You Never Series Book 1: You Never Knew Me
Free at Last
LYRIC
An uproar follows my announcement as everyone erupts in disbelief and anger.
Alpha Marco rises from his chair, and I whirl around on him and growl. “Sit down, Father!” I bark in my alpha voice.
He stops in shock, and I turn back to the crowd. “Listen up! I am not a nobody. I am an alpha’s daughter. That alpha!” I point to my father. “The same man that has had both his chosen mate and fated mate side by side for years!”
I turn to glare at him, making sure he’s hearing my every word. “He has been cheating on his luna and his pack, and he’s ignored and tried to hide me away with the help of my mother.”
I look back at my mother, and she’s hanging her head in shame. Well, at least it’s for something she should be ashamed of this time!
I’ve tried hard not to blame my mother, I really have. As an omega wolf, she’s been conditioned to not stand up for herself, to believe she’s not worth it. And since she thought I was an omega too, she probably believed the same about me.
I know she must care about me on some level—I mean, she’s never really abused me or anything—but sometimes I think acting like I don’t exist to protect my asshole of an alpha father is even worse.
I take in the now silent crowd, scanning the sea of faces.
“No more!” I say, my voice strong and my head held high. “I reject both my parents, Alpha DeLong and Christine Johannes. And I reject this pack.”
I hear gasps from the audience—and from the VIPs to my left—but my mother just cringes, shrinking down into her seat even more.
I feel a twinge of pity but force myself to harden my heart. This is my moment. All eyes are on me, seeing me and my worth for the first time.
“Yes, while you all have been busy ignoring my existence, I’ve been watching your interactions, listening to your secrets. I am well aware of the injustices this pack is capable of. How low-ranked wolves are used and abused. Are you?”
I strip off the gown and yank the cap from my head, tossing it to the ground. Then I take a few steps toward Alpha Marco, who’s glaring at me, his face mottled in rage.
“I’m done with you, Father,” I say, my voice loud and clear, then turn on my heel to leave the stage before the shock wears off and someone tries to stop me.
But Marco grabs my arm and yanks me back around, snarling in my face, and the shock causes Sadie to surge forward.
Damien suddenly appears beside us, and I wonder what he could possibly say in defense of his father. But my pondering only lasts a moment, because—
Oh shit! Is that lust in his eyes?
Sadie must have accidentally released her scent!
I stick my hand up, a command for him to stop, and Alpha Marco looks from Damien to me in confusion.
That’s when Damien growls, “Mate,” his glazed eyes still intent on me.
I huff in derision. “Yeah, no! Not going to happen.” I look directly at my former brother. “I, Lyric Johannes, reject you, Damien DeLong, as my mate. I will not be stuck in this pack!”
Damien grabs at his chest and howls, and Luna Diana rushes forward to support him.
“Makes you wonder how he can be my mate, doesn’t it, Father?” I snap, trying to free myself from his hold. “It looks like while you were off being all lovey-dovey with my mother, the luna had her own midnight caller!”
Alpha Marco roars and, gripping both of my shoulders now, begins to shake me. I feel myself start to shift. I have to get out of here! Now!
Tearing myself out of his grasp, I stumble to the stage floor, heaving for breath. I don’t know if Sadie and I can hold back any longer!
Alpha Marco’s eyes dart to Luna Diana, who dips her head in shame as she clutches her son to her bosom. I feel a flash of pity for Damien. He’s not a bad guy, and it’s not his fault who his parents are.
Or not, as the case may be.
Unable to resist, I lift my eyes to the audience and take one more shot. “Your leaders, Ladies and Gentlemen!”
Alpha Marco roars in fury and lunges toward me, beginning to shift.
Seeing no other option—I can’t let him stop me from leaving—I allow Sadie to take over. And together, we hear the startled exclamations and whispers of awe as her huge white self emerges.
She pauses to growl at a stunned Alpha Marco, her hackles rising, her lips curled back from her fangs, then leaps over the heads of those standing in front of the stage. Then, we practically fly out of the gym.
Sadie’s enormous paws eat up the ground as we make a path through the trees and up into the forested mountains of the Colorado wilderness.
We quickly locate the hollowed-out tree where I hid a duffle bag and a large backpack, and I shift long enough to slip the loose backpack on, then shift back so Sadie can grab the duffle bag with her teeth. We take off for the border.
Thank Goddess I chose the path of least resistance. Fewer patrols come out this way because of the rocky incline. Not that I really believed anyone would try to stop me; I was just being extra cautious.
But now that my father has seen my wolf, knows her to be a rare white alpha… No! I refuse to allow him to drag me back into his pack. Just let him try!
I cross the rock-strewn slope and turn to look back. It will be the only time I do so.
“I, Lyric Johannes, reject the Half Moon Pack,” I say once more. I’m a little surprised I feel nothing—no anger, resentment, or even sorrow. But then again, why should I? They never really claimed me.
Sadie sniffs the air before altering course and heading us north. Toward a new life.
Continue to the next chapter of You Never Series Book 1: You Never Knew Me