Chapter 12

CLEMENTINE

A scream vibrates the entire pack house, jolting me from my sleep.

I look around my room with wide eyes, but the scream came from somewhere else. Feeling well enough to move, I sprint into the hallway and follow a group of people running to the center of the pack house. When we stop, I follow their gazes to the ceiling.

A headless, bloody body is hanging from the silver chandelier that I always loved. The head is strung from the body with wires. The scene is grotesque, but then I see the face, and my breathing stops.

~Joana.~

I swallow hard and look around for an explanation. ~Where is the alpha? Where is Alex? My father?~

My eyes land on my devastated mother, and I make my way toward her. As much as I hate her and my sister, they’re still family…

I wrap my arm around my mother’s shoulder, trying to comfort her, but when she sees me, her misery turns to fury. Suddenly, I am being choked by her strong hands.

“You did this!” she cries, pointing at my dead sister. “You did this to my Joana!” I try to get her hands off my neck as she continues, “You killed her! You monster!”

As my eyes start to roll back, I think, desperately, ~Helia, can’t we do something?~

~“You could with your magic.”~

~You know I can’t use magic.~

~“I know, but do we have another choice?”~

~Why isn’t anyone helping me?~

~“I’m sorry, but they probably think you did it.”~

Before I can come up with a plan, Alpha Jake’s voice booms through the room. “ENOUGH!”

My mother lets go of my neck, and coughing, I try to breathe properly again. Once I have the strength to glance around the room, I see Ivan and his siblings, as well as my brother, standing close to Alpha Jake.

“Who did this?” the alpha asks firmly.

At first, no one says a word, then…

“I did,” Ivan admits, walking toward the body.

Gasps fill the room.

Alpha Jake looks angry, like he’s about to burst. Alex wasn’t close to Joana, but he still looks devastated as he stares at the body of his dead sister. My mother and father, who just came into the room, look like they want to attack Ivan.

~Am I heartless if I feel fine, even happy, now that she’s dead? Because I’m relieved that she’s gone. Of course, I didn’t want her to die like this—let alone by Ivan’s hand—but at least now I’m free…of her, anyway.~

“Why?” my father demands, his voice echoing across the room.

This is the first time I’ve ever heard him use this tone. He doesn’t seem sad, only angry. So angry.

Ivan doesn’t respond at first, and I don’t want him to. Don’t want him to take the blame for her death. She died because of me; if Ivan didn’t care about me, he wouldn’t have killed her.

~Wait…he cares about me?~

~“Morning, Clem,”~ Helia mocks.

“I do NOT tolerate disrespect,” Ivan barks, making everyone but me flinch. “Your daughter disrespected me many times before and I spared her life, but yesterday was the final straw!”

My mother gasps, tears running down her face. “She’s been dead since yesterday?” she whispers.

Alex’s gaze lands on me, and he narrows his eyes as if asking me to tell him exactly what happened. As if he knows.

I mouth, “Later,” and he nods.

“Your daughter was a disgrace to the werewolf kingdom!” Ivan continues, making my family growl. “I will eliminate anyone who disrespects me or their pack.”

Little by little, everyone makes their exit, leaving only Ivan, Alpha Jake, my family, and me. My parents seem to want to talk to Ivan privately, while Alpha Jake’s stares at the alpha king like he wishes he could drill holes into his head with his mind.

Just then, I remember the story Erika told me about how Ivan destroyed a whole pack because they were doing the opposite of what a pack should do. He was only supposed to stay with us for a day or two, but now he apparently won’t leave until everything is in order.

“You being the alpha king DOES NOT give you the permission to control my pack!” Alpha Jake yells angrily.

“Permission?” Ivan laughs out loud, making me smile. His laugh is so…

~“Yummy,”~ Helia moans, making me internally roll my eyes.

“I don’t need permission, Jake. Don’t make me remind you that you were born because of me.”

“There is order in every pack! I am the alpha!” he yells again.

“And I am ~your~ alpha!” Ivan barks, using his alpha voice to make Alpha Jake submit.

“She was my only daughter!” my mother interrupts, and I publicly roll my eyes.

~I mean…the least she could do is not say that she’s never cared for me in front of everyone.~

“You killed her!” she yells at Ivan.

My father holds my mother tightly, preventing her from collapsing onto the floor. Alex stands, frozen in place, as if trying to process everything.

My eyes meet my father’s, and I recall the night I revealed to him that I knew about my real mother, Kalisto. ~Is he thinking about her like I am?~

A minute later, my mother collapses, and my father carries her away, leaving me alone with Alex, Ivan, and Alpha Jake.

“Sorry for your loss, Alex,” the alpha says to my brother.

I’m shocked. ~Wow, he’s capable of saying good things.~

I notice, though, that he doesn’t give me his condolences, as if I’m not part of the family. As if he knows Sofia isn’t my real mother.

~Who am I kidding? Of course, he knows.~

~Does Alex know?~

~“I wouldn’t be surprised,”~ Helia says.

When Alpha Jake leaves shortly after, Alex takes me by my arm and leads me somewhere else, away from Ivan. I know what’s coming, and I dread it.

As soon as we’re alone, he demands, “Explain what happened.”

I avert my eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Alex.”

“You are lying, and you know it. Tell me what happened, Clem,” he pleads, making my heart clench hard. “Why did he kill her?”

I shut my eyes. “She was going to be part of my death,” I say.

“What?”

I open my eyes to see his shock and anger.

“She and Ivan’s sister kidnapped me yesterday during the fight, and they were going to kill me.”

“So, he killed our sister but left his alive?”

I look at the floor, feeling guilty. “Look, I don’t know why he did that. I’m sorry.”

~This all happened because of me.~

“I know why,” Alex mumbles before leaving.

I stand there, confused, long after he’s gone.

~Where is he going?~ I wonder. ~What isn’t he telling me?~ ~Helia, do you know anything?~

~“No, Clem, but I guess that it has to do something with Ivan.”~

I mean…of course.

Rolling my eyes, I begin to walk toward the infirmary. On the way, I pass some pack members taking Joana’s body out. They’ll bury it in the pack’s cemetery later.

I just hope she doesn’t haunt my dreams.

***

“Good morning, Erika,” I greet when I enter the infirmary.

“Morning, Clem—can’t believe what happened.”

“Me too. She’s dead.”

“Finally,” Erika says, snickering, and I roll my eyes.

I cannot believe that we are happy my sister is dead. But I mean, can you blame us?

Out of nowhere, I hear a loud ~thud~ and glance out the window to see an unconscious bird, which seemingly hit the glass while flying. Making sure no one but Erika is watching, I open the window, grab the bird, and close my eyes. I feel a rush of something coming out of my hand, and then the bird opens her eyes and flies away.

“That’s…amazing,” Erika says as she watches the flying bird.

I giggle. “Thanks.”

“But how?”

I realize then that I haven’t yet told Erika that I am a phoenix. In a whisper, I explain how the healing powers come from me being a phoenix, but I don’t mention that I am a witch too. I cannot tell even her; no one should know.

~“When you become a true phoenix,”~ Helia says, ~“you will be able to heal anything, Clem. It’ll be amazing.”~

~I can’t wait to see you, Helia.~

~“Me too.”~

The rest of the workday is drudgery. I hate it when pack members come to the infirmary because they feel sick or because they have a headache. I mean, they are ~werewolves~; they can heal within a few hours, so why the hell do they need to come here?

Exhausted, I make my way to a guy in his twenties named Armano, who is the most childish person I have ever met. “Armano,” I greet, “what are you feeling today?”

“Dr. Moore, help me. The ring finger on my right hand is hurting me a lot,” he whines, shaking his hand. “I don’t know what I did.”

“Calm down, Armano. Don’t worry.”

“Don’t worry? How can you tell me that? What if you have to chop it off?” he asks dramatically.

~Oh, how I wish I could chop all of you off.~

I give him a human growl and say, “I am not going to chop it off!” I then grab his finger aggressively, earning a scream. “Stay still!” I yell, twisting his finger until it cracks.

“Oh,” Armano says, “it’s better now.”

I try not to roll my eyes.

“Thank you!” he says before giving me a tight hug.

“You’re welcome. Now, off you go.”

When I finally finish my first shift, I head straight to my room, but as I open the door, I hear two voices. I walk in to find my brother and the alpha king waiting for me.

“Alex? Ivan? What are you doing here?” I ask as I put my bag on the coffee table.

Neither of them say anything. Then Alex suddenly stands up and walks toward me.

Scared, I give a forced chuckle. “What?” I ask.

Alex swallows hard. “I saw you, Clem.” His eyes look sad—sad that I’ve hidden something from him.

“What did you see, Alex?” I ask, my voice shaking.

He frowns. “I saw you with that bird. You healed it. Are you a witch? Because Ivan here didn’t want to tell me unless you did.”

My heart beats quickly. Yes, I am a witch, but I am also a phoenix. It’s super complicated, and I don’t have the courage to tell him what I am.

A hybrid.

“I am not a witch.” I frown, trying to cover my lie, and I can see by the way his face relaxes that I succeed.

“Then what are you?”

I swallow hard, thinking carefully about what I want to say.

“~You can trust him, Clem.”~

Helia’s words encourage me. ~I can trust him…~

“I am a phoenix.”