Chapter 5
I get up planning to go to bed. I will spend the next week packing and planning for the house my Papa got me. Just as I’m sinking deeper into these thoughts, my phone vibrates on the nightstand. I glance at the screen, and it is Uncle Rick.
“Hey, Uncle, how are you doing?” I answer.
“Sorry to call so late princess. I was in a meeting then on a plane I just got off and now I'm calling to tell you congratulations and I will be there next week to go over what your dad left you and also to celebrate your birthday. Your dad protected you baby girl. I love you. I will see you in a week and we will catch up then.”
“Thank you, Uncle,” I reply softly. “I saw you in the very back. I know you couldn’t come up and say hi till next week. I can’t wait to see you. These people don’t even know I exist. I love you too. Nana got me a house already, so we’ll see what she’s been up to together. Papa said she’s making a compound.”
Uncle Rick chuckles and we talked for a few more minutes. Then I lay in bed for a while, when I decided sleep wasn't coming to me. Frustrated, I brewed a cup of hot tea and carried the mug to my desk, where my sketch pad waited, and started drawing. But the peace didn’t last. A harsh voice sliced through the quiet, seeping in from outside like a poison.
“I bet that stuck up bitch is home. I don't know why she thinks she's too good for us but her mom needs to set her straight. all those invites her mom gave her and she still thinks she is good for us.”
Fine, guess I will go set them straight.I got up and got dressed. I had my sword on my hip, my gun under my jacket, and knives in my boots. As I stepped into the living room, I stopped short and see Twisted sitting in my living room
“Uncle sent you, my favorite cousin. Let me guess he found out about the bitch across the street raping me and holding me for a few days im still healing where he branded my shoulder and a few cracked ribs. If he wants a picture now that is clearer, it can wait, let's go have some fun. My mom is spreading lies again, and I'm in the mood to set a few things straight. Oh and the only reason he caught me that day was because he drugged me from behind. I'm assuming you are moving in for the next week. I'm ok with that. I have a spare room.”
Twisted’s eyes darkened as I spoke, his usual playful demeanor giving way to something harder, protective. He nodded, rising from the couch. “Yeah, Uncle Rick filled me in. Let’s go handle this.”
We stepped outside, the night air sharp against my skin, and crossed the street with purpose. My mother stood there, surrounded by her usual circle, her face a mask of indifference as we approached. I didn’t hesitate, my voice cutting through the murmurs like a blade. “I see congrats on in order, so what day did you get claimed.”
She blinked, caught off guard. “The weekend we got here,” she replied, her voice cool, detached.
“Oh, when I went missing and no one looked for me I was found by Tann and Star raped and branded with a wolf ring. I wonder who that could have been. Thanks for caring about what happened to me, mother. Don't worry, Uncle Rick sent Twisted to be my bodyguard. he also said, since you can't be a mother to anyone but the boys, he will make sure I stay safe.”
Her face faltered for a moment. The people around her shifted uncomfortably.
The air crackled with tension as Twisted’s voice cut through the murmurs across the street. “Who was talking near my cousin’s room?” he demanded, his eyes scanning the small crowd with a predator’s focus. A few prospects stepped forward. “Us,” they admitted.
Twisted didn’t miss a beat, his gaze narrowing. “Who said my cousin was told about this BBQ, or was her mother being claimed, or was there any other event?”
“Her mother did.”
I felt a familiar anger flare in my chest. My mother’s lies were a poison, seeping into every corner of my life, twisting the truth to paint me as the ungrateful one. I tossed a clone of the family phone my mother made me take on the table in front of the president, not the phone my uncle gave me, and said, “Here, have whoever is your tech person look and see if she did. It is a clone of my phone, so whatever they send me, even in the future.”
He grabbed and started looking through the phone, frowning as he went. I had my uncle wipe anything I didn't want them to know. Everyone but these idiots message me on the phone that my uncle sent, “Oh, you like those messages for my mom, saying I owe her money, right. for what I don’t know dad’s money paid for the house she never lives in and I never see her I have a job and pay my own way so what I owe her because my dad died saving my life not just my godmothers oh from the looks on your faces that's not the story she told. ask president deacon he will send you the video.”
The room went quiet, their shocked expressions betraying the lies they’d swallowed. Before anyone could respond, a hand grabbed my arm, rough and sudden. Instinct took over. In a blur, I twisted, pinning the offender to the ground with my boot. I looked down, and there was Tann. I eased up, stepping back. “I am so sorry, Tann, you startled me. Keep the phone. I don't need to have fun with your family, and I will with mine.”
“You ungrateful bitch so what if I didn't invite you; you had a roof over your head. You were just fine. I don't think you went missing, I think you just want to say that to make a scene."
Before I could respond, a ping echoed through the room as a video hit every phone in the crowd. It was grainy but unmistakable—masked men holding me, their voices cold as they demanded ransom on a video call to my mother, her face impassive on the other end.
“Well, there's proof that I was. I don’t care if you invite me, just stop running around telling people you did when we both know you didn't. It's pathetic to play the damn victim all the time when you're just a viper who takes advantage of people and I'm sure you will spin this in your favor when I leave.”
I turned to go, but a shadow moved behind me—one of my brothers, creeping up, thinking he could catch me off guard. I spun, my gun drawn in an instant, the barrel pressed to his forehead before he could blink. “Wouldn’t be trying to take cheap shots now, would we?” With a swift kick, I sent him sliding across the floor. They must have just waxed it, because he slid just a little too much.
Then I turned and walked away with Twisted and Tann “Keep your people in line, Mother, before someone you don’t want shows up to show you who you truly are. The senator says to say hello.”