CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER ONE

ANNALISE

With shaky hands, I gingerly lifted off the silver-coloured shawl that covered my face, revealing a charred skin.

My reflection stared back at me as I lifted my eyes to look at the expansive looking glass in front of me, darkened and mangled.

One eye peered back at me as the other eye was blind. My fingers traced the contours of my burnt face that had been the object of revulsion until I'd learned to cover her face each time I went out.

For a moment, I imagined myself the pretty girl I had always been. The girl who had always been at the receiving end of affection. The radiant girl who had no one turning away in revulsion from seeing her face.

The beautiful girl, daughter of the Alpha of Black Blood Pack with the silver-colored hair and emerald green eyes mirroring the resplendent foliage of a blooming rose, and lips that were to die for.

Now, only one of those dark green eyes stared back at me. And those beautiful lips? They were gone as well, replaced with burnt flesh.

I had tried to kill myself when i glimpsed at my disfigured reflection in the mirror for the first time after the accident but my husband had been the reason for my stay.

"Annalise," He had called me, his dark brown eyes filled with love. "You are beautiful the way they are. You are beautiful no matter the state of your face." He had concluded and I had cried, relaxing into his body and letting him hold me.

Edwin was the reason I got burnt in the fire, not that I blamed him. I was burnt badly when I tried to save him from the mysterious fire that broke out suddenly in the hotel room we were staying in, a fire which had robbed me of my legs and landed me in a wheelchair. My voice was also lost in the accident and I was announced mute but it was all worth it, my husband was saved and he loved me still.

I was finally going to repay him and make his love worth it. I was finally pregnant after years of being married, finally pregnant! The results were laid there on the table in paper. I was woofless but I would finally give him a child! Edwin had invited my doctor to come to check on me one day when I was feeling sick and the doctor had announced to me that I was pregnant. I had kept the secret since then, saving it for our special night which was today, our wedding anniversary night.

At the thought of Edwin, my mate and Husband, my heart fluttered. Today was our fifth wedding anniversary and I was excited. Nervous? Yes, because of what people might say If I went into the large hall with my face covered, but I was still excited.

Grandpa would have been happy to see that I had a husband who still loved me despite being as ugly as I was now. He had been against me and Edwin getting married which was strange since he was my mate but it was all baseless worries, apparently. Or simply fatherly love.

The chiming of the bell resounded through the large hall, yanking me from my thoughts, and I drew in a deep breath.

It was time, the moment had finally arrived.

I hastily replaced the ethereal silver shawl with the ebony mask that lay atop the desk, securing it delicately around my features. Then, with utmost care, I covered her face once more with the silken shawl.

With every resonating ring of the bell, my heart pounded with fervor. Definitely with excitement but there was a glimmer of fear in me. In the past, during these wedding anniversary celebrations, I had adorned myself in resplendent finery, my face in display, captivating all who looked at me.

Now, I was transformed, a revolting mess had replaced my face, my legs were forever lost and an eye, extinguished. It would be hard for people to respect me if it was discovered what had become of me.

Taking a deep breath, I wheeled my wheelchair back, to the direction of the large hall, my heart beat pounding to the rhythm of the bell.

As I arrived at the door of the large hall, I paused to rearrange my shawl in a way that it covered my blind eye and I pushed open the doors before I could stop myself.

As the door opened, my eye met the one person that meant the world to me, my husband, Edwin. My wolf, Marise, breathed "mate." making my heart pound so much in excitement that I feared it would burst.

I drank in the sight of him, his shaggy brows, dark brown eyes, his lean build and how the clean, well ironed three piece suit hugged him well.

I had only separated from him in the morning but it felt like years. Such was the power of the mate bond. And of course, the love I had for him.

I wheeled her chair faster in his direction and only when I reached the middle of the hall, did I finally hear the hushed whispers of everyone around me. I looked to my right at where some of the elders stood and my joy dipped at the sight of them shaking their heads in... pity?

Was something wrong? Had they somehow discovered anything?

I looked back at Edwin for assurance but his eyes weren't on me but on a girl at his side. The beautiful girl by his side, long limbed, seductively beautiful Constance Avery, my best friend. He was smiling at her but I didn't find anything strange since it was like that between us; Edwin had always been friendly to my friends.

I wheeled faster to the 'aisle' and Edwin turned to me then and cleared his throat.

"Now that she is here, let us commence." He said, addressing everyone. The strange feeling i felt increased. This was not usually how it was done; it was usually the priest who had to speak first and then join us together as one afresh.

This wasn't right, Edwin hadn't looked at me with love since I arrived, not to talk or smile at me.

Edwin beconned the priest and the priest also cleared his throat.

"We are gathered here today, to witness the separation of Alpha Edwin Lane, the new Alpha of the Black Blood Pack and Annalise Altair of the Black Blood Pack. You may now start, Alpha Edwin. "

I was confused. What was the priest saying? What did he mean by separation? Was there anybody else named Annalise Altair of Black Blood Pack? I couldn't make sense of anything the priest was saying...

My head was spinning and my heart was beating, not in excitement this time though.

I looked at Edwin and widened my one eye at him, hoping he could read the questions there. What was happening?

Edwin peered down at me, his expression utterly different from the loving one I knew.

And then, he spoke; "I, Edwin Lane, the new Alpha of the Black Blood Pack, reject you, Annalise Altair as my mate and the Luna of this pack."

At first, I could only hear the ringing in my head, and then, a searing pain followed as I felt the mate bond between us snap, tearing at my soul and bringing me to the floor.

The pain was nothing I had ever felt before, not even when I had burned in the fire. It was excruciating. My eyes burned and I could feel the screeching and howling of my own wolf inside me if I still had my voice, I was sure I would have been screaming, myself. I clawed at my chest and cradled my stomach, hoping the pain would go as my body shivered violently, hoping nothing would happen to my unborn child at the same time.

The pain I felt was nothing close to the shock of betrayal. There was no way Edwin would do this to me. Not the Edwin that had held me close in my worst times. Not the Edwin I had saved from the fire.

I tried hard, tried to think of ways I had possibly wronged him in the past but I could think of none. I had given him everything, given myself completely to him. Even in bed when he laid with me, I did everything, took the lead. He'd never seemed passionate with me in bed but outside of bed, he was everything a wife could wish for, so where? Where did anything go wrong?

My heart burned and It wasn't quenching.

For what felt like years, I rolled on the floor, clutching my face that I was sure it was bleeding. And then finally, the pain subsided, leaving my shivering at the hollow emptiness that was now my heart.

I was empty, the part of me I filled with the beat of his heart, was now empty and the other part of me, lost and afraid.. desperate and broken.

I was suddenly lifted up by someone and I was forced to look up at Edwin that was sneering down at me.

"Remove her mask." He said to the guard holding me and I shuddered. 'No! Please! Don't! ' I wanted to say but of course, nothing came out.

The shawl on my face was roughly ripped off my face and the mask followed next. My eyes closed at the disgusted sounds that came from the crowd.

"Dear Lord, the Goddess." I heard the priest utter weakly.

"A witch! " Another person said from the side.

" Close your eyes, honey, don't look. " A female voice said, apparently a mother, to her child. More voices like that spoke, all of them, carrying the unmistakable tone of disgust.

My body shuddered once more as I felt the burn of the tears that refused to fall. Edwin had warned me against mentioning the fire accident to anybody. 'It was for my own good,' he had said. Now, it was clear it was not my well-being he had been looking out for. Nobody would know that I was like this because I wanted to save Edwin. I couldn't speak and I couldn't defend myself.

"Take her out!" Edwin said suddenly and I looked up at him, it was the first thing he had said since my face was revealed.

I didn't know what I expected to see on his face. Perhaps pity, perhaps even a little glimmer of love he used to show, perhaps pain, perhaps remorse. None of it was the expression he showed. No. There was nothing else but absolute revulsion, unmasked on his face. He stood as straight as he'd always stood, his chest puffed out, His true feeling finally coming to light.

I looked at how straight he stood. Obviously, he had not experienced the same pain I had experienced. That was how it was, the person who rejected felt no pain while the one rejected felt it all. My wolf whimpered as if she had been as hopeful as Annalise was to see remorse on his face.

"Take her out!" Edwin repeated and I was forcefully hauled to my feet and dragged out from the hall, the disgust filled faces exciting her out.

Grandpa... Grandpa would not have let me be humiliated like this. Grandpa would have saved me. Grandpa, with his strong gait would not have allowed anyone to look at me with such obvious disrespect. Grandpa was no more, his position in the pack was now taken by Edwin and I was all alone.

The door to their room; Edwin's and mine opened and I was thrown in, without anything to support me and my wheelchair gone. I cradled my stomach to protect it from the floor and the door closed behind me with a bang.

With the guard gone, I finally broke down, letting my tears run freely. I grabbed the table cloth on a drawer that stood in the room and the mirror fell down, shattering.

I grabbed one jagged piece of the mirror, not caring if it tore my hands or not and I looked into it. I stared at the burnt flesh of my face, the flesh scars that ran across each other, and then at the tears streaming from only one of her eyes. How Edwin had called this face beautiful was beyond me. Turns out, he'd only been hiding his true feelings. I let out a whimper and I threw the mirror across the room where it shattered into more pieces.

I was truly hideous.