Chapter 5

"No," I muttered.

Jessica squinted her brows as she stared at me for a few seconds. "Okay," she said dismissively.

That night, my dreams were plagued with nightmares of my mum pleading with me to get justice for her. Three times that same night, I woke up trembling from the haunting images, and my entire body was drenched in sweat. The nightmares felt so real, and every time I drifted off to sleep it continued. It felt like my mum's spirit was urging me to uncover the truth of her death.

Morning soon arrived, with the morning light seeping into my room. I slid out of bed, took a shower, and got dressed for school, before making my way downstairs.

Getting downstairs, I noticed that the house was quiet, it looked like not a single soul was in it. I don't know if it's me just overthinking, but back when my mum was alive, breakfast with her was something I looked forward to all the time. It was my favorite part of my day.

"Good–"

"Your breakfast is on the dining table," the first person I came across this morning, an omega, said rudely, as she ignored my attempt at greeting her, and walked away like I wasn't even there.

Ignoring her attitude, I made my way to the dining table, where a pancake and a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice were laid. Hastily I ate the sandwich and gulped down the juice, before heading out the door.

I stood on the front porch contemplating how to get to the Pack's high school from my father's house. It was quite a long distance compared to my mum's house which was just a stone's throw away.

As I stood out front pondering on my next move, a car pulled up in front of me.

I squinted my brows in confusion, as I stared down at the car.

The back window rolled down slowly, revealing a grumpy Jessica.

"Get in," she ordered irritatedly.

"You're not talking to me, are you?" I eyed her with my arms folded across my chest, wondering who she was ordering so early in the morning.

"It's Dad's orders," she said softly, but the disdain in her voice was clearly visible.

My father's threat rang in my mind, and without a second thought, I walked over to the other end of the car and got in.

Jessica shifted as far as she could to the far end of the car, not wanting to come in contact with me like I was suffering from a contagious disease. Ignoring the negative energy emanating from Jessica, I brought out a notebook from my school bag and began going through it, as we were driven to school.

"Katie!" Ryan called out to me in his usual cheerful self as he ran up to where we were dropped off. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, how are you?" I asked.

"I'm fine," he answered and turned to Jessica who was sorting out her books. "Hi, Jessica," he greeted her. But Jessica being Jessica and doing what she knows how to do best which was being a bitch, ignored him.

"Don't pay attention to her," I told him. "That's Jessica, being Jessica."

For a split second, there was a flicker of hurt in Ryan's eyes, but it was gone the moment it appeared, and Ryan was back to his usual smiling self, as we both headed to class.

Classes and everything in school turned out better than I had expected them to. I wasn't subjected to bullying or name-calling by basically anyone which was quite odd. They all walked past me like I was invisible. It was as if they developed a shred of conscience, and collectively decided not to add salt to injury as I just lost my mum.

During lunch, I looked around for Ryan but he was nowhere to be found so I headed to the cafeteria alone.

On getting to the cafeteria, I was greeted with a scene of Ryan seated at the same table as Jessica and her friends.

"She's here," Leslie mouthed, and Jessica shot me a smug smile.

Different thoughts raced through my mind, as Ryan's eyes seemed to wander everywhere else but on me. Was Ryan being bullied because, and forced to sit with Jessica and her friends, simply because he chose to be friends with me? Despite being the Alpha's son, Ryan lacked his father's Alpha wolf, making him somewhat of an underdog. But he doesn't receive that much bullying due to his father's influence.

I decided to confront Jessica about bullying Ryan. If she has a problem with me she should confront me and not act like a coward, going behind to bully my friends.

As I made my way to their table, Jessica turned Ryan to face her and kissed him…. No, they kissed each other. Time seemed to stand still as my heart sank.

"Ooohhh," Jessica's friends cooed, cheering Jessica and Ryan as they locked lips for the longest two minutes of my entire life. The pain and betrayal struck to my very core, as I watched Ryan locking lips with no other person than my stepsister. I know I had no right to feel this way, but I can't help it. Ryan was the only person I had left, the closest thing to family in my life right now.

There was a triumphant smirk on Jessica's lips as she broke the kiss. "Ryan is mine," she mouthed.

I chose not to believe my eyes, as this must have been a prank. All I just have to do is give Ryan a chance to explain all that was happening.

Just as I got close to the table, I tripped, falling flat on my face in front of Jessica. The entire hall erupted in laughter. It was like they'd been waiting for me to fall.

"Oops! I'm sorry," Another one of Jessica's friends said smugly, confirming my earlier suspicion.

Closing my ears to the sounds of the humiliating laughter and comments from everyone, I made to pick myself off the floor, Jessica emptied the contents of her juice on me, messing my hair and my clothes.

"How dare you roll your eyes at me!" She growled as she stood up from her seat. "Listen very carefully Katie," she sneered. "Just because my dad decided to help your sorry ass, and make you live with us, that doesn't give you the right to disrespect me. You should never forget your place Katie, YOU'RE BELOW EVERYONE ELSE."

Jessica's words or actions didn't hurt me in the slightest, she had said and done worse. What was most heartbreaking was the fact that as I looked up to Ryan from the floor which I was soaked in juice, he averted his gaze, and instead joined Jessica and her friends in laughing at me. Ryan's betrayal left me more emotionally wounded than any insult.

I picked myself up more carefully this time around to avoid falling again and made my way to the restroom to clean myself up.

As soon as I walked into the restroom, my phone buzzed.

Looking at the screen it was a text message from Ryan.

"I'm sorry I couldn't stand up for you. It's just that, I've always had a crush on Jessica and now that she's finally taken notice of me I wouldn't want to ruin it," the text read. "I'm really sorry Katie."

"It's fine," I replied, not wanting to dwell on his reason, or the betrayal from his actions.

As I cleaned my hair, and clothes in the restroom, I blinked back the tears that threatened to fall.

Just as I was about to leave the restroom, my phone buzzed again, this time it was a message from the coroner's office.

"Katie the autopsy results just came out," my heart skipped a beat as I read the first sentence. "Your mum's wolf was taken two hours before the accident."

This only meant one thing, it wasn't an accident, my mum was MURDERED

A great pool of sadness and anger swept through me. I was sad that the only people who cared about me, Ryan and my mother, had all deserted me, and extremely sad that my mum lost her life before I could even fulfill my promises to her.

Tears streamed down my cheeks, and I was hit with a nerve-wracking excruciating pain. My bones began to snap and the pains I felt were tearing my very essence apart. I screamed at the top of my lungs as I realized what was happening. I was having my first shift, but how is that possible, I was only seventeen years old. A wolf's first shift doesn't happen until they turn eighteen. The pain felt like fire was coursing through my veins as my bones took a new form, and furs sprouted from my body.

A howl escaped my lips, as I collapsed on the floor.

I saw someone in a glistening trench coat running towards me.

"Hey, are you okay?" The voice asked faintly, as my vision became blurry, and slowly I slipped into unconsciousness.