#Chapter 4 Don’t be afraid, little wolf

Candido watched me carefully.

“We’re going home so you can change for the event.”

A protest rose to my lips, but I swallowed it and sat up straight. I was a member of the Full Moon Pack. I hadn’t been Hedy of the Wolf Fang Pack in four years. There was no sense in being afraid of a small pack that posed no threat to me or the Full Moon Pack.

So, I sat back and nodded. “I hope you didn’t pick out an orange dress.”

"Of course not.”

The dress was a shimmering nude and white dress that flattered me as if it was made to fit me. Knowing Candido, it probably had been. I promised not to be afraid. I kept a brave face from the time I got dressed until I returned to the car to ride to the banquet hall on the other side of the capital city.

Still, my stomach turned with nerves. When we arrived, I stepped out of the car with Candido and looked up at the banquet. Before, there was no way that my father would have been able to afford such a thing. Either the pack was doing well, or they had allied with a wealthy pack and pooled resources. Either way, I took Candido’s arm and followed him inside.

People milled around.

Although Candido always kept a low profile, his handsome appearance and powerful aura made him stand out enough to silence the crowd as we entered.

“Alpha King,” Lilian’s simpering voice greeted. “Such an honor for you to attend.”

I turned and looked at her as she and Bella approached. Lilian looked older. It was probably all the evil she’d done over the years making her age. Bella’s eyes were burning with envy as she looked over my figure and then up at Candido.

Her eyes went dazed like I had seen so many women’s eyes do. It almost made me smile how quickly she’d forgotten her issues with me when faced with how handsome Candido was. She had no chance of catching his eye, and it made me feel like I had finally won something. Bella was staring at Candido as if he was all she wanted, and I was on his arm. We weren’t involved. He was my pack leader and protector. I was his ward, but I was still someone of importance to him, and she was nothing.

After so many years of her making me feel like I was nothing, it felt poetic.

People whispered as they realized who Candido was. There was fear, but most of it was interest. Candido usually didn’t go to these kinds of events, though he was always invited.

I noticed that several of the women in attendance were staring at him and shook my head as Bella shifted and came up to me, taking my hand.

“It’s so good to see you, Hedy!” Bella said, squeezing my hand uncomfortably tight. Her eyes were vicious and meaningful. “It’s been so long. I’ve been so worried about you.”

At first, I was shocked. Lilian shifted her gaze.

“Yes, you gave us quite the scare when you just disappeared….” Lilian murmured. “You should come home and visit your father more.”

I yanked my hand from Bella and stepped back. Their fake smiles did nothing to make me forget the hell of living with them.

“Don’t pretend like you care,” I said. “Do you think your fake act fools anyone?”

Her eyes widened. “What do you—”

“After everything you’ve done to me,” I glared at Lilian hard before looking back at Bella. “After everything you’ve said to me, do you think I’d forgotten what you really are?”

Horrible, spiteful evil people who didn’t care about me. The apple of my father’s eye and the woman who replaced my mother. Why would I ever pretend to play nice with the woman who tried to kill me and her daughter who enjoyed torturing me?

Bella glanced at Candido. “I don’t under—”

“Don’t play innocent!” I hissed and sneered at her. “You’re just playing at being a good sister to impress him, but he’s not impressed. He’s not fooled. No one is.”

“That’s—”

“Shut up,” I glared at Lilian. “The fact that you would even think to speak to me makes me sick.”

“You little—”

“It makes me want to rip your hair out.”

I saw in her eyes a moment from my past. I remembered the day Bella shoved me down and kicked me. I remembered the way she stared down at me.

You look so much like that wench… She’d said. It makes me want to rip your hair out.

Silence fell over the area. Candido said nothing, but I didn’t expect him to speak.

“Hedy!” My father, Steven, shouted and marched towards us as Bella stepped back, covering her face and pretending to cry. “How dare you talk to your sister like that?”

It was just his voice and his cold expression. I knew he had always loved Bella more.

No, I know he’s never loved me. Otherwise, he would not have tried to force me to marry a man who was old enough to be my grandfather for his own benefit.

Did he imagine how desperate his daughter would be to escape a marriage to an old man with age spots all over his face? To avoid ever being thrown down on a bed and forced to have sex with him?

My stomach churned. Why did I feel sick at the sight of my father?

How could I hold back the tears of humiliation as his stern and frightening face became a blur in my eyes?

I should have been prepared for this, but I wasn’t. As he marched toward me, I felt like I was being thrown back in time. He seemed so much bigger. He seemed like he had all the power, and I was helpless.

It didn’t matter that I was covered in bruises. It had never mattered if Bella was crying. I was always in trouble.

First, the shouting and the anger. Then, there would be pain. Would he grab something to hit me with or just slap me to the ground like he had when I was younger?

I trembled, bracing for the impact and completely still as my past overwhelmed me.

“Hedy, what’s wrong?” It's Candido.