“It’s a simple question.” Alpha Andrew said when Sarah didn’t speak after several moments. “I’m quite familiar with that particular necklace and would like to know how you obtained it.”
Sarah had been quiet because she was trying to come up with a believable lie. There was no way Sarah was going to tell the Alpha just how she got ahold of the necklace.
“If you don’t mind me asking Alpha Moonstar,” Bettina said, gaining everyone’s attention. “How are you familiar with this necklace?”
At first, Sarah had felt relief when her mother started talking, taking the attention away from her. Then she was stiffening back up when her mother asked that question. It left her wondering if her mother was trying to help her, or hurt her?
“I don’t mind answering this question, Mrs. Northmountain.” Alpha Andrew nearly purred. Although he was smiling, there was now a deadly edge to the smile. Like Bettina had just fallen into a trap he set. “The design of the pendant was originally designed by my eldest Damien. Then we commissioned the Kuznetsov’s to make it.”
Bettina was frozen, she was just now realizing the danger Sarah was now in with her question. Bettina looked at Sarah with panicked eyes and sweat starting to trickle down her spine. Sarah was glaring angrily, her eyes accusatory.
“In fact, Clan Alpha Kovac Kuznetsov loved the design and the meaning behind it so much, he personally made the piece.” Alpha Andrew said, pausing, he looked first to Sarah, then back to Bettina. “I was told by Kovac Kuznetsov that there would only ever be the one pendant made with this design, and inscription.”
“Inscription?” Bettina asked, weakly.
Bettina’s question had Sarah shouting at her mother through their mind link. *“Shut up! You’re making it worse!”*
“Yes, there should be an inscription.” Alpha Andrew said. “It says, ‘Ever my Starlight, my guiding light in all this world's darkness.’ After receiving the completed necklace, it was given as a gift. I was also a witness to just…who… the gift was given to.” Alpha Andrew turned to look back at Sarah, his gaze sharp. “So, I ask again. How is it that you came to have Alora’s gift, a gift from a member of the Alpha Pack’s Alpha family, around your neck?”
It was the words, “A gift from a member of the Pack Alpha’s family,” that made the necklace suddenly feel like a hangman’s noose around Sarah’s neck. Sarah was scared for a very good reason. Receiving a gift from the Alpha Pack’s Alpha family was a great honor. If they were human, it would be comparable to receiving a gift from a monarch.
Bettina and Allister were both sweating, fear was permeating the air around them. The punishment for stealing a gift given by the Alpha Pack’s Alpha family was severe.
“Uhm…” Sarah said weakly, then she finally settled on what she felt was a believable story. One she hoped would turn the Alpha’s anger at her onto Alora, while still being able to keep the necklace. “Well, you see, I was admiring the necklace one day, and Alora saw how much I liked it. When I asked her if I could borrow the necklace to wear for a day, she gave it to me and told me to keep it. That it didn’t mean all that much to her.”
Sarah thought she had been clever to give that story, now all she had to do was wait for the Alpha to turn on Alora. He would never forgive Alora for giving such a precious gift away so thoughtlessly. That wasn’t what happened though, Sarah noticed the Alpha was looking at her, and it was like the blood in her veins suddenly turned to ice.
Allister and Bettina felt the change in the Alpha immediately, as well as his son Darien. Darien's expression was just as cold, just as angry, as his father’s. They were the Alpha’s of the Alpha Pack’s Alpha family, who came with some extra gifts. Like being able to hear, feel, or smell, a lie or deception. Most wolves had a much lesser version of this, but enough of it that it made lying to or deceiving a wolf was really hard to do.
“Lying to the Alpha of Alpha’s and your Pack Alpha, is stupid enough. Thinking that I would believe those lies you just spewed from your mouth is even worse.” Alpha Andrew said in a low growling voice. “Now I want the truth from you, you will tell me how it is you came to possess that necklace and why.”
The order to tell the truth was impossible to fight against, before Sarah knew it, she was telling him everything. It was like she had no control over her mouth anymore. “She’s just a whore who didn’t have the good graces to die at birth! The filthy bitch darkens up our bloodline and is an embarrassment to both our Clans! How was she worthy of even one second of Damien’s attention?! Why would he give her such an expensive piece of jewelry unless she was sucking him off or fucking him blind! What gave that slut the right to seduce Damien when she’s less than nothing?! As soon as Damien was gone, she was spreading her legs for Darien! The skank couldn’t even be without a male for a day! Obviously, Damien didn’t mean that much to her! So why did she get to keep the gift he gave her?! So, I chained her up in the basement and ripped it off her neck and wore it as I started to carve her up like a turkey dinner!” Sarah’s face was red, and it was twisted in a way that could only be described as pure evil.
Kain, Galen, and Darien’s expressions were combinations of anger, horror, and disbelief. Every word out of Sarah’s mouth was so shrill and vile. Full of vulgar and false accusations about Alora, and her relationship with Damien and Darien. Around Alpha Andrew, a barely leashed fury permeated the air, like a dark cloud. Alora was mostly unaffected, this had been her life for the last eighteen years. The only thing that bothered her, was having this part of her life revealed in such a way to two of the three males she was closest to. Alora also felt a twinge of regret that the twins had to be subjected to this show as well.
At one point during Sarah’s filth filled tirade, Bettina and Allister tried to rush forward and stop her. They were stopped with just the rise of Alpha Andrew’s hand. Bettina could only stand there and wring her hands, wincing with each damning word Sarah had spewed forth. Allister’s skin was so pale, it was almost transparent. He was drenched in a sweat that stank of fear as his whole body trembled with it. There was no way they were going to escape punishment, or an investigation. Sarah had just admitted to unlawfully imprisoning Alora and brutally torturing her.
As much as they all wished that the pause in Sarah’s words meant she was done. That was not the case. The Alpha had asked her two specific things. Sarah had fully addressed the ‘how’ the necklace came to be in her possession, but not all of the ‘why’ it was around her neck. It seemed Sarah had only stopped because she had run out of air. After gasping and huffing for a moment, the tirade restarted.
“Just today the bitch tried to steal my boyfriend with that stupid ridiculous fated bond! But the jokes on her, Matt is under my control, my auntie made sure of that years ago! I forced him to reject her, she’s not anymore worthy of having Matt than she is of being with either Damien or Darien! She deserves nothing more than to be the cleaning slave of our Clan Alphas! She’s not even fit to breed with her disgusting coloring. To teach her a lesson I wore the necklace, to rub in the fact that she was never going to get it back! I have plans to have the whore gang raped tonight to further teach her a lesson for daring to touch what’s mine!” Sarah looked maniacal, her eyes blazing with a psychotic fervor.
Finally, it had come to an end, Bettina and Allister had collapsed to their knees on the floor. Alpha Andrew’s eyes glowed with his wolf, as did Darien’s, Kain’s, And Galen’s. It was after several moments of silence that Sarah was finally able to come back to herself enough to realize what she had just done. Sarah crumpled and fell to the floor like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Her hands flew up to cover her mouth and her eyes were wide with horror.
Allister, Bettina, and Sarah all looked up at the Alpha from their positions on the floor and trembled in absolute terror at what they saw.