Reclaiming my Fated Alpha novel Chapter 4

LAUREL’s POV

It's a lie. It's a freaking lie. But I refuse to answer them, I swallow the lump in my throat and forge on.

“You seduced him to get this position, didn't you? Why would Alpha Helios appoint a woman as Beta? This is unheard of,” Lala taunts me.

My fingers ball into a fist. That's it. They've crossed the line.

“Oh puh-lease…she? Seduce Helios? Look at her face! Helios wouldn't be attracted to someone like her! A woman should know how to satisfy her man, instead of hoarding a man’s job. Beta, hah!” Cici exclaims, her voice rising loud enough for everyone around us to hear now.

I take my whip out, crack it in the air and cry out, “ENOUGH!”

The whip slices through the cold night air with a thunderous roar and the twins gasp in both shock and surprise. It never fails as a warning shot. I won’t hurt them but they have to know their boundaries.

One of them, Lala, stares at me with eyes larger than the moon and begins to whimper but her sister, Cici is not backing down. She soon gains her composure, points an accusing finger at me, and sneers, “Don’t you dare pull that stunt again, bitch, or I’ll report you to the Alpha. We’re his darlings now and we’ll have you removed from your position–“

WHIP!

I crack the whip once more and it cuts through the air like a katana. An overhead branch suddenly falls, courtesy of my whip, and drops near Lala’s head. This time, both of them scream. A few nervous chuckles come from the crowd too and a young mother quickly covers her toddler’s eyes and ears.

“Let me set this straight,” I say, my eyes shifting from one twin to the other, “I climbed to the rank of Beta on my own capability and not by parting my legs. But if you think you can get my position just by sleeping with Helios, then, by all means, you can give it a try.”

The girls blink when they hear me say this and quickly look at the muddy ground, shuffling their feet in embarrassment. They have been subdued.

“Anything else you want to say?” I ask them and they reluctantly shake their heads. “Good, then let’s go to the villa.”

With no more theatrics to watch, the crowd that was gathering around us soon begin to disperse. I walk ahead and the twins follow from behind, quietly this time.

As we walk, my mind starts to wander to all the drama that I’ve had to deal with since day one of becoming Beta. Like the twins, everyone in the pack thinks I slept my way up the ladder. Helios tried to stop them from talking, but his attempt at silencing them only added more fuel to the fire and because of that, I have earned the unwanted nickname of ‘Mistress Beta.’

I can deal with the verbal abuse and rumours. I can deal with Helios not loving me back. I can even live with the fact that he beds a different woman almost every night but nothing breaks my heart more than seeing him with Jamie tonight.

The memory of her moaning through the chamber door and the sight of their naked bodies entwined together are forever etched within my mind like poison, slowly killing me from the inside. I am drowning in grief and hurt, but the one person who can save me, Helios, does not even know. He does not even care.

By the time I settle the twins at the new villa, it is already past midnight and I am drained; physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Like a zombie, I trudge back to my family home which is located on the other end of the villa, near the outskirts of the pack. It takes almost an hour just to reach home by foot and when I arrive at my front door, I don’t even care that my stomach is growling from hunger anymore.

All I want to do now is to sleep.

All I want is to kick off my shoes, go to my room and get some peace and quiet --

“Waaaaahhhhhh!”

Oh, Goddess….it is Jamie. I push open the door to my family parlour and see my sister bawling her eyes out at the lounge chair. Both mother and father are desperately soothing her. Mother is gently stroking her silky golden locks, whispering words of love and care while father is handing her Kleenex after Kleenex, all of which Jamie crumples into balls after blowing her nose and throws them onto the carpeted floor.

No one pays me any attention.

They never do.

It has been this way since I was born. Jamie may be my little sister, younger by just a year, but my parents treat her as if she is their only child and me, as the thorn in their flesh.

I remember once when I was six, both Jamie and I were playing by the lake. It was in the evening and a storm was picking up. The gentle breeze that had been caressing our skin just moments ago was soon replaced by strong winds. I looked up at the darkening clouds and quickly tugged at Jamie’s tiny hand, “Jamie! We have to go!”

Jamie wouldn’t budge and she started to cry. She was scared. I was too. But being the big sister, I knew I had to protect her.

“No! I want mommy and daddy!”

“We can’t wait for them, the storm’s heading our way!” I yelled. And it was true. A tornado had formed and was making a beeline toward us. Like a tsunami breaking down a dam, the hot winds began to rage, screaming like madmen in pain. Everything felt its fury; the trees bent to the ground as people scurried to their basement hideouts. No one was safe from the tornado.

Mother and father would not be able to come to save us in time. So I tugged at her arm and yelled through the howling wind, “Jamie, get up now!”