Lilith's POV;

'Slap'

'Slap'

"Wrench!" Cassandra, Raider's new mate, yelled as she kept slapping me, her face pulled together in an angry scowl. I felt my skin sting from where her claws had grazed my skin; the metallic taste of blood seeped into my mouth from how hard she had been slapping me.

"I asked you to prepare the blue dress first, so I could wear it to the pre-wedding banquet, and you went to prepare the green dress for me! Are you trying to ruin my joyous day just because you can't have one??" She yelled as she threw another slap in my face. I whimpered in pain, holding back the scream that threatened to fall from my lips.

'I won't cry. Not in front of her!' I repeated it and repeated it to myself.

"Pathetic fool!" She yelled into my face as she landed another slap on my face. "The banquet is almost here, and I haven't even gotten halfway dressed because of your clumsiness! Are you dumb? Can't you speak?" She demanded angrily as I kept silent.

The commotion soon attracted Raider into the room. He walked in fully dressed in a black tuxedo paired with brown shoes. He stood beside Cassandra, his arms protectively wrapping around her waist, as he glared at me.

"What has she done to annoy you again?" He asked as he kissed her on the forehead. She whimpered and pouted while looking up at him with a coy expression. "I asked her to prepare the blue dress you got for me, so I could wear it to the pre-wedding banquet, but she prepared the green one instead," she whimpered, and Raider frowned.

"I thought we agreed you were to put on the green one first? And you even made sure to supervise the preparation; she didn't make any mistakes, babe," Raider explained, and Cassandra's face turned ugly the next moment as she pushed him off.

"Are you taking her side right now?! Are you calling me a liar? You are tired of me, and you want to go back to your ex?" She demanded coldly as she pulled my hair, dragging me around as she let out her anger at me.

Raider massaged his nose bridge and let out a sigh. "I'm not taking her side! I'm not! You are the one I love, not her, so why would I want to be with her instead of you? Come on, the banquet is about to start; you can deal with her later," he explained, trying to make her calm down.

With a sneer, she released my hair and pushed me against the wall. "Do you hear that? I'm the one he loves, and no matter what tricks you pull, he can never be yours." She declared triumphantly while looking down at me.

"Aren't you going to stand up and get my dress ready?! If anything goes wrong with my day, I promise you a life of hell!" She declared as she threw another kick at me. My heart ached, and my blood boiled with rage as she gave me a gloating look, sticking out her tongue in my direction.

Without giving them the satisfaction of seeing me cry, I walked out of the room and immediately went to prepare the dress, only for her to end up wearing the blue dress that I had first prepared for her.

"You are not permitted to enter the hall or go back to your hole until everyone has returned to their homes after the banquet." Cassandra instructed me as I escorted her to the back door of the banquet hall with the rest of the omegas assigned to her for the night.

"I would have loved to see your pathetic reaction as I get married to your mate, but your filthy appearance will ruin my good mood, and I don't want that, so as punishment, you will be waiting here for the rest of the night. You are not permitted to talk to anyone or answer any questions; am I understood?" She demanded with a glare directed at me.

"Yes," I replied, my tone devoid of any emotion. Not that I was capable of having any. I had been completely broken the day I was forced to watch my parents die under the influence of wolfsbane.

It was a slow and painful dying process that lasted for a while. I had watched for the first time how a father cried after losing his mate, only for him to die not long after.

No other emotion could compare to the pain I felt that night or the days following, where I would dream about the scene over and over again.

I wanted revenge, of course; any normal person would, but this was the last request from my father.

'Forgive them' he had said; no, he pleaded, and despite the pain he was feeling, he never closed his eyes until he heard my promise.

There was nothing else to live for, so what's the essence of having emotions that can easily be manipulated by people who wanted nothing but to see you crumble, begging for your life?

I thought I had shut out my heart, that I had shut down my emotions. Yet the scent of rain and apples drifted into my nose, triggering all the buried emotions I had awakened with the sleeping wolf.

As the scent drew closer, I felt safe yet anxious.

What is this?

What does this mean for your wrenched moon goddess? Are you trying to make my life a joke?

As I tried looking up to see who the scent belonged to, I felt a slap on my face and noticed Cassandra had gotten dangerously close to my face. "I told you to address me as Luna, you…" Before she could finish her words, a growl resounded around.

"How dare you lay your stinking hands on her!" I heard as my eyes began to blur.

'I'm exhausted'

'I want it all to end here and now!' I thought to myself as I felt a strong hand wrap around my waist, the last thing I heard before I welcomed the darkness, a word I never wanted to hear again.

"Mate!"