Betrayed and Claimed by the Lycan King Chapter 147

SYBILLA'S POV

The cold night air whipped around me, chilling my skin despite the warmth of my tears. I stood on the Silver Moon Tower balcony, my hands gripping the railing so tightly my knuckles turned white.

*Breathe. Just breathe,* I commanded myself, but my lungs refused to cooperate. Each breath came in painful, shallow gasps as the memories of today's humiliation washed over me again.

I was officially the laughingstock of the Moon Alliance Program.

*And it's all Isolde's fault,* I thought bitterly. *She must have orchestrated this somehow. She's always trying to ruin everything for me.*

I looked down at the city sprawled beneath me, lights twinkling like stars fallen to earth. For a brief, terrible moment, I imagined how easy it would be to climb over the railing and let gravity solve all my problems. One moment of courage—or cowardice—and the humiliation would end.

*No,* my wolf Vixen growled inside me. *That would make Isolde the winner. We can't let her win.*

She was right. If I ended things now, Isolde would get everything she wanted. She'd have Ezra all to herself, she'd have everyone's sympathy, and she'd never face consequences for what she'd done to me.

"I hate her," I whispered to the night air, tasting salt as tears slipped down my cheeks and onto my lips. I'd hated Isolde since the first day I met her—the perfect daughter, the one my father truly loved despite all his claims of treating us equally.

Alaric might have married my mother after his precious mate left him, but Isolde was always his favorite. She was his firstborn, the daughter of his true mate, while I was just... an obligation. A reminder of the affair that had broken his perfect family.

"He pretended to treat us the same," I murmured, "but his eyes never warmed the same way when he looked at me."

I'd worked so hard to make him proud, to make him love me as much as he loved her. But nothing I did was ever enough. Not my popularity, not my beauty, not even my social media success. In his eyes, I would always be second-best to his precious Isolde.

When we both entered the Moon Alliance Program, I'd sworn to myself that this would be different. Here, finally, was my chance to outshine her. I'd make Ezra choose me. I'd become Luna, and then everyone—including my father—would have to acknowledge my worth.

I'd done everything possible to make Isolde look bad. I told the other Alliance girls lies about things she supposedly said about them. I even tried to make it look like she was pursuing Beta Nathaniel.

"But every trap I set fell apart," I said bitterly to the empty balcony. "Someone always shows up to help her, especially that annoying security director Orion."

My carefully laid plans had backfired spectacularly. Instead of ruining Isolde's reputation, I'd destroyed my own. The lingerie incident in the cafeteria had been the final nail in my coffin. Now I was branded as the desperate slut who threw herself at mated men, while Isolde remained untouchable, her reputation intact.

I cursed her name, gripping the railing tighter as fresh tears spilled down my cheeks, streaking my carefully applied makeup. I tried to wipe them away, but only succeeded in smearing black mascara across my face.

*What have I done?* I thought, the reality of my situation finally sinking in. *I've ruined everything.*

"Sybilla."

The elegant voice behind me made me jump. I spun around to see Evanthe standing in the doorway to the balcony, her silhouette backlit by the warm glow from inside. I quickly tried to compose myself, though I knew it was pointless—she could probably smell my distress from across the building.

"Evanthe," I whispered, my voice barely audible. Despite my humiliation, I felt a small surge of relief at her presence. Evanthe had been one of my few allies in making Isolde's life difficult. As the PR director, she wielded considerable influence within the company, and she seemed to dislike Isolde almost as much as I did.

She approached me with her trademark professional smile, perfectly calculated to show just the right amount of concern without overcommitting.

"Why are you crying?" she asked, though she clearly knew the answer. "Your makeup is ruined."

I lowered my head in shame. "I've made a mess of everything," I admitted. "The rumors around the company... my social media presence... it's all falling apart."

"Is it because of the gossip about you?" she asked in her professional tone. "The talk going around the company?"

I nodded miserably. "I screwed up. Completely."

"We sometimes, make a mess of things," she said lightly. I didn't find it amusing.

I looked up at her with tear-stained eyes. "The things people are saying around the company are hard to bear."

Evanthe studied me for a moment, her expression unreadable in the dim light. "That's because you're choosing to bear them. When you could easily redirect public attention."

I stared at her, confused. "Redirect attention? What do you mean?"

"Why wallow in your negative emotions when you can channel all the bad press onto an unsuspecting target?" she asked, her voice taking on a calculating edge. "Why should you be the only one suffering?"

"You mean..." I began, but Evanthe cut me off.

"I know what you want to do," she said, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "And I know how to do it."

Hope flickered in my chest for the first time since my public humiliation. "You do?"

"You need to distract from your own scandal by creating a bigger one for Isolde," Evanthe said, her eyes gleaming in the moonlight. "I have the perfect plan to get her out of Ezra's life for good." She winked at me meaningfully.

I felt a surge of excitement, my wolf Vixen growling approvingly in my mind. This was exactly what I needed—a way to turn the tables, to make Isolde suffer while redeeming myself.

"How?" I asked eagerly, wiping away the last of my tears. "What's your plan?"

Evanthe smiled, and something in that smile sent a shiver down my spine—not of fear, but of anticipation. For the first time since that horrible scene in the cafeteria, I felt a glimmer of hope.

"Trust me," she said. "By the time we're done, no one will remember your little scandal. All eyes will be on Isolde's downfall."