Chapter 4
914 Words
POV: Dinah
The house stands at the end of a cul-de-sac in the nice part of town.
It is a two-story villa with a manicured lawn and a fresh coat of white paint that glows in the moonlight like a pearl.
I stand on the sidewalk and stare at it.
My hands are shaking from a rage so hot and pure it feels like lava pumping through my veins. This is the house they bought with the price of my son.
I walk up the driveway, heavy steps crunching on the pavement like I am crushing bones.
The front door is unlocked because they feel safe here. I push it open and the inside smells like vanilla air freshener. It smells fake.
I walk into the living room.
My sister, Tahlia is sitting on the beige leather sofa wearing a silk robe and painting her toenails a bright screaming pink.
She looks up when I walk in. "Mom!" she yells. "Someone's here!"
I scoff. Of course she would address me like a total stranger.
My mother’s voice comes from the kitchen. "If it's the delivery guy, tell him to leave it on the porch."
"It's not the delivery guy," Tahlia says. "It's Dinah."
Verna Vance walks out of the kitchen wiping her hands on a dishrag. She looks good. Better than she did four years ago.
She stops when she sees me standing there in my work uniform that smells like bleach and sweat.
"Well," she says with a sneer. "The prodigal daughter returns. Did you finally run out of places to hide?"
I stare at her, looking at the face that used to sing me lullabies and all I see is a monster.
"I saw Cade," I say. My voice sounds like a growl.
My mother freezes for a fraction of a second. "So? What did the Alpha want with a stray like you? Dogs go back to their vomit. Wolves not so much."
"He told me about the money," I say with narrowed eyes, inching towards her slowly, allowing my senses to drown in the storm of rage inside me.
The color drains out of her face instantly and she frowns.
"You sold him. You told me Cade took him by force. Said it was best for the child and I shouldn’t fight it. But you sold him! How could you?!”
"So what if we did?" The frown on her face morphes into a nonchalant look of disgust, not a hint of remorse in her tone or expression, “ You lousy disgraceful slut. You were an unwed Omega pregnant with a bastard! A disgrace! You should be on your knees thanking me. I did you a favour selling the Alpha his bastard."
"You sold my son."
"We saved you!" she yells, her face turning red and ugly.
"We got rid of the problem! Who paid for your food while you were pregnant? What about your medications and check up? You think that was free?"
My lips part and shudder with a lack of words realising the extent of my family’s cruelty. Like a pig being fattened for the slaughter, they catered for me during my pregnancy knowing they would profit from selling my baby.
“You had no f*****g right!” I snap at her.
“Watch your tongue young lady!”
She fists the rag and hurls it at me and it hits me squarely in the chest with a wet thwack and falls to the floor.
Something inside me snaps and my vision goes red at the edges and my heart slows down. My wolf wakes up and she isn't scared anymore. She is angry.
I walk toward my mother and she closes the distance, reaching out to poke me in the forehead, a gesture of dominance she has done a thousand times.
I catch her wrist.
I clamp down on it like a steel trap and I feel the bones grinding together.
"Ah!" she screams. "Let go! You're hurting me!"
"Am I?" I ask, leaning into a dark anger inside and I twist her arm and pull her close. "You sold my flesh and blood."
"Tahlia!" my mother screams. "Help me!"
Tahlia jumps up from the sofa. She doesn't just run at me. She shifts.
It happens fast. Her skin ripples and cracks and fur bursts through. She doesn't shift fully but her claws lengthen into black hooks and her teeth sharpen.
She lunges at me.
I try to dodge but I am too slow.
Her claws rake down my back.
Pain.
It burns like fire. I scream and let go of my mother.
I spin around to face Tahlia but my mother is moving now too. She grabs a heavy crystal vase from the table and swings it.
It crashes into the side of my head.
My world explodes into white light and I stumble back and fall to the floor.
"You ungrateful b***h!" my mother screams. "You come into my house? You think you can touch me?"
I try to stand up but the room is spinning. Blood is running down my face and blinding me in one eye.
Tahlia stands over me, her claws dripping with my blood. She is growling.
"We should have killed you when you were a pup," Mother spits.
I kick her shin hard from the floor and she yells, backing up.
“You might as well try now,” I stand up, extending my claws and lunge at my mother.
- Writer
