LANA'S POV
The pack's annual festival was all anybody could talk about for months, not that I was complaining. I loved festivals; there was something about the 'flowers, the food, the seating arrangements, the decorations' that got me every time. The idea of staying wrapped in the arms of Ethan, my mate all night felt so utterly romantic and everything about being in love symbolized that decision for me.
It had surprised me still, that Ethan was nowhere to be found. But that did so little to bother me though. I guess when you find the 'One' there isn't a lot left to worry about.
Or so I thought…
Ethan was everything I could ever ask for and more. Sweet, romantic, sensitive, and compassionate. He was the ideal mate and I'd fallen for him, hook, line, and sinker. My wolf howled at the idea of seeing him in a tux and that made butterflies appear in the pit of my stomach.
I perked up to my feet to examine myself in the full-length mirror placed in the room. My eyes were glued to the long sleeves of my emerald cashmere dress which was fitted at the bust, the sweetheart neckline revealing only an appropriate amount of cleavage.
"Hurry girls, the Alpha has ordered that we make them all comfortable for the night!" a voice called out from down the hallway. I arched a brow wondering why it suddenly felt as though my father Alpha Vincent Mark was suddenly playing tricks showing up. Or he'd probably realize that I needed him to be there, not just as some cold and calculating Patriarch, but as a father.
I hurried down the stairs, now in search of both men wondering why Ethan had suddenly for some reason, and my menace of a father showing up here. As I trudged down the serene hallway humming to myself, I paused seeing that the door to Ethan's office was left partially opened.
"Seriously Ethan, what on earth w----" I mumbled, but was cut off by the familiar voices I heard coming from the office. I peeked into the office to find Ethan leaning against his desk, arms folded across his chest. I glanced over to see my father behind his desk, puffing on an expensive cigar in his equally expensive suit.
'What's going on?' I thought to myself.
"If we're going to have that done tonight, we need a plan," My father stated.
"How on earth are we supposed to do that with so many guests trooping in, she's your daughter, she'd listen to you if you trick her into going down the lake with you," Ethan responded.
'Lake?' I mumbled silently.
"She'd make a good sacrifice for the pack, Afterall she's as good as nothing, utterly useless from the start," He added.
'Weren't prisoners meant to be taken as sacrifices?' I thought to myself.
The once smiling looks on my face suddenly disappeared as a pang worked its way to my chest at Ethan's harsh choice of words. I was still standing there trying to figure out how my evening had gone so off the rails when a headache throbbed behind my temple at the thought of being betrayed.
"You're her mate, remember and she'd---" My father said, but then I'd been too pissed hearing any more nonsense and so kicked open the door fully in anger revealing myself.
"Sacrifice?" I asked, trying to fight off the urge to tear up in front of them.
The sudden look on their faces made it quite obvious that they were more than shocked seeing that I had just heard them. But all I knew was that it hurt, my throat was dry and my head throbbed like someone had shoved a jackhammer in there.
"Makes it even easier with you being here, and I should have said this a long time ago" Ethan cut in.
"You're nothing but a peasant on my side, a weak wolf at that. Plus, our mate bond has always been a lie!" His smile dimmed and his throat flexed with a hard swallow before he looked away. With that, tingles of alarm gathered at the base of my spine and radiated outward until they blanketed every inch of my skin. He'd crossed boundaries and kept secrets, but he'd never do this. He would never drug me or intentionally hurt me.
"What did I ever do to you, Ethan?" I stuttered.
"You're better off dead Lana, get her Ethan!" My father spat. And in that moment, I knew I had to do the one thing I'd never imagined myself doing. RUN!
I slowly turned the knob of the door without any hesitation as I stormed out, knowing I had to escape. I scurried off into the woods headed for the far edge of the pack territory hoping I could get help.
Without a pause, I flew, adrenaline surging through me. Trying to get away as fast as I could. My feet barely seemed to touch the ground when I stumbled on a branch and I smashed into the forest floor with a flash of pain. I tried to rip my foot and get back on my feet but unfortunately, I'd been too slow.
The weight of Ethan hit me, and this time the fight was different. His knee dug deep into my back, crushing me to the ground, a terrifying illustration of how much stronger he was.
I struggled and flailed, my nails digging into his flesh but he only pushed harder, until I buckled, my face grinding into the earth. I clawed his hold but he was strong. His harsh breaths, clouded my face in a haze of alcohol, desperate.
"Hold still," Ethan growled. Almost instantly, I felt a hand down my arm as he had me dragged down the cold shrubs of the woods. The darkness wasn't soft and gentle like the gradual drift to sleep, it was endless and menacing, like the weight of the earth after being buried alive.
I forced my lungs to expand past my rising panic as I tried to wrench free, but in seconds I felt the cold feel of water in my skin and in that moment, I could tell that I'd been thrown off to the lake.
"Help!" I screamed.
The ice in my veins had melted, I was drowning from the inside out as I struggled but just suddenly, I felt another hand pull me up. And in seconds, I was back on the surface, panting for air.
Just as I did, I found my father crouched right next to me with a hard expression creased on his face.
"Kill her already!" Ethan, my mate growled from above me.
"What's happening," I thought.
Before I could get any words past my throat, a shadow sliced across the sun-drenched floor before a body moved in front of me, and in seconds I felt a hard stab to the chest.
My heart whimpered like a wounded animal, eager for comfort from both men I'd come to love all my life. It clawed at my bones and ripped a bloody gash through my heart until every breath came into a battle.
"F-father, how could you?" I managed to say, but instead, he plunged harder over and over again, the dagger digging hard into my flesh. In seconds, my vision unfocused completely and dots blacked out the light as I finally gave in to the pain and then I succumbed to whatever was happening to me.
Succumbing finally to the pain in seconds, I zoned out…