RUBY

I lost my baby. I had lost my child. 

The words didn't sound real no matter how many times I repeated them in my head. Those words didn't belong to me, I told myself over and over again. They couldn't. They probably belonged to someone else, some other woman whose life hadn't just been ripped open and left bleeding on the floor.

I wiped my cheeks again, for what felt like the hundredth time, but the tears kept coming anyway. My body ached in a way I had never known before. It was deep and hollow, like something essential had been scooped out of me and discarded, and in a way, that was probably the case scenario. 

"I'm so sorry, ma'am." The doctor's voice chose this exact moment to start replaying itself in my head. "You..."

"You can't be sorry." I remember cutting him off before he could finish. "There's no need to be sorry. Just tell me everything's okay. Tell me my baby is fine."

I begged him, but all he did was stare at me in silence, sadness shining in his orbs. He didn't say anything after that, and I just knew. This wasn't a cruel joke or a prank. He actually meant what he'd just said. 

When the doctor finally let me leave, I had only one thought in my mind.

I needed to go home.

Maybe some stupid, broken part of me believed that if I walked through those doors, everything would rewind. That Troy would be there, that he would see my face and understand what had been lost. That maybe, just maybe he would realize his mistake and perhaps ask for my forgiveness. That someone would ask me what had happened, but to my greatest surprise, none of that happened. 

Not even close. 

Troy wasn't home when I arrived, and I guess I should have taken that as my first clue that something was about to go terribly wrong. 

"Oh hello, Ruby," The housekeeper greeted me with the same warm smile she always did. It was warm, but not for me "Welcome back."

I opened my mouth to return it, but nothing came out, and could you blame me? 

In the space of a few hours, my entire life had collapsed. My mate was now engaged to my sister. I had been rejected, publicly, and I had lost my baby. The same baby I thought was going to bring me and Troy together 

My heart squeezed at the thought of it all. It was shredded that was for sure, and I doubt there was anything I could do to bring it back. Like I hadn't already been through enough, my body felt like it was barely holding together, like one wrong breath might cause it to give up entirely.

I wasn't sure what was waiting for me back in the house, but I'd at least hoped for a little bit of quiet. However, voices drifted through the house as I stepped inside.

There were too many voices, and I just knew everyone was here.

Had the party already ended?

Alana was the first to appear, gliding toward me with a smile so serene it made my stomach churn. She looked radiant, untouched, and dare I say friendly, like she hadn't destroyed me hours earlier.

"Oh, Ruby," she said lightly. "You're back."

Her words came as a slash straight to the heart. You would think that after ruining my life, she would at least be more sober, but I guess I was wrong. 

Very, very wrong. 

I stared at her, searching her face for something, anything, that resembled guilt, but there was nothing.

"Troy?" I asked hoarsely, even though something deep inside me was whispering that I was asking the wrong question. "Where is he?

"He's not home yet," she replied, too quickly. "He had things to take care of." 

The words had barely slid past her lips before more footsteps echoed from behind. In the blink of an eye, our parents joined her, followed by Troy's. They stood together like this was some sort of family meeting, like I was a stranger interrupting something important, and I could only hear my heart break all the more. 

"You're here, and just in time too." My mother cleared her throat. The absence of emotions in her tone had me wondering if she really was my own mother or just Alana's. "We've decided it's time for Alana to move in."

The words didn't register at first.

"And you," Troy's mother added, avoiding my eyes, "will need to move out."

"What?" I blinked, not wanting to believe the words that had just slid past their lips. "Move out? What do you...."

"Yes." Troy's mother added again. "And it has to be tonight." 

"It's only appropriate," my father said. "Given the circumstances."

"Circumstances..." I swallowed, but the bile in my throat just wouldn't leave. I can go home. Just for a while. Or so I thought.

I wasn't sure why I'd said that, but it was too late to take it back now. If they didn't want me in the family house, I could at least go back to ours. Or so I thought.

The room went quiet, and for a moment, I actually thought they were considering it, until Spencer laughed that is. 

"Don't bother with the act, Ruby." 

My brother, Spencer, stepped forward, arms crossed, eyes cold. "We already know."

"Know what?" My voice trembled despite my effort to steady it.

"The blood. The dramatics. This is just another one of your tricks, isn't it?" He gestured vaguely toward me. "Trying to guilt Alana and Troy into breaking their engagement because you were his so-called true mate."

I felt something inside me snap at his words. 

"That's not..." I started. "I was bleeding because..."

"Enough," my mother cut in sharply. "We're not doing this tonight. We've really had enough of your shenanigans." 

The finality in her tone stung, but I forced myself to look at each of them, waiting for someone, anyone, to ask if I was okay.

No one did.

"Troy has already given the go ahead," my father said, his voice pulling me back to the present. "You're to gather your things and leave tonight. Alana needs the space."

I parted my lips to speak, but I pressed it shut again. What was I going to say? Was I going to argue? Yell and scream till they listened to me? 

While all of those sounded like really good choices, I already knew how things were going to end. My legs felt weak as I turned away.

This had always been the way it went. Whatever Alana wanted, Alana got, even when it hurt. Even when it destroyed someone else. They loved the adopted daughter more than they had ever loved their own blood.

I packed in silence after that. My hands shook as I folded clothes into bags. My skin felt pale and tight, my body heavy and fragile, but I had to stay put. Every movement sent a dull ache through my lower abdomen, a cruel reminder of what I couldn't tell them, and each time, I felt the urge to burst into tears. 

I couldn't tell them about the baby, not because I didn't want to, but because I knew them.

They wouldn't mourn it, they would celebrate it, and that was the last thing I needed right now. 

When I dragged my bags downstairs, another couple had joined the gathering. I didn't know who they were, and quite frankly, I didn't care. They were simply more witnesses to my erasure.

Troy still wasn't home.

I set my bags down in the living room, my vision swimming, before my father spoke again.

"One more thing," he said. "Don't bother going home," 

"Why?" I looked up slowly. "What do you mean?"

"Sign these." He handed me a thin stack of papers. "Then leave."

I snuck him one more glance before my fingers closed around them automatically. For a quick second, I struggled to read the words, until the title swam into focus.

Relationship Severance Agreement.

My breath hitched. I didn't want to believe it, but no matter how hard I blinked, nothing changed. The wordings on the paper didn't as much as flinch. 

"Father?" I looked up at him, my voice almost quiet and my hands trembling. "You're... disowning me?"

"You're no longer part of this family, Ruby." His face was blank. "This is for the best."

The room spun immediately the words slid past his lips. 

In one night, I had lost my mate, my child, and now, my family. My world was crashing faster than I could do anything about it. 

I stood there, holding the papers, realizing with brutal clarity that I had never truly belonged anywhere at all.

RUBY

For the next couple of seconds, or more, I didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to believe that the life in front of me now was supposed to be my new reality. I couldn't. 

This wasn't fair. None of it was. I didn't believe in curses or superstitions, but right now, I wouldn't mind being sold a lie that I'd been cursed by some shaman or a witch. 

That was the only way all of this could make sense. My mind whirled with a million and one thing all at once, but I hated that somehow, and in the midst of it all, my number one thought still remained....

I needed to speak to Troy.

Alana had found her real parents, she had been claimed by them, so why was I the one being discarded like I was nothing? Why were my own parents disowning me when she was the one who had gained everything?

Where was I supposed to go now?

More and more thoughts swarm to my mind, but I pushed them aside as I snapped back to the present 

"Troy..." I lifted my head slowly, my throat burning. "I want to speak to Troy."

The room went quiet, which was proof that they'd heard me, and I wasn't going crazy. Yet. The silence in the room seemed to echo, and then Troy's father laughed, a short, sharp, and cruel sound that sent my heart spiraling. 

"Did you honestly expect him to choose you?" he asked. "Over Alpha Leo's daughter? The future Luna of the Nightfall pack?"

The words struck like stones. Of all the things he could have said, best believe I didn't see that one coming at all. 

"What exactly do you think you could give Troy as his mate?" he continued. "Status? Power? An alliance? Tell me!" 

I opened my mouth, the answer screaming inside my chest.

"A child." I wanted to desperately say, but memories from the hospital earlier today was enough to cut me off. "I could give him a child. Our beautiful baby." I thought again.

I blinked back tears as the thought withered before it could leave my lips, because Alana could give him that too. All Troy had to do was get her pregnant.

My silence answered for me, and that must have pleased Troy's father. 

"You see?" he said coldly. "Nothing. You have nothing to offer." 

His words echoed all around me, while I just stood there, shaking, with humiliation burning through me. I knew the Nightfall pack. Everyone did. They were as strong as, if not stronger than, Ironclaw, and Troy would be a fool not to choose Alana.

I understood that. What I didn't understand was why I had to be destroyed in the process. Why was I the only one who seemed to have too much to lose in all of this? Why was I on the receiving end of the stick? 

I knew the answer to all those questions, or maybe I didn't, but one thing was sure. The betrayal hurt more than I could put into words.

"Does Troy know?" I asked quietly. "About Alana's parents?"

"Oh would you look at that!" His father scoffed, a mix of amusement and mischief dancing in his eyes. "Who do you think gave the order for you to leave this house?"

My chest tightened painfully, but he didn't see it, because he didn't stop talking. 

"My boy knows exactly what he wants." Troy's father added, and this time, the finality in his voice hurt more than I was willing to admit. 

My vision blurred as I looked around the room, at the faces that had once been my family, and my heart cracked all the more as reality dawned on me. None of them looked back with regret, not even pity.

Wow. 

"Sign it," my father urged, tapping the papers impatiently. "Let's be done with this."

I almost laughed at his words. If I ever had the courage to laugh, trust me it would have been nothing short of bitter. I gave them all one last glance and my hand shook as I picked up the pen.

I signed, and even though each stroke of my name felt like I was erasing myself, I did it anyway. Alana must have been waiting for this moment since forever, because she stepped forward then, placing a hand delicately over her chest. 

"I'll walk her out," she said softly. "It's the least I can do."

Everyone gushed, and I my jaw almost broke in surprise. 

"Oh, Alana, you're so thoughtful." someone chimed from behind. 

"She really is too kind." Troy's mother hummed, her eyes shining with pride and love, something I wasn't sure she'd ever showed me. 

"What a good sister." I wanted nothing more than to puke all over their faces, but Alana was next to me in no time. With her saccharine sweet smile, she led me away from the crowd. 

The door closed behind us, and the moment it did, Alana burst out laughing. She threw her head back, clutching her stomach as if my misery were the funniest thing she'd ever witnessed.

"Oh, Ruby," she said between laughs. "You really must be cursed. Look at your life. How does everything fall apart so spectacularly?"

I stared at her, numb.

"How could your own parents do this to you?" she continued mockingly. "Honestly, if I were you, I'd start wondering if I was the problem."

"You know what?" Then she leaned in, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Even your child didn't want you as a mother."

The world stopped then. How, how did she find out about that?

"What?" My blood ran cold. "How... how do you know about that?"

She smiled.

"I have connections," she said lightly. From how much she was glowing, you could tell she was having a field day ruining my life all the more. "And since the pack prefers me as Luna, the doctor thought I should know."

My knees nearly buckled, but she wasn't done. Alana still has more terrible news to make me hate my life even more. 

"I have one more secret for you." She tilted her head. "Did you know your baby could have been saved?"

Hope flared instinctively, and then she crushed it. 

"I told the doctor to lie to you." Something inside me snapped at her words. Red tugged at the corner of my eyes, and before I could so much as second guess it, I screamed and shoved her with every ounce of strength I had left. Alana stumbled backward, hitting the wall hard.

"You!" I sobbed. "You killed my baby!"

I lunged for her again, but a hand caught my wrist and shoved me back.

Hard.

I fell to the floor, pain exploding through my side. I didn't have time or the luxury to try to guess who it was, because Alana's saviour spoke up immediately, and believe me when I said he wasn't pleased.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Troy roared. "What has gotten into you?" 

I looked up and Troy was standing there, fury written all over his face.

"How could you attack my fiancée?" he demanded. "Are you insane?" 

Alana crumpled instantly, tears spilling as she clutched her arm. 

"I...I was just trying to say goodbye," she whimpered. "She went mad, Troy. I tried to help her."

He didn't hesitate. Troy scooped her into his arms like she was something precious, something worth protecting. In the blink of an eye, the door flew open and our parents rushed out.

My father didn't even ask what happened. He slapped me, and the sound echoed.

"Get out," he snarled. "And pray that Alana is fine, or else. I'll come find and deal with you myself." 

I stood there, stunned, as Troy walked past me without a single glance. Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, fate literally said to hold her cup. 

I was stunned and short of words. Again, I hoped that Troy would halt and turn back at the last minute, just to tell me he didn't mean what had just happened. That he'd been pranking me all morning to make our wedding and engagement super special, but that moment never came. 

Instead, Alana looked back, she smirked and mouthed to words 

"I won."

My chest squeezed painfully as I took in her face one last time before she disappeared down the corridor. I might have been delusional not to believe it, but now, and in that moment, I knew, I had lost everything.

Great. Just fucking great.