3: Her half-brothers plan

*Everly*

 A week has come and gone. I had discovered pretty quickly that leaving my bedroom was not an option. My half brother has locked the blasted door from the outside.

 I do however not shout, cry, scream, pound my fists on the thick wood, or kick against it even if it is what I truly want. I maintain my dignity. So I simply sit and wait, gazing out the window onto the glorious garden that continues to flourish. Should it not be draped in black ? It seems almost disrespectful for it to remain so brightly colored, but then I suppose it is simply striving to tell me that the world carries on. Tears will dry, and hearts will heal. Things might never again be as they were, but that doesn’t mean my life will never again be happy.

 Orley had promised that he would make sure that I am taken care of. So I am not extremely concerned, as promises like that are not to be broken, especially the ones made to your dying father. In spite of the fact that my half brother does not seem to care for me the least, he will provide for me.

 But I can’t believe he is planning to keep me in my room for the rest of my life. Maybe he is just embarrassed for me to see him mourning. He has always been a very proud and private person. He has inherited that from his mother, neither ever gives away how they really feel.

 My personal maid Hanni comes with my meals, but she isn’t really talking to me. She almost seems scared to do so. She was however the one who told me that my father had been buried. I do not get why Orley did not allow me to attend, what would that have hurt ?

 But I realize he must be crushed from losing his father and stressed out about stepping up as Alpha, now having to take responsibility for the entire pack, so I forgive him for not considering my feelings. Also on some points it might be for the best, I am not sure I would want the image of my father in the casket burned into my mind … Maybe it is better to just remember him as he was, strong and vibrant. 

 I remember when I was a kid and he would toss me up in the air, laughing loudly and catch me with his huge hands. And I remember when my mother passed away, and he was kneeling before me, telling me it would all be alright. At that moment I had loved him more than I thought it was possible to love.

 It is the seventh day and the afternoon has just come around when I hear my door being unlocked. It is way too soon for my afternoon tea so I get up from my chair, feeling nervous butterflies erupt in my stomach. Seconds later Orley strides in.

 I am surprised to see him looking well rested and pink cheeked. There is no sorrow in his gray eyes and his blonde hair is combed to perfection. He is wearing a perfectly fitted dark blue suit with a crisp white shirt, and perfectly tied cravat. Only a black armband tells me that he is in mourning.

 He looks so very little to our father and so much like his mother. The late Luna had been a cold woman, of looks and heart. She would always give me this look, like she hoped it would melt me on the spot and free her off me. When the Luna was around I often felt like doing that … disappearing.

 “I will have a group of good friends coming over tonight”. He walks directly to my closeth, opens it and starts rummaging through my dresses. “I am expecting you to entertain them”.

 “But we are still in mourning”. I say, shocked by his announcement. Who hosts a party when the Alpha just passed ?

 He just pulls out one of my dresses, one of deep purple silk. I want to go snatch it from him when he holds it up to inspect it. Seriously, who does he think he is, to start rummaging through my things ? He might be the Alpha now, but still.

 “This should work just fine”. He throws the dress on my bed, and then he walks towards the door. “Be ready at nine”.

 I am not usually one to oppose my Alpha, but he is rubbing me the wrong way and I straighten my back. “Orley I am not coming”.

 He instantly stops in his tracks, and I can see on his shoulders that he is breathing hard. “I told you before … I am Alpha Littlefoot now. Do not make that mistake again”.

 “I do not understand why you are so …”. I start.

 “So what ?” He spins around then and I see the cold fury darkening his eyes, along with the hard set of his jawline. It takes everything within me not to step back, not to give any indication that he frightens me. “You are his bastard. He brought you into this home, right beneath my mother’s nose, and flaunted the fact that he did not love her, but loved another she-wolf. Do you think she died so young because of illness ? No, she died of a broken heart. You are a constant reminder to me of all that she suffered. All that I suffered. He didn’t love me either. Not once did he ever say that he loved me. Yet he poured those words over you as thick as honey”.

 For a moment my heart hurts for him, I never knew he felt like this, and I take a step towards him, but his glare stops me dead in my tracks as I realize that touching him would only bring anger. 

 So I pour every bit of my empathy into my voice. “I’m so incredibly sorry for any hurt that you’ve suffered because of dad’s thoughtlessness and his love for me”.

 “I don’t want your apologies or sympathies. I gave him my word that I will make sure you are well cared for. The first step to ensure that is to introduce you to some men I know. Tonight. So please make yourself presentable. Be charming and flirtatious. Let them see that you are made of stern stuff, even when grieving. Convince them that you would be a satisfactory … companion”. He says every word very slowly.

 “You are planning to marry me off while we are still in mourning ? That doesn’t seem proper”. I shake my head.

 “Proper ? Oh my dear sister, you are seen as anything but proper. I can make these men overlook that flaw. So be a good girl, and do as you are told. If not for me, then for out father. He would be happy to see you help get you settled”. He says.

 And with that, he walks out of the room and slams the door behind him. Hearing the key turn in the lock, I sink back into my chair. My chest aches and my throat is so thick with tears that I feel like I might suffocate. I have lived such a blessed life, spoiled and pampered. I know not all by-blows are fortunate enough to be treated as warmly and kindly as I have been by my father.

 I suppose I can’t really blame Orley … I can’t make myself think of him as Alpha Littlefoot, not yet. That name belongs to my father … for wanting to be rid of the burden of caring for me. He will start searching for his own Luna soon. I get that it seems the best option to see his father’s daughter well mated first and out of the household. I suspect once I leave here, I will rarely see him … if at all.

 He is completely right, of course. I am not exactly considered proper. I have not had a coming out to be introduced to the other packs, or a mating season, and I have certainly not been presented to the lucan queen. I have never attended any balls, although I have very often fantasized about doing so and capturing some handsome Alpha’s eyes. But I have never before been upset by my lack of a social life, because my father had always had a way of making me forget exactly what I am.

 Orley now carries the burden of me and my nonexistent place in the packs on his shoulders. At least he isn’t striving to unload me to some low pack member, a Delta or even omega. He is seeking to find me one of his acquaintances to marry, a beta or even an Alpha. He is attempting to secure what my father had failed to accomplish: a place in a pack for me.

 That he is doing it this way, so abruptly and soon … Well, I guess I should be grateful that he is doing it at all. I don’t think that I will be able to carry off being flirtatious tonight, but I can be charming.

 In memory of my father, of his great love for me, I will assist my half brother as much as possible in securing myself a fine mate and husband.