Chapter 5: Isolated and Uncontrollable

I spent the night in a cheap motel, too afraid to return to the pack house. The drive to the Holloway mansion the next morning felt endless.

When the car finally stopped in front of the Holloway mansion, I felt a chill. Strange black cars with official seals filled the driveway: vehicles of the Luminara Pack council and elders.

They had preceded me here. Ready to destroy what was left of me.

The large front doors opened before I even reached the stairs. A servant stood stiffly in the lobby, bowing as if I were a stranger. "Miss Holloway, Alpha Holloway expects you in Council Hall."

Alpha Holloway. Not my father. Even the staff knew where he was going.

I walked past him without a word, each step feeling like I was dragging a heavy burden. As I crossed the entrance hall, I heard hushed whispers from the guards and members of the pack, the people I had grown up with.

"...always knew Lady Freya was the true heir," a servant muttered, too slow to keep her mouth shut.

I stared straight ahead. In this house, there had never been two daughters. Only the perfect Freya... and a flawed backup.

The Council Hall occupied the entire east wing, usually reserved for war treaties and court-martials. Tonight? Every seat was packed: council members, elders, politicians, and officers, and they were eyeing me as if I were a criminal.

Alistair Holloway sat at the center table. He was a war hero, a conqueror of nations, and a man hungry for power. His face betrayed nothing. To me, he had always been a politician first, my father second.

My mother sat beside him, her eyes fixed on the table.

Alistair rose from his chair, standing tall and imposing. "As head of the Holloway Family and Alpha of the Silvercrest Pack, I have made my decision. You are hereby stripped of the succession. You will no longer claim Holloway assets, voting rights, or family privileges."

Tears burned the corners of my eyes, and a single hot tear rolled down my cheek. No one seemed uncomfortable. In fact, Elder Whitmore nodded in approval. Around him, several council members followed suit. 

Freya stood next, sighing dramatically with practiced pity. "I love my sister. But the political survival of Silvercrest must always come first. We cannot allow personal mistakes to ruin our relationship with the Lycan throne."

A heartfelt murmur of agreement spread through the room. They admired her for her cool demeanor. Alistair's expression never changed. "The motion is approved. From now on, Ravenna Holloway is disfellowshipped from the pack."

The words felt like a physical blow. Deep within my soul, my wolf, Ciel, howled in pain. Being a wolf without a pack, stripped of my bloodline by a father who viewed his children as political symbols, was a fate worse than death.

Finally, I broke down. Tears streamed uncontrollably down my face.

"Father..."

For one miserable second, I hoped the war hero would protect his own flesh and blood. 

"You stopped being my daughter long before tonight. You spent your entire life trying to compete with Freya, and you still failed. You were never worthy of the Holloway name."

Something inside me began to numb. The desperate girl who craved his recognition simply vanished. Even though I knew Ciel was still screaming and begging me to fight.

For what? They were always on Freya's side.

I saw an elder smirk, happy to see me destroyed like this. Suddenly, I let out a mocking laugh, breaking the silence of the room. 

I rose from my chair slowly, not taking my eyes off my family. I reached for Holloway's heavy gold signet ring and pulled it off my finger: the symbol of my inheritance, the sign that I was under the protection of this pack. I placed it firmly on the council table. Next, I removed my heir's badge, followed by my own.

"You want me to leave?" My voice trembled, no longer with fear, but with uncontrollable anger. "Very well."

I looked at every face in the room: my power-hungry father, my cowardly mother, my cruel sister, and the spineless council.

"One day, you will all regret this."

An elder sneered from behind. "You should be grateful your father let you leave our land alive, you bastard."

"Grateful?" I laughed bitterly. I turned to Freya, my older sister. "You want to know the worst part?"

Freya's face changed, her perfect posture stiffening. "I used to think you were better than me," I said, shaking my head. "So? You're just better at pretending."

Freya stood up immediately, her face flushed. "You…"

"No." I finally dared to cut her off, for the first time in my life, not letting her have the last word. "We're done."

Alistair stood, his military-trained presence instantly silencing the whispers in the room. "Get out," he ordered, his voice hoarse.

He was never my father.

"You know what, Alpha Holloway?" I spat out the title as if it tasted bad. "I spent my whole life sacrificing myself for your approval. I thought if I bled enough, worked enough, excelled academically, maybe you'd finally love me."

For half a second, I saw something flash in my mother's eyes—if I were still innocent, I'd think it might have been regret. But I knew she was a coward, an alcoholic, and not a good mother. She only saw me as a source of trouble, and now it was clear who she would choose, today and forever.

I smiled hollowly. "It took me this long to realize you never deserved me."

Alistair's mask cracked, and a burning rage erupted. 

Two guards moved to arrest me, but Alistair stopped them with a sharp gesture. "Get her off this property. Now."

The guards hesitated. They were people who had known me since childhood; one of them taught me to ride, another carried me on his shoulders at the group campfire. None of them could look me in the eye now. This hurt more than I expected.

I nodded. "Don't bother. I know a way out."

The heavy doors creaked open, a cold wind rushing in. As soon as I stepped out, they slammed shut behind me; the sound felt like a death knell. My breath hitching from the cold, I felt my phone vibrate exactly three times.

At first, I tried to ignore it, but it kept vibrating relentlessly. Finally, I looked down.

Xavier Beckett. Of course. Who else would sneak into my life after everything fell apart? And how the fuck did he get my number?

I opened the message.

Heard about the council meeting. 

Before I could process the pain, another message appeared.

Are you still alive? 

Then a third message.

Answer 

Anger numbed me. I replied with trembling fingers.

Crawl back to hell, Satan.

The reply came instantly, as if he had been waiting.

There, Princess. Want to sit in the front row? With one swift movement, I yanked the SIM card from my phone and broke it between my fingers.

My phone vibrated one last time. I saw it ring... twice. Then, I threw the damn thing into the darkness.

"But where are we going now?" Ciel asked. 

"I don't know, but the first thing we need to do is get out of here."