Rejected by the Pack, Saved by the Rogue

The funeral home smelled of lilies and formaldehyde, a combination that made my stomach churn. I stood beside my sister's closed casket, my fingers tracing the polished wood as I arranged the white roses around it. Three days had passed since I found her, yet the reality still hadn't fully sunk in.

"Adelina." Nova's saccharine voice sliced through the silence. "What a tragedy."

I spun around, my wolf surging forward with a snarl. "How dare you come here?"

Nova stood in the doorway, her healer's robes immaculate as always. "I came to offer my services for the burial rites. It's tradition for the pack healer to perform the sacred cleansing before interment."

My sister had been dead for three days, and Nova hadn't once offered to help with the healing rituals that would guide her spirit to the Moon Goddess. Now she stood here, acting as though she cared.

"The funeral is tomorrow," I said coldly. "You're too late."

"Oh, but I'm exactly on time." Nova stepped closer, her smile not reaching her eyes. "I've been considering whether to provide my services to your family."

The implication hung in the air between us.

"And?" I forced the word out through gritted teeth.

"I've decided that my sacred abilities are reserved for those who uphold the pack's honor." Her gaze flicked to my sister's casket. "A family with such a... tainted reputation doesn't deserve the blessing of a pack healer."

My wolf clawed at my insides, demanding I tear out Nova's throat. "Get out."

"Of course." She turned to leave, then paused. "Oh, and Adelina? Don't bother asking other pack healers. Word travels fast about families who bring shame to their packs."

After she left, I collapsed beside the casket, my body shaking with rage and grief. I had to find another healer—someone who would perform the rites my sister deserved.

---

My mother hadn't spoken more than ten words since the funeral. She moved through our quarters like a ghost, her eyes vacant, her once-proud posture now bent with grief.

"I need to talk to Ryker," she announced suddenly, five days after we buried my sister. "He needs to know what he's done."

"Mom, please—" I tried to stop her, but she was already walking toward the Alpha's quarters, her thin frame somehow filled with determination.

I followed her, dread pooling in my stomach. Ryker had been avoiding me since the funeral, but he couldn't refuse to see my mother.

He was in his office when we arrived, papers spread across his desk. His eyes widened slightly at the sight of us.

"Alpha," my mother said formally, her voice stronger than I'd heard it in days. "I need to understand why you protected Nova instead of our daughter."

Ryker's expression hardened. "Mrs. Sanders, I understand you're grieving—"

"Grieving?" My mother's voice cracked. "My baby is dead because of that woman's lies, and you helped her!"

Something dangerous flashed in Ryker's eyes. "You need to calm down."

"No!" My mother stepped closer. "You were supposed to protect us! You're Adelina's mate—"

"Enough." Ryker's voice dropped to that Alpha timbre that made wolves cower. His eyes glowed gold as he fixed my mother with a stare. "You're confused in your grief. Your daughter made her own choices."

I felt it then—the crushing weight of his Alpha power filling the room, pressing down on my mother's shoulders until she physically staggered.

"No," she whispered, her face draining of color. "That's not true."

"It is," Ryker insisted, his voice hypnotic. "Your family brought this shame on yourselves. You failed to raise your daughter properly."

My mother's knees buckled as his words hammered into her. I lunged forward to catch her, but Ryker's power pushed me back.

"Mom!" I cried as she collapsed, her breathing ragged.

Ryker stepped over her, his expression cold. "She needs rest. And you need to remember your place, Adelina."

---

The first attack left my mother confused and weak. The second, three days later when she tried again to confront him, left her unable to eat. By the seventh day, she couldn't get out of bed.

"Sarah?" she called weakly from her bedside. "Are you there, sweetheart?"

My heart broke as I took her hand. "It's Adelina, Mom."

"No, Sarah's here." My mother smiled at a spot near the window where my sister used to sit. "She's telling me about her day."

I followed her gaze, seeing nothing but empty air. "Mom, please—"

"You should rest too, Adelina." Her eyes drifted closed. "We're all so tired."

I found a healer from a distant pack willing to help—for a price. But by the time I returned with the herbs and rituals needed to clear my mother's mind, Ryker had visited again.

"She was getting better," I whispered fiercely as I watched my mother curl tighter into herself. "The healer said she was responding to treatment."

Ryker's expression didn't change. "Some wounds can't be healed, Adelina."

"Some wounds," I snarled, "are inflicted deliberately."

As I turned away from him to tend to my mother, I caught sight of Nova watching from the shadows. Her lips curved in a smile that chilled me to my core.

What had they done to my family? And how much worse would it get?