Lyla's POV:
"Lyla come down this instant?" I heard my older brother Lars yell from downstairs.
Perfect; if today wasn't shitty enough, I have to deal with him now as well. Seeing that I didn't have much of an option, I got out of the blanket burrito I had myself snuggled into when I returned from school and went downstairs.
Please, goddess, let it be quick! I seriously cannot stand another rant about my behaviour. Going down the spiral staircase, I see my brother Lars, the eldest and Alpha of our pack: the Bloodmoon Pack. Sitting across him are Kadien, Aiden and Fiden: my triplet brothers.
Crap! This is bad! Usually, the triplets don't care about my behaviour and hardly ever have a talk with me, but from the seething expressions of my four dear elder brothers, shit is about to hit the fan! Climbing down the last step, I walk into the main lounge and put up a smile and go up to Lars.
"Hey there, pal. What's up?" I said, giving his shoulder a punch like I'm not about to get my butt handed to me any second now. In response, I got a death glare, not from one person but four! Ugh!
"Mind telling us why you and Ashely Migwire fought today. And, what was so bad that you knocked her out, plus giving her a concussion, broken nose and a split lip?" Said Lars, seething. I swear I could see smoke from his ears coming out.
It wasn't always like this! I hated fighting with people; hell, I hated the sight of blood, but everything had changed since that dreadful day. I changed! The sad part was that even though I had four douting older brothers and a betrothed, who supposedly loved me, despite that, no one saw the pain I went through; all they saw was the high-tempered girl. When I needed them, they all had to do damage control, which I don't blame them for, but in doing so, they shadowed me away. I used to be the apple of my parents' eyes; they had never let a sad tear run down my face, always protected and cherished me, and that was their destruction.
***Two years ago***
On my fifteenth birthday, mom and daddy had taken me out for a morning run that day; since we got our wolves when we turned eighteen, I was riding on daddy's back. That day was supposed to be perfect; the sun shone bright, the grass was greener, the hummingbirds hummed their tunes without a care in the world, and the river we stopped by was the bluest it had ever been, but that all changed in a matter of fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes on my fifteenth birthday was the trajectory point of my life.
It was a custom between my parents, brothers and me to always run to the river by our pack borders on my birthday and then we would have a picnic breakfast there, but that day it was only me, mom and daddy. Lars had gone to the Wolf multiverse for his Alpha training, and the triplets were gone to see their best friend, Alpha Jax, who is now my betrothed. So it was just me, mom and daddy. Everything was going great; mom had made a quiche, fruit salad, some egg salad sandwiches and orange juice. Midway between all the laughter and teasing, we heard a twig snap; well, daddy did; since I didn't have my wolf yet, my heightened senses had not kicked in. My parents looked at one another and, without saying another word, transformed into their Black wolves, shielding me from the threat. Suddenly, I was hit with a hideous scent: rogues! Mom had crouched down for me to climb onto her back while daddy used his muzzle to nudge me to be quicker. However, I wasn't quick enough, and suddenly four rogues pounced on us. I don't know when it happened, but all I saw was my parents ripping through the wolves while others slashed and clawed them everywhere when they were busy fighting the other two. My heart broke; blood was running down my parent's bodies; not knowing what to do, I picked up the rock next to me and started hitting the rogue that was crouching near me, trying my best to get to my parents so I could help them in some way. Out of nowhere, my shoulder was slashed, and soul-wrenching pain rippled through my body; turning around, I saw a naked man standing there with a silver knife in his hand, smirking at me and looking at my shoulder with triumph. Turning my neck, I saw another knife lodged in my shoulder. Not being able to control the pain and the poison spreading through my body anymore, I collapsed to the ground. The rogue came and stood over me and said,
"You shouldn't have resisted, little one; you were supposed to be brought in unharmed. Pity! Guess we'll have to tell the boss a little white lie." He finishes, showing me his disgusting yellow teeth while smirking down at me.
Crouching down, he yanked the knife out of my shoulder and raised it in the air above my heart. The thought of dying on my birthday and in front of my parents was shattering my soul. I remember praying to the goddess to never let my parents suffer because of it. Closing my eyes, I was ready to embrace death when, suddenly, I heard a sickening crack and a gush of warm red fluid spilled all over me: blood. Opening my eyes, I saw my parent's wolves tearing the rogue apart, but before I could get up properly and run to them, they both collapsed and turned back into their human forms. They were stabbed with sliver knives all over their bodies, the stabbed area turning an ugly black by the second as blood trickled out of their mouths and wounds. I didn't know how or what gave me the energy but I ran to them, ignoring the pain in my shoulder as it increased by the second, tripping over the four rogue bodies they had killed and cradled their heads in my lap as my tears fell down their faces.
"You're special, Lyla. Be careful who you choose to open up with. Trust in your family and know we love you and are sorry." These were the last words daddy and mommy said to me before I heard howls coming from around us, and everything went dark.
I woke three days later from a coma from the sliver poisoning; how I survived, no one knows. My brothers and the pack doctor denied telling me anything. My parents were buried, Lars had to return from alpha camp early and take over, and the triplets were caught up in damage control of the pack and dealing with the human authorities since we lived in the human multiverse. And, I became the target of some pack members, claiming I was the reason for my parent's death, that they died protecting me because I was weak. However, that was a minority, and the majority never blamed me but took care of me in mom and daddy's absence, but the love I craved for was family. Those loved ones became so involved with everything around me that I was cast in the shadows. I never lacked anything, whether money, bags, clothes or whatever else; our pack was filthy rich, but what I needed at the time to heal my broken heart was not given: my brother's care and protection.
Eventually, I started acting out, washed with guilt that maybe what Ashely and her possie claimed, that I was thereason of my parent's death, was true. Not being able to deal with that, I became hostile; I bit back whenever anyone blamed me. I used to knock someone out cold or give them a beating they would remember. My brothers tried connecting with me after the affairs had somewhat settled down, but it was too late; I closed myself off from them. Maybe it was out of guilt, or maybe I was scared that if I opened up, they would blame me too. So I decided it was better to be a closed-off fool than willy-nilly tell everyone my feelings buffon. What could they do anyway? It wasn't like mom and daddy were gonna come back.
******
I was broken out of my thoughts when Lars cleared his throat. Unconsciously, my hand went to the scar on my shoulder that was left by the knife that day. Lars had caught the movement, and his eyes softened a bit; even the triplets sighed in helplessness. It was a thing I did; whenever I remembered that day, my hand was automatically there, a permanent reminder of that day. Over the months, my brothers picked up on the action. However, I never acknowledged their opinions on why I did it.
Sighing, Lars came forward and hugged me and said,
"Look, Lyla, this is the tenth fight you've gotten into this month. This has to stop. Bloodmoon is your family; everyone loves you. You need to stop this. You are part of the alpha family, our only sister and the female Alpha of this pack. You need to be a role model, not some wayward." He finished.
If only he knew. I had never told any of my brothers about the bullying; when it started, they were so busy trying to control everything that they hardly ever had time. I didn't want to put additional tension on their heads. Over time, I got used to it and learned to fight back. But, now it was getting annoying. Did they only see quirks in me and not the other person? Why was I always blamed? Couldn't the other person have done something? Untangling myself from Lars, I looked at him and my other brothers.
"Did you ever think that maybe it could be Ashley's fault and she deserved what she got?" I said.
I heard them sigh and shake their heads, probably in disappointment. Well, there's a familiar gesture I get to see a lot nowadays.
"L, even if that is the case, what about the other nine times? All the people you had gotten into fights with were from that group, and you left everyone literally battered and bruised. You know you have pure alpha blood running in you, and you are stronger than them. So how is it fair?" Said Kaiden
"He's right, L; things have gotten out of hand now. You're starting to scare people in the pack. No one blamed you over the years because of what happened; you were traumatized, and at the time, we thought that this was your way of dealing with things, but this, this is just bat-shit crazy, L. You gave her a concussion, and she's yet to wake up. You know she isn't eighteen and does not heal as fast as she should since she has no wolf." I heard Aiden say.
At the time? Way of dealing? He didn't just say that, and the rest did not just nod in agreement. How dare they? I didn't deal with this! I hid it in the darkest part of me! They weren't there, no one was there, they didn't see what I saw that day. And, they dare to blame me when they are equally at fault for my behaviour. Where were they when I needed them? Where did the family mom and daddy tell me to put my trust in? Where were they when I needed my brothers? I needed love from them and not random pack members; where were they?
I didn't notice tears falling on my cheeks till I reached out and rubbed them. I was done; I didn't need this. They're supposed to listen and then judge, but all they've done is judge. I backed away.
"I'm done, so done. That narcissistic idiot deserved it. Believe it or not, I'm not stupid and don't hit people without reason." I said as I turned and ran back to my room. Slamming the door and locking it, I went under the sheets.
Life used to be so much better! Why moon goddess, why? Mom and daddy said I was special, special my foot. People who are special get treated right, but nowadays, it hardly feels like that.