I watched in utter disbelief as my father's hands had no movement.
They were already cold.
But from my wolf I already knew.
The Alpha was dead.
My father was dead.
All the wolves sensed it because they began to howl and whimper in pain.
I cried and cried as I held unto my father's dead body.
I still couldn't believe it.
Just like that he had left me and Sadie all alone.
The doors burst open and none other than Lydia came in.
A female doctor came in right after.
I looked at her, my eyes hungry with hope that my father was still alive.
She shook her head. "He is gone."
The confirmation I needed.
"You've done it!" Lydia wept as she pointed an accusatory finger at me. "You killed my husband. You monster! You took him away from me! Are you happy now? Huh?! I always knew there was something wrong with you."
I was too weak to even argue with her.
"Get out of my sight whore!" She spat and pushed me away from my father's body so much I crashed to the floor.
She hugged him and began shedding crocodile tears.
A number of wolves trooped in right after.
They were all mourning my father.
I felt dazed and confused.
How do I tell my little sister that our father was dead.
I had told her it was going to be fine, how was I ever going to comfort her?
So much had happened at once today, my knees went weak I staggered to a chair and sat down.
My protector.
The only man who had ever truly loved me was now gone.
Wondering where I was headed next, I felt Jeffery brooding glare at me.
When I turned sure enough he was there and I saw a sinister smile stamped on his face.
"I'm now the Alpha." He said to me.
I barely heard anything he had to say. My mind hung on my dead father.
I didn't care about pack politics, at least not right now.
"Seize her!" He ordered.
I jumped alert.
The members of our pack looked at each other in confusion.
"What?" I said in disbelief.
He flexed the Alpha's ring on his finger.
My father's Alpha ring.
"By this ring, and by law I am now the Alpha of the pack." He stated coldly.
Was this what he was talking about?
Right now?
With my father still fresh in his hospital bed.
"I'm my father's first daughter." I countered when I realized that Jeffery wasn't playing any games.
"By Pack law little sister, no she wolf can inherit. Especially a crippled one." He spat.
I felt like I had been slapped in the face.
"As your Alpha I command you to seize her!" He snapped to the wolves present.
Hands grabbed me immediately.
Confused and in utter shock, I tried to jerk free.
"Don't make this hard." One of the Betas said.
I knew just like everyone else that members of the pack were compelled by the Alpha bond to obey their Alpha.
They didn't want to do this, but they were being forced.
"How could you do this to me?!" I screamed as I struggled. "You promised my father. You swore to him, on your wolf to hand me the pack! How can you do this to Sadie and I?!"
"My son is only taking what he deserves." Lydia sneered at me.
Taking what he deserved?!
Jeffery wasn't even related to us by blood!
Seeing I was trapped and now worried for my sister, I took my first instinct.
I bit the arm of one of the wolves who had grabbed me and stomped the other's foot .
I wished I had my heels on it would have done better harm.
It did the work regardless .
They flinched in pain before I took advantage of the open space and fled.
I heard them running after me.
I tore the long skirts of my dress as they made it harder for me to run.
Then I raced down stairs and corridors.
I was going to rush home, take my sister and run.
My mind a buzz and complete fog, I rammed right into Alpha Raphael, my father's best friend.
Relief washed over me.
Someone I could trust!
"Gabrielle. What's the problem? What's going on?" He asked me confused as he held my arms.
I stuttered the tears flowing down my cheeks.
Before I could speak, I heard them approaching.
Alpha Raphael took my hand and pulled me to his side.
"Hand her over Alpha Raphael." Jeffery insisted. "I'm the new Alpha of the Moonshadow pack and she is my property."
Property?
I knew that no matter what Jeffery said, he couldn't fight Alpha Raphael.
He was a new Alpha, while Raphael had been an Alpha for almost thirty decades.
I was safe.
He would take me and my sister to safety.
He looked at me and I could tell that he was going to give us the protection we needed.
It was written all over his face.
All of a sudden, Raphael's grip tightened on my arm.
He glanced down the hall, then at me. I saw it then….. the calculation behind his eyes, the faintest twist of a smile.
"No—" I started, but he shoved me forward.
I stumbled straight into Jeffery's waiting arms.
I had been Betrayed
Again.