The Betrayal

BRIELLE’S POV

"Move, you bitch..." The hefty man, whose grip had been on her earlier, yelled in her ears and whimpering in pain at his tight grip on her arms; Brielle sniffled her tears again as they began to walk nearer to the border.

Close to where the vehicles were and were Mr. Shawn was standing with his men.

Her heart twinged slightly in relief as she spotted him, and she wasn't sure if she should be happy that he was there or not.

She had her eyes on him at first, but Mr. Shawn didn't seem to notice her as he conversed with one of the bulky men he had with him.

She should be happy, of course, Brielle thought, using her freed right hand to arrange her falling hair as she looked back at him, embarrassed and ashamed too.

Mr. Shawn would undoubtedly help her.

Yes, he would because he was one of her father's closest friends, and she could recall the times he'd come to the mansion to talk with her father.

She could vividly recall when he was leaving and would abruptly stop to greet her, sending his greetings and even giving her some gifts.

Sometimes she'd be quietly playing with her lone doll, and he'd stop to talk to her, and oh, how he'd give her such cheerful huge smiles.

She'd met him and considered him a pleasant good man, one of her favorites.

"Perhaps he could help me?" Brielle muttered to herself, "I...wi...I wish…” Her subconscious mind uttered, or rather her little wolf Danika, and responding, a tear crawling down her face once more, Brielle muttered to herself, repeating the words, “I...wi...I wish."

They were far away from the pack house as the cursing and rebellious voices of the people who seemed to despise her faded, and only a few mumblings and murmurs could be heard behind her as she continued toward Mr. Shawn and his men.

She was still staring at him when she noticed his eyes scanning the crowds, looking at everyone gathered, as well as the men beside him.

Brielle could detect a frown on his slightly wrinkled expression when he swerved at first, but surely not because of her presence, right?

It couldn't be because he hadn't yet looked at her side.

She took advantage of the free time to look at Mr. Shawn.

If she remembered correctly, he was in his forties, but looking at him now, he appeared to be in his fifties.

In the age category, there was no debate; he did look cool in his attire.

His feet were in black boots, and he was dressed in an enormous red coat with faded blue trousers.

His bald hair conformed to his grey orbs, which he used to scan the crowd as if looking for something or someone, and then...

He finally noticed her.

His gaze eventually settled on her green orbs, and he didn't blink in surprise or recognition; his face was just blank.

Brielle's lips quivered as she stared at him inquisitively, using her right hand to remove her hair from her face and straightening up despite the painful grip on her arm.

Her face red and pale, she continued to look at him, expecting him to say something, anything, but he uttered nothing, and silence ate up the entire scenery like a horse preying on some greenery pasture.

He smirked as he averted his gaze from her, catching Brielle off guard.

He had acted as if he didn't recognize her.

Or was she so old and tattered that he couldn't remember her?

He had to have heard about her father's death and...

"Good morning! Members of the pack!" Mr. Shawn sang-songed quickly, breaking the silence, cutting her off her thoughts, and splaying his meaty hands around as if demonstrating something.

"Good morning! Mr. Shawn!” Everyone in the crowd repeated, returning his seemingly unharmed greetings, and then his gaze returned to her.

She began to have a chilling feeling that something terrible was about to happen to her; she had no idea why or how, but she hoped it wasn't what she was thinking.

She had the sudden and firm impression that Mr. Shawn would never help her out of her current situation.

It was clear from the way he looked at her.

He was giving her the same look that everyone else was giving her.

The scorn, disgust, and scowl on his face were enough to say the words he wasn't saying aloud.

Brielle fidgeted, nervously intertwining her slender fingers, her eyes unblinking as she waited to see what would happen.

Her heart was racing so fast! Damn!

"As you are all aware, Miss Brielle Warren is prevailed to be banished, eliminated, and erased from the Wolfsbane pack and..."

Brielle quickly turned her head to look at him, tuning out his words as he spoke to the assembled crowd, and as she listened, new tears began to fall from her eyes.

She was dumbfounded, speechless, and in awe, as she listened to the statements of a man she had identified as a rare boulder, someone she could call her friend, at least in her lonely life.

His words and the tone in which he spoke to her were filled with annoyance and resentment toward her, which perplexed her.

How cruel could the world be to her once more?

"...she's no longer among us! Don't you think she'll be cast out to live outside the pack, perhaps as a scrawny rogue or living with humans? They'd devour and molest her because she deserves it, right?" She heard Mr. Shawn ask, and the boos from the audience demonstrated their agreement and approval of what he was saying.

Smirking devilishly as he sneered at her, he couldn't help but mock her with his half-whited teeth, and Brielle almost spat at him, but he was too far away.

"Take her away now! We don't need her around!" A deep voice erupted from the snarling crowd behind her, and she turned shamefully to face the crowd.

"Yes! GET HER OUT!" The rest of the crowd shouted in agreement with the man's earlier words, and with that, Mr. Shawn snapped his fingers in the air, and then the next thing that took place happened so quickly.

Two hefty young men dressed in black coats similar to the one Mr. Shawn was putting on trooped out of the old van quickly.

They stood spruced up between Mr. Shawn, their vision obscured by black sunglasses.

"Get her!" Brielle gasped as he growled and pointed his left finger at her.

"No! No! You jerks must not touch me!" She shrieked as the men approached her, wavering her head and changing positions in an attempt to be freed, but she was suddenly gripped.

"No! Remove your filthy hands from my face!" She screamed helplessly once more as her red hair flung in all directions in the air due to her fusses, but no help came.

"Bring her to the van and lock her in!" Mr. Shawn's commanding voice roared as she was heaved away towards the van.

"This is so unjust! Please let me go!" She kept screaming and shouting at the same time.

The pack members stood with a grin on their faces as she was led away, a few older members swiveling to return to their respective tents while the younger members stood to watch the entire spectacle.

Brielle's eyes welled with fragile tears as she folded her lips into her mouth, attempting to stop the barrage of wails, but her efforts were futile.

Fierce hearable sobs could be overheard, elicited by her throat screams, and she continued to sob uncontrollably, with no one to console her.

Two men approached her, holding strong chains in their hands, and quickly tying her up, they threw her into the back of the van.

Some men crouched opposite the other edge of the wall van glanced at her quickly, and with scorn on their faces, they burst out laughing at her.

From where she was tied, she could still see what was going on outside, and looking ahead, she saw Mr. Shawn step into the van after a few moments with the bulky men who had been with him previously.

As he began to walk towards her, he trudged and squatted to face her, letting out a growl and saying nothing when she removed her face from his gaze.

She didn't want to look into his evil eyes.

He stood up, chuckling slowly, and Brielle heard him yell at the driver, "Following, Stop! Las Vegas, here we come!"

Brielle had no idea what happened next because she heard a loud bang and then...

She noticed a shadow of something on the floor, hovering swiftly on her head as it plunged and slammed her skull so harshly that her eyes instantly blurred.

She knew she was going to be unconscious, and then…

Everything went pitch black.