1. Funeral
Chloe
It should be pouring; it always was in the movies. There was always a sea of mourners holding black umbrellas, weeping as they lowered their loved ones into the earth. But not today; no, today, it was only me kneeling before the yawning hole that would hold my mother in just a few moments. Just as soon as I worked up the courage to lower her down into it.
I glared up at the sky, waiting for it to open up and rain down on me, mirroring my own pain, but it stayed overcast as if it couldn’t decide what it wanted to do. Or worse, that it was utterly indifferent to my loss.
I couldn’t help but compare this funeral – if you could call it that - to the one only a few months ago. The differences were stark. When we’d buried Conson, the whole pack had shown up. It’d been standing room only to say goodbye to the Blackstone Pack Beta. I didn’t blame anyone for this. Conson was many things, but he was as kind in private as he was in public. He’d taken his role as Beta very seriously and was well respected for his level-headedness. Losing him truly was a blow to the pack, and I knew everyone felt it.
My mother married Conson almost seven years ago, and we had a mostly happy life together. I knew my mother and Conson weren’t mates, but they’d had a loving relationship, and it had been worth tolerating his daughter Leah to see my mother happy. I knew she’d have hated it if I told her, but I remembered all she’d sacrificed for me as a single mother. If tolerating Leah’s backhanded comments meant my mother didn’t have to work three jobs to support me, so be it.
My joints were stiff as I stood, my body crying out just as I was. I took a hesitating step towards the cheapest coffin I could purchase and grabbed the handles, tears nearly blinding me.
There should be mourners here. There should be the pack she’d loved here to cry over her passing. At the very least, there should be someone other than me.
I lowered the coffin into the hole and stared down at it blindly while I tried to even my catching breath. It wouldn’t do either of us any good if I passed out while burying her.
Slowly, I started throwing handful after handful of dirt onto her, covering up the woman who had loved me most in this world.
I would never forgive Leah for what she’d done. I was burying my only family member because of her and her lies.
Anger sparked in my veins, and I contemplated what that b***h had done.
“I’m concerned about Mom,” I confided in Leah as we stood next to each other after Conson’s funeral. We weren’t particularly close, but she was the third person living in our house.
Leah practically rolled her eyes back into her head. “She’s going to be fine. It’s not like they were mates or anything. That was my mom, not yours.”
I flinched back, trying not to show her how deeply her words cut.
Mother was heartbroken when Conson had been killed while protecting the pack. They may not have been mates, but they’d loved each other deeply. They’d chosen each other every day, and the affection between them was impossible to ignore. Her grief was natural. She was the Beta’s chosen wife, and her loss had been respected by the whole pack.
“Leah…” I tried again, not sure how to make her understand Mom was really sick.
“Let me grieve in peace, Chloe,” she hissed at me, turning her back and walking away.
I thought that Leah was just sad. She’d lost both her parents and even though my mom loved her, she wasn’t close to Leah, by Leah’s own desire.
That was until Leah started spreading her lies.
“Chloe! Is it true?” Hannah hissed, nearly skidding to a stop in front of me at the grocery store. We were almost out of food and Mom was in no position to go.
“What?”
Her eyes widened and she took a step back at my confusion. “You really don’t know?”
Cold panic gripped me. “Did someone else die?” I choked out. I was done with death. I couldn’t handle any more.
“No…” Hannah stuttered. I could smell her panic coming off her.
“What’s going on, Hannah?”
“Leah…” she started. After a choked moment she whispered, “Leah told on your mom.”
I stared at her blankly. When it became clear that she wasn’t going to say anything else I pressed, “Hannah, tell me what the hell is going on right this moment.”
She leaned in and whispered, “Leah told her friends what your mom has been doing.”
I stared at her, trying to figure out why anyone was surprised my mother was said. “So?”
Hanah reared back as if I’d slapped her. “What?”
“What?”
“You knew your Mother was abusing Leah and you never said anything?” The horror in her voice was real.
“What the f**k are you talking about?” I glanced around, and it felt like everyone around us was glancing away right before my eyes landed on them. “Mom’s never hurt any of us.”
“Leah’s friends saw her wounds, Chloe. I get that she’s your mom, but you can’t really be standing by her side on this one! Leah is hurt! The doctors confirmed it!”
I gaped at my friend. “Hannah, you can’t believe that’s true!”
Hannah shook her head and back up, her gaze hard. “I can’t be associated with you anymore, Chloe.”
Renewed anger coursed through me at the painful memory, and I started pushing the earth into her grave faster. I didn’t want this moment to end because it would mean the end of my mother, but I also couldn’t stand the act itself. It was making me ill, and there was no one to help should I stop. The faster I got this over with, the faster I could breathe.
“Leah,” I yelled, banging on her door. She’d spent most of her time out of the house since her father’s death, but when she was home she was locked in her room. I didn’t bother trying to keep my voice low – Mom wasn’t responsive right now.
After several bands Leah opened her door and scowled at me. “What do you want?”
“What lies have you been telling everyone?” I hissed.
Leah sent me a sly smile. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Hannah just told me you’re telling everyone that Mom is abusing you?”
“Oh. That.” She tossed her long brown hair over her shoulder. “Well, when it’s the truth…” she trailed off.
“Mom has never laid a finger on either of us,” I spat out. The desire to throttle Leah was almost overwhelming. I had to calm down or my wolf would make an unintentional appearance.
Leah shrugged, shooting me a real smile. “Well… the doctor confirmed my wounds were made over the course of weeks…”
“No one in the pack is going to believe you. They’re going to see right through your lies, Leah.”
Cocking an eyebrow, Leah laughed. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Chloe. I’d watch your back if I were you.” She shut her door in my face.
To my horror, Leah was right. I came home from work and found my mother sobbing on the couch, curled in on herself as if she was trying to hold herself together.
“Mom! What’s wrong?” I rushed to her side and sat next to her.
“They – they – cast me out of the pack,” she gasped out between choking cries. “I’m no longer a member.”
I froze in horror, confused. “They can’t do that!”
“They believe Leah.”
I’d heard of it before; being cast out of your pack could literally kill you if medical treatment wasn’t sought out. Wolfs – and by extension, werewolves – were pack animals. We needed the relationships in the pack to function, and the invisible bond that connected all of us couldn’t be broken except in the most extreme circumstances. Severing that bond was like cutting off a limb. Not everyone survived, and everyone knew it.
Mom only gotten sicker and sicker with each passing day. At the beginning I’d hoped she’d snap out of it – that she’d get better somehow. But as the days passed and she refused to eat and sip more than the tiniest sips of water, I knew she was wasting away before my eyes. I was many things, but I was a practical person. I knew the only hope Mom had was to be seen by the pack doctor.
“I’m going to go get us help, Mom,” I whispered, more to myself than to her since she wasn’t responsive anymore.
Only after Mom had fallen into a fitful sleep did I slip out the door. I didn’t want her to wake up alone, but I knew she needed more help than I could provide. I had to get a doctor out here.