My Luna Stepmother Wants Me Dead

I managed to kick her hand that had the Wolfsbane vial and it fell on the ground, breaking into tiny pieces.

I knew this was the first time we were meeting, so it was understandable if she thought I was a mistress.

“Please!” I told her trying to speak calmly. “Can you just calm down for a few seconds? I promise you; you won’t regret speaking to me and I can assure you, that this is all a mistake. I am not who you think I am. So, I just need you to take a deep breath and hear me out for a minute".

“Hear you out?” she scoffed “What do you want to say now? What lies do you want to concoct?”

“Please you don’t understand,” I pleaded again. “I’m not trying to steal your title or your man – I can’t even do that. I am Alpha Rudolf Cohen’s daughter. My name is Jessica. I’m sure my dad must have talked about me or something".

She paused for a minute running her eyes up and down my form but a second later, she scoffed, her eyes flashing with a mix of disbelief and fury. “You liar!” she snarled reaching out to grab my hair. “You think I’m foolish enough to fall for such petty deception? Who do you take me for?”

“I swear on the goddess!” I winced as the pain spread through every part of my body. “Why would I lie about that? I’m his daughter. I've been away from the pack, running an externship program abroad. I just came back for my graduation ceremony Why can’t you accept that? We’ve never even met before today!”

“No daughter would be so intimate with her father,” she spat “And what’s that about you being in his heart forever. Does that sound like something a daughter will tell her father. Are you trying to play on my intelligence right now?” she shook me harder. “Tell me bitch, you’re having an affair with him, right?”

“What? No!” I yelled. “He’s, my dad!”

“You’re a liar,” Ember repeated. “I’ve seen women like you before. Gold diggers, opportunists, always lurking, waiting to pounce".

Frustration surged within me. “What on earth are you talking about? I’ve been part of this pack my entire life! Everyone knows who I am. And I’m close to my dad because he raised me alone after my mother died. Please, just ask him".

“Everyone except me, it seems!” she scoffed. “And I am the Luna – the irony of it all. Besides, Rudolf told me his daughter isn’t exactly a picture freak or even the social media type".

“But today is my graduation,” I insisted “Isn’t it normal for me at least one picture which is what I did?”

“Oh, shut up!” Emer roared and turned to the crowd. “Behold your Alpha’s supposed daughter. Nothing more than a conniving little wolf, trying to steal my title,” with the flick of her wrist, she signalled the enforcers “Teach this imposter a lesson she won’t forget in a hurry. Show her what happens to those who dare to challenge the Luna. Destroy everything".

My heart stopped. “What? No!” You can’t do that!”

But Ember wasn’t listening to me. My eyes widened in horror as her minions pushed past me and descended upon my personal belongings. They tore into my suitcases, ripping my designer dresses and scattering books all over the room. They smashed and tore to shred all of my ceremonial gifts – tokens from friends and family to make my graduation.

I tried to intervene “No! Please stop,” I cried, breaking free from the enforcers that held me and lunged forward to stop the person holding a picture portrait of my mother only to be restrained by the enforcers. “That’s my mother’s picture… please… it’s the only thing I have of her".

Ember laughed cruelly, holding up a small tripod that had her phone attached to it, pointing it towards me. That was when I realized that she was doing a live-stream. She was disgracing in the presence of the entire world. Tears streamed down my face as I watched everything I held there been destroyed.

My mom’s pictures lay smashed and broken on the floor, and my laptop and my iPad were not spared either…

“Why?” I turned to Ember sobbing, my shoulders shaking “Why are you doing this to me. I’ve never done anything to hurt you. I don’t even know you".

Ember’s lips curled in disgust as she pointed the phone at my face. “Oh, you poor, pathetic, thing. Do you think your innocent act will save you? I’ve dealt with women like you before – young, ambitious, willing to do anything to become a Luna.

I stared at the faces of my schoolmates looming at the door watching the scene unfold. They all avoided my gaze, no one was willing to help me. I couldn’t blame them, they were all afraid to go against the Luna who happened to be Ember.

“Fine, why don’t you call my father?” I called out. “I’ll speak to him and you’ll see that I am his daughter and not his mistress. Please".

Ember laughed, the sound cutting through the air like a knife. “If you’re talking about Alpha Cohen, my mate… I’m sorry, I won’t allow you to waste his time. He has no business dealing with someone like you".

While she was still talking, she moved from the doorway and entered the room, her eyes scanning my scattered room in disgust. Suddenly she paused and stared intently towards the direction of my desk.

Following her eyes, I saw she was looking at a picture I framed that was on my desk. It was that of me and my father, taken years ago, on a camping trip – just the two of us, smiling, looking carefree. Ember’s eyes narrowed as she picked up the photo, her expression darkening with every passing second.

The picture seemed to annoy her more.

“So, you think this proves your claim?” she spat, holding the picture up for her enforcers to see. “Anyone can do this besides, you could have gone there with him as his mistress.”

“I am not his mistress,” I shouted. “That’s my father, can’t you see the resemblance?”

But Ember was beyond reason now. With a snarl of pure hatred, she hurled the frame to the ground. The glass shattered, sending shards all over the room.

“You dare to flaunt your relationship with my mate?” she hissed, grinding her heel into the photograph. “This only proves your guilt".