The Beta's Rejected Daughter (Fiona) novel Chapter 7

I stepped out into the night, and before the door finished closing, my father’s final words followed me like a curse.

“Once you leave, Fiona, you are no longer my daughter.”

I did not pause or turn. I could not. For years, I had never truly felt like his daughter anyway, so losing the title meant nothing. Behind me, Lydia called out, her voice desperate and false.

“Fiona, wait, please don’t go.”

How could they not see her wickedness, the way she smiled with sugar and poison, the way she wrapped herself around them until they forgot who I even was? She did not just take everything from me, she turned them against me, piece by piece.

Today, I would have died if not for that vision. It hurt to watch them defend her even when the truth was right in front of them, and it was so clear now that one day they might not mind if I disappeared entirely, as long as it made her happy.

The gravel crunched beneath my boots as I rolled my suitcase toward the gate, my breath steady in my chest, calm and light, like my soul had finally stretched after years of being curled into itself.

There was no fear anymore, only release, as if the chains I had carried since childhood had finally fallen away.

At the road, I stopped and whispered into the cool night,

“They buried me once. But I will rise again, and this time they will wish they had not let me leave alive.”

The night swallowed me as I walked, the forest growing deeper around me, darker and harsher. Branches twisted above me like black veins cutting through the pale moonlight, and each breath curled out in a soft cloud while my steps sank into damp earth.

In moments like this, I wished I had a wolf inside me, wished I could shift and run fast and far, somewhere safe, somewhere where their shadows could not follow. But I had to walk, and I had to stay hidden. A cart would only make it easier for them to trace me.

I thought of Raina, my best friend, the only person who ever stood by me before my life turned into a prison after Lydia arrived.

She was the daughter of a warrior and we had been friends since childhood and through high school, but now unreachable since we haven’t talked for many years. I had no phone, no money for a message at the cyber café, no way to let her know what had happened to me.

And even if I reached her, I did not know if her parents would allow her to believe me and help.

I kept walking until an abandoned hut appeared between the trees. Relief loosened my shoulders. At least I had somewhere to sleep tonight.

It was small and broken, but it was mine for the night, and that was enough.

I pushed the door, and its hinges protested, dust lifting into the air like old spirits waking up. The place smelled of herbs, dried and forgotten, and I knew instantly that it had belonged to a healer.

I set my bag down and sank into a wooden chair, letting the silence wrap around me.

For the first time in years, I was in a place where nobody looked at me like I was the wrong daughter, a burden, a stain on the family name.

My stomach growled, reminding me that I had not eaten since my breakfast. The little money I had would have to stretch for tomorrow, barely enough for food and transport while I searched for work.

When I lifted my hand, I noticed the shallow cut across my palm, still raw from the suitcase handle. It stung sharply, and when fresh bl00d welled up, I brought out water from my bag and poured it into a basin, then got up to search for any herb.

I searched through the shelves, pushing aside jars of herbs, most old and moldy, some still useful, then I sat and mixed what I could remember from Aria’s lessons.

She had been our family doctor and almost another mother to me until Lydia came and everything changed. My parents barely sent her to me after that, but I still remembered the way she cared for my bruises with herbs.

As I leaned over the basin, a few drops of my bl00d fell into the water, and the moment they touched the surface, something strange happened.

The water shimmered, and silver ripples spread outward, soft and glowing. I stared, breath caught, not daring to blink. The pendant on the table, the same one that glowed during the vision of Lydia, lit up again with that same pale fire. But then it all died down and returned to normal almost immediately.

“My eyes must be deceiving me.” I sighed, washing my wound in the water.

It must be due to hunger and exhaustion, I was now hallucinating.

Just then, a noise outside snapped through the silence. A branch breaking. Heavy footsteps approaching.

My breath froze. Fear curled tight inside me.

I grabbed the small knife and held it close, forcing myself to stay still as the steps came closer and closer, stopping right outside the hut.

I stepped back, hands trembling, knife lifted.

The door burst open, and five figures filled the entrance. Cloaked in black expensive suits, tall and powerful, their presence shook me to my core as terror gripped me and rooted me in place. But then something strange happened.

They bowed their heads.

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