Amira’s eyes squinted, her arms crossed tightly against her bosom as she regarded me with a look filled with frustration and disbelief. “Really? Are you going to use that as an excuse?” she shot back, her voice laced with irritation.
I bristled at her words, the sting of her accusation, how could it be an excuse when the goddess was the one who twisted our fates?
“He rejected me, didn’t he?” I countered, my voice trembling with anger. “So why are you still so hung up over it?”
But Amira’s expression remained unchanged, she didn’t reply so I continued, “Is that why you didn’t do anything about the tomatoes and eggs…or a healer to help me with the silver splinters?” I pressed.
Amira sighed heavily, as always her eyes revealed nothing. “You will remain here, sis,” she declared, “I have no vendetta with you. I can’t get a healer; it goes against the judgment of the court. Even as Luna, I am not above the law. You will have to make do for tonight. Tomorrow someone will come to release you. I kept my promise, as you have pleaded guilty you are free to live as a maid and I will continue to convince the judges that it was self-defense, so that by the end of this month your whippings will stop and you will continue community service. That’s all I can do for you, sis.”
I wanted to be appreciative of her help but a part of my heart doubted everything was going to be alright.
“What if I die tonight?” I pleaded, the fear clawing at my heart.
But Amira offered no reassurance, no solace in the face of my impending doom. She tightened her lips, her face masked with a coldness that she had practiced as a Luna. “Be appreciative for once Liana, you have a roof over your head, I still care for you even though you are nothing but a nuisance and stress. I still care for you as a younger sister but there is a limit.”
With a final glance, she turned and walked away, leaving me alone in the darkness of the dungeon, to face the night and all its terrors alone.
I closed my eyes as my mind wandered to little Amira who I took care of as if she was my child, being a great big sister but the less favored. How Amira would come to me for help with assignments and pack work, but the older she got, the more she hung out with the other wolves the colder she became. She had bullied me with her friends for not attending school due to the fact an omega was just a slave, she had made my father disown me, and she had hurt me but even with that she still showed care.
When I was beaten in the streets she would bring a first aid kit, when my father said I should be her maid when she was to marry the alpha, she still treated me with respect…but she had remained cold. Maybe blood was thicker than water, maybe she really does see me as a sister and family always have issues.
Or maybe I was being delusional.
*****
