RALPH
Before I could address the pack, Zac’s men stepped forward, their faces etched with anger and suspicion. One of them, Garret, pointed a finger at me accusingly.
“This is your doing, Ralph,” Garret spat, his voice dripping with venom. “You conspired with that vampire to take Zac away because you knew he was going to be crowned our next Alpha.”
I turned slowly to face him, my eyes narrowing. “Is that what Zac told you?” I asked, my voice cold and steady.
Garret didn’t respond, but his defiance was clear. I scanned the rest of the pack members, noticing some with their eyes downcast, while others exchanged uneasy glances.
“Is that what Zac told you all?” I continued, raising my voice to reach every ear. “That he’s your next Alpha?”
A heavy silence hung in the air, broken only by the rustling leaves in the yard. Then Garret spoke again, louder and more confident.
“No, we just don’t want you as our Alpha,” he declared, his eyes blazing with conviction. “You’re not capable of leading this pack anymore. The moment you took in that human mate of yours, we lost all respect for you.”
Rage boiled beneath my skin, and I clenched my jaw so hard it hurt, trying to contain my fury. I marched forward until I was mere inches from Garret. Zac’s men stepped forward, too, defiance flickering on their faces, but I ignored them. My focus was solely on Garret.
I grabbed his collar with one hand, pulling him towards me until we were eye to eye. “First of all, don’t you ever talk about my mate in that disrespectful manner,” I growled, my voice low and dangerous. “If you do, I will split your lips apart.”
I tightened my grip, feeling the heat of my anger coursing through me. “Second, I am your Alpha-the Alpha who feeds, clothes, and shelters you. Don’t forget, this pack house that you want Zac so badly to rule is my house. I built it from scratch, where you and the rest came from being rogues and welcomed you with open arms. And now you have the audacity to look me in the eye and tell me I’m not capable of ruling this pack, the pack I raised from dust?”
I released my hold on Garret and addressed him and the others who had stepped forward. “Get back to the rest of the pack so that I can address the matter I had called you all out here for.”
They hesitated, their eyes cold and challenging, but eventually, they obliged and moved back. Just as I began to speak, Isabella’s voice, filled with anger, echoed through the air.
“Ralph!”
I turned to see Isabella storming towards me, her face twisted with a cold fury I’d never seen before. She reached me in a few quick strides, and before I could react, her hand swung through the air, slapping me hard across the face. The impact caught me off guard, and I staggered back a step.
“If anything happens to my son,” she sneered, her voice dripping with venom, “I’ll make sure you join your mother.”
I struggled to find a response. The intensity of her words shook me. “Are you alright, Isabella?” I asked, thinking maybe she was not herself again.
She turned to the pack members and ordered them to disperse. Some of Zac’s men obeyed immediately, while others hesitated, looking to me for confirmation. My mind barely registered them until they spoke again, drawing my attention. “Alpha?”
I nodded and gestured for them to leave. Once they were gone, I turned back to Isabella. “Are you okay?” I asked her again, trying to understand her sudden cold demeanour.
As I tried to make sense of Isabella’s icy eyes, my mind drifted back to what Keilah had told me-about Isabella killing my mother and Damien’s wife. I didn’t want to believe it until I heard it from Isabella herself, but now it made sense. It made sense why Damien took Zac.
I studied her, searching for any sign of the woman I once knew, but all I saw was a stranger. The memories of Keilah’s words haunted me, gnawing at the edges of my mind. Could it really be true?
“Isabella,” I began cautiously, “I need to know the truth. Did you have anything to do with my mother’s death? Or Damien’s wife?”
Her eyes flickered with something I couldn’t quite decipher-anger, fear, or perhaps guilt. She took a step back, her gaze hardening.
She then stepped forward, her eyes locked onto mine with an intensity that sent a chill down my spine. She looked up at me, a cruel smile curling her lips.
“Ralph, I’m perfectly fine,” she said, her voice laced with a bitterness that was palpable. “I’ve never been sick, not even for a moment.”
I stared at her, trying to process what she was saying, as her words sliced through the air.
“All this time, I spent being sweet to you, pretending to be vulnerable,” she continued, her tone dripping with contempt, “it was just a charade. I felt a little guilty, you see. Guilty because you were always so good to me, even though I was the one who took your mother’s life.”
Her confession hit me like a blow. My heart pounded in my chest, and I struggled to keep my composure.
“You were so blind, Ralph,” she spat, her rage boiling over. “Your precious mother thought she could outshine me, that she was somehow better. I couldn’t stand it-her holier-than-thou attitude, always acting like she was the heart and soul of this universe. ”
I felt a surge of anger rising within me, but Isabella’s fury was relentless.
“So, yes, I killed her,” she said, her eyes blazing with a twisted satisfaction. “And every day, I watched you try to be the son she would have been proud of, knowing that it was all for nothing. Because I had already taken away the one person who truly mattered to you.”
Her words seared into my mind, each one a dagger to my heart. The woman standing before me was a stranger-a woman consumed by jealousy and hatred.
“You think you can lead this pack?” Isabella sneered, stepping even closer. “You’re just a fool, clinging to a legacy that’s already dead. Your mother was nothing, and you are nothing.”
The depth of her malice left me reeling. I could hardly believe the woman I once trusted was capable of such cruelty.
The depth of her malice left me reeling. I could hardly believe the woman I once trusted was capable of such cruelty. My heart felt like it was being squeezed by an iron fist. Each word she spoke, driving the pain deeper.
For a moment, I just stood there, staring at Isabella, trying to process the weight of her words. My mother’s murder, the lies, the deception-it all hit me like a tidal wave, threatening to pull me under. The hurt was so intense that it felt like my chest was going to burst.
Without a word, I turned and walked away from her. Each step felt like I was dragging a mountain of sorrow and betrayal behind me. My heart was heavy, the uncertainty and pain were overwhelming.
“Don’t you dare walk away,” she snarled behind me, her voice dripping with venom. “I’m not done talking. There is so much you still have to know.”
I ignored her and kept walking, my mind a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions. I marched toward the woods. I wanted to run, to let the wind carry away my anguish.
But as I neared the tree line, I was suddenly stopped by an invisible force. It felt like a wall had slammed into me, knocking me to the ground. The impact was hard, the breath forced from my lungs.
I struggled to rise, but before I could, Isabella was standing over me, a sneer playing on her lips. Her eyes were cold, filled with a cruel satisfaction.
“What you just did is what I hated most about your mother,” she said through clenched teeth. “Turning your back on me. Just like she did, like what I am saying makes no sense. ”
I struggled against the invisible restraints, but they held firm. Isabella raised her right hand, her palm facing down, directly over my chest, sending jolts of excruciating magic shot from her palm, searing into me. The pain was unlike anything I had ever felt before, burning through me as if it were setting my heart ablaze.
I groaned in pain, every fibre of my being fighting against the magical restraints that held me down. My wolf howled inside me, desperate to break free and protect me, but it was in vain. The searing magic coursed through him too, and I could feel myself slipping away.
Suddenly, a flash of movement caught my eye. Keilah appeared out of nowhere, her eyes wide with determination and fear. She pushed Isabella away with surprising force, sending her tumbling to the ground.
“Get away from my mate, witch!” Keilah seethed, her voice filled with protective fury.
She dropped to her knees beside me, her hands shaking as she gently touched my face. “Ralph, are you okay?”
Through the haze of pain, I managed to ask, “Keilah, what are you doing here? I sent you to your aunt.”
“Is that important right now?” she replied, her voice quivering with urgency.
Isabella rose from the ground, her eyes blazing with fury. She sneered at Keilah, beckoning her with a mocking gesture. “Says who that he’s your mate? Have you ever seen a human mating with werewolves? Girl, are you that stupid? You’re just a temporary obstacle I threw at him for destruction. Little girl, you’ve never been his mate. It was all my work that you were here in the first place.”