Page 31 of Scapegoat

Without any fucking shame, Mum pushed forward, barking at anyone who’d get in the way, though she appeared as though butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth as she approached the stage. That perfectly composed smile, the hope in her eyes, it transformed her face as she pushed Anna forward.

And my sister? Despite initially looking scared and confused, her expression slowly turned to one of plain, old satisfaction. And, really, why wouldn’t she feel like that? She’d never chosen the fate my mother had given her, but she’d accepted it easily enough. So, as she climbed the stage steps, to her mind she did so with a sense of rightness, I realised, as if this was always going to happen.

She was going to claim my mates.

The wolf barked, barked, trying to get their attention and all three Campbell boys’ eyes swung my way. I watched them widen, take me in, see me and it was then I was sure my mother would fail. This couldn’t happen, part of me still believed that. It didn’t matter what form we wore, we belonged. To each other, forever, our bond was written in the stars and…

My paws faltered then, a strange convulsion racking my whole body. My body went down, but I recovered quickly, forcing myself forward. My panting breaths were loud in my ears, fighting with my heartbeat as to which was louder. And in that moment of weakness? My mother pushed Anna closer.

They were going to come to me. The guys took a step forward, away from the alphas, Mum and Anna, toward me. They were my mates and I was hurting because they weren’t with me. Their touch would settle whatever the fuck was wrong with me, I knew it.

But it didn’t come.

Anna stumbled forward because Mum pushed her, and the guys looked at her in irritation at first…

Then need.

The way they’d always looked at me.

This was the moment when they would shake off whatever spell Mum was trying to cast and they would choose me, no matter what. This was the moment when all the shit, all the indignities, all the family violence I’d suffered, would be vindicated. They’d shove Anna away, back into Mum’s arms, and the two of them would have to go live in whatever strange hell they’d tried to create, away from my mates and away from me.

But they didn’t.

Instead, the Campbell boys? Their pupils blew huge as their eyes turned perfect silver, and when they stalked forward it wasn’t towards me, but to my sister. They looked half man, half beast, their hands claws, their fangs flashing in the morning sun. And Anna? She just looked back at Mum for reassurance that this was right. I barked once, then again, howled long and mournful, calling them to me, the beast sure they’d hear us even as the woman inside broke down, knowing they weren’t going to, weren’t able to because of the way they were transfixed by my sister, by my scent. As I continued to force myself forward, everyone stepped back, not knowing what the hell was going on, but somehow aware that something important was playing out.

So I had a clear view of what happened.

As I staggered forward, every cell in my body screaming for them, they turned their back on me. My mates rejected me. I saw Mum’s look of pure elation as the boys grabbed my sister, dragging her between them, sheltering the sight of her body from the rest of the crowd, right before Xavier said the words he’d said he’d never say to anyone else.

“Mine!”

“No!” Jenny fought her way forward, her scream a perfect vocalisation of the one inside me. And Mum? She just stared down from the stage at her former friend, a smug smile on her face at achieving the revenge she’d been plotting for so long. Jenny shouted something, but I didn’t catch it.

Because the fight went out of me, both wolf and woman.

We were their mate and they hadn’t claimed us, hadn’t seen through Mum’s bullshit plan, hadn’t seen me. Hadn’t rushed towards me, picking me up when my paws went out from under me, as I collapsed down onto the concrete. The town’s alphas did though, jumping down from the stage, coming closer, looks of concern on their faces, but before they got to me, their attention was caught by a roar that went up through the crowd.

Because when my sister appeared again, she looked very pale.

With three bite marks on her neck, seeping blood.

Suddenly it all became clear.

Whatever was pushing me down, it snapped now, my paws digging deep, every muscle tensing. Our pack systems held that I was supposed to stay here, submit to the choosing, let these people place me somewhere in their pack structure.

But the structure was one that had failed to keep me safe.

I’d suffered so much for so long, tied to this place through bonds of family and familiarity. I’d stayed because of the guys, my heart aching for them, longing for when we would be together, and when I’d be free from my mother. But that same pain? The pain that I was so familiar with? It galvanised me now and I leapt to my feet before turning tail and running.

All my life, I’d been told how bad the fate of a lone wolf was; how dreadful a life it would be to live outside of a pack. But nothing, nothing, could be worse than what had just happened. And so I ran and ran, with far more speed and energy than I’d ever experienced in my life, driven by the need to get away, not sure where I was going, but knowing that it didn’t matter, as long as it wasn’t here.

Not in this fucking pack.

Time seemed to stand still, the world whizzing by, making my perspective seem blurry as I tore along roads, through forests, past paddocks, my feet not slowing until I reached somewhere my wolf felt was safe.

When I finally slowed, the sun was setting, dropping low in the sky as I trotted forward, everything aching. But this place? I smelled the savoury scents of food, the sweetness of ice cream and the thought of a mouthful of ice cold sundae was enough to draw me forward.

Me.

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