Chapter Thirty-Five: A Nasty Wolf

Chapter Thirty-Five: A Nasty Wolf

“You lost our sister’s ring?” Theo’s tone was tinged with disappointment and anger. His face was a bloody mess, but due to his supernatural healing abilities, the cuts on his face were now sealing themselves up.

Carin retorted. “I didn’t lose it, I just merely misplaced it and I assure you that I’ll get it back.” He tried to contain the situation by acting confident, but he was just as nervous about losing the ring.

Theo scoffed and rolled his eyes. He asked, his voice dripping with malice “Did you give our sister’s ring to your little Lycan slut?”

Carin hissed, refusing to let himself get riled up by Theo’s words again. “Shut the hell up, Theo. You sound stupid”

The tension between them dulled and Theo’s tone was no longer toxic. In fact, he almost sounded civil when he said. “How could you lose her ring, brother? That is the only thing we have left of our sister”

“I know…” Carin’s voice faded into a whisper as he spoke. “I think it might have slipped out of my finger when I was in the bayou”

“What were you doing in the bayou?” Theo’s question was borderline accusatory. He knew that his brother was mucking around with a werewolf, he just couldn’t prove it yet.

Carin shrugged. He asked in a sarcastic manner, “The bayou is the home of Lycans every full moon night. What do you think I was doing there?”

“You went there in search of our sister’s killer?” Theo asked.

Carin made the ding ding sound of a ringing bell with his mouth. “Correct answer, Theo. Lookie here everyone, he is much smarter than you think”

Theo snarled at him loudly and put up his middle finger. He muttered to Carin, “You are such a douche bag”

Carin seized Theo’s hand and began to pull him in the opposite direction. “And you, you are getting the hell out of here, Theo”

Looking perplexed, Theo yanked his hand out of Carin’s. “You know too well that’s impossible. I am not leaving here without taking my revenge on our sister’s killer”

Theo’s stubbornness exhausted Carin. He couldn’t have Theo around here and he needed his brother out of Wyoming. “You know what you are, Theo?” Carin asked, shaking his head slowly. 

“Enlighten me, Carin. Tell me what I am” Theo retorted.

“You are a disaster waiting to happen. You have no control of yourself, you are reckless and you are selfish!” Carin told him, his voice cold and hard.

Much to his surprise, instead of anger, Theo nodded thoughtfully. “Is this about the bartender? I know that I fucked up, Carr but you can’t hang it over my head forever”

“You are always doing something fucked up. Always…. Do you know what happens to vampires who cannot control their bloodlust?” Carin asked and waited for a response from him. Theo, in turn, trailed his eyes on the floor and didn’t give him an answer.

Carin answered the question he’d posed. “They turn into rogue vampires who have no other desire but to kill”

“You know me, Carin. I will never lose control of myself” Theo quipped.

After a brief pause, Carin replied. “You’re right, I know you. That’s the reason I want you to leave Wyoming tonight”

Before walking away, he added. “I never want to see you around here, Theo. And don’t worry about me, I will take care of everything by myself”



The Next Morning...

Ember groggily made her way out of her room and headed straight for the kitchen. Mrs Doyle was making a cup of cranberry juice when Ember strutted him.

“Hi, Mom.” She chirped, trying to sound excited, but there was just this strain in her voice.

Mrs Doyle who was still annoyed by how Ember had disregarded her grunted her reply. She brought the glass of juice to her lips and sipped it slowly.

“Are you mad at me, mom?” Ember asked. In all her life, her mother had never really gotten so mad at her, but now, she could tell that Mrs Doyle was very pissed.

Ember formed a cute, little pout on her lips as she said, “Come on, mom. You can’t be mad at me” 

Mrs. Doyle took another sip of her juice, her expression unreadable. "I'm not mad, Ember. I'm disappointed," she said finally, her voice calm but with a hint of hurt.

Ember's pout deepened, and she took a step closer to her mom. "What's the difference?" she asked, trying to sound nonchalant despite the concern etched on her face.

Mrs. Doyle set her glass down and turned to face Ember. "The difference is that being mad would mean I'm reacting impulsively. Being disappointed means I've had time to think about it, and I'm sad that you didn't come to me with whatever's bothering you."

Ember looked down, with sadness filling her eyes. She wished it was that easy to confide in her mom but things in her life were all shades of complicated.

How could she tell her mom that she finally knew the reason for her memory loss and that it was caused by a vampire?

How could she tell her mom that Mr Lou had threatened to kill her if she didn’t keep Cathy’s existence a secret? It was going to be her word against his and he was the apex, while she was just the lousy werewolf who defied her pack’s laws.

She sniffled, “You’re right, mom. I know that I should have just talked to you. It’s just… I just had a lot going through my mind”

Mrs. Doyle's expression softened slightly as she saw Ember's reaction. "Hey, Em, come here," she said, opening her arms for a hug.

“You know that’s why I’m here. I’m always here for you ”

Ember hesitated for a moment before walking into her mom's arms. "I'm sorry, Mom," she whispered, feeling a mix of relief and guilt.

Mrs. Doyle held her close. "I love you, Ember. But next time, let's talk about what's going on, okay?"

Ember nodded, still sniffling. "Okay, Mom. I promise."

As they hugged, Ember felt some of the tension between them dissipate. She knew it would be impossible to tell her everything, but for now, she was just happy to have her mom's love and understanding.

An hour later, Ember pushed through her emotions and went to school. It was hard being in the four walls of the academy, especially after her encounter with Mr Lou but she didn’t want to come across as intimidated by him, even though she was scared shitless by the kind of powers that he possessed. 

She knew that Apex Leaders had powers to do a lot of things, but maybe she had underestimated Mr Lou’s abilities. Everything about Mr Lou sent a signal of fear through her.

As she walked through the crowded hallway, she couldn't shake off the feeling of unease that lingered within her. Mr. Lou's words came back to her, “You can never tell anyone about the girl in the dungeon. In fact, as far as you are concerned, she doesn’t exist. You don’t know her. You never met her”

She felt like she was walking on thin ice, constantly looking over her shoulder, waiting for the other shoe to drop. The memory of his powers still lingered in her mind, making her skin crawl.

She tried to focus, but her mind kept drifting back to Cathy, the vampire she had promised to keep hidden. 

Why did Mr Lou want her presence hidden? There had to be something shady going on and she wished she had someone to talk about it with because the weight of Mr Lou’s secret felt crushing.

As she turned a corner, she was suddenly cornered by Juno, Lyra, and Lisa, her biggest nemesis in the Academy.

Their cold, calculating eyes seemed to bore into her very soul, making her skin crawl. Juno sneered, her voice dripping with malice. "Well, well, well, look what we have here. The little puppy who's been hiding from us."

Juno was right. Ever since Ember’s encounter with Lyra, where Lyra had almost beaten her to death, she had made it a point to avoid the girls at all costs.

“You have been a really, really nasty wolf. You know that right, Ember?” Juno asked.

Ember took in a deep breath. The events in her life seemed to go from bad to worse and she just wasn’t in the mood to add the girls to that list.

“Guys, please. Can you just let me be? This is getting boring, honestly” Ember said, but her statement just served to annoy Juno further and she bared her fangs, hissing loudly at Ember.

“You made yourself a target when you put your hands on my friend, Lyra,” Juno told her. That incident happened over a week ago. Why couldn’t they just let it go? 

Ember shook her head, exhausted by Juno’s display of power. She replied, “Your friend came after me first. I was just defending myself”

Looking from Juno to Lisa and then to Lyra, Ember said. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to be in class”.  As she turned to walk away, Juno’s hand shot out and snagged her wrist. She yanked Ember to the floor with a great force. 

Ember’s body hit the floor with a great thud, her head bouncing off the ground. A sharp pain exploded in her skull. She winced as a warm trickle of blood flowed from the side of her head.

She tried to keep her eyes open, but her vision blurred and then, everything went dark.