of the throbbing ache.

I clamped my good hand over my shattered wrist and hurried across the wet grass. I darted toward the rear tree line, aiming for the back path to my old home. I just needed to grab my packed duffel bag and run. I would slip into the forest, cross the boundary line, and leave this hell behind for good. I walked seamlessly into the shadows of the dense woods. The towering ancient pines swallowed the morning light, casting long shadows over the dirt path.

I broke into a light jog, my sneakers hitting the damp earth. However, as I pushed deeper into the trees, a sudden, suffocating wave of chilling dread washed over my skin.

My footsteps faltered. The quiet of the forest felt wrong. The birds were not chirping, and the wind had stopped rustling the leaves. Every hair on the back of my neck stood straight up on end. A primal alarm bell screamed relentlessly in my mind, urging me to run faster. The oppressive weight of a terrifying presence settled over me, squeezing the air out of my lungs. I frantically scanned the dark gaps between the massive oak trunks, seeing nothing but fog. Yet, the deep instinct embedded in my human DNA knew the truth.

I had just become prey.