Calm Before the Storm
The next few weeks passed by uneventfully. Jenna had begun giving Anabelle more and more freedom. She no longer was timed on how long it took to get home from school, how long it took her to eat, she had fewer chores to do and was allowed her cell phone in her room unsupervised. It had crossed her mind that Jenna and Alpha Kevin were only being this nice to Annabelle to keep her happy and ensure she did not try to escape and go after Evan and her mother, but she put this thought to the back of her mind.
After all, this was the happiest she had felt in a very long time, why would she begin to question it? Leave well enough alone she thought to herself. Alpha Kevin had waited about a week before disposing of Evan's belongings. Anabelle had a suspicion that her father thought Evan would just arrive home one day begging for forgiveness and all would be back to the horrible normalcy they were used to.
When this didn't happen, it seemed to enrage her father. He threw a pack bonfire and burned Evan's bed, clothes, and anything important to Evan. Anabelle tried to suggest giving the clothes and other things to the pack orphans who would greatly benefit from the items. In return for speaking out, she received a lovely smack to the face. It deeply saddened Anabelle to watch her brother's belongings burn. At the end of the bonfire, the only evidence there was that, he ever existed was the ashes left behind.
After the bonfire, everything settled down and Anabelle could feel lily her wolf getting stronger and stronger as they were feeding her better. She could almost feel the surge of power when she tried to shift, and it was getting stronger and stronger every day.
During training one evening she heard Lily speak to her. "Duck!" Anabelle froze from shock and did not in fact duck and as a result suffered a broken nose, that thanks to Lily, healed in a couple of days. Evan had disappeared from her life in mid-November. It was now December and if Anabelle was completely honest with herself - life had never been better. Her family was treating her better, she was getting stronger every day, and the pack was no longer hurting her every day. They still despised her for being the tyrant Alphas daughter, but at least they weren't actively hurting her.
She missed Evan terribly and it filled her with immense guilt that she was happy without him there. She wondered every day about where he was and what he was doing. Her mind was consumed with thoughts of her mother, what she looked like now, where she was, and whether she thought of Anabelle.
Soon enough it was the week of Christmas. Alpha Kevin had bought a second-hand video console for her and Fred, and Anabelle spent her Christmas holidays from school watching movies and eating popcorn. Life was good for her for the first time. Sure, Alpha Kevin and Jenna were still awful people, but they were no longer treating her terribly.
Christmas day arrived and Anabelle woke up and descended the stairs. To her absolute shock, she had presents waiting for her under the tree. Before she could open them however her father took her by the arm and called her upstairs. She followed him wondering what it could be about. He opened the door to her bedroom, and they both entered. Anabelle sat on the bed and waited for him to speak. He walked to the window and looked out solemnly. "Has Evan contacted you?" he asked her. She shook her head and looked at the ground. "Good" he replied, "just checking, now go open your presents... and if Evan does contact you, with any nasty lies, make sure you tell me, okay?" She simply nodded and left the room. She had no idea why Evan would try to contact her, after all, he had left without her, leaving her in that house. What did her father mean when he said nasty lies?
She entered the sitting room and pushed the thoughts from her head, smiled, and sat down to open presents with Jenna and Fred. Her presents consisted of new jeans, some tops, and a radio to listen to music on. They were second-hand, but it was more than she had ever received before, and she was elated with them. She set up her radio and spent the rest of the afternoon playing with Fred and his new toys, of which he had many. They sat down for Christmas dinner, which was a solemn affair as her father joined them. Whenever Alpha Kevin was in the room it was always silent until he spoke, and you answered.
Anabelle helped Jenna with the dishes, usually, this would be Anabelle's job alone, but Jenna helped for some reason. When everything was winding down for the evening she sat in Evan's old room, which had been converted into a den, and watched a movie. The movie was good but something about being in Evan's room distracted Anabelle, so she found herself scrolling through her phone. She only had a few games and one social media account on her phone, but it kept her occupied all the same.
As she was aimlessly scrolling, a message from Evan popped up on her phone and she felt a pang in her chest. She quickly glanced at the door to the "den" to make sure no one was around and opened the message.
"Hey Anabelle, miss me?"
the message read. She started sweating as she quickly typed a reply.
"Of course, I do, but where are you?"
She anxiously waited for a reply. Thankfully his reply came quick.
"I can't tell you that but listen, I found mom and she wants to meet you and tell you everything. Life is so much better here, we have so much freedom and no one hurts us. I have so much to tell you. I found out why dad seems to hate us so much and why he ran the pack into the ground. But I can't tell you over the phone. You know he checks the phones every night, so delete these texts and if you want to know the truth and live freely away from his temper, meet me outside the pack territory Monday morning before school. I promise I'll keep you safe".
She quickly sent back "okay" and deleted the messages after making a mental note of the time and place to meet Evan. She wasn't sure what she was going to do, whether she would go or stay. But she knew she wanted to meet her mother and know the truth.