Two

**Leilani’s POV**

I sat on the cold tiled floor still in my nightie from the previous night, rocking my now stiff body and ignoring the people who strutted past to pay their homages to my parents.

A few of them stopped by to check on me but I ignored them, I couldn’t seem to think, or to breathe. I didn’t even want to live anymore.

From the corner of my eye I saw Samantha sitting amongst her friends and wailing. I knew I wasn’t supposed to think like this but there was something about the way she cried that screamed fake.

I wasn’t sure if it was how she would cry out and then suddenly stop to look towards the doorway or the way she did it so expertly that her mascara didn’t smudge that bothered me, but I certainly knew that there was something significantly wrong with the way she did it.

A few minutes later, the large doors flung open and I could hear the loud voices of several people trying to speak at the same time.

They were screaming something about moving out of the way to let the undertakers pass, and in curiosity I looked up only to find a group of very tall, built men carrying two large caskets into the room.

I quickly stood up, walked towards them and as soon as they dropped the coffins to the ground and pried it open, I immediately took a few more steps closer to the coffins, peering inside.

No! It was true!

I gasped at what I saw. They were my parents alright but the burns they had sustained was so much it would have made me gag in a different circumstance.

I immediately felt a pang of hurt claw at my heart, it was so intense that I had to hold onto the coffins for support. My eyes immediately blurred with unshed tears.

I couldn’t move. It felt like I had been suddenly kept in place by some magical force.

“Mom, dad, wake up!” I called softly, shaking their now cold bodies that laid stiffly in the boxes. “Please…” I added, my voice breaking at the end.

“I can’t do this without you, please wake up.” I tried again but they wouldn’t even bulge. I felt fresh tears build up in my eyes but I did nothing to stop them. I allowed them flow freely, soaking into my nightie and falling to the floor.

I do not know for how long I stood there like a statue, crying until I felt someone tug at my arm gently. Looking up, I found Samantha who also had a sad expression clouding her features.

She looked drained, wrenched of life and tired that I almost felt bad for thinking she was faking it… almost. That was until I saw her excitedly wave at someone in the crowd.

As we walked out of the throne room, hand in hand, I couldn’t help but notice the way people stared at us… pitifully. It frustrated and enraged me at the same time.

I was about to make a snide comment about it when suddenly I heard someone mention something along the lines of; “Alpha Joyner.”

I stopped in my tracks, turning to pay attention to the middle aged man who had said it and was even shocked even he said it again.

My heart broke in disbelief; I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe that they would easily regard Joyner as the new Alpha even while my father was yet to be buried.

I also couldn’t believe that these were the same set of people my father would willingly do anything for.

In despair, I turned and walked away angrily, cursing at death for taking my father and leaving such despicable people behind…

**^**

It has been a few days since Dad and Mom were dead and buried, and ever since it has been one heck of a roller coaster to the other.

People still looked at Sam and I like we were about to drop dead in a minute from intense sadness; some of them still brought in flowers and gifts, making us, especially me a little uncomfortable with their gestures.

Beta Joyner had been made Alpha, and surprisingly he took Sam and I in like we were his daughters. He offered to cater for us and even provided us with new rooms in the palace.

All in all, life has been unfair but still a little nice to us in the past month.

I sat down in my new room quietly, totally oblivious to my surroundings. I still had flashes of moments my parents were still alive, and right now I was having one.

I could remember how dad would always try to force mom into dancing even though he knew she couldn’t distinguish her left foot from her right when it came to dancing.

He had glided across the room while she trudged after him like a puppet. The memory made me smile momentarily, allowing me to relive in the sweetness I had experienced in the past when suddenly I was thrown back into the present when I felt the cold hands of someone against my back.

In fright, I jumped away from the window to find out who the intruder had been only to come face to face with Alpha Joyner who was staring at me with obvious lust in his deep dark eyes.

I flinched away.

“Leilani…” He drawled, taking a few steps towards me while I in turn, took a few steps away.

“Don’t come any closer!” I yelled, backing away from him.

“Stop acting like a little kid…” he drawled, moving closer to where I stood against the wall. “You know what I want from you, stop denying us both the pleasure we’ll derive from this.”

“Alpha…”

“You can call me Joyner, especially when it's just the two of us present.” He quickly interrupted me  with a stupid smile still plastered across his face.

“Please do not do this,” I cried softly, “Do not, I am like a daughter to—”

“You are not like a daughter to me Leilani!” He snapped, quickly cutting me off. “You can never be like a daughter to me when all I’ve ever wanted in this life is to be with you!” He growled.

I took another step away from him, a little scared of the dark look which had suddenly formed in his eyes. He suddenly looked crazed… possessed even.

“Alpha..........Dad…” I tried again in desperation, in a bid to make him have a rethink about what he was trying to do, but he scoffed at the name I had called him and snarled;

“I would never be your father…when there are a few other things I can be to you.”

It had to be the way he said it that sent chills down my spine; but I couldn’t believe that this pedophile had been thinking about me lustily.

I quickly ran towards the door but stopped when I noticed that its key was no longer in its keyhole, and turned to look at him in fear only to find him waving the key in my face while a demon-like look was plastered across his face.

He advanced towards me slowly, with the look of triumph still evident on his face while I waited, with a beating heart for what was to come…