THE FATE OF LOUISE

Louise pushed the door open after quietly approaching the shed, from which she had been hearing muffled conversations and occasional shouts. It was Max and Josephine, he held her to his chest, and it seemed like he was consoling her. "What is going on here?" she asked. "Nothing, nothing is going on; we are arguing about something, that's all," Max answered. Louise already knew the man she had been in a relationship with for the past year: he could not keep a straight face while telling a lie, and she knew it. "I said what is going on here?" she quizzed. She read the room, and there was something unspoken going on. For Max, especially, she could tell he was up to something; his nose widened and his eyes became deeper when he was telling a lie. "Louise, promise not to get so mad; please promise.” Josephine managed to speak out, although she was trembling a bit. "I promise", Louise responded. Josephine took some steps backward, took a deep breath, and said, "Max is the father of my unborn child." Max, looking petrified that Josephine had opened up, turned his gaze to Louise, whose expression went cold. "What did she just say?" She said this as she hurried towards Max and grabbed him by his shirt. " After one year of spending my life with you, is this what I get? My sister? " Tears began to roll down her cheeks. She was helpless, and that was all the reaction she had in her. Max quickly spoke, "It was a mistake, I am sorry, it's you I need Louise. I don't know what came over me, we were drunk and then had to…" "Had to what? You had to sleep with my sister?" She said this as she turned to Josephine. "Why did you do this to me? What have I ever done to you?" Louise said. Josephine's gaze fell to the floor, and her facial expressions were more of relief than remorse. "I'm sorry, but he came to me; I did not go to him. Now that it has happened, what do we do about it?" It stirred up great anger in Louise; her wolf went wild with anger, and Iris turned red. She roared as she launched at Josephine. Josephine dodged the attack and fled the shed, running straight home. Louise followed behind Josephine as they both ran towards their home. Max, on the other hand, saw a break from it all and made his way back to the palace, to his duty post. He thought about how he hurt Louise. She was his fated mate. If the moon goddess had prophesied that this was a possibility, he would have cursed the moon spirits and called them false, but here he was. It was worse for him because the details of that event were not even clear to him. All he could remember was that, after the feast at the palace, he went over to Louise's house. He was drunk and almost lifeless, and someone who he thought was her snuck him into her room. They made passionate love, until daylight. He woke up to Josephine beside him and Louise nowhere in sight. He carried that burden for months, trying to find the right time to tell her, and when he thought his problems couldn't be any worse, a one-night stand led to pregnancy. He was sorry, but he knew it was over. "Mom, Mom, Mom!!!" Josephine cried out as she got to the house. She ran in quickly, finding a way to protect herself from Louise. Even though Louise was a weak wolf, Josephine was no match for her yet, especially in anger. Her anger gave her courage in weakness; she barely got angry, but when she did, it was difficult to calm her down. She ran after Josephine and caught up with her in the house, and as she was about to strike her, Agnes, her stepmom, Josephine's mother, and Luna of their pack came in. Louise had cornered Josephine in a corner of the living room and was about to pounce on her. Agnes sternly and with a wolfish voice shouted, "Stop, Stop it! What madness is going on here?! Louise, are you insane? Why do you want to hurt your sister, especially now that she is pregnant?" Louise drew back, with tears in her eyes. She looked at Agnes and said, "Mother did you know?" "Did you know? Ask her who the child in her womb belongs to," Louise said, a bit sober. Agnes already knew; it was no news to her or Joseph, their father, whom Josephine's unwanted pregnancy was for. The news was kept from Louise. Joseph specifically asked it to be kept from her for now. He was going to tell her himself and take control of the issue. He planned to tell her about it, and also the fact that she was the daughter to marry the prince. He knew it would break her more if the news came from her stepsister or stepmother, it was either him or Max, so he was looking for ways to ease the news to her. It wasn't so long after he found out, he was prepared to tell her but she beat him to it. "I knew, so what is the big deal if the father is Max? What difference does it make? In Humsbane alone, there are over a thousand eligible mates; you can pick anyone. What is so special about Max?" Agnes spoke with an expressionless face. Louise's countenance sank; she couldn't believe what she was hearing. She was aware that Agnes didn't love her at all, but she had never known the depth of that hatred until now. She could not say anything. Louise is one to never really oppose authority; she is a goodie two shoes who always does things by the book, avoiding all confrontation. "Max and I were dating for a year plus; we are fated mates. Why would your daughter not go and get herself someone else? Why does it have to be the one I love?" Louise said as she began to cry. While they were at it, Joseph, her father walked in. He was surprised to see everyone in one place but was more worried about the tension in the room. The tension was palpable. "What is going on here?" he asked. "She found out; enough of the games, I told you to tell her already. Whatever you were scared of has happened," Agnes replied very sarcastically. "Father, you knew?" Louise said. It broke her; she broke into loud crying and her face cherry red. She hurried towards her room. The one person whom she thought had her back in this family knew already, and she was the only one left in the dark. 'What more is betrayal? I'm all alone in this world; no one wants me, no one loves me here.' she thought to herself. Max couldn't bring himself to leave. He ran back to their house, pushed the door open, shouted… "Louise, Louise, where is she? I need to speak to her and make this right." "Make what right? marry both sisters? You must be out of your mind. I need you to get out of my house right now. This is a family issue and we will decide what to do as a family." Joseph thundered, already provoked. Everyone in the room was frightened, including Max. He broke up and ran straight through the living room to her room. He hit the door open and there was no one there. He looked back at Joseph, who chased after him, "Where is Louise?" Max questioned. Joseph ran into the room and it was empty. It left everyone perplexed.