Chapter Five

I pushed the door open, and walked into the house, locking it behind me. My hands were still trembling, and I couldn’t seem to get my breathing under control. I needed to sit down or something, I was so afraid—my whole body ached from it. “It’s going to be okay,” I said quietly to myself. I had no idea who I was trying to convince—me or whatever was in my head.

I made my way to my room, my eyes glued to the wooden floorboards beneath my feet. All I wanted to do was sleep and forget what had happened earlier. I knew the repercussions, once the Alpha found out about what I had done, he would likely throw me into the cave again.

"Emma?"

I stopped dead in my tracks and whipped around. My father stood in the doorway leading to the living room, his arms crossed over his chest. His eyes narrowed at my appearance, specifically at the blood staining the length of my arms.

"Father, I can explain-"

He raised a hand, silencing me, "Follow me." He ordered, walking back into the living room and leaving me alone in the corridor.

I exhaled shakily, wondering what he wanted with me. My father rarely spoke to me, he didn't even notice my existence. Deciding to get this over with, I stepped forward and entered the room.

The first thing I noticed was how dark the living room was compared to the rest of the house. The curtains were drawn, leaving only the lights above us to illuminate the space. My eyes flickered to the first person I saw, which was my mother, sitting crossed-legged, a look of utter distress on her face. Dahlia stood at the center of the room, her fingers clasped around George's hand, tears dripping off of her chin. They both wore black outfits, and both looked extremely uncomfortable.

She turned when she heard me enter, and the look on her face was almost worse than the one on my father’s had been, just seconds ago. She dropped her gaze to the floor, as if ashamed of being here.

"What happened to you, Emma?" The Alpha's voice echoed in the silence of the room, and I flinched at the sound. I turned toward the sound of his voice, a surprised gasp escaping my lips at the sight of him leaning against the mantle in our room, staring at me with cold, grey eyes that seemed to bore right through me.

My eyes were fixed on him, unable to turn away.

The Alpha's mouth curved downward, and the corners of his eyes crinkled slightly in displeasure. His face was stern, his tone flat.

I looked to his side, shocked to see Luna Maya standing next to him, staring up at me with piercing brown eyes. Her inky raven hair cascaded gracefully around her shoulders, giving her an ethereal appearance. She was stunningly beautiful, but there was a hardness to her face as if carved from granite. I took a careful step back, examining both their expressions.

Why were they here? Had they found out about what I had done?

My breath hitched in my throat and my knees threatened to buckle underneath me. "I- I got into an accident but I can explain." I try to make my voice as steady as possible.

The Luna cocked her head to the side, taking a calculating step towards me. "What did you do?" Her eyes looked fierce and accusing.

My eyes began to water, but I forced them not to leak. "I- they attacked me first! I had no choice!"

She arched a perfectly sculpted brow and took another step closer, "What do you mean?"

Her strong scent assaulted my nose, sending a chill down my spine. "They-I," The words were caught in my throat and I tried hard to stop the tears from falling.

"Mother, leave her alone. You are terrifying the girl." George's voice cut across the tension between us. Luna Maya turned to face her son, causing a relieved breath to slip past my lips.

"Judy and her crew were at it again?" He asked, addressing me this time. His grey eyes had softened considerably and a part of me melted at his concern.

I simply nodded and he gave me a sad smile before turning back to his mother, "She doesn't need your hounding, Mom." Although his tone held a tone of warning, I still expected the Luna to react, but she only shook her head and then returned to stand beside the Alpha once more.

The awkward tension was still there, Dahlia still looked like she was going to cry and my mother was no better.

"We were waiting for you." My father's deep voice broke the air. I frowned at the statement, they were waiting for me?

But why?

"It's Dahlia." He said again and my gaze shifted to my sister who looked like she was about to throw up any moment from now.

"What's wrong with her?" I looked from one person to the other, but they all had the same expression as Dahlia: a mixture of horror, astonishment and fear.

"What is wrong with Dahlia?" I demanded again, looking between them in panic. Why were they acting so weird and what did they want from me?

My father's throat bobbed and when his eyes met mine, I saw it then. The same look he had all those years ago during the shifting ceremony, a look I hadn't seen since that day.

"Father?" I called carefully but he didn't reply, so I turned to George, "George?"

His eyes looked pained and when he spoke, a tiny gasp of shock escaped me. It felt like my world was tilting around, and I stumbled back, reaching for the nearest object to grab onto, which happened to be the back of the sofa.

"What?" My voice was a little above a whisper. "What did you just say?"

George's eyes said everything his mouth could not, "Dahlia is pregnant, Em."

The silence that followed was palpable, thick enough to slice with a knife. His next words came like an avalanche,

"And I'm the father."