The Ignored Wolf

Dilemma

Louise

“But I was the only one who didn't mock you,” he says. “Do you have any idea how much courage that took?”

“Yes, and I appreciate that. Thank you for being kind to me,” I say softly. “But I don’t know how to be around you anymore. I’m tired. I’m exhausted.”

“Louise… please don’t leave me,” he says, reaching for my hand.

“Just give me some time, okay?” I step back to dodge his hand. “I’m confused. My head is a mess. I need time to think.”

“Did my brother f**k your brains into a mess?” he says sharply.

I want to slap him again, but I hold back the urge. “Think whatever you want, Charlie. I’m leaving.”

“You’re not going anywhere!” He steps out, blocking my path.

“Move, Charlie.”

“Louise! I know you’re upset because I didn’t defend you earlier. But that wasn’t my fault—it was your father’s idea to lock you up. What did you expect me to do?”

“I expected you to speak up when Cassandra tried to frame me as a lunatic. But you chose silence. You love the attention she gives you. You crave her worrying about you, so you didn't even have the balls to tell everyone why I slapped you. You f*****g invited me, and now I’m got locked in here—”

“That’s why my wolf asked me to save you!” Charlie shouts. “Believe it or not, my conscience has been tortured!”

“Glad to know your wolf is much more decent than you,” I say coldly, sidestepping him and walking away. He tries to follow, but I spin around and shoot him a warning glare. “Don't follow me. I said I need space.”

“Where do you think you are going, Louise?” he calls out behind me.

I don’t answer. Partly because I’m done talking, and partly because I don’t actually know. I just have this desperate urge to leave. I hurry toward the end of the hall, aiming for the side exit. I make it to the lobby and manage to slip out the door without being noticed.

The breeze clears my head slightly. Letting out a sigh of relief, I’m greedy for the fresh air. But just as I start to relax, the lobby intercom starts. The Head of Security at The Greenwood is asking for the guests' assistance, for Cassandra’s diamond earrings somehow have gone missing.

Curiosity pulls me back toward the door. Peering through the c***k, I see Matthew is trying to comfort Cassandra, asking her where she saw them last. Guests are swarming around her, looking concerned.

I recognize this play. It’s a classic Cassandra move. I still remember my fourteenth birthday. The exact moment the Happy Birthday song started, she collapsed in tears, claiming she’d lost her beloved barbie doll. So instead of blowing out my candles, Father, Kelly and the pack members spent two hours on their hands and knees searching the floor. The next morning, the doll magically showed up in her closet.

“Could they be in the restroom?” someone asks.

“I’ve already checked every inch of it and I can’t find them,” Cassandra says. She clings to Matthew’s arm, looking small and fragile. She looks up at him with watery eyes. “Oh, Matthew, I am so incredibly sorry. I feel like a monster for causing such a scene and delaying the ceremony over a pair of earrings. Can you ever forgive me for being so clumsy?”

“Don’t be silly, my love,” Matthew soothes, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. “We’ll find them.”

“And if we don’t? They were a gift from you...”

“Then I’ll buy you a bigger pair,” he promises, kissing her forehead.

A smile blooms on Cassandra’s face. “Oh Matthew, you’re so sweet. I love you so much, babe.” She pauses, then suddenly looks thoughtful. “Wait… I think I know where it might be. I hugged my half-sister earlier… I remember feeling a little tug. Maybe she bumped them loose? Or perhaps she just picked them up.”

“Then surely she would have told you,” Matthew says.

“You’d think so, wouldn't you?” Cassandra lets out a heavy sigh. “But you know how Louise is. She’s always had such a... fixation on my things. Shiny things. Things she knows she could never afford on her own. It’s a bit of a compulsion, really.”

The guests begin to whisper, and I can feel the word thief is hanging unspoken in the air.

“Do you mind if we delay the ceremony for just a moment, honey?” Cassandra asks. “I’d like to go to the lounge and ask her to give my earrings back before she gets into any trouble.”

“I don’t mind, but why on earth would she be in the lounge?” Matthew asks.

“Because her mental state has been… well, unstable,” Cassandra whispers, loud enough for the guests to hear. “She envied me and even attacked Alpha Charlie earlier. Poor thing just snapped. Papa was so terrified she’d cause a scene out here that he had to have her tucked away to rest for a bit.”

She then turns to Jackson. “The key. Now.”

Jackson hesitates for a while but eventually drops the key into her hand.“Thanks,” Cassandra says as she walks toward the stairs with a triumphant glint in her eyes.

What the f**k? How is she so sure her earrings are with me? A cold dread settles in my stomach and my hand instinctively goes to my pocket.

I feel something cold. I pull it out, and a pair of diamond earrings are sparkling in my palm.

Fuck. f**k. f**k.

This is a set-up!

Cassandra must have slipped them into my pocket when she hugged me!

As I stare at the earrings in horror, a roar of engine nearly makes me jump out of my skin. I look up to see Elias sitting on a gigantic motorcycle. He’s watching me with amusement.

“I didn’t steal these!” I blurt out, fearing that he would regard me as a thief and hand me over to Cassandra.

Elias doesn’t comment on that. “Get on,” he says, gesturing to the empty seat behind him.

“What about the earrings?” I ask.

He reaches out his hand, and I quickly drop them into his palm. He tosses the earrings onto the pavement and crushes them under his boot.

“Oh my God!” I scream in horror. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Get on,” he says again, his voice impatient and final. “Unless you’d rather stay and let them catch you as a thief. Your call, Louise.”