ARIA
The entire east wing of the great hall had been decorated in soft pastels, and a glittering banner hung above the head table: Happy 18th, Lyra!
Lyra stood beneath it, radiant in a white, silky dress, flanked by friends and suitors, her laughter ringing like silver bells. She was happy.
I turned eighteen today as well. I should be the happiest because I'd finally get out of this goddamn life, to a faraway place with my prince charming, but it turned out to be my worst nightmare.
Eight years ago, my life was perfect. I was the only child and daughter of my parents. My mother loved me, and my father doted on me. Everyone in the pack house never saw me as a freak or a witch. Heck, I was Gamma's perfect daughter, whom everyone thought would one day be chosen to be a part of Luna's candidate for the Alpha's son.
Until my tenth birthday, when my mother mysteriously died, barely a week after, I got a new mother, Selene, who came with her daughter, Lyra.
My life turned from bad to worse within the blink of an eye. My father hated me for a reason I couldn't understand. My friends deserted me. They branded me a witch, and Selene forced me to serve Lyra, despite our household having six maids.
Everyone saw me as a walking disaster, and I thought things would get better on my eighteenth birthday, but I was proved wrong.
I flinched as the scalding coffee burnt my scalp, running down the length of my back, sending shivers down my spine.
"Now that hair will have a perfect shade of brown." Someone mocked,
"Who wants ginger?" Another chimed.
A third voice cruelly said. "There were two gingers in this pack house. One died, and the other is still alive. Gingers are witches; my mother will kill me if I bring one in. Besides, she's fat and ugly."
The room burst into laughter.
They were talking about me and my mother. We were the only Gingers in the Black Moon pack house.
I fought back tears, staring at the tip of my hair as the coffee dripped down from it. I was still stuck in all four positions that Lyra and her ten friends had forced me into.
"I need a picture for my followers. I promised them one. I am sure this will generate more traffic," Paige, Lyra's best friend, said.
I saw her black peep-toe heels as she approached me. My whole body quaked, and goosebumps rose on my skin as cold began to seep into my soaked skin.
"I know a better way to make you gain traffic, Paige. How about we let the mutt bark, or better yet, lick the floor dry?" Lyra suggested in a sweet voice.
"Good idea!" They all agreed.
Lyra walked up to me, grabbed a fistful of my hair, and shoved my face into the ground. "Lick it," she growled as her friends took pictures.
I struggled, clasping her hand, attempting to release my hair, but her grip was unyielding.
"I told you I am going to kill you if I saw you 3 feet close to Kaiden and you dared defy me." She spat, her words filled with venom.
"I–I…I don't know what you are talking about," I whispered in a shaky voice.
Lyra said through her teeth, "You do. You ugly Omega witch."
I opened my mouth to deny it, but a deep, familiar voice interrupted me.
"What's going on here?"
Kaiden Thorne. I pried my hair away from Lyra's hand, looking at him. His hand was tucked inside the pocket of his black trousers that accentuated his strong, long legs.
My breath caught as our eyes collided. How possible was it for someone to be more beautiful each time they appear? That person was Kaiden Thorne: our 23-year-old future alpha and the object of my teenage desire.
His auburn hair was in disarray on top of his head, sticking in all directions like he had driven his fingers several times through it. My eyes followed every movement he made as he slanted his angular face to one side, the curiosity in his eyes burning. He had high cheekbones and a sharp jawline, pink, plump lips, a look perfect for the first cover of a magazine.
He was one of my first friends, and he always shielded me from bullies until Lyra's arrival. He stopped talking to me, he pretended as if I didn't exist, and he silently observed when I was bullied and wouldn't even say anything. Still, I stupidly loved him.
"Do I need to repeat myself?" He questioned, snapping me out of the daze I was in.
"A–Alpha Kaiden," Lyra stuttered. She tried to stand, but she fell back immediately. I blinked, staring at her as she lay sprawled on the floor, unmoving.
"L-Lyra?" My voice was barely a whisper as I moved towards her. I gasped, my eyes went wide as I saw the blood at the corner of her mouth.
"What did you do, you stupid mutt?!" Paige screamed, and everyone seemed to break out of their trance as well.
Her heels clicked on the floor annoyingly as she ran towards us. Paige swatted my hand as I tried to touch Lyra, and I recoiled. I watched as she gathered Lyra in her arms.
"Lyra, please wake." Paige shook Lyra frantically, but there was no response.
My pulse hammered in my throat, and I could barely breathe as I watched.
"You poisoned her coffee!" Paige accused.
"What…no, I didn't!" I stammered, looking around the hall with wide, unblinking eyes. I didn't even prepare the coffee. I only brought it to her!
"How come she's unconscious and bleeding?" Paige snapped.
How would I know?
"What happened to my daughter?" Selene screeched as she came running towards us like a madwoman.
"Aria poisoned Lyra's coffee," Paige choked out in between sobs, her mascara running down her cheeks. She looked like a dead ghost if that was even a thing.
Selene looked at me, her eyes burning with hatred. "Honey, how can your daughter do this to me after I tried to be a mother to her?" she seethed.
"Aria!" My father bellowed, and I twisted sharply, jumping to my feet, my body trembling violently.
"I–I swear by the goddess, father. I didn't touch her coffee!" I pleaded.
My father marched towards me, his hand raised, and he struck me hard on my right cheek. Silence fell in the room. My father had never hit me before in public.
My shaking hand clutched my stinging cheek. More tears gathered in my eyes, but I sniffled them back in.
"I warned you never to bring the family name to shame. But you won't listen. You're as awful as your dead mother!" My father growled.
How could he? How could he speak about my mother in this manner when he claimed to love her?! Was it all just a lie?
"She's just jealous Aria got chosen to be a part of the Luna candidate, whereas she wasn't chosen. It's for this bad behavior she was left out." Selene huffed.
It was true that I wasn't chosen, but I wasn't envious either. After all, it was only those who went to finishing school for Luna who got to be there. My father sent Lyra to finishing school, whereas I was pulled out of the public school I was going to the day after my mother died.
"Mother, father, do not blame Aria. It's my fault. I didn't smell the coffee before drinking. I should have perceived the wolfsbane in it." Lyra weakly said, then she coughed up blood. She went limp again.
"Quick, we need to take her to the hospital!" Paige shrieked.
"The guards will handle it." Alpha Kaiden said, and two guards stepped forward, carrying Lyra out of the hall.
"Sorry for this slight inconvenience, alpha, I shall discipline my daughter." My father apologized. He gripped my hand, dragging me out of the ballroom.
I looked desperately at Kaiden, hoping he'd help me, but he turned his eyes away from me.
The Gamma building was just a minute walk away. My father shoved me into the living room, yanking off his belt. "I warned you, Aria."
"I swear, father…I won't hurt Lyra…she's," I screamed in pain as the first lash landed on my back. My dress was still wet from the coffee incident, so it didn't help.
I tried to run away, but there was no escape in sight, and my father kept following me, striking me as hard as he could. On the third strike, I had had enough.
I let out a shuddering breath, swiping angrily at the tears in my eyes. "I say I didn't do it. I didn't prepare her coffee. Why am I the one getting punished just for her sake?!"
"You won't even spare me the punishment just for today, knowing what day it is. My birthday is today, Father. Can't I have as much fun as Lyra is having? Could you let me be happy for once? Why do you hate me so much?!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, the tears flying angrily out of my eyes.
My father was silent. Then he stared at me icily, his jaw clenched.
"If something happens to Lyra, you'd wish you followed your mother to the grave," he said coldly, turning away from me. The door opened and shut as he left the living room.
I heard deep sighs, and I turned to see all six maids in the house looking at me with pity. I didn't need their pity. I just wanted my life back.
I ran into my room. I slide down the length of the door, drawing my knees to my chest. I sobbed quietly, my thoughts filled with things I had endured until now, when the tears stopped coming.
'I'm sorry, Aria. I couldn't help you. I am so weak.' My wolf whimpered.
'It's fine, tutu,' I whispered, wiping my face with the back of my sleeve. 'It's not your fault. I am the weak one.'
'I'll do better next time,' she said, and I nodded.
I pulled out the cupcake and candle I had stolen from the kitchen earlier. The cupcake was now squashed, and the candle was broken, but it was better than nothing.
Pushing the candle into the squashed cupcake gently, I lit it.
"Make a wish, Aria," I murmured, closing my eyes.
Then I blew out the candle. "Happy birthday to me." Hopefully, my wish comes true.