“How could this girl be of any... any interest to you? She’s just a... a stray!”
Nathaniel is smiling, but I can tell he’s not the slightest happy. I would say he’s only getting even angrier. His eyes look like ice, and that’s a frightening look I’ve seen before on both his brothers. Two grey eyes staring at Vincent like he could murder him on the spot. And I bet he could.
He takes a menacing step towards Vincent, and for a second, I think he really is about to kill him right here. All the blood seems to have left Vincent’s face. When Nathaniel speaks, his voice is just as menacing as if he was holding a knife next to the Alpha’s throat, and his sharp and cold voice gives me a chill.
“That ‘stray’ girl you are talking about is my older brother’s fated mate.”
A chilling silence follows his words, and all eyes turn to me. For a few seconds, Vincent looks like he is about to collapse as he staggers, white as a sheet. He looks at me, so shocked he can’t even utter a sound. But Nathaniel suddenly speaks up again, and takes a new step closer, making Vincent stagger and fall on his butt in front of him.
“So, now. Would you tell who is responsible for her scars? My brothers and I are really, really eager to know.”
I hear several people from the pack gasp or let out a whimper. Bobo is growling very loudly, and that’s a frightening sound not three wolves together could make. He still has Peter’s arm, and the blood is still leaking out in a gruesome manner beneath him. Vincent suddenly shakes his head, looking panicked.
“No, no, no, it’s... it’s not that. We... we really didn’t know, she... Nora was...”
I look at him, disgusted. What, that the Alpha I used to fear all the time? He is blabbing nonsense, trying to comeup with excuses. How could I ever fear such a pathetic man? Nathaniel stands there, emotionless, while Vincent is struggling pathetically.
“We... we welcomed them to... to our pack a few years ago. They were just... just homeless kids, they... She had nothing. We gave her food and shelter!”
“...Food and shelter?” I can’t help but repeat, shocked.
Both Nathaniel and Vincent turn to me, surprised to hear me speak out. But I shake my head, glaring at my pathetic Alpha. “You put me in the basement. You made me work from dawn until dusk, and never let me eat with you. You never even considered me a part of our pack.”
Liam starts growling again after hearing me, but I ignore him. Vincent is apparently not as scared of me as he is of Nathaniel and tries to defend himself.
“Everyone has to work to earn their living! You... you would have died in the streets if it wasn’t for me, Nora.”
I look at him, taken aback by his nerve. How can he still be standing there saying such things to my face? To earn a living? I was not even nine years old when the Jade Moon Clan took me in! For almost nine years, they only let me live to work for them as a slave, giving me scraps!
“Nobody else would have helped you, but we did! Doesn’t that count?” Asks Vincent.
I know he is trying to beg for his life. He’s aware Nathaniel only cares about me and won’t hesitate a single second to kill him and all the others. His Beta is dying in a blood pool at this very moment. Vincent is basically begging me to spare the rest of them. But I’m in no mood for his excuses.
“You never really meant to help me, did you? All you saw was a helpless child, a free slave you could make use of. Iwas young, and you know no one would protect me. Nobody would care no matter what happened to me. You never did.”
The hurtful words I could never say out loud are now flowing out, with tears, and I can’t stop it. All the suffering resurfaces. All those bitter memories that I can’t stand anymore. I’m giving up on any hope I had left in this Clan. This is the truth, and it has long waited to come out.
“You are not my Alpha! You never acted like one to me. You never protected me or considered me your family, not in the slightest. All you did was use me, like some tool you could throw away anytime. I was broken, and all you did was break me even more.”
I gave the last nine years of my life to this man, to this pack, and now I realize what a mess they have made of it. I was never meant to be that pitiful or weak, but they pushed me to the edge day after day. Whether they abused me or stayed as bystanders, no one in this pack ever gave me a hand. None of them ever cared about me, and they were content with it. Living their everyday lives, keeping their eyes closed and ignoring all I endured like it wasn’t their problem.
“No, Nora. I didn’t do it. I never laid a hand on you, did I? I even tried to keep Alec off your back, sometimes, I...”
“You didn’t do anything! You let others do it for you, and that was it! You saw what they did to me, and you closed your eyes a million times! A million times, you could have put an end to it with a single word, and you never ever did! You are worse than any of them! You are not even worthy of being called an Alpha!” I yell, bursting with anger.
“I... I...”
But he has nothing else to say. He knows I’m right. Never saying anything doesn’t mean I don’t remember. Vincent shakes his head, trying to find something else to defend himself, but I am done with this. I turn around to wipe mytears, exhausted by all of this. Nathaniel is looking at me, and he seems impressed by my sudden burst, but I just feel angry and exhausted by all this yelling. But as I turn around, a voice suddenly arises.
“You wench! You should just shut up and be grateful the Alpha accepted a cursed, damn freak like you! No one wanted...”
Amber’s words die in her throat when Liam suddenly jumps at her with a loud growl. She has the reflexes to change into her wolf form to defend herself, but the battle is cut short. Within two seconds, his fangs lacerate her neck and face, and the golden wolf dies before our eyes before she even has a chance to fight back.
I cover my mouth, speechless. I can’t believe Amber just died as quickly as that. Liam leaves her corpse to go back to his brother, but his mouth covered in fresh blood is still growling angrily. Nathaniel looks straight into Vincent’s eyes, and this time there is no smile.
“This was the last time I hear one of you talk like that about Nora ever again. We will leave behind as many corpses as necessary for that.”
The Alpha is so stunned about what just happened, he can’t help but nod with a totally blank expression. Two of his wolves just died in front of him, and he couldn’t do a thing to stop it. And now the lives of his whole pack are hanging. He seems about to say something but doesn’t.
