A God Amongst Wolves

22

Word Count: 2077

~Alvera

Cord in hand, I shove the adapter of my laptop charger into the wall, glancing over my shoulder to see my laptop screen buzz to life.

I sigh with relief, eager to get lost in endless emails, wanting to everything else out of my mind.

Lilith wanders into the room from the kitchen, a tray of her town famous peanut butter cookies in her hands which she sets down on the table next to my laptop.

"Thank you for letting me use your electrical outlets. I know my family has caused you some strife recently." I slide into my seat, grinning at her as I snatch a cookie.

Lilith has been our almost neighbour for years. She took a special liking to us when our parents died and we were left so painfully alone I thought the cold, vast feeling in my chest would linger forever.

At sixty years old, Lilith has no grandchildren, let alone children, so to some degree Belle and I became them.

"It's only because I care." She places a cool glass of milk beside me. "I'm glad to hear Belle has returned home safely. Where was she, if I may ask?"
 
"Out of town, apparently. She won't tell me where, though," I mumble, sinking my teeth into the moist biscuit.

I've been cagey about my explanations. Lilith worries, and when I know she is, it causes me a great discomfort. After the past few weeks of hell that Belle inflicted on her, I don't want to shove my problems onto her lap.

It might very well be her last straw...

"None of us know why Belle does a lot of things. I shouldn't be surprised..." Lilith mutters, sinking into a chair on the other side of the table.

"It was good of you to worry, Lilith," I bring up. "You're all Belle has now."

As much as Lilith fusses, I know Belle loves her. My sister would probably be dead by now were it not for her watchful eye, as keen in their old age as they were when she was young.

Lilith looks over me now with clouded eyes, concern causing knotted lines on her forehead to deepen.
 
"Have you tried repairing your relationship with her?" She asks softly.

My fingertips pause, hovering over my keyboard. I've only managed to get through a single email to my boss, wanting to report back that my sister has been found and I will take the next assignment for the magazine.
 
I bow my laptop screen down a touch, meeting Lilith's gaze. "It's no use. She won't hear me out."

"It's a shame. You two were very close as young girls." She sips tersely at her milk, raising a dark grey brow. "Anyway, tell me about this man of yours."

I stiffen. "Who? Venn?"
 
"Venn? I thought his name was Eldon." She taps her chin, perplexed.

I flush, my skin heating. I thought word would have gotten back to her about the town meeting, but she seems to be unaware. It's only a matter of time before one of the old ladies she meets for tea with blabs about me being announced as Alpha Venn's wife.

"Oh sorry, it is." I laugh stiffly. "He's good. He's just gone back to the city for a bit."

There's no point divulging more when what's going on between us is still up in the air. I've already sent him a text, asking if he's made it to the city safely, but he hasn't responded.

I can't help but wonder if he's ever going to respond again...

"Everything going well with you two?" She smiles dreamily, obviously happy for me. It's exactly why I don't want to tell her how hopeless my situation is.
 
"I...I suppose."

"Lilith?" A voice suddenly calls from outside, floating through the gap in the front door I left ajar. "I've come to return some things."

Freezing in my chair, I gape at Lilith. It's Belle, having come around not realising I'm here.

Lilith launches from her chair, pressing the door open before I can protest. "Come in dear."

Belle stands outside, a box in her frail arms, her clothing hanging off her like threadbare rags. Her eyes meet mine and I'm almost tempted to dash from the room and hide in the bathroom.

Her brows drop and a seething look clouds her eyes. Her fingers dig into the sagging cardboard box that is overflowing with miscellaneous items.

"Oh..." she grits out. "I'll come back another time."

"No you won't. Set these down here please," Lilith instructs smoothly, looking knowingly between us.
 
She begrudgingly enters the house, obliging Lilith by placing the box down near the door.

"Everything okay, Belle?" I ask tentatively.

She doesn't appear to be approving. She still looks emaciated, weak and distant. There's something so painfully off about her it makes my stomach turn each time I glance her way.

Why won't she let me help her?
 
"It was until I saw you here," she grumbles, although she surprisingly doesn't turn her back and stroll away like I thought she would. She just stands, leaning against the doorframe, glaring at me.

"I'm just charging my laptop, since I'm not allowed home to do it," I bring up with a faux smile, gesturing down at the table.
 
Her expression darkens. "It's not your home."

"Actually, it is. I own half of it, remember?" At least that's what our parents wills say, but that place hasn't felt like home in years. It stopped feeling like home the moment our father turned to alcohol, and then on us.

"Fine, you can have it," she growls.

"Forget it." I slam my laptop closed, frustration eating away at my patience. "That's not what I...I just want to know you're okay."

I glance over to see Lilith has slunk from the room, leaving us to deal with our problems on our own. She knows not to get between us when we get upset — there is never a resolution, just a lot of arguing.

"No werewolves have come to murder me, if that's what you mean." She folds her arms defiantly. "I'm assuming I have your new Alpha King to thank for that."

She probably does. If Venn was ensuring my protection, he was probably always ensuring Belle's as well, even if we didn't know where she was.

"I don't know," I whisper. "I'm going to be in town for a while, you know. Maybe forever. I want us to at least get along."

I'm trying my hardest not to focus on the permeance of my place here right now...It's too much to consider.

"I have no interest in getting along with you," she bites back.

I slide from my seat slowly, not wanting to spook her with any sudden movements. She hasn't run from me yet, which means some part of her feels like she has more to say to me.

"Tell me what I need to do to make you happy, and I'll do it," I vow. I don't care about any wrong doings she may have done in the past too — I just want my sister back.

She folds her arms over her chest stubbornly. "Leave this town."

"Come on..."

"I see your face, and I see all the horrible things you did." She takes a step closer, her expression growing darker and darker with every word. "It's a curse enough looking in the mirror and seeing you looking back. It's a curse that we look the same, that I'm related to you."

I flinch at the way she hisses her vile words. She's not trying to hurt me, not searching for words that will get under my skin for the sake of it...

She's telling the truth. The painful, cold truth.

I did something that stole away Belle's love for me. Since that one day so many years ago, she hasn't looked at me the same.

The problem is, I don't regret what I did.

"I've apologised so many times. I thought you forgave me," I exclaim. Belle only turned sour when I told her I was moving away to the city, bringing terrible memories back to the surface to use against me.

Disgust curls in her eyes. "That was until I came to my senses."

"I'll do anything, but I can't leave," I remind her. "Plus, I don't want you to be alone again."

Belle is deteriorating every day. Someone needs to pull her back to the girl I knew before I left for the city, and I can't put that burden on Lilith.

"I'm only alone because of you." The anger on her face raptures only for a moment, a crack revealing the bitter sadness that lingers beneath. "It wasn't me who killed our father, was it?"

She may as well have kicked me in the chest. It takes a few gasping breaths to pull myself together.

I haven't heard her make such a blatant accusation in a long time. For a while all we've done is dance around the issue without mentioning it forthright.
 
"I didn't kill him exactly—"

"Were it not for you, he would be alive. That sounds like murder to me."

I glance at the other door, grateful that Lilith has slipped out, although with Belle's raised for, she can likely hear. She knows what happened that night, but she doesn't know that Belle thinks I'm a murderer.

I didn't kill my father, but Belle is right, there is a chance he would be alive were it not for me. For a few minutes, his life was entirely in my hands, like I was his god.

"Even if he were alive, you would still be alone," I bring up shakily, having to brace myself against the table so I don't fall over.

Belle's jaw hardens, tears gathering in her eyes that don't dare spill, as if they too are afraid of what she might do.

"He did nothing wrong to deserve what you did."

I blink, shaking my head in bewilderment. "Nothing? Except starve, neglect and beat us?"
 
"He didn't lay a hand on either of us," she says uneasily, the fire in her tone dying a down as she doubts her own words.

"He absolutely did," I say softly, knowing I need to tread carefully. "I know your brain is trying to protect you, that you witnessed far too many horrors to ever recover from, but you need to understand that you're missing a man who hated us."

It became obvious that Belle wasn't remembering key details of our childhood a year after our parents died. When I would bring matters up later, she appeared genuinely confused, and when I asked her to recall certain parts of our childhood, she couldn't account for what I clearly remembered.

Belle's face tints bright red. "I can't believe you would kill him, and stand here and slander his name!"

I stride forward, grabbing her by the shoulders, shaking her as if it might force some sense into her.

"He would beat us within an inch of our lives! Cut us for fun, hurt our mother...you and I both had to step between him and her countless times," I tell her hoarsely.

She scans my face, her breaths blowing against my face, her shoulders feeling bony beneath my hands.

"Liar," she seethes.

There was once a time where she could decipher my lies from my truths. She knows deep down I would never make something so vile up, but choosing to believe me would destroy her idea of our childhood.

"Don't believe me, then ask all the blank, missing memories," I step away, pressing my own surge of emotion back down. "Ask the litany of scars all over our bodies. He caused them. He would lock us inside for weeks until our injuries would heal, so no one would know what he was doing to us."

"None of this changes anything. You're a murderer, and I'll be damned if I ever speak to you again!" She whirls around, charging out the door.

"Belle..."

My hopeless call after her is useless. She dashes into the trees, heading back to our childhood home.

I don't know if my sister is ever going to trust me again.

❤️••❤️

If you want to read ahead at any point, you can read this story 15 chapters ahead on INKITT and 10 chapters ahead on RADISH.

Inkitt:

Radish:

~Midika 💜🐼