Six

When I opened my eyes again, the hospital light blinded my eyes for a moment. I blinked rapidly, my eyes darting around the white washed room. I would have bolted up, but my body stubbornly remained on the bed and from my vantage, it wasn’t looking pretty overall. The white bandages wrapped around my arms and legs blended in with the white décor and the room was quiet. Questions filled my mind , eagerly pressing on my skull waiting for an answer. The most pressing being if my parents survived, if everything had just been a very very horrible dream.

The glass panelled door pulled sideways, startling me from my thoughts and my uncle walked in. He was clad in black overalls, and he had a grim look on his face. It was quite sobering because ever since I knew him, which was since I was born, he always had a grin lining his face. But this person.. This man, who looked like my uncle, walked like him. But it wasn’t him, this was merely a Shadow of him and it is all my fault.

“ Uncle Jerome” I started, surprised that I was even able to speak and be heard over the roaring going on in my chest. It was like Chaos in my mind.

But uncle Jerome did not stop beside my bed as I expected, he walked past me towards the baby blue curtains and drew them apart inviting more light to spill in through the aluminium windows. He paused right there staring into some far off distance that I couldn’t see or reach. Not even if I tried.

“ Uncle..” I stammered, my breathing slightly unsteady and I realised with a start that it was because of his aura. My uncle Jerome had turned on his werewolf aura, which was incredibly more powerful than me, I whimpered in fear.

“ Adeline” he said, his voice a silent e go in the rather still room, I could still hear everything clearly and the racing pounding drums. Never mind that was my heart. He still did not draw back his aura, but he turned to face me with eyes level to my face. I could see that his eyes were no longer black, but the colour of his wolf. He was barely hanging there, uncle Jerome was really angry at me. But why?

He must have seen the confusion outlined in my eyes for he sighed loudly and withdrew his aura relieving my entire body from the oppressive air. Then his voice became cold, yet unrecognisable. Familiar, but far from being so.

“ I am afraid Adeline, you are under investigation for killing the beta of the pack and his wife. In essence, you are out first and only suspect” he said folding his arms over his chest.

I blinked, then I blinked again. I was still waiting for the punchline, for him to say that this was just a joke to make me feel better. I mean c’mon I just lost my parents. But uncle Jerome’s expression never changed, instead it became harder. Harsher.

“ Why would I do that?” I cry out, for it’s the most unreasonable thing I’ve ever heard. What child will want to kill her biological parents?

“ An ungrateful child” someone replied and I realized two things that my cousin, aunt, the Alpha and some of the elders had also walked in. The second being that I had asked my question out loud, and my aunt was the one that replied. Okay, three things. But that’s not the point here.

“ Auntie Rosa?” I blubbered confused at the response she gave. A loud slap was planted on my face before I could say jack is Robinson!, Auntie Rosa was heaving beside me with hands shaking. Tears fell from my eyes, I wasn’t even sure why I was crying. Was it because of the sense of betrayal from being slapped, or this unreasonable framing of killing my daddy and mommy on my head.

“ Calm yourself Rosa” uncle Jerome said, steering her to Cecilia. She was crying horribly and shaking with so much gusto, I was afraid she would break something.

Alpha Cain cleared his throat, naturally drawing everyone’s attention, but he stared at me straight on.

“ Child, Did you repay the kindness of my beta and his wife by letting your people kill them” he stopped and his glare became cold, the Aura scary. “ And mind you being a child is not an excuse for me to scale you alive, remember that” he warned.

I gulped down my fear, but my hands still shook reverently and I struggled hard to relax my stiffened frame. The distrustful eyes being planted on me incited memories that I thought I had buried years ago. Memories of a young girl walking aimlessly in the forest, her tiny frame covered in blood from head to toe and being rescued by a young beta. The little girl is adopted by the man and his wife, and she is soon titled princess and all her past life is washed away. If you haven’t realised yet, the young beta was my father and you

guessed right I am the little girl. That’s right, they were not my real parents. I had been adopted into this pack as one of the family. That’s what I thought, it seemed no one had actually felt that way. My eyes drifted to the malicious gaze speared towards me by Cecilia. I’m sure she was having a field’s day over this.

My eyes drifted on everybody gathered here, biting their alert frame almost as if they were expecting me to bolt or something. And I knew with certainty that they did not trust me, that anything I said would be used against me or construed in a way to be used against me. I sighed in resignation, glancing at the window, watching the fluffy clouds.

“ I did not kill my parents” I State resolutely, I know my statement does nothing to clear me up. But it’s the truth and don’t they say the truth always prevail.