Chapter 2 The Set Up

LAYLA'S POV

I can almost hear the sound of my heart pounding hard. My wobbly legs are hardly supporting the rest of my quivering body as I gape at the minute hand of the wristwatch tick past midnight while my body remains the same. I can't hear a sound from my wolf either.

How can this be happening? What act of transgression am I being punished for this harshly? Being denied a wolf in a Kingdom of Lycans, vampires and angels? Even the most immoral people I know did get a wolf. So why am I the only one getting past her eighteenth birthday without one?

I let myself fall to the dump ground as the tick-tock sound of the watch carries on. Tears sting my eyes and I let them flow. I wish I can stop time so I won't have to live on and face this reality.

The reality that I am now officially wolfless and will soon be homeless as well. And there isn't a single person or place I know that I can run to.

I curl up and let the negative emotions flow. The fear and pain inside can never end even if I cry a river. But it's the only thing I can do now. A part of me still holds a little hope that my wolf will soon speak even though it's already minutes past midnight. I moan my miserly for hours yet nothing changes.

My clothes are dump with dew and I have an headache when I finally run out of tears. My whole body is trembling because of cold and of course dread as well. I look at my watch and immediately sit up with alarm. It's only an hour before dawn.

I can't return back to the pack house when everyone can see me looking like I had been buried alive. They will immediately know that I have not phased and I will be dragged back out in front of everyone as my father and stepmother will want to show how much they do not condone failure or shame.

If I wait until dawn I probably won't have a chance to gather what I need even though I don't know where I will run to. Would my father allow me to stay a few more days if I dearly beg him?

He will be too furious to learn that I didn't phase on my eighteenth birthday even if he didn't seem to care if it was my birthday. I am a huge disgrace to him and the rest of the pack. But he is still my father and should feel a little concern for me. I will kneel in front of him if I have to. All I want is a few more days to figure out where I can go start anew.

I will sneak back into the packhouse through the backdoor now that it's still dark and go straight to my room. I will wait there until it's morning when the party will be over and go see him in his office.

I pull myself back to my wonky feet and pick up my flashlight and bag. Guess I will forever be the only being in this Kingdom that will always have to use a flashlight because my eyesight will never be strong enough to see through the darkness.

I wipe off the tears still blurring my vision and start my journey back to the pack house. I have never felt this scared of the house I have called home since I was born. Now just looking at the lights eminating from it through the windows makes me shiver.

I can already hear the sounds of jubilation from inside the house while still a few metres away. Guess my sister is having her best day. She is about to become a princess then became Queen once her lover gets crowned as the new King.

She hates me so much that I am certain she will want me out of their Kingdom. I am most likely going to end up a wolfless rogue and probably won't last a month out there on my own.

I manage to get back into the house through the backdoor without being seen by anyone. It's like everyone is in the party and the rest of the place look deserted.

I make my way up the stairs quietly then down the short corridor to my room. I am still shivering with cold and apprehension as I push the door open and step inside.

I immediately freeze at the appalling sight that lay in front of me, something more horrifying than all I have been though already.

I momentarily shut my eyes just to make sure I am not hallucinating. But Talia is still laying on the floor in front of me with deep cuts on her body when I open them. The cuts look like they were made by animal claws and are all over her feet and arms. Her dress is torn and though I can't see the wounds on her torso, I can see blood is still oozing out and soaking the dress. There is even more on the bed where I left her sleeping, like something had attacked her while on the bed and dragged her bleeding body down to the floor.

I hear her make a faint, gasping sound and I rush to her side. Her wounds are deep and she has lost a lot of blood. But she has got a very weak pulse and her skin is still warm.

"Talia! Talia!" I call as I put pressure on the deepest wound on her belly. She gasps in pain but the voice is feeble and I can tell blood is already choking her.

Her eyes slowly open and they are filled with terror. Tears flow out as she gazes up at me. She strains to say something but no words come out.

She has lost a lot of blood and may not make it, but I still scream out for help. It's a huge mistake and I don't realise it until it's too late.

"Someone please come help!" I yell but my voice has become hoarse from all the running and crying and isn't loud enough to be heard from far.

I look down again at Talia's face and see that she is attempting to say something again. I lean down so I can hear her super low whisper.

"Run . . .now . . . pleeese." She stutters.

I look around the room, searching for whatever she is asking me to run from. I don't see anything and look back at her in confusion.

That's when three of my step-sister's maids rush in and immediately start screaming out loud. Not calling out for help, but accusing me of hurting the little child.

"You attacked a child?! What kind of a monster did you phase into!" One yells and my body stiffens with shock.

"I didn't hurt her, I found her like this!" I yell back in defence. But no one listens.

"Look what you did to a poor orphan! What wrong did she do to you!" The second one squeaks.

Talia is my only friend, how can they think I could have done this her? Only someone wicked like a devil would do this.

It's however clear they don't want to listen to me. This being my room doesn't mean I am responsible for all that happens inside it even when I am gone. But they won't listen.

Perhaps they will listen to Tallia. She can tell them I didn't attack her so they can stop yelling at me and call for help instead.

I look back at her to realise that her eyes have closed again. "Talia? Talia!" I call but this time I get no answer. I use my fingers and it's still there though too weak. She must have fainted.