Zara

I quietly move out of where I stand, hoping that neither of them catch a whiff of my scent.

From the deep kissing sounds they're making, I don't think that'll be possible anyway. The lump in my throat makes it hard for me to breathe, and my eyes slowly fill up with tears.

This is not the time to cry.

I crawl into a corner out of their line of sight, ready to dash back through the door I came through if the need arises.

The kissing sounds stop, followed by a chuckle from Sharon.

"You just couldn't keep your hands off me, could you?"

Jared sighs. "It's been too long, sweetheart. If I didn't get to be with you today, I'm sure I might have died."

"Oh, Jared. You always know the right thing to say to a lady."

He hums. "That's why you love me, isn't it?"

A brief pause. "That's one reason. The other reason is better suited for the bedroom," Sharon says.

"You didn't mind getting it on in that secret cove last weekend," Jared says with a laugh.

Last weekend? The weekend that he told me that he had some 'urgent business' to attend to and wouldn't be able to make it to our date planned that same day?

I almost laugh at the situation. I remember him not being able to explain exactly what the 'business' was all about. But now I know.

I stifle a groan as another wave of pain washes through my head. Not now. Images of my nightmare assault my mind one after the other.

Sharon rubbing her belly. Jared's affectionate looks towards her.

The witch killing my cousin. The smell of his burning flesh and his final words.

My mom's clan members, my family, getting slaughtered mercilessly. Their screams of pain and agony as they were struck down with silver bullets and blades.

I hold my head in my hands and curl up into a ball on the floor. There's a ringing in my ears that can't be ignored. I taste blood for me and realize that I've bitten my tongue.

"Jared, how much longer until that roach is out of our lives?" Sharon asks, her voice whiny like a child deprived of some candy.

"Soon, baby. Very soon. Once the plan's done, we'll be together completely. I don't like the situation as well but it's what I have to do to get us what we deserve." A pause. "What our baby deserves."

A baby?

The pain comes to an excruciating peak. White flashes before my eyes, blinding me for a few minutes.

When my sight returns, so does a full realization of what is going on. I slowly rise to my feet, and catch a glimpse of Jared rubbing Sharon's still flat belly with so much love.

That explains why it always seemed like there was an invisible barrier between us. No matter how many times we kissed, it never felt truly right. Something was always missing.

Now I know why.

They fall into a kiss again, and I take the pieces left of me and go back into the cottage. If I stay even a second more, I'm sure that someone is going to end up covered in blood.

And it won't be me.

I drag my feet back to my room, feeling heavy and light at the same time. I sag down into my bed and place both hands on my head, then run it down my face.

Then laugh.

Again, again, and again.

I laugh until I find myself on the floor, rolling, kicking and clawing at the ground so hard that I break one of my nails. I laugh so hard that my chest and my stomach and my chest hurts. The emptiness in my chest is too much to bear.

How will I do this all without her?

Heartbreak's terrible, but at least, I'm no longer in the dark.

I turn until I'm lying on my stomach. This is what I deserve for not questioning Jared's strange behavior once in a while. The signs were all there.

How could I not have seen it?

Whatever made me leave the kitchen in the first place is also a mystery. The nightmare also showed me that Sharon was pregnant.

Was it really a nightmare? Or have I through some weird, unexplainable incidence been given another chance to set things right?

If that horrible nightmare was actually real, that would mean that in order to stop the great disaster in store for my mother's clan and I from happening . . .

I have to destroy Jared. If he was willing to kill me just for a chance to become pack leader, then I will end him first.

He has been playing me for a fool for months. Sleeping with my cousin behind my back and most likely conspiring with my father.

I wipe the few tears that have escaped from my eyes. An idea comes together in my mind piece by piece.

The Mate Matching Ceremony must never occur. I refuse to be mated to a scumbag like Jared. In fact, I don't think I ever want to be mated to anyone.

It used to be my dream to have someone I could call mine. Someone I could share my mind, body and soul with. But that isn't possible anymore. Not after what I've experienced.

I wasn't made for love. I was made for vengeance.

I had once given up my chance to become Moonstone's pack leader by rejecting my spot as a contender at the Alpha Selection Ceremony. I convinced members of my mother's—no—my clan to vote for Jared.

In return, I was killed for my foolishness. My clan was killed for my terrible choice. An unforgivable mistake.

I had given him my all, without once caring about myself.

Now, I will take it all. And when I do, I will take no prisoners.

Sharon and her mother. My father and Jared. They will all fall to their knees and beg for mercy, because this time around, I will truly become the beast that they have been calling me all these years.

I rise off the floor. The wheels in my head are already turning.

My own father chose another to rule instead of supporting his own flesh and blood. I'd always known that he never wanted me to become the next Alpha of Moonstone pack after he stepped down, but I wanted to believe that one day he would see my worth.

He never did. I don't think he ever will.

If my thoughts are correct, the Mate Matching Ceremony is tomorrow, and I know for a fact that if not for that nightmare and what I'd seen at the backyard, I'd have initiated a mate bond with Jared.

But not this time.

This time, I will strike when they least expect it.

I walk up to my bed and check underneath the pillow. My fingers close around something round and smooth, and I pull it out.

My mother's clan ring. She'd given it to me the day before she passed six years ago. She told me to never put it on until I was 'ready'. I didn't understand what she meant then, and I'm not quite sure I understand it now, but I can’t ignore the faint tug I feel towards it.

I slip it on my finger as I take a deep breath.

For 20 years of my life I've been keeping to myself, trying not to step on any toes even if I was the innocent one.

That Zara is gone. This Zara is going to take what belongs to her.

And I already know who will be the first to taste my wrath. I won't stop until her red hair is covered in her own blood.

She and Jared took away the little that I had that connected me to my mother. Their unborn child will suffer as well. An eye for an eye.

The battle line has been drawn.