They Tried to Break My Sister. Then I Woke Up Chapter 02
The room went dead silent.
All I could hear was Gavin’s ragged breathing and Diane’s faint whimpering from where I’d pressed her face into the chili oil.
I let go.
Diane went limp and slid to the floor.
I turned and took Gavin’s usual seat at the head of the table, the seat of honor.
As everyone stared at me in horror, I tore off a chicken leg that was still intact and bit into it.
The savory flavor of the meat filled my mouth.
I chewed, scanning everyone in the room with a cold stare.
“Now.”
I leaned back in the chair.
“Let’s set some new rules for this house…”
Before I could finish, a vicious cramp tore through my lower abdomen.
This wasn’t normal pain.
It felt as if something inside me had suddenly dropped.
I let out a muffled groan and instinctively pressed myself against the chair back.
Then warmth rushed between my legs.
A dark red stain quickly spread across my light gray pants.
Audrey’s body had already been severely weakened by prolonged starvation, freezing temperatures, and wolfsbane. Its natural werewolf healing had been suppressed to almost nothing.
After that burst of violent movement, the body finally gave out.
I was showing signs of losing the female pup.
I clenched my jaw as cold sweat rolled down my forehead.
Gavin, still curled on the floor and struggling to breathe, quickly noticed my weakness.
The fear in his eyes faded, and the malice returned.
Using the leg of a chair for support, Gavin struggled to his feet and pulled out his phone.
“You crazy woman. You’re finished this time!”
Gritting his teeth, he called Malcolm.
“Malcolm! Get over here! Audrey’s lost control again. She came at my mother with an axe!”
Then he called Carol Reeves.
“Carol, get over here and bring some people! My mate’s depression is acting up again. She can’t even control her wolf anymore!”
Less than ten minutes later, hurried footsteps sounded in the yard outside the Pack House.
Malcolm Blackwell, a highly respected Senior Elder in the Blackridge Pack, walked in leaning on his cane. More than a dozen grown men from the Blackwell family’s branch lines and several Pack Warriors followed him.
Carol Reeves came in right behind them with several older she-wolves.
The moment Gavin saw the people he’d called, all the venom disappeared from his face.
In the next second, he looked pained and helpless, as though he’d never tried to hit me at all.
He pointed to the axe still buried in the doorframe, then to the wrecked room and the blood on the floor.
“Malcolm, you be the judge!”
“My mother made her chicken soup out of kindness, and because there weren’t enough herbs in it to strengthen her wolf, she flipped the whole table!”
Diane immediately sprawled at Malcolm’s feet and began wailing.
“Moon Goddess, what terrible sin did our family commit to end up with a madwoman like her?”
“Beating me wasn’t enough for her. She just tried to kill Paige with an axe!”
Paige huddled in the corner and shed two perfectly timed tears.
Carol didn’t even glance at my pale face or the dark red stain still spreading across my pants.
She walked straight up to me and pointed a finger at me.
“Audrey, everyone knows I don’t take sides.”
“We’re all she-wolves. Who hasn’t carried a pup? Pregnancy can be miserable, but that doesn’t give you the right to lose your mind and attack people in the Pack House.”
“Get on your knees and apologize to Diane. If she’s willing to forgive you, the Pack Council may still be able to smooth this over.”
I leaned back in the chair and scoffed.
“Kneel?”
I pulled open the thin, ragged sweater I was wearing.
Underneath was a body so thin it was almost nothing but bone.
My thighs, arms, and hands were covered in old injuries layered beneath new ones.
There were burns from silver, dark bruises from brutal pinches, and large patches of frostbite that still hadn’t healed because the wolfsbane had been suppressing my healing for so long.
“Take a good look.”
I pointed to the injuries covering my body.
“This is what Diane, the woman you claim ‘made me soup out of kindness,’ did to me.”
“She jabbed me with silver needles. She burned me with silver. And every day, she forced me to drink those so-called prenatal tonics.”
Then I pointed to my knees and calves, both purple from the cold.
“And as for that poor, wronged husband you were talking about…”
I looked at Gavin.
“These are from him forcing me to kneel outside in fourteen-degree weather.”
The Pack members around us all sucked in a breath.
Several stared at my unhealed injuries with open sympathy and began whispering among themselves.
“Moon Goddess… this isn’t a FAMILY. They’re torturing her to death!”
“She’s five months along, and there isn’t a patch of uninjured skin left on her…”
Malcolm’s expression only darkened.
He slammed his cane against the floor.
“Enough!”
The murmuring stopped instantly.
Malcolm stared at me, his face grim.
“You’re an outsider with no Pack backing. Once you became Gavin’s mate and joined the Blackwell family, you should’ve learned to follow Blackridge rules. If your elders discipline you and make you suffer a little, it’s because they’re teaching you how to be a proper mate!”
Then he added coldly, “Besides, Gavin has already agreed to cover most of this year’s Founders’ Hall Restoration Fund. Whatever problems you have as mates, deal with them privately. Stop making a scene and embarrassing the Pack.”
He pulled a document from inside his coat and slapped it onto the table.
“If you want to walk away with any dignity left, sign this Mate Severance and Property Settlement.”
“You and Gavin will be formally severed as mates. The marital home and all assets acquired during the relationship will remain with the Blackwell family. After that, you’ll have nothing to do with Blackridge.”
I stared at the ridiculous agreement.
I was so furious, I laughed.
Then I grabbed the papers and tore them to shreds in front of the entire Pack.
Bits of paper fluttered to the floor.
I grabbed the cup of steaming tea on the table and splashed the tea straight into Malcolm’s face.
“Fuck your Pack rules!”
Malcolm screamed and stumbled backward, covering his scalded face.
I stared at him coldly.
“You old bastard. Who the hell do you think you are?”
“Just because you’re a Pack Elder doesn’t mean you get to steal my house and my property.”
When Gavin saw that I’d gone so far as to attack Blackridge’s Senior Elder in front of everyone, he finally dropped the victim act completely.
His face hardened.
He gave a sharp wave of his hand.
More than a dozen broad-shouldered Blackwell men and Pack Warriors immediately closed in around me, trapping me in the center.
