Exile

Her mother still wasn’t conscious and Ava buried her face in her arms.
Gabrielle. Gabrielle.
Her sister. Alex’s arm came around her shoulder as though he could hear her thoughts. Ava turned and pressed her face into his shirt and her brother embraced her.
When her mother had collapsed, Ava had run towards her. Her injury was forgotten, her pain a mere memory. The trial had continued without a thought to her mother. Ava didn’t see the conclusion of the trial as she rushed her mom to the hospital but Alex had filled her in.
Told her how Cynthia had interceded for Gabrielle claiming the evidence was too circumstantial to actually be upheld. She didn’t deserve to die for it.
He told her how her outcries were brushed aside.
Imagine that. Even Cynthia had done more to save Gabby’s life than she had.
Then Adrian had hijacked the sentencing from the council stating that he wouldn’t see Gabrielle killed after all her service to the pack and the fact that she was his mate’s sister.
He also said that although the evidence hadn’t been enough in his opinion to warrant a death sentence, it was enough to raise several suspicions and that the receipt was enough to indict her of the crime of framing Ava.
Gabrielle was to be exiled as Cynthia had been.
Ava knew that Adrian had done his best to reduce the sentence but the pack members were already very angry at Gabrielle. Who could blame them? They had thought that she would be their Luna and respected her in that league.
Even after Ava became the Luna instead, that respect didn’t fade away. Now they discovered that she had framed her sister almost leading to an interpack war and division in the pack in addition to the fact that Elder Elvis had gone on to falsely accuse her of snitching on the pack.
“Luna?”
Ava abandoned her musings to look at the pack doctor. She was a short stocky woman with cropped dark hair and kind eyes.
“Yes. How is mom? She will be fine, right?”
Alex stood next to her rigid like a bastion of strength.
The doctor hesitated then spoke.
“She… before this collapse, has she had similar episodes recently?”
Ava was ashamed that she didn’t know the answer for sure. Since moving in with Adrian, she visited home but it was just that. Visits.
And in those visits her parents were healthy and forever teasing each other, enjoying the intimacy of being with each other and the freedom of her dad finally free from the burdens of being Beta. Her parents were immortal in her head. They always had been
Luckily, Alex spoke up.
“Just once to my knowledge. She collapsed in the kitchen while dishing food. She said her legs were tired from the long days of work. Was it something more serious?”
Werewolves were all strong and powerful with super fast reflexes and healing prowess however there were limits. They were strong not gods. They were fallible despite what modern mythology thought.
Like Ava’s injury from close to two days ago when the attack had happened. If she had been a human, she would have lost her leg. But as a werewolf, she healed fast. Fast enough that although she still felt enough pain that almost blinded her with the intensity, she could still move her leg.
There were other illnesses that could affect a werewolf. Chronic illnesses that didn’t have cures. No. Not her mother. She shook the thought from her head. Her mother would be fine.
“Where is Martha?”
Ava’s father reached them, his features were shockingly pale and drawn.
“Dad?”
Had her father gotten injured as well during the attack? Why hadn’t she been informed?
Her father didn’t seem to hear or see her as he moved forward looking for his mate, his every movement drawn out in pain.
Alex caught him just in time.
“Dad, they are treating her currently. You can’t go in.”
“I need to see her.” Her father said but he stopped pushing against Alex.
“And you will. Why don’t you sit here and wait for them to finish up? Mom will want to see you the moment she is awake.”
Alex said as he guided him to the seat they had previously occupied.
Ava had never felt so helpless before. She couldn’t help Gabrielle. She couldn’t help her father. She couldn’t help her mother.
She looked at the doctor who looked even more hesitant to speak after seeing her father’s reaction. Ava glanced at her brother and he nodded slightly.
“Doctor, could we speak more… privately?” She spoke softly.
The doctor seemed relieved and nodded showing Ava to her office.
Once the door was shut and Ava was seated, she began to speak.
“Your mother is showing symptoms of early stages of multiple system lycatrophy.”
Ava’s blood ran cold.
She knew of the human variant of MSA. Yelena, one of the regulars at the hospital she had worked in was diagnosed with the condition which had led to impaired cognitive function.
It caused impaired nerve function and as it progressed affected motor, digestion and bladder control.
Worse, it didn’t have a cure because the cause was still unidentified.
It was difficult to believe that her vibrant mother would become a shell of herself if the doctor was to be believed.
She continued speaking.
“We cannot be sure until we have confirmed it with tests which is why I first wanted to speak about it with you privately, Luna.”
“Sure. Do as many tests as you need to diagnose her before we tell my family about it.”
Ava’s voice was calm but she felt the exact opposite inside. It was a conflict of emotions inside her but she knew that if she began to cry, she would be unable to stop.
The doctor seemed to see her pain behind the veneer of calm and grasped her hand in solidarity.
******
Everything had gone rather splendidly in Cynthia’s opinion.
Ivy had gone above and beyond her expectations. The best part was that she had no idea that she was doing Cynthia’s work for her.
A nudge here and there with an anonymous tip had been more than enough to get Ivy going especially with the sound beating that Ava had given her. She had practically been itching to get back at Ava looking for an outlet. Any outlet.
Cynthia had learnt from her mistake with Gabrielle that it was best to stay distant so that she could discard her pawns with impunity without compromising herself.
“Honey, I’m sorry about Gabrielle.”
Cynthia looked at her mother as she sipped on her juice at the dining table.
She rarely took her meals with her family. It was… difficult. Difficult to act like they hadn’t abandoned her when she had been cast out. Difficult to pretend like she was the daughter that had left two years ago.
But after her impassioned plea for them to spare Gabrielle complete with waterworks, her parents had herded her home scared for the baby and wanting to make sure she was alright. Hence the awkward meal they were currently sharing.
“Me too.”
Gabrielle had been such a good pawn after all. If only she hasn’t threatened her, maybe she would have kept her. But there was no need to reminisce about what had already passed.
Now there was just one step left to complete her plans.
For her to speak with Gabrielle before Ava had a chance to so as to make sure that Gabrielle was going to keep her mouth shut about her involvement.
Luckily she knew just what to do.