Chapter 60 – The Dinner
02:00
“Family is supposed to be our safe haven. Very often, it’s the place we find the deepest heartache.” – Iyanla Vansant
Later That Evening
I strode into the dining hall as the Omegas set up the plates and utensils on the long table. Onsight, I sought to leave the room because my parents and older sister have taken their seats. Valerian, handsome as ever, flanked on Raina’s left and little Adonis on her right, wiggling in anticipation for the food. The atmosphere is tense, like a tight muscle in the neck. At least around me. My growls rumbled softly in my chest, low enough to where only I could hear them. As much as I want to keep my distance from sperm and egg donors, I wonder what bullshit they’ll spew from their wretched mouths to win me back.
I took my seat next to Adonis, who smiled at me. His smile was infectious. I smiled back at him. The little beta was the only person in this room I like. I didn’t like Valerian either. Although he had never directly abused me, he refused to stop Raina. He turned the blind eye to her horrific actions. He was complacent and thus earns a fraction of my abhorrence.
“Dinner is ready.” Lead Omega Cassandra announced with a bow, holding a pot full of pasta while her subordinates held pots with sauce, tongs, and ladles. The silence saturated our space as we were being served. Pungent odors of anxiety were noticeable from the Omegas as they trudged towards me. I didn’t say a word, nor looked at their disgusting faces. Cassandra’s eyes lingered on me before she and the others took their leave, leaving the five of us alone.
Clinks of silverware hitting ceramic played a sour, melodious tune during the meal. I waited for someone to speak while everyone avoided my gaze. My eyes trained on little Adonis; cheeks filled with pasta like a chipmunk. He reminded me of myself at his age–spaghetti is my favorite meal. I’d eat it daily without complaints because Ashley or Cassandra made it.
Now, it does nothing to fill the holes in my heart.
This dish used to make me feel loved. Now, it made me feel empty.
Why the hell was this dish picked for this ‘family‘ meal?
“K–Kiya.” Ashley broke the silence. A pleasant, yet nervous smile tore her face as her gaze filled with fondness. I resisted the urge to throw a meatball at her face.
“Remember the first time we had spaghetti? I think you were no older than Adonis. You were so terrified of eating it because you thought the noodles looked like those earthworms in your science class.” I stared, emotionless. “It took much convincing to get you to eat because we didn’t want you to go to bed hungry. I remember your face lighting up when you took your first bite. You became such a ravenous pup that we had to stop you before you got a stomachache.”
I remember those rare, happy memories my mind clung to. One of the rare moments I remember the genuine love from these strangers. The feelings of joy and curiosity filled my senses back then. My mind wouldn’t let me forget that memory. It made me feel sick. My fork poked and prodded at the floppy pasta, the thieving aroma hacking away at my appetite.
“I remember that too,” Raina spoke with a smile. “It was one of those times Cassandra was so worried about her! The horror in her eyes when she dug into her fourth helping of spaghetti and meatballs. I was sure that Kiya would puke all night because she ate too much.”
“Your point?” I asked, raising my head. Irritation poked at me faster than my non–existent pleasure.
“Don’t you like spaghetti anymore?” Steven pondered. “You used to ask for it every night.”
“No.”
The three of them clammed up, bristling in their seats. I rolled my eyes and continued to poke at my food until Valerian spoke.
“That’s a fond memory.” His fork twirled around his noodles. “Cassandra makes the best pasta dishes. The children love them, especially Adonis.” The boy mumbled in agreement, stuffing more food into his mouth. “Adonis, slow down! The food is not going anywhere.”
01:56
I sighed, annoyed. “Is there a reason you took a trip down memory lane? Because Raina told me you wanted to talk, so stop stalling.”
“R–Right. Kiya…” Ashley’s dark eyes pleaded with me, glistening into tears. “I’m sorry. We’re so sorry for what we’ve done to you. You can’t stay mad at us forever.”
“Not forever.” I arch an eyebrow. “How about until I’m dead?”
“You don’t mean that,” Steven responded. “We’re still your family. We made you. Your mother gave birth to you. You carry part of us.”
“Genes, I have learned, don’t make a family.” I retorted harshly, setting down my fork. “What I learned is that even the most poisonous people on this planet are disguised as family. Want to take a gander at who I’m talking about?”
Raina bit her lip, grasping Valerian’s hand from under the table. Adonis was so oblivious to the tension between his family because the taste of the food made him ignorant. “We shouldn’t have hurt you.”
“Then why did you?” I demanded, glaring at every adult at the table. “Why would people I loved so much raise their hand against me? Not once, not twice, but countless times? It got so bad that I have forgotten what a loving touch felt like.”
No one dared to utter a word, so I continued. “Why would people who vowed to our Moon Goddess to love and care for me, turn me into a slave? What cockamamie excuse have you all cooked up to win me back?” I glared at my sister. “Make no mistake Raina. Just because you helped me during my heat does not erase the fact that
I still hate you.”
“We…I…” Ashley stuttered, failing to form a coherent sentence.
“Let me tell you what a family does.” I took out my phone, removed the case, and pulled out a picture of myself and my adoptive family. I tossed it at the center of the table. “They took me in when I was at my worst. Instead of turning a blind eye as you all did, they worked to help me get better. Not just them, but my friends. The same people training your weak wolves. After the damage that you all inflicted on me, they worked hard to get me back to be a healthy, happy werewolf. They did what you all failed to do: love me.”
“We love you!” Steven bellowed, gripping his fork. “We’ve always loved you!”
“Slapping the shit out of me and calling me a piece of garbage is a weird way of showing me love, isn’t it?” I shouted back, infuriated. “Doing nothing as I cried in pain isn’t love, you neanderthal!”
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Chapter 60- The Dinner
“We didn’t have a choice,” Ashley replied meekly, eyes in her lap. “Alpha Jonathan’s word was the law.”
#you
+10
Bonu
01:5
had a damn choice.” I hissed, rising out of my seat. I took back my family photo and placed it back where it belongs. “You had a choice to protect your little girl, but you didn’t. Was living your lavish lives worth sacrificing your child for? Was it worth seeing her lose so much weight that shifting would’ve killed her? You both are fucking failures as Betas and as parents.”
“Kiya, let’s calm down.” Valerian suggested. My fury landed on him, burning hot with orange and red. The nerve of this man telling me to calm down! “We’ve all made mistakes and your parents and sister are trying to make amends. Holding onto the past would only hurt you more than anyone else.”
“Don’t tell me what to do, Valerian. You’re just as complacent in this mess. You’re Neron’s best friend and you allowed him to abuse me! You never stopped your wife from hurting me, either! You never defended me or pulled her away, even though I was also your “family.” I mimicked air quotes on the last word. “Heck, when Raina asked for your permission to hurt me, you agreed! You’re just as shitty as they are.”
“Kiya, don’t talk to Val like that. He’s trying to help mediate.” Raina defended.
“Fuck you and your husband! I hope the Beta position was worth it!”
“That’s enough!” Steven shouted, causing all of us to look up. Even Adonis, who wasn’t paying attention to the fight until his grandfather yelled. “We organized this dinner so we could calmly talk about our issues and come to a consensus, but you’re not making this easy, Kiya. Where is your respect?”
“I lost it thirteen years ago. Never cared to get it back.” I crossed my arms. “You don’t understand what happened down in that dungeon. The horrible things that were done to me. It took me years of therapy to cope with what had happened, and you expect me to brush that away and to be your happy child again?”
“That’s not what we’re trying to do.” Ashley stood from her seat. “Look, Celeste was my best friend. We grew up together. Losing her was like losing my sister. I–no, we needed someone to blame.”
“I was forbidden to refer to Celeste as my aunt! Instead of blaming the rogues who took her life, you chose your little girl!” The desire to rip Ashley’s throat apart ached in my fingers, my claws protruding out from my fingertips. I wanted her to suffer, for all of them to suffer. Their tears were nowhere near the endless tears I shed for years. That pain could never go away. When your blood betrays you, it leaves a lasting scar that would
never heal.
“Nuria was my best friend. I lost her that day too. Ever cared enough to realize that?” I clapped, mocking a standing ovation. “Wonderful motherly decisions you’ve made, Ashley. You deserve an award for best mother in the world.”
“Goddamnit, would you stop referring to us by our first names?” Steven asked with anger etching into his aging face.
“Unless you want to be called ‘fuck face‘, ‘sack of shit‘, “bastard‘ or ‘failure‘, then I’d gladly stop.”
“Baby sis.” Raina walked over to me from her seat, regret in her eyes. “You’re right. We’ve hurt you. We abandoned you. We weren’t the family you deserve. Nothing we say could erase the past, but I want you in my life. I want to hug you and hold you as my little sister. What do we have to do to make it possible?”
“Dic.” The spaghetti on my plate got cold, bitterly reminding me of the disgusting leftovers I forced myself to eat when my hunger became intolerable. “I already got the family I deserve, and they are the only ones I’ll
Chapter 60–The Dinner
call my parents and siblings.”
+10
Bonu
01:50
“Like hell, we’ll let that happen!” My head jerked to see Ashley, now full of unjustifiable rage. Moments earlier, sadness became her mask. She ditched it and donned an expression full of fury. Her fingers dig into the table edge, cracks shaping a perfect image of her fingertips. “They would never be your true family, and we’re not losing you again!”
“Grandma?” Adonis small voice called out, the only slice of peace in this pie of chaos. “Kiya is family? What do you mean?”
My eyes widened at the child; his green eyes filled with twinkling curiosity. Ashley couldn’t do what I thought she was about to do. “No, Donny-!”
“Kiya is your auntie, sweetheart.” She revealed, much to the astonishment of her daughter and son–in–law. “She’s your mother’s sister; the one we told you that was dead.”
“Whoa! That’s so cool!” The beta pup had a level of excitement that I couldn’t match. The world around me faded into muddles and muffles. I didn’t want Adonis to know that I was his aunt. An established familiar connection I wanted no part of. If the boy saw me as a stranger, then he wouldn’t be affected by my departure.
Now, things have changed. Children were fragile creatures but soak up countless pieces of information like a sponge. They want love. They want their family. They want everyone to be happy because it made them happy. Adonis scampers over to me and hugs my legs, rambling that he was happy that a strong lady, like me, was his aunt. As he rambled on about his plans with me, my mind took in the gravity of what Ashley had done. Valerian interrupted our “happy reunion‘ by scooping up his son, whispering in his ear that the adults need to talk, and took him out of the room. Once the door closed, Raina exploded.
“What the fuck, Mom?” Raina screamed. “Why did you just do that?”
“Adonis has a right to know and if Kiya would not say anything, then your father and I will.”
“That wasn’t your decision to make.” Valerian replied, returning to the scene of chaos.
“You want to deprive your son of the family he has never met?” Steven asked him, eyes focused on the current Beta. “Adonis had always wanted to meet her and look at him! He’s happy! We did you both a favor! This family won’t break apart again.”
They took away my decision to tell. How do they think they have any authority over my choices? They made my pain and suffering all about them, selfishly disregarding how I felt. They saw my anger as disrespect, not from a place of agony.
This dinner had never been about me. It was always been about my former family freeing themselves of the guilt for hurting me. Not once have Steven and Ashley acknowledged that they fucked my life up to revel in their false sense of security and pride. They threw me away to the hounds, an innocent pup, so they could live safely and happily.
They never cared about me. They wanted their messed–up family back together and they sacrificed me again. to make it happen. Instead of tossing me in the dungeons, they used Adonis as leverage. They trapped me using their grandson.
I loved children too much. There was no way I would break his heart. They knew this. Anyone could see it
with how I trained the pups.
+10
Bonu
01:41
They have put me in an impossible situation where I couldn’t find the power to get out. If I didn’t hate my family before, I hated them even more now. No fraction of my heart could love them ever again. Guilt and sorrow from them outweighed my pain and trauma. Tears of sorrow and remorse were as deceitful as the trickster gods.
They never cared about me.
At all.
I couldn’t cry. I couldn’t weep. The anger I worked hard to bury combusted in me, a stronger heat than desire rolled into every synapse in my body.
Nothing mattered anymore. Not my mission, not my friends, nothing. The only thing that mattered is to rid my life of the very people who abandoned me.
They hurt me. And now, I was going to hurt them!
All care and rationale flew out of my head, crashing into a sickening heap. Artemis’s voice did not calm this
deadly fury slamming down a mental block from my wolf, I needed to feel this anger.
I must show these fools I was stronger than them. Better than them. That I can snuff their lives out with a single flick of the wrist. My bitter abhorrence towards my egg and sperm donors is my fuel. My purpose. They’re dead to me, and I was going to make that a reality.
They will pay for what they’ve done! They will feel thirteen years of my wrath and there is nothing that would stop me!
Tonight, their lives are mine!