Edward glanced around nervously, then looked at the young man with an expression of grave warning. “Don’t create trouble for
yourself, boy, if you want to continue breathing. The Beta has connections throughout the packs.”
He leaned closer, lowering his voice. “But someone will make that call. Someone who isn’t an Omega with nothing to lose.”
The young man nodded slowly, understanding the unspoken message. “I understand. Poor Miss Scarlett. How did she end up with
such a monster for a father?”
Even more surprising than the household staff’s departure was the absence of the guards. The Beta mansion typically had six
guards patrolling the perimeter–all gone now, their posts abandoned. Word had traveled fast among the pack members.
With so many staff members gone, the mansion suddenly felt empty and silent. The usual bustle of activity had been replaced by
an eerie stillness that seemed fitting for a house containing death.
When my father returned home later that evening, he called out three times without receiving an answer. His voice echoed
through the empty halls, bouncing back to him unanswered.
“Where is everyone?” he shouted, irritation growing with each second of silence.
Finally, Amber appeared at the top of the grand staircase, descending slowly with a glass of water in her hand. She’d clearly
prepared it herself, an unusual task for someone accustomed to being waited on.
“Dad,” she said, her face showing calculated concern, “all the staff have left. Every single one.”
My father froze mid–step, disbelief crossing his face. “All of them? Even the guards?”
“They saw what was in the fire house and ran away like the cowardly Omegas they are,” she explained, handing him the water. “They were saying terrible things–that you’d kill them to keep them quiet. There’s no one left to cook or clean or protect the
house.”
My father’s face contorted with rage. He hurled the glass against the wall, where it shattered spectacularly.
“How DARE they?” he roared, his eyes flashing yellow as his wolf surged forward. “Ungrateful Omega trash! After everything I’ve done for them! I’ll hunt them down myself and show them what happens to deserters!”
He stormed toward the security office, presumably to organize a search party, only to find it empty. The realization that he was truly abandoned hit him like a physical blow.
“Scarlett!” he exploded, turning his fury toward me even in my absence.
His face reddened with rage, veins bulging at his temples. “Always Scarlett! You won’t be satisfied until you’ve torn this family apart, will you, you little beast? You’ll be the death of me!”
+15 BONUS
Watching my father’s furious outburst, I couldn’t help but laugh from my invisible vantage point. Who would have thought that I,
dead for so many days, could still cause such delicious chaos in his perfectly controlled world?
He pulled out his phone and tried to call me, his fingers jabbing at the screen with increasing force.
Five calls in a row, all met with silence.
This only fueled his anger further. He paced around the house like a caged animal, cursing at the air, kicking furniture, and
punching walls.
Though I was already dead, my heart–or whatever remained of it in this ghostly form–ached painfully as I watched him rage
about the inconvenience I’d caused rather than grieve the daughter he’d lost.
So souls can feel heartbreak too? It seemed unfair that death hadn’t freed me from the pain of his rejection.
But Father, I’m already dead. If you’d just look more carefully at the body in the fire house, you’d realize it truly is me. Your
daughter. Your blood.
Perhaps in his eyes, I had long ceased to be the obedient daughter he once loved–if he had ever loved me at all.
When Elise first entered our home, I tried to understand him. After all, no one can remain trapped in grief forever, I told myself.
Even though it had only been a year since Mom passed away–a year of watching him perform grief rather than feel it.
I tried to welcome Elise as family, addressing her respectfully and making space for her in our home. But I soon discovered her
true intention was to replace my mother completely, erasing every trace of her existence.
One day, I caught Elise in my parents‘ bedroom, rummaging through my mother’s jewelry box.
She had slipped my mother’s silver mating ring onto her finger and was admiring how it looked paired with the matching one my
father still wore on his hand.
The mating rings were sacred in werewolf culture–symbols of an eternal bond that not even death was supposed to break. Seeing it on her finger felt like watching her desecrate my mother’s grave.
“That doesn’t belong to you,” I said, my voice shaking with rage.
Elise turned to me with a smirk, deliberately twisting the ring to catch the light. “It suits me, don’t you think? Your father thinks so too.”
That was the first time I ever confronted her physically. I rushed forward, grabbed her wrist, and yanked the ring from her finger, calling her a grave–robbing witch who would never replace my mother.
I thought my father would understand the violation, but when he came running at the sound of our struggle, all I received was a backhanded blow that sent me sprawling across the floor.
“It’s just a ring,” he said dismissively, helping Elise to her feet. “If Elise wants to wear it, she can. How dare you put your hands on her?”
+15 BON
In that moment, I understood the cruel truth behind the saying our pack elders whispered: “When a father’s heart turns, his
blood becomes water.”
That day, I gathered all of my mother’s remaining possessions and hid them away. If her husband had forgotten her so
completely, I would not.
Even if no one else in the world remembered her, I still would.
My father’s phone rang, interrupting his tirade. His face paled as he checked the caller ID.
“Alpha Mason,” he muttered, composing himself before answering. “Yes, Alpha? Tomorrow? No, everything’s fine here… just a
small staff issue…”
After hanging up, he turned to Elise and Amber with poorly concealed panic.
“Mason’s coming tomorrow to check on things. Someone must have told him about the staff situation.” He ran a hand through his hair, mind racing.
“We need to leave–now. We’ll go to the Southern Pack for a few days. I have connections
there.”
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