The Beta's Rejected Daughter (Fiona) novel Chapter 1

Chapter 1

“How could you try to k!ll your own sister who came to make peace with you!”

My father’s voice cracked through the council hall like a whip, his Beta aura pressing down harder than the chains biting into my wrists.

Beta Russell Jenson, who I once called the best father in the world, now looked at me with disgust and my mother clutched Lydia protectively while my brothers avoided my gaze.

Earlier today, Alpha Kane and Luna Mara had visited our home, and Lydia had then fallen down the stairs screaming my name, so it looked like I did it.

They thought I pushed her down the stairs and didn’t even bother to hear me out.

Lydia was my replacement, the perfect daughter they wished was the Beta daughter instead of me, who they saw as a shame and disgrace to the pack.

Trying to k!ll her was enough crime to put me to death, so I never thought about that, but I guess I had failed in preventing her.

The fall looked perfect, and no one would believe I didn’t push her when I was standing right in front of her up the stairs.

No one saw me touch her, but they didn’t need that, as the verdict was already decided.

No investigation, no evidence. Just condemnation from everyone I had once called my family.

I knelt on the cold marble floor, bl00d at the corner of my lip, surrounded by elders who stared at me as if I were filth.

When I lifted my head, my mother recoiled as if I were a demon.

“Don’t look at me, Fiona. You should be ashamed! disgraceful child.”

Lydia trembled in her arms, tears shining perfectly. “She pushed me so hard, like she wanted me to shatter my skull. I was just trying to make peace with her.”

“She’s lying,” I whispered the same words I had been saying with no one listening.

“Silence!” my father roared at me. “You’ve disgraced this family enough.”

The Alpha finally rose, his voice cold and thick as he spoke. “Fiona Jenson will be imprisoned for seven years for attempted first-degree murder on the Beta’s daughter.”

My heart clenched, and my eyes widened as tears poured down more.

“Break her legs as well,” my father added coldly. “So she would feel the pain she put Lydia through.”

My breath shattered, and in that moment, I understood clearly that I had already been rejected long ago, and this was just their perfect opportunity to get rid of me.

Guards dragged me away, and as I passed Lydia, her soft voice followed behind me.

“You shouldn’t have pushed me, sister.”

Her words shattered the remaining piece of my heart.

The dungeon reeked of rot and damp stone, and I lay there, the shackles scraping my skin.

Two guards stepped forward with iron rods, and I begged once, pleading that they not inflict such pain on me, but the crack of bone answered.

Pain swallowed everything, and I didn’t know when I passed out.

When I woke, my legs throbbed painfully, healing slowly without a wolf, but the betrayal hurt worse than the injury as I recalled it was my own father that ordered this.

Footsteps echoed in that moment, and I turned my head to the entrance.

Lydia appeared just outside the bars, dressed in white, smiling gently.

“Why?” I whispered, staring at the girl who was once beautiful, young, and innocent when she was brought to live with us by the Luna after she lost her father in a rogue battle.

I accepted her as the little sister I never had. Little did I know she would gradually take everything from me.

“You are asking why?” A little smile crept up her lips. “Okay, I’ll tell you. I’m doing this because you still exist,” she replied calmly. “And I want you gone.”

She lifted an oil lamp.

“Lydia… what are you…”

“I’ll make it painless.” She smiled smugly, and before I could blink twice, the lamp was tipped in.

Fire rushed across the straw beneath me, climbing the walls and devouring the air. Smoke filled my lungs as flames caught my dress.

I screamed. “Mother! Father—please! Help! Somebody help!”

No one came. My voice echoed back to me as Lydia watched, blue eyes reflecting the blaze.

“You should never have existed.” She repeated as the heat tore through my body.

My screams faded into silence as the world dissolved into flame and anguishing pain I couldn’t bear.

In my final breath, I prayed to the Moon Goddess, not for forgiveness, but for another chance.