Chapter Five

ERIN’s POV

Erin blinked. Lily never got angry except on rare occasions. She was always happy and all smiles.

"Stop saying you are wrong because you are not," Lily said fiercely. "You are special and you’re my big sister. You’re the one who told me it was okay to be afraid when I got scared the first time I wanted to shift. You’ve always protected me and given me your shoulders to cry on. You always find a way to make me happy whenever I’m sad”.

"Lily…"

"In the books I’ve read, heroes always get happy endings," Lily continued. "You’re my hero. So you're going to get yours. During the mating ceremony, you’re going to get a mate who would love you and who’s going to be so lucky they got you that they'll..they'll.."

Her voice broke and tears spilled down her cheeks.

"Hey." Erin pulled Lily into a hug. "Hey, it's okay. I'm okay."

"Liar." Lily's words came muffled against Erin's shoulder. "You've not been okay for weeks and you keep pretending and I hate it. I hate that people make you feel less. I hate that you believe them sometimes. I hate that.."

She dissolved into sobs.

Erin held her sister, her own eyes burning. When had Lily grown up enough to see past Erin's walls? When did she learn to read the fear Erin thought she'd hidden?

"I'm sorry," Erin whispered.

"Don't be. Just…" Lily pulled back, swiping at her face. Her eyes were red but determined. "Just don’t think less of yourself or that you are not deserving of a mate. You're going to find your mate and whoever he is will be perfect and you're going to be happy”.

"Lily…"

"How can I be so sure?" Lily interrupted, reading the question on Erin's face. She smiled through her tears, wobbly but real. "Like I said, you're my hero and heroes always get happy endings. That's the rule."

The simple faith in her sister's eyes hurt more than any of Sienna's insults ever had.

Erin wanted to believe it. Gods, she wanted to believe it so badly her chest ached. But she knew that reality was much different.

But Lily was looking at her with such hope and absolute love and conviction and Erin couldn't shatter it.

"Okay," Erin said quietly. "I’ll try to believe it."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Satisfied now, Lily wiped her face once more then grabbed Erin's hand again. "Good. Now I want to know what really happened at the market. Tell me every detail. Don’t leave anything and don't lie. I'll know."

Erin laughed. "When did you get so.. scary?"

"I learned from you." Lily grinned. "Now tell me."

So Erin told her, not everything of course like Silas's cryptic warning. But she told her about Brock's aggression, about Damien intervening, and about the way the market had gone silent when he did.

Lily listened through it all, never interrupting once. her.

"He defended you," Lily said when Erin finished.

"He enforced pack law. That’s different."

"Is it?" Lily tilted her head. "Damien doesn't usually involve himself in market drama. He could've sent a warrior. But he came himself."

"Lily.."

"I'm just saying." Lily squeezed her hand. "Maybe someone already sees how special you are. Maybe he just doesn't know it yet."

"Don't," Erin said softly. "Don't give me hope about him please."

Lily's expression sobered. "Okay. But Erin? I don’t care whoever the moon chooses, they better treat you right or they'll have me to deal with."

Erin laughed. "You're just fourteen."

"Doesnt mattter. I’m fierce." Lily bared her teeth in an exaggerated snarl. "Guess what? I've been practicing my growl. Want to hear?"

"Gods, no."

"Too bad." Lily let out a sound that sounded more like a squeak than a growl.

Erin couldnt hold it. She burst out laughing and Lily joined in. Both of them collapsed backward onto the bed, giggling like children.

For a moment, Erin forgot about everything. Her fears, Damien, the prophecies and cryptic warnings all faded into background noise. At this moment, she was just a girl lying on her bed with her sister and laughing about silly things.

"Please never do that again. That was terrible," Erin managed between giggles.

"I'm practicing. It'll be terrifying eventually!"

"Sure it will."

"Erin?", Lily called once the laughter died down.

"Yeah?"

"Regardless of whatever happens at the ceremony, you will always be my hero. That will never change.

Erin's eyes teared up. She reached over and squeezed Lily's hand.

Outside, a wolf howled in the distance. The sound carried across the pack lands, lonely and haunting.

Erin shivered and glanced at Lily.

She was sleeping already, snoring lightly.

Erin stood up and covered Lily with the blanket. She laid down quietly beside her but remained awake.

Her mind raced from one thought to another.

Heroes always get happy endings, Lily had said. But Erin knew stories better than that.

Heroes always have endings. But not all happy endings. Sometimes it was tragic or something in between that had no name.

The question was: which kind of hero was she?

And which kind of ending was waiting for her.