Chapter 3

I opened my eyes to a row of blinding lights on an empty white ceiling. My head hurts. I closed my eyes again. I remember calling Khayim, my beta. We grew up together and there was not a time I couldn't count on him. He agreed to pick me up.

Fragments of memory floated in my head and I strained to piece them all back.

"Nayla." A familiar voice cut through my thoughts. "Nayla it's me, Violet. Are you awake?"

I opened my eyes and felt my friend throw herself to me in a huge hug.

"I knew you weren't in a deadly coma!!!" She was laughing and crying at the same time.

"Khayim said you were just exhausted, but the doctors kept insisting you may not wake up!"

I sat myself up. I feel a little weak but better.

"After receiving your call, Khayim rushed over and found you, unconscious on the roadside. Good thing the Canopus estate is in the countryside, otherwise you would have been robbed."

I smiled weakly. "There's nothing to rob. I left everything. I mean, I bought a few clothes, my cigarette…the locket you gave me – just kidding – I brought that one." I heard myself laugh.

She giggled and I felt my old self, beginning creep back slowly. When was the last time I laughed like this at the mansion? "Thanks for coming." I said to my best friend, genuinely.

"You're kidding! You should have told me they weren't treating you right from the beginning!" She said, indignant, pretending to pout. Then she grew serious. "Everybody in your husband's clan thinks their Luna pushed the Alpha's sister-in-law in the pool, killing her unborn child." As if on cue, our ears picked up what seemed like a couple of women murmuring in the hallway.

"It's despicable," says one.

"Nurse May confirmed the lady in that room escaped from her husband's mansion because of attempted murder!"

A gasp.

"That's horrible."

"She's a Luna of a werewolf clan, but they say she's weak and a commoner and the Alpha married her out of charity."

"No way!"

"She ended up aborting her sister in law's child when she viciously pushed the poor woman in a pool, poor thing. They say her husband's very fond of that girl. It must be jealousy."

Violet stood up angrily and was about to leave the room to confront the girls but I held on to her hand firmly. "Don't!" She looked at me puzzled.

"You don't deserve this, Nayla. You are the Alpha's daughter. You could put them in their place with just a word. And nurses gossiping about their patients! I could get them fired."

I felt tears threatening to well up in my eyes again, but I held it back. "I shouldn't have left our pack for the Canopus." I whispered.

"Hey," Violet's eyes softened. She looked at me intently and smiled warmly. "You did well. But it's time to be who you really are." She gave my hand a squeeze. "You are the Alpha's daughter. You don't deserve this. Just tell me. I'll fight for you!"

I closed my eyes and allowed myself to feel. I was expecting a flood of tears, but there was none. All emotions that clamored inside me just a moment ago turned into a solid knot as I felt my wolf woke. I felt a surge of strength flood every inch of me. "Thanks, Violet, but you don't have to."

I felt my fist clenched as gaps in my memory started to reveal themselves. I looked at my best friend."I will not wait for Gareth to kick me out. I will terminate the mateship on the next full moon. I'll break the news to him myself as soon as I'm out of here."

I looked straight at my best friend. My wolf recoiled at the pain of every word but she held her ground, every bit of her as determined as I.

Violet's eyes widened with concern. "Are you sure, Nayla?" She asked softly. She knew me too well to mistrust my judgments, but it was just like her to care so much. She looked at me in earnest. We both know what it takes to terminate a mateship.

I looked down at my bandaged hands. "Like having every bone and ligament of your body broken, muscles torn apart…" I mutter quietly. "heart literally ripped open for a second," we whispered at the same time. I looked at my best friend and smiled weakly. "An emotional vacuum that goes on for days and days, months or even years."

My best friend took my hand and looked at me even more intently. The worry in her face was slowly dissolving into determination. "Nayla, I trust you, and I know next to your dad, you are the most powerful wolf in this pack. But I want you to know, whatever it takes, I will fight for you. For now, it's okay to be upset." She opened her arms and I allowed myself to melt into them as I sobbed and cried for the loss of Gareth, one last time.

"I will take Dad's offer." I said as we let go.

"I am just every bit as qualified as Gareth to lead a pack -- more so, even. I don't need his mateship to fulfill my role to our people. I have hidden myself long enough. When I first felt the mateship bond, I thought I'm set out to bridge gaps."

" I was wrong. I've seen it, Violet -- how people at the Canopus pack cared only about status, wealth, ambition. I tried. I tried to show them a different route. But I have no voice there. They don't deserve any link to a pack like ours. My people need me more. After I cut myself off from Gareth completely, I'm going home. And I'll stay for good."

I will become the Alpha of Sirius Pack and create a better life for my people.