LENA’S POV

I stood before the gates of my father's mansion, inside the heavy rain. I was dripping from head to toe, shaking from the cold but I remained there. The constriction in my chest wasn't due to the storm, though, it was due to the crushing weight of hopelessness.

"Please," I breathed, the rain consuming my voice. "Please, Father. Just save Mother."

The house stood vacant, light dancing across the windows, beckoning me in. I squeezed my fists so hard my claws ached to burst forth. My wolf growled, eager to tear the gate off its hinges, to burst in and shatter on my wail. But I calm myself. I had come to plead, not to fight and cause trouble.

I wondered how we had managed to get to this point.

My parents were not fated mates, but they loved each other so much that they got married and vowed to reject their fated mates when they came across them.

My poor mother kept her promise and rejected her mate but my father lied to her that he did the same only for her to find out years later that he had been seeing her secretly and they had a child who was a year older than i am. She confronted him only for us to get kicked out to bring in his mistress and bastard daughter.

My wolf whined deep inside me, pitifully torn by anger and sorrow. She hated this shame, hated that I had come here. But I had no choice. I needed money for my mother’s treatment. Her health greatly deteriorated since the fall out between her and dad.

A shining headlights flashed on me out of nowhere, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Shit!" I sprang away from a black car coming in my direction, managing to avoid the car by the whisker.

The car halted and the door opened to reveal Nina—my father's little bastard daughter with an umbrella in her hands and a wicked smile on her face, walking towards the gate as if it was hers.

"Oh dear," she feigned to be in shock. "Lena, I didn't notice you there. You look so small after getting wet in the rain."

She dripped in sarcasm, and my wolf growled in anger.

"Indeed?" I folded my arms. "Perhaps you ought to have your eyes examined. Or are you merely blind to see things when your head is up your ass?"

Nina's smile quivered.

"You should get out of here immediately," she shouted at me abruptly. "This is Petrakis land. And hear me, I am the only heiress of the pretakis family."

I laughed, a harsh, mirthless laugh that echoed in the darkness.

"Daughter?" I strode towards her with every particle of rage that churned within me. "You're a product of a dirty affair. You will always be an illegitimate child as long as your mother is not legally married to father,"

Her eyes blazed with anger.

"You cunt!" she yelled into my face and slapped me across the cheek before I even had time to open my mouth.

My own head whipped back, but she hadn't begun to pull out her hand when I attacked her again—faster, more frantic. The impact of the sound boomed out and shook the air like a slab of thunder.

Nina moved back in an outraged way.

"What in the world is the matter here?" a voice boomed.

I was rigid and slowly turned toward the gate.

There he was. My dad. Standing on the porch with his arms crossed, his cold eyes left me and glanced at Nina, whose hand was on her cheeks as she sobbed loudly like I had stabbed her.

That fucking pretender.

"She hit me, Father!" Nina wept, fleeing to him. "I wanted to give the umbrella, but she hit me!"

I didn’t expect any better from her.

"You liar. You hit me first.” I yelled back.

But my father would not even listen to me. His eyes held a lot of disgust when they stared at me, like I was filth on the ground.

"I knew you were always an ungrateful child, Lena," he taunted. "Get out of here and suffer with your dying mother. I never want to see your face again."

Something inside me snapped. The very last skinny strand that held me to him snapped.

"I see now," I snarled, my words spitting out from between my teeth, my voice shaking—not of fear, but of anger building in my blood. "You are not my father. You are a coward who will die in his lies. May you and your harlot choke on their shame one day."

"Lena—"

"No!" I interrupted. My claws extended, my amber eyes ablaze in the night. "You'll pay for what you've done to Mother. All of you, I promise you that."

I didn't want to hear any more. I wheeled about and walked away, my heart pounding, my wolf boiling over.

And when I stepped onto the sidewalk, a blinding pain erupted in my chest.

"Aaah!" I doubled over, clutching my side. My knees buckled, and I sat, rain and tears streaming down my face.

Not now. Not this accursed pain again.

I have been having this recurring pain for months. At first, it came once in a while but it has become more frequent. I went to see a doctor but they couldn't find anything.

Remembering that I had to save my mother, I dragged myself to my feet. "I can't be weak now."

I thought about everyone around me that I can go to for help and the only person I could think of was my mate, Trevor.

He was from a wealthy family and had a company he was managing to himself. He was the only person that could help me.

Fighting through the pain in my chest, I walked to his place which was a few miles away.

I arrived at his doorstep and the pain intensified. I knocked on the door. “Trevor, open the door.”

There was no response. I knocked over and over again, still response.

I was scared that something might have happened to him so I searched my brain to remember his password which I got on the fourth try.

I pushed the door open and just stood, frozen.

The floor of the living room was littered with clothes. Not just men clothings but female clothings too. There were heels and a very familiar purse on the ground.

The pain in my chest became sharper and my inside burned like it was on fire.

"No." I gasped.

I stepped further toward the bedroom, every cell in me crying out to me to turn around, to leave. But I had to see.

And then I heard it.

A loud moan.

A groan, followed by his voice. "Baby, you feel so good."

And then, her voice. "Don't stop, please. I'm coming," she yelled

I froze on my spot. That voice. no. No, it couldn't be.