1. Funeral

Chloe

I was kneeling before the yawning hole that would hold my mother in just a few moments. Just as soon as I worked up the courage to lower her down into it. I glared up at the sky, waiting for it to open up and rain down on me, mirroring my own pain.

I couldn’t help but compare this funeral to the one only a few months ago. The differences were stark. When we’d buried Conson, the whole pack had shown up. It’d been standing room only to say goodbye to the Blackstone Pack Beta. I didn’t blame anyone for this. Conson was many things, but he was as kind in private as he was in public. He’d taken his role as Beta very seriously and was well respected for his level-headedness. Losing him truly was a blow to the pack, and I knew everyone felt it.

My mother married Conson almost seven years ago, and we had a mostly happy life together. I knew my mother and Conson weren’t mates, but they’d had a loving relationship, and it had been worth tolerating his daughter Leah to see my mother happy.

My joints were stiff as I stood, my body crying out just as I was. I took a hesitating step towards the cheapest coffin I could purchase and grabbed the handles, tears nearly blinding me.

There should be mourners here. There should be the pack she’d loved here to cry over her passing. At the very least, there should be someone other than me.

I lowered the coffin into the hole and stared down at it blindly while I tried to even my catching breath. It wouldn’t do either of us any good if I passed out while burying her.

Slowly, I started throwing handful after handful of dirt onto her, covering up the woman who had loved me most in this world.

I would never forgive Leah for what she’d done. I was burying my only family member because of her and her lies.

Anger sparked in my veins, and I contemplated what that bitch had done.

Three month ago

“I’m concerned about Mom,” I confided in Leah as we stood next to each other after Conson’s funeral. We weren’t particularly close, but she was the third person living in our house.

Leah practically rolled her eyes back into her head. “She’s going to be fine. It’s not like they were mates or anything. That was my mom, not yours.”

I flinched back, trying not to show her how deeply her words cut.

Mother was heartbroken when Conson had been killed while protecting the pack. They may not have been mates, but they’d loved each other deeply. They’d chosen each other every day, and the affection between them was impossible to ignore. Her grief was natural. She was the Beta’s chosen wife, and her loss had been respected by the whole pack.

“Leah…” I tried again, not sure how to make her understand Mom was really sick.

“Let me grieve in peace, Chloe,” she hissed at me, turning her back and walking away.

I thought that Leah was just sad. She’d lost both her parents and even though my mom loved her, she wasn’t close to Leah, by Leah’s own desire.

That was until Leah started spreading her lies.

“Chloe! Is it true?” Hannah hissed, nearly skidding to a stop in front of me at the grocery store. We were almost out of food and Mom was in no position to go.

“What?”

Her eyes widened and she took a step back at my confusion. “You really don’t know?”

Cold panic gripped me. “Did someone else die?” I choked out. I was done with death. I couldn’t handle any more.

“No…” Hannah stuttered. I could smell her panic coming off her.

“What’s going on, Hannah?”

“Leah…” she started. After a choked moment she whispered, “Leah told on your mom.”

I stared at her blankly. When it became clear that she wasn’t going to say anything else I pressed, “Hannah, tell me what the hell is going on right this moment.”

She leaned in and whispered, “Leah told her friends what your mom has been doing.”

I stared at her, trying to figure out why anyone was surprised my mother was said. “So?”

Hanah reared back as if I’d slapped her. “What?”

“What?”

“You knew your Mother was abusing Leah and you never said anything?” The horror in her voice was real.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I glanced around, and it felt like everyone around us was glancing away right before my eyes landed on them. “Mom’s never hurt any of us.”

“Leah’s friends saw her wounds, Chloe. I get that she’s your mom, but you can’t really be standing by her side on this one! Leah is hurt! The doctors confirmed it!”

I gaped at my friend. “Hannah, you can’t believe that’s true!”

Hannah shook her head and back up, her gaze hard. “I can’t be associated with you anymore, Chloe.”

I didn’t know who told my mother she was cast out of the pack. I’d come home to find her completely catatonic, lying on the couch, staring up at the ceiling in shock. Maybe it had been the Alpha – I almost hoped it was. At least then I could say the pack had respected her position as the Beta’s widow, but I wasn’t sure. It had taken over 24 hours for her to speak again, and even then, it was only the briefest of sentences.

I’d heard of it before; being cast out of your pack could literally kill you if medical treatment wasn’t sought out. Wolfs – and by extension, werewolves – were pack animals. We needed the relationships in the pack to function, and the invisible bond that connected all of us couldn’t be broken except in the most extreme circumstances.

Mom had gotten sicker and sicker with each passing day.Only after Mom had fallen into a fitful sleep did I slip out the door. I didn’t want her to wake up alone, but I knew she needed more help than I could provide.

I walked to the infirmary. Leah had taken our only car when she’d left for wherever she’d gone and left us with nothing. It was a five mile walk one way, but I knew I’d walk ten times that distance if it meant saving Mom. Werewolf anatomy and illnesses were far too different than humans to go to a typical hospital run by humans. Every pack had a healer of some kind, and the larger packs like ours had dedicated medical facilities.

No one had even glanced up at me when I’d blown through the doors. It was as if I was invisible.

I stepped up to the window. The nurse finished writing on the sheet in front of her and without looking up pointed to the clipboard. “Sign in and we’ll be with you as quickly as possible.”

“But my mother-,” I started.

“Sign in,” she cut me off, not even letting me finish my thought.

I did as she said, pushing the clip board back towards her far more aggressively than necessary. She apparently didn’t notice or care. “Take a seat. We’ll call you when we’re ready for you.”

“But-,” I tried again.

She finally lifted her glare to me, and I shut my mouth on instinct. I could tell I didn’t want to press her.

I can only sit and wait.

The infirmary was closing in a few moments, and I knew they’d waited to see me last on purpose. The thought burned bright in my chest, anger threatening to consume me. I didn’t even try to argue as they showed me to a room. I paced the entire time, waiting for the doctor to arrive.

After a few minutes the door opened and Dr. Friendman entered. She was young and pretty and I’d always liked her.

“What seems to be the issue, Chloe?” she asked, leaning against the closed door instead of sitting on her designated chair.

“My mother needs help!” I didn’t even care that I was yelling. Tears threatened to overflow, and I tried my best to push them back. “I need someone to come back to the house with me immediately!”

“No.”

Her answer was so swift I nearly missed it. My mouth fell open and I gaped at her in confusion. “What?”

“I said no. No one on my staff is going to go see your mother.”