The whispers and tears from pack members echoed through the pack hall. I could feel Benji's hand soothingly move on my back, he was offering me comfort in a way that I was not used to. I had always been alone, never had anyone to personally support me. Even though I had developed relationships, they weren't meaningful because I was never vulnerable with them. Benji was the first person in years who knew my weaknesses, my secrets and my pain. I was so thankful he was here with me, even if he didn't have any words to offer me. He was my anchor.
There was the clanking of chains, the heavy steps of people walking through the room. I couldn't bare to look up, I knew who was there without even laying my eyes on her. Benji moved his hand off my back and grasped my hand. I didn't know if it was for him or me, but I was grateful. I knew Jacob and Tyler would have to stand by my sister for she was just too dangerous to be left unguarded, even with elder's present, she was too unpredictable and unstable.
I clenched my eyes closed and lifted my gaze from the floor to my sister. Before we used to be identical. Both of us had similar skin, black raven hair, green eyes. It was difficult to separate the two of us. When I arrived in the City and I looked in the mirror all I could do was hate myself. I saw my sister, I never saw myself. All I could do was look at the woman in front of me and see the woman who ruined my life.
It was a few weeks in to me developing my business that I decided to change my appearance, I dyed my hair red, Â It made my green eyes twinkle like emeralds. My skin that was once tanned from the sun kissed environment of the pack was now pale and well-maintained with numerous creams that made my skin glow. When I looked in the mirror, I didn't see my sister or Louise. I saw myself as Loretta Romano, the strong independent ice queen of New York City.
As I looked at my sister stand in front of the pack, she looked completely different. Her once gorgeous curves were now non-existent. She had lost a lot of weight and she was slim and lanky. Her arms were very thin that her bones could be seen against her skin. Her black shiny raven hair was now lifeless and dull, it was greasy and matted like she didn't care. Her sun-kissed skin was now like leather and her face was riddled with stress lines. Her eyes were dull but filled with this crazed and unstable look as she caught my gaze.
"Are you Leanne White, daughter to retired Beta John and Margaret White?" Elder Reece looked down on my sister who was shackled by silver chains on her arms and feet. Both Jacob and Tyler stood back, their eyes unwavering from her stance. Leanne had this vacant look in her eyes but she scoffed at his question and turned her head in the other direction. She looked at the Elder like he was beneath her, she didn't want to answer, she didn't want to be accountable.
There was this deathly silence that filled the room. As I looked around, pack members looked at the woman they once called friend or Luna in disbelief. The lack of respect that she showed was surprising. No one could believe her audacity to ignore the Elder's it was an extreme sense of disrespect.
Elder Robert let out a growl. The power of his wolf was nauseating for those of us who were in the room. His eyes darkened and went black and it was this that caused his wolf clawed to the surface. Many of the pack bowed our heads in a sign of respect, however I couldn't pull my gaze from the scene that was unfolding in front of me. "YOU WILL NOT DISRESPECT YOUR ELDERS. YOU WILL NOT DISRESPECT THE COUNCIL. YOU WILL ANSWER ALL OUR QUESTIONS WITH HONESTY AND WITHOUT HESITATION. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"
Everyone in the room watched as Leanne's wolf surfaced and submitted without fight, for her wolf knew there was no escaping their power. "Yes, I understand." She whispered. "I apologise for my human's incompetence. She will only continue to show her disrespect and refuse to answer, so I will provide you with the information you seek." She bowed her head.
"Wolf of Leanne White, what is your name?" Elder Robert questioned.
"My name is Mary. I am truly sorry for the disrespect shown by my counterpart." She sadly replied.
"Mary, would you please confirm whether you are the daughter of retired Beta John and Margaret White?" Elder Reece questioned again.
"Yes we are." She calmly responded.
"As your human is refusing to commit to questioning, how are you able to answer our questions with truth and honesty?" Elder Reece states.
"My human and I, we share a body, a heart and a mind. I have never agreed with her actions, although she has detached herself from me, her thoughts and memories are still shared with me." Mary, my sister's wolf explains. "I make an oath on the Moon Goddess that everything I share will be nothing but the truth."
"Very well." Elder Robert states in a clipped tone. "Can you explain to me the relationship between you and your sister Louise White when you were teenagers?"
She nods her head. "Leanne has never been close to her sister. She was extremely insecure despite the love she received from her parents. Leanne was closest to her mother, Leanne had grown up watching our mother dote on her and ignore Louise. Louise grew up extremely close to our father and during that time Leanne started to feel insecure at the love she received from our father, not noticing that he was only compensating for what our mother was not giving Louise."
"When Louise and Leanne started high school, Louise had excellent grades, teachers liked her a lot and at first she started to make friends with other people. She was very kind and genuine with everyone. As the years went by Leanne became bitter and jealous, Leanne knew that Louise was extremely humble and didn't like the spotlight or attention. Leanne capitalised on this. While Louise humbling moved in the background, spending time with the pups and volunteering at the hospital. Leanne took credit for this."
"During this time, Leanne met a Rouge named Kieran. He was involved with a lot a shady dealings. Leanne became quite obsessed with him, he showed her attention, he showered her in love. They would spend a lot of time outside the pack boarders, at first she never engaged with the illegal dealings but as she started to pull away from me and our bond. She started to involve herself in their dealings. She was promised to be the Queen to his empires."
Mary let the tears roll down her face. "She wouldn't listen to me. The human in her became too strong. Despite Kieran having a mate, she didn't care. Kieran rejected his true mate in the most degrading and humiliating way. I tried to get control but she pushed me back into her mind and we lost our connection. She had control of the wolf with her own free will." She hung her head.
"Louise had managed to save a child of the Redbridge pack who was being kidnapped by Kieran. Louise had killed Kieran trying to save the child. It was at this moment that Leanne had became enraged, determined to destroy her sister. She started and fuelled rumours, having sex with rouges and unmated warriors using her sister's name." Mary spat out in disgust.
"Leanne had tried to continue with Kieran's empire, only for it to be intercepted our her true mate, Xavier. Leanne slept with Xavier thinking that he would have the same intentions as his brother and that she would still be Queen to the empire. However, Xavier is a good wolf, he didn't like what Kieran did and wanted to stop his dodgy dealings with child trafficking and selling drugs. Leanne did not like this, for she thought Xavier was weak and she rejected him." Mary sobs.
"Leanne returned home and told her mother that she was mated to a male rouge and she told her mother that he was dangerous. At this point Leanne had ruined her sister's reputation and her mother was aware that Jacob was Louise's true mate. Her mother encouraged her to pursue Jacob. She told her that she would have been a better Luna than her sister. Leanne saw this a way to punish Louise for killing her lover Kieran."
There was an eeriness that filled the pack hall, no one knew what to say. I could see Jacob and Tyler look at my sister who was being controlled by her wolf. Their faces held nothing but disgust and contempt. Benji on the other hand was shaking his head in disbelief, he brought his lips to my ear. "Why does this feel like an episode of Maury?" It was then that I choked on laughter through my sobs. Benji knew that I needed his light humour to bring me out of the darkness.
"Can you explain the situation with the child that you birthed? Who was the father and what the circumstances around his death?" Elder Reece questioned. For the first time his face held a look of sympathy. I knew it wasn't for my sister but rather the wolf that inhabited within my sister.
"I became pregnant after the one time I shared with my True mate." She said with tears in her eyes. "I was happy for the pup but still heartbroken that I could not be with my mate, for Leanne had told Jacob that it was his child. Leanne had believed that it was Kieran when they had sex, she didn't realise it was him until after she had engaged in a sexual relationship with him rejected him, following her mother's instructions she mated Jacob in hopes of tricking him into believing the babe was his. It was then that Jacob had decided to make me his Luna." She hangs her head.
"When we were attacked Leanne told Jacob that it was her rouge mate who had kidnapped her child and Jacob automatically blamed him for the death of my child. Leanne had lied." She said as she hung her head. Gasps and murmurs exploded from pack members. Elder Robert held his hand up for their to be order and quietness in the pack. Elder Reece then gestured with his hands for Mary to continue.
"Kieran's true mate had kidnapped my son. She was the one who had brutally murdered my child. Leanne lost her sanity and started spewing the truths. For Kieran's true mate had poisoned her with a hallucinogenic in which she revealed the truth to her parents and Jacob. It was when I felt the bond snapped that it wasn't only Leanne repelling the bond she held with me, but I too pulled away because she was the reason my pup was dead. Over the years I have grown weak because of my human's selfish actions." Mary said with a sob.
"The rouge who killed your son, is she still alive?" Elder Robert questioned.
"No. She is dead, Xavier's wolf communicated with me once and told me that he avenged our son and that she was dead. That was the last time I spoke with him. It was then that he truly accepted the rejection for he could not forgive my human for what she had did. Her decisions had led to the death of our son." She whispered out.
"How are you able to come forward now and overpower a human who has gone against everything a wolf believes in?" Elder Reece suspiciously asks.
"I can not ignore the call of an Elder. My human can. When you commanded for her to be honest and answer the questions. I answered the command knowing it was my only chance to break free." She bowed her head in respect.
"What will happen to you now that you have gained control of your human?" Elder Robert questions.
"I am dying. I have no reason to live. My mate can not forgive me. My human betrayed my pack. My son is dead. There is nothing left for me to live. Leanne was only clasping onto my power by her fingertips. She will soon with a werewolf without her wolf. I hope to return to the Goddess or be reincarnated into someone who is worthy of our ways." Mary explains.
"Interesting." Elder Reece says as he strokes his chin. "Is it true that Leanne tried to kill Louise when she returned to the pack eight years later?"
"Yes, she saw Louise and was jealous of what she had become. She felt that Louise stole the life that she should have had. Leanne's mind and heart is filled with bitterness, jealously and hate. Her mind has never been quite right since the death of Kieran and the hallucinogenic that was administered had long term effects." Mary replied.
"Do you know what was in the hallucinogenic given to Leanne?" Elder Robert asked.
"No I do not but it altered her mind and because of her state of mind at the time it only made things worst. There is nothing redeemable about my human. I would have left her years ago but she never gave me the chance." Mary expresses.
"Mary I can hear the turmoil in your voice. I can see that as a wolf you tried to steer your wolf in the right direction and I am sorry that it was all in vain. Do you know when you will die?" Elder Reece asks softly.
"Because I am admitting to the sins of my humans I would request the Elder's help me leave my unworthy human. For I do not want to be with such a vile woman, she has desecrated everything precious to a wolf. After I have finished providing a statement I will leave onto the next life to be with my son. All I ask is that my human is punished for she may act innocent but she knew what she was doing and she deserves to sentenced for her crimes." Mary says with reverence in her voice.
"Very well." Elder Roberts says with a tight nod. "Is there anything you wish to say before we finish our questioning?"
"I would like to apologise to my pack for the sins of my human. I would also hope that my sister will get everything she deserves. My sister was the one who cared for the sick and looked after the young. She defended and protected the small pup who would have been trafficked. This pack was deprived of their true Luna, my true Luna. She would have been amazing." Mary finishes her speech.
My cheeks are wet with tears as I look at Mary who is the complete opposite of my sister, she is calm and honest. There is a look of peace that has found her face and all I can do is send a silent prayer to the Moon Goddess that my sister's wolf finds peace that she couldn't extract while being caged by my sister.
"Very well. Thank you for your help Mary. There is nothing left for us to ask you. I promise as Elder's of the Council we will serve justice to those who deserve it. I hope that you find peace with our Goddess. May you find your pup in the afterlife." Elder Reece graciously states.
It's with that Mary closes my sisters eyes a small tear leaves her eyes and I feel my wolves bond with her sister break. It's then that Leanne's frantic and menacing gaze roams the pack as she gasps for her, the shackles that were once burning her no longer have the same effect. She falls to the ground with a thump, her knees smack to the floor. The loss of her wolf is clear to everyone in the room.