My Luna Stepmother Wants Me Dead

My breath was coming in short spasms now as I was dragged out of my room, my arms held tightly by two security men who had come on Ember’s command.

The sting of the earlier humiliation still burned in my chest but the taunts and sneers from Ember made it feel like my skin was already on fire. All around me, pack members had gathered, every one of them had their phones out and pointed at me recording every second of my disgrace. I could hear the buzz of notifications, messages and live-stream comments beeping from Ember’s phone.

As we went down the dorm, I saw that the college compound was already filling with people, everyone must have seen the live stream and hence they rushed here to witness it themselves.  Ember walked behind me as they dragged me out, a smug smile on her face, her phone and tripod standing still recording my distress, proud of the chaos she had created.

“Look at this pathetic excuse for a girl,” Ember’s voice rang out, cutting through the murmurs of the crowd. “Trying to claim my place, my title, my mate. And for what? For attention? For sympathy? Her words were amplified by a small speaker clipped to her jacket, ensuring everyone could hear her loud and clear.

As we walked through the Pack land, she kept hurling insults at me, taunting me, calling me every unprintable name you can think of.

I struggled against the security men, trying to free myself but their grip was too strong. The Pack’s central clearing came into view, the place where I should have been celebrating my graduation with pride. Instead, I was being paraded like a rogue. My reputation would forever be soiled in front of everyone I had ever known. I could feel the eyes of the pack members boring into me, some were filled with doubt, others scorn.

“Please, Ember, just stop this,” I pleaded but my voice was barely more than a whisper, drowning out my Ember’s loud voice that was still taunting me.

“Stop? Oh, no, sweetie,” she laughed “This is only the beginning,” she said and turned to her audience again with a wicked grin. “You all need to see this for what it is – a desperate attempt to seduce my Alpha, to tear apart our bond on the very day of our union!”

Ember’s words were received well by the onlookers as they all nodded their heads agreeing with her. My heart pounded, the humiliation and frustration boiling inside me. I knew I had to do something, anything to stop this madness. But what could I do when Ember held all the cards? When Ember was the new Luna and everyone seemed to be hanging onto her every word?

When we reached the ceremonial stage, Ember shoved me forward. I stumbled, catching myself just before I fell. The big screen set up behind the stage came on, showing a close-up of my distressed, tear-stricken face. The camera zoomed in to capture every pain and tear I was struggling to hold back.

Ember snatched a microphone from one of the people onstage, her voice boomed through the speakers. A massive crowd had gathered now and everyone was staring at her in anticipation. I couldn’t believe things had gone sour in less than a few hours.

“Listen everyone!” she shouted “This girl claims to be Alpha Cohen’s daughter, but we all know the truth, don’t we? Alpha Cohen’s daughter is a sweet little girl, who’s not very active on social media, who doesn’t write about the love of her father being snatched, Am I right?”

The crowd chorused a loud Yes.

“This impostor here, is nothing but a conniving little snake trying to slither her way into power, into my place and into my mate’s heart and she deserves to be punished".

My stomach churned as I looked over at the crowd. Faces I had known, including all the ones that looked faintly familiar stared back at me. Some of them were shocked, others uncertain. From behind, I spotted some of the pack elders whose faces I recognized moving through the thick crowd with concern etched on their faces. But they were still too far away to intervene.

I had to find a way to make Ember stop before things spiralled even further out of control. “Ember!” I shouted, above the dining. “If you keep this up, if you keep doing this to me. You’re going to ruin your wedding! Is that what you want? You still have a chance to let me go right now and I promise you, that I’ll put all of this behind me and we’ll never have to talk about it anymore, I promise".

For a moment, there was silence and I felt a flicker of hope. Perhaps, my words had reached Ember and had made her realize the consequence of this madness. But then Ember laughed – a high, shrill sound that echoed through the clearing.

“Ruin my wedding?” she sneered, her eyes narrowing with disdain. “Who do you think you are? What makes you think you have that kind of power? Do you think this is only about the wedding? This is about you, trying to ruin everything I’ve worked for, everything I deserve and now, everyone will see you for what you are".

My heart sank. I had just succeeded in provoking her more. I glanced towards the pack elders. They were closer now but were still struggling to push through the crowd because everyone was trying to see first so, they weren’t allowing them to pass through easily. I had to buy more time until then.

“Fine!” I tried again “If not for me but for my father. He will not be happy if he walks in here and sees me being treated like this. Please, for his sake, let me go and I promise I’ll not hold this against you".

“Your wretched bitch!” Ember matched to me and slapped me hard across my face “I see I have been too lenient with you right. That’s why you think you can still talk. Don’t worry, I know just the perfect thing to shut you up".

She turned and signaled to a security guard to come upstage as she produced a familiar-looking vial from her pocket again.

I froze when I saw it was another Wolfsbane. When will this nightmare end?