Page 25 of Scapegoat

There was so much to those words, a world of unspoken knowledge and information. She didn’t seem so much surprised as worried. But she put on a brave face, patting my shoulder before pulling away.

I didn’t have time to wonder what else was going on. The pain was back, like period cramps, but ten times worse. My world was reduced down to the painful flex and shift of my womb, then my sharp little pants as I sucked in breaths between contractions. If this was what childbirth was like, I’d never bear the boys sons. My nails raked at the sheets, screams were stifled by my teeth, right before they walked in.

“You were right.”

“No…” I ground out, when I saw her, then I sucked in a breath and another, as she drew closer.

“I told you Kaia was the boys’ omega, Abigail,” Greg said, shooting her a wary glance from the doorway. “There’s nothing that can be done now.”

Letting her in here was his first mistake, but telling Mum she couldn’t do something? That was by far his worst one. Mum shot him a dirty look, then waved Anna forward. My sister walked in slowly, eyeing the mess, then wrinkling her nose.

“It stinks in here and… ew! Did Kaia wet the bed?”

“Of course she didn’t wet the bed!” Mum snapped. I might not be the favoured daughter, but I was still a reflection of her, so she wouldn’t allow that to go unchallenged. “Your sister is transitioning.”

Is that what this was? I groaned, curling up around myself, hugging my body when I knew I needed another set of arms holding me. Everything ached for Atlas, for all of the boys.

“Look, whatever you’re going to do, do it,” Greg prompted, looking down the hallway then back furtively. “Jenny will work out my call was bullshit—”

“Yes, Jenny.” Mum seemed to draw herself up taller then, becoming every inch the imperious bitch she usually was. “The woman you left me for.”

Wait, what?

“The woman you felt was your ‘true mate,” Mum continued.

“She was, is,” Greg replied heatedly, even as his eyes darted around. He was conscious of the audience he had, even if Mum wasn’t.

“What kind of true mate are you, that you’d sleep with me then, all those years ago?” she asked, the gloves well and truly off. Mum had come out swinging and she wasn’t going to pull any punches.

“Ab—”

“She’s not your fated mate at all,” Mum pronounced and then shifted her focus to Anna. “And we’re not going to let another travesty take place today. Your sister is trying to take your place at the boys’ side.” Anna stared at me then, her eyes starting to narrow. “She’s making this whole disgusting display, this mess, to try and seduce your true mates away from you. There is nothing Kaia won’t do to satisfy her terrible jealousy of you, Anna.”

“No…” I gasped, the pain in my heart finally outstripping that of my body. “Anna, no.”

“See, she tries to dissuade you even now, play on your feelings, manipulate you into second place when you know you are born to rule this pack. Take your sister’s sheets.”

“What?” Anna was going along with the story, right up until now. Her eyes glittered with a familiar look of malice; one I’d seen all too often. But that faltered when my mother gave her order.

“Grab the sheets, darling, before your sister takes fur for the first time. You’re not due to shift for some years, so your mates will need to be patient. But once you are marked by them—”

“Like this?”

My voice sounded like gravel as I tugged the pyjamas down to reveal the pink scar on my neck. I stared at my mother, daring her to respond, but when she did, it wasn’t how I expected.

“You see?” Mum pointed imperiously at the bite mark. “This is how she tries to take what’s rightfully yours. She’s already started the process. But if you manage to get all three mating marks, one mark won’t matter.”

Anna strode forward then, glaring at me with a kind of viciousness that had me scrambling back in the bed, even as the wolf lunged forward.

But she was not free yet.

So the wolf and I, we were forced to watch as Anna tore the sheets and blankets from the bed, gagging when she felt the sodden stains of my slick, and that’s when Mum stepped in.

“Rub it all over you,” she said.

“Mum, no…” Anna cried.

“You can’t allow this attempt to take what’s yours to succeed,” Mum assured her. “I know it’s distasteful, but it’s the only way.”

---