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The fallout was spectacular to say the least. Jonas was angry and heartbroken over the death of his son, and he rightfully demanded Pearl face justice for Ryan's murder. Lisa had gone back to her parents in the days following the disastrous party, while my parents went into desperate damage control.
Pearl, however, insisted she wasn't in the wrong, and that she was acting in self defence. Jonas refused to buy it, and told her that she was a liar. Pearl didn't take to that at all well and called him some very unflattering names in response. The next thing my parents knew, the Silverton pack had declared war on ours, and all hell broke loose.
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Two weeks after the declaration of war, Lisa went into premature labor, no doubt brought on by the stress of her mate's death, and the additional stress Jonas was putting her under. He'd told her parents that Lisa and her cub belonged with him and his pack because she'd been engaged to Ryan. John and Helena told Jonas to go pound sand. Jonas responded by having Lisa kidnapped in the dead of night, and she went into labor the next day. Normally, premature labor wasn't an issue for females, since they always shifted into wolf form to birth their cubs, but Lisa, perhaps sensing she and her cub would end up being caught in a nasty tug-of-war, gave birth in human form. Both she and her cub died as a result, to the horror of her parents, who had been barred from the hospital on Jonas's orders. John and Helena immediately blamed Jonas, and managed to claim the bodies of their daughter and grandson before Jonas could have them buried behind his packhouse.
Jonas tried threatening them with legal action, and was told to go pound sand. He retaliated by declaring war on their pack as well.
Suffice to say, things quickly went to hell in a handbasket after that.
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In the middle of all this mess, Pearl's trial went ahead. But it descended into chaos once it came to light that all the witnesses had been bribed or threatened into silence. This included everyone who'd been at the party, including myself and my parents, with Pearl threatening to kill us with her bare hands if we spoke out against her.
My parents didn't care for her threats and testified against her anyway, as did I. It was immensely satisfying to see the smug look on Pearl's face drain away and be replaced by horror. Sadly, it wasn't enough, and she was allowed to go free, much to my disgust. Father was just as displeased as I, and he exiled her from the packhouse. Pearl refused to leave.
"You can't kick me out," she said. "This is MY home, and no one is kicking me out. If anyone should be kicked out, it's Cassandra. It's HER fault Ryan's dead."
"You killed him," Father told her. "Cassandra had nothing to do with his death - it was your hand that killed him."
Pearl glared at him. "You're going to be sorry you threw me out," she warned him. "ALL of your miserable pack are going to be sorry, and I'll start with your whore daughter." She whirled and started upstairs, but Mother moved to intercept her.
"You leave with nothing but the clothes on your back," she said. "You've done nothing but rob my daughter, so now you can see what it's like to have nothing."
I winced despite myself. Pearl HAD taken almost everything I owned over the years, but it was no reason to throw her out with nothing except for what she was wearing. But Mother was the Luna, and Pearl resigned herself with her usual bad grace, storming out and slamming the door shut behind her. But I knew it wasn't over.
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