His Home, My Home

Lana looks dismayed. Thinking about it, I realised we never did speak after she handed me the invite to the moon gala, everything that followed happened so fast, I did not even consider seeing Lana.

"It just... happened." I reply.

"Everyone said..." Lana began and then trails off. "That you set the fire and killed Alpha Rich. I didn't believe it..."

"And now you do?" I ask knowingly. Lana had seen me summon flames yesterday, if she was not convinced before, she certainly is now.

"What I know is that my cousin is not a killer." Lana replies firmly. "We grew up together...you don't have it in you to hurt anyone. Tyler says the same."

Tears spring up to my eyes but I blink them away. Tyler believed in me without questions, even when Alpha Rich had been like a father to him. He helped me escape and even now, he kept my secret and did not reveal that he truly confirmed Alpha Rich was killed by me, and so even in Everdale, it still was just speculation.

I had always thought he was cold and distant, because of the age difference between us, he didn't mingle with us like he would with Mikos and the older teens in the pack.

I shrug casually in response to Lana's words.

"Mikos doesn't seem to agree." I reply in a low murmur.

"Mikos...he..." Lana trails off, as if unsure of what to say. "If you hadn't run off...he just wanted to bring you in for questioning. You were the last to see Alpha Rich, after all and horrible rumors keep spreading that he...he..." Another pause.

"If you didn't run, if you explained it clearly, then Alpha Rich's honor and his name..." 

I scoff beneath my breath as I understand Lana's meaning. Rumors have been spreading that Alpha Rich attempted to rape me. I even heard over the counter at Red Ember that there have been whispers that he has repeatedly taken advantage of pack females, though there has been no evidence against him, and no one is willing to come forward.

I can imagine why. If Mikos hunted me all this while simply because he wants me to testify for his father's innocence and decided to have me killed when I would not return willingly with his enforcers, it can only be that every other female who faced the same at his father's hands has been silenced.

And the fact that word of it never reached the news or any tabloids, there is just one person with enough influence over Everdale's media to make certain of that... Lana.

My heart constricts within me but I keep a straight face and remind myself to give her the benefit of the doubt. Nothing is set in stone yet.

"Mikos idolises his father and Alpha Rich was a good man. These rumors about him are... appalling. Mikos was devastated by them..." She continues,

"They are not rumors." I interrupt, crossing my arms over my chest. Lana's gaze on me changes slightly, her brows furrowing up as if in confusion.

"What do you mean, Kyra?" She asked, an incredulous chuckle follows after. "You couldn't be entertaining these ridiculous rumours..." She went on to say but I interrupt her again.

"They are not rumors, Lana. I do not know about anyone else, but I can speak for myself..." I pause, the memory of that day floods back to my mind, sending a chill of disgust and terror down my spine.

I have been so focused on running and keeping myself alive. So focused on wallowing in my own guilt at the death of Alpha Rich that I had absolutely forgotten about my own injustice... about what I had faced too, what I had endured and my truth that needs to be spoken. "Alpha Rich...he did do those things, or at least tried to. He laid his hands on me and was going to..."

"Kyra!" Lana cuts me off sharply.

"I know you never cared much for the Everdale Pack. You were forced into the pack after your parents passed on and you do not share the same bond with the Everdale Pack as the rest of us, but that is not enough reason to sully the name of a good man." Lana says sternly. "If nothing else, Dad took you in when you had no one else...Alpha Rich is Dad's best friend, how can you even say that?"

Lana has always had her way with words. In just a few sentences, she has painted a picture of me being an angry and unstable orphan lashing out on my benefactors.

 "Mikos...he may have taken it too far, but you're still alive, that's something. And I'm sure he will be more reasonable now, I will speak to him." Lana says, "So you have nothing to be worried about and can return to the pack."

The disappointment blooms within me. I wonder if Lana truly believes she can convince me otherwise from an experience I suffered myself. Did she believe she can somehow make everything disappear like it never happened?

It is devastating that my own cousin is willing to force me into silence to protect the Landry's and suddenly I can tell why Mikos chose Lana over me, why she is the better fit to be Luna. Lana... the Everdale Pack and its prestige is her priority...over the truth, over me.

And now, it all makes sense. I certainly cannot compare to Lana in that sense... I cannot sacrifice my morality for the Landry's, neither would I be willing to cover up their dirty deeds for them.

"There's no need for that." I finally respond.

"What?" Lana asks me, like she did not hear me clearly.

"There is no need for any of that." I say again. "I won't be returning to the Everdale Pack..."

I hesitate for a moment before I continue.

"You heard it earlier. I am Alaric's woman now... his home is my home, and his pack is my pack. Everdale... I have left it in my past." I clarify.