Bogomolov Women
1400 Words
"You can kiss the Bogomolov name and all its privileges goodbye."
Alpha Dathan's words echoed in the quiet room.
Anticipation hung heavy in the air as everyone watched and waited for Nicholas’ response.
Family, connection, pack—they were everything to a werewolf, especially one from a family like the Bogomolovs.
To be disowned was to become a lonewolf, rejected by your people and others who feared the stigma until you either learned to live with the emptiness or succumbed to the madness.
Nicholas turned, looking down at Sophie with a stare she could not decipher.
She smiled up at him softly, knowing it was the end of the line for their little ruse.
She watched his electric blue eyes light up and his shoulders relax with a soft exhale.
"Fine," he whispered, his gaze moving to his father.
Dathan looked startled, his eyes flitting to his mate, who was staring at their youngest like he had sprouted two heads on each shoulder.
"Have you lost your mind?" Louis was the first to voice their shock.
"If that is what it means for a man to find his voice, then yes, I have," preached the younger, with a stray glance thrown at Louis before returning back to his father.
"Leave," Dathan commanded the servants.
"Why bother?" Nicholas' voice rang out, causing the men and women eager to escape the tense room to freeze. "If you plan on following through with your threat, everyone in and beyond the pack will know the great Alpha Dathan Bogomolov disowned his son for committing the same crime he once had." Nicholas paused for effect. "Though, my sin is a lot more respectable than yours was."
The walls shook as Dathan's growl, a frightening sound that came from deep within his chest.
Sophie's breathing grew quicker, sweat gathering on her brow as the temperature in the room began to rise. The urge to run was almost maddening.
Confused and frightened, she looked to Nicholas for help, only to find him in the same state—jaw clenched and fists tightened so hard she could hear his joints creak beneath the paling skin.
A quick glance at the others in the room let her know they weren't alone. And turning to Alpha Dathan—an action that had every part of her revolting against it, her head growing a hundred times heavier—made it clear what was happening.
The infamous Alpha Command, nature's way of making sure the ones at the top stayed there.
Sophie did not know the science behind it, she had never experienced it, but she had heard enough horrifying things done to people under the spell to never want a story to tell
It was more than just her body—it was her soul itself, frozen by a fear no creature should have the power to put in the heart of another.
"Leave," Dathan growled lowly, and the room was cleared in a matter of seconds, leaving only the family inside.
He turned his hard gaze to Nicholas, who began to shake under the full strength of an Alpha’s command, but it was a testament to his own strength that he remained standing.
"You disrespect me over and over again, but I know you, Nicholas. I molded you into the man you are today, so I know this is not just about a woman."
Sophie audibly gasped, as did Gladys, as the suffocating grip suddenly lifted. The air that flooded into her lungs felt like a cup of sweet iced lemonade after hours of trekking under the desert’s scorching sun.
Nicholas took a few moments to regain his bearings with deep, practiced breaths before he was able to respond.
"We all know what it is about," Nicholas challenged, though his voice carried less heat than before.
"Alpha Godfrey and his bloody inheritance," Alpha Dathan grumbled softly as he reached down to pick up his fallen chair. He righted it then settled in with a tired sigh.
"One would think Hill End would be enough for you three, but no. We lose our minds and turn against each other for what?"
"A piece of Orphelia that could mean the expansion of Hill End and more power," Gladys informed. "A piece that Louis is at risk of losing because your son has connived his way into being in line for, because he just couldn't stand the thought of his big brother getting more in life than him, as it has always been for the spare."
"Leave the room, Gladys, so the men can talk without your bitching," Dathan commanded with a lazy wave at his mate, but his gaze remained elsewhere as if he did not consider her worthy of it.
Gladys' face crumbled, and for a moment, Sophie could see the hurt woman behind her wicked mask, but it was gone as quickly as it came.
She nodded stiffly and rose to her feet.
"Take the human with you and ensure she is given proper food this time," he warned, giving Gladys a hard look.
It was a look that spoke of violence, and it caused an uncomfortable feeling to settle in Sophie's belly.
If this was the family dynamic Nicholas was raised in, it explained so much about his character—and made her worry about what her future with him would be like.
"Go with her," Nicholas dismissed her as he sat down in his chair.
The chair screeched across the ground when Sophie rose to her feet, her emotions less easily contained than Gladys’. She followed the other woman out of the room.
The she-wolf closed the doors behind them with a soft click, leaving the two alone for the first time.
Sneakily, the human glanced up at the taller woman, marveling at how beautiful she was under the glow of the morning sun, and startled when those gray eyes suddenly met her gaze.
The disgusted scowl she had expected did not come. Gladys' face remained neutral—not kind or welcoming, but not hostile either.
"Is it safe to assume you like cereal?"
Sophie's lips parted in surprise, and she nodded her head. "It is safe to assume."
Gladys' lips twitched with a ghost of a smile, but she was walking before Sophie could see it grow.
"Come," was her simple instruction, and suddenly feeling less like a maggot in her presence, Sophie followed.
The Luna of Hill End led her to the kitchen. It was three times as large as Aunt Lucia's back home and reminded her so much of a restaurant's kitchen.
Gladys directed her to a little breakfast nook hidden in a corner before leaving and returning with a bowl of milk and a box of sugary goodness that had Sophie's brows shooting up in surprise.
"Alpha Dathan has a sweet tooth," Gladys said as she set the box down on the table.
She settled in the booth across from Sophie and watched as she prepared her bowl and began eating with slow, careful bites.
"You must have known what you were getting into when you agreed to marry the son of a powerful Alpha family."
Sophie swallowed her half-chewed mouthful before responding. "Some idea, but an idea doesn't prepare you for the real thing."
"Then why did you?"
The redhead licked the sweet milk off her bottom lip, contemplating if she should be speaking to Gladys without Nicholas.
Then she remembered the easy dismissal of the women in the room, how they had been reduced to obedient ornaments, and got annoyed with herself for being so dependent on his say.
She could not tell the complete truth, of course, but a half-lie always did the trick in not rousing a shifter's suspicion.
"Because I want and need to marry Nicholas. For a plethora of reasons I can't get into right now."
Gladys made a small noise as she nodded her head.
"Do you love him?"
That question made her grip on the spoon to falter, causing it to fall into the milk-soaked cereal with a plop that echoed in the large kitchen.
Gray eyes narrowed at the action.
"I..."
"Luna Gladys," a man's voice echoed as he called out from somewhere in the kitchen.
A familiar voice that had her wondering if she was hallucinating it—until he turned the corner, and she was met with equally shocked green eyes.
"Stephen.”
- Writer
