True to my gut feeling, Faith refused to back down on her claims of cheating. Fred told her she was being a fool, and that nothing untoward had passed between him and me, but Faith stubbornly held to her line that something had. Even my mother's best efforts failed, and the whole affair descended into a shambles at dinner that night, when Faith culminated her bad behaviour by taking off her wedding ring and throwing it at Fred in a fit of temper when he refused to admit to a wrongdoing he'd never committed.
Naturally, tempers flared, and my father was forced to go on bended knee to Alpha Adam and beg a stay on the sure slaughter about to be enacted by Faith's disastrous actions. Luna Sally was the only other wolf to keep her head in the chaos that followed, and between her and my father, Alpha Adam's temper cooled.
"Your daughter is a disgrace," he snarled, glaring daggers at my father. My mother had removed Faith from the dining room once level heads had prevailed, but her screams of rage - mainly reviling me as a wanton harlot and only getting worse from there - could still be heard, and I grimaced. "I should have all of you slaughtered," Alpha Adam added, "but I won't stoop to murder. But your daughter is hereby named as enemy to the Winter Snows pack, and should she ever stray into our territory, she will be dealt with." His tone made it clear he wouldn't be gainsaid on this matter, and my father winced as he conceded the terms on which Faith would be allowed to live. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN0CH2OyllE
Alpha Adam wasn't finished, however. "I am no longer interested in becoming allies with the Dawn Blood pack," he said, his voice even colder than before. "The Dawn Blood pack are therefore barred from future interactions with the Winter Snows pack to the seventh generation. By then, we can expect better behaviour from your descendants."
My father looked even more poleaxed, as well he might. By disbarring our pack from interacting with the Winter Snows pack, lucrative fields - part of the dowry offered by Alpha Adam - were now off limits to any of our pack for seven generations. We'd long needed new lands for expansion, but now they'd been taken away, and my father had to seriously bite his tongue as he nodded silent acquiescence to this latest setback.
The interview over, we were summarily dismissed and ordered to return home at once. I hurried to my small room to gather my things, only to find my mother waiting for me, her face like stone. "What happened?" she demanded.
I told her everything that had transpired, and she looked ready to break her teeth on mountains by the time I was done. "This goes beyond my worst imaginings," she snapped. "You should never have spoken with your former brother-in-law."
I gaped at her in disbelief. "How the hell has this turned into my fault?" I demanded.
"You're a witch," my mother said coldly. "You possess magic to make a man fall in love with you."
I rolled my eyes. "No way," I said angrily. "If a man falls in love with me, it's going to be because he saw something in me that made him want to get to know me. And anyway, the way you guard me day and night, it's a wonder I can even talk to a man, the way you guard my virginity like a miser guarding his gold and refusing to spend a single penny more than he has to!"
"I guard you because I don't want your tainted blood infecting the next generation," my mother snapped, rising. "Now pack your things. I will not have you compound the grave wrong you have done your sister by allowing you to linger and garner misplaced sympathy."
"Oh, fuck off," I muttered. I normally didn't swear at my parents, but I was furious at how the blame had been shifted to me. "You really are a piece of work."
My mother sniffed, her only reaction to my profanity, but she did leave me be to gather my things, for which I was grateful. I hadn't packed much beyond the essentials, so in five minutes, I was making my way through the mansion to the foyer, where my parents were waiting. Faith was glaring daggers, and I shivered when that glare turned to me. My grimoire was going to be burned the moment we got home, if Faith hadn't already tossed it in the fireplace in spiteful rage, and I bitterly regretted the loss. But I had a good head for spells, and I knew I could simply buy another book and start the process again, this time keeping the damned thing under lock and key if need be.
But the moment we were in the car, my mother informed me things were going to change when we got home. "You're moving to the basement," she told me. "Anything not deemed essential to your existence will not be permitted. You will be allowed a bed and clothes, as well as the liberty to wash yourself, as well as the meals we will so graciously allow you to have. But you will eat in the kitchen, and you will no longer be permitted to speak with or interact with any of the pack. You are no longer a part of us, and if I had my way, I'd toss you on the street to starve for the way you've behaved so disgracefully."
I sighed. But at least I still had a roof over my head, which was small comfort considering I was now an exile in my own home despite having done nothing wrong. My mother continued. "You will also be withdrawn from school; you do not need education to serve us as the need calls, and I see no reason as to why you should be permitted the freedom of the streets. Therefore, if you have errands to pursue, Chastity will perform them on your behalf, provided they meet with my approval. If they do not, then they will not be conducted."186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYiMPHBkhtE
Chastity would present any errand of mine as frivolous, of that I was sure. "I understand," I said.
"I don't think you do," my father said, speaking for the first time since we'd got in the car. "You don't seem to understand the ruin you have brought on us, and even if you were told in plain terms, I still don't believe it would sink in as to the utter stupidity you've committed by seducing a man away from his lawfully wedded wife."
"Leaving aside the fact he approached me," I said angrily. "Last I checked, he was the one who came to me."
"He would never have done so had you not used a spell to lure him," my mother said coldly.
I rolled my eyes in frustration. "Whatever," I said. "It doesn't matter what I say, you're not going to believe me. I can see I'm wasting my breath."
My mother sniffed disdainfully, and my father sighed. Faith seethed in the seat beside me, and I blessed the geas forbidding her from doing anything to hurt me more than ever. But that wasn't going to stop her from going after the scant belongings I would be permitted to have following today's disaster, and I braced myself for the misery to come.
But I was never going to give up on the belief I'd done nothing wrong; I'd wanted Fred and Faith to have happiness together, even though I hated my sister's guts and believed Fred could do better. No one was going to believe me, though, so I figured the best thing I could do at that present time was keep my mouth shut and let them believe whatever they wanted. I knew the truth, and so long as I had it locked tightly in my heart, their belief in my supposed wrongdoings would be nothing more than smoke on the wind.
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