After I Died, the Alpha Went Mad Holding My Body Chapter 04

After I Died, the Alpha Went Mad Holding My Body Chapter 04

“Evelyn!”

His roar shook the room.

I closed my eyes. Bracing for it.

The pain didn’t come.

“Sister-don’t!”

A scream right in front of me.

I collided with Isabella-she’d thrown herself in my path.

The impact knocked her down. A red stain bloomed under her skirt.

“Miss Isabella’s bleeding!”

A maid pointed under her, voice cracking.

Kaelen’s pupils went small. He shoved me away hard and gathered Isabella into his arms.

“Pack healer! Get the pack healer!”

The shove sent me into the corner of a table. My stomach took the hit.

The wound I’d already gone numb to tore open all over again.

They carried Isabella into the inner room. She was still hanging onto Kaelen’s hand. Crying.

Defending me.

“Alpha-it was my fault. I wasn’t careful. It has nothing to do with Evelyn.”

I was still on the floor when his hand came down across my face.

The slap rang in my ears.

He looked at me with bloodshot eyes. Like he wanted to burn me down to ash.

“Evelyn. Not one word I said to you went in. Not one.”

“Isabella finally got pregnant. She has never come after you. Why can’t you let her be?”

“You want to die so badly? Then go do it somewhere else. Stop hurting people here.”

Looking at him like this, I almost laughed.

“She stepped in front of me. Didn’t she?”

“She never came after me? My five children all died because of her. Five years. Five children,

Kaelen.”

“If she lost the one she was carrying-that’s just her reaping what she sowed.”

“Shut up!”

He cut me off. Out of control now.

“You still won’t admit you were wrong. I was blind to ever think you were good. Gentle. Soft.”

“Guards. Drag the Luna outside. Twenty lashes. By pack law.”

“When she figures out what she did and is ready to apologize, bring her back.”

The guards yanked me to my feet and dragged me out of the packhouse.

A vine whip, barbed. They worked it across my back.

When the twentieth lash landed, I was face-down in the snow with one breath left.

When she saw I wasn’t going to break, my mother came running out. Hit me. Cursed me.

“You want to make me die of anger, is that it? What’s it going to take to leave my daughter

alone?”

“If I’d known it would come to this, I’d never have let you stay in the Silverclaw family after

Isabella came home.”

I laughed. It hurt.

“Then I’ll act like I never had parents.”

My father, behind her, went still.

Then he pulled the silver dagger off his belt-the one he always carried-and threw it down in

the snow in front of my face.

“Fine. Words are cheap.”

“You really want to cut ties with the Silverclaw family? Cut the blood oath. In front of

everyone. From this moment on, you’re not our daughter.”

I stared at the dagger. Plain. A little rough.

I’d ordered that dagger for him myself. The year I turned eighteen.

It wasn’t anything fancy. But every coin in it was love.

When I didn’t move, my mother yanked the moonstone pendant off my neck-the one I’d

begged the priestess for, years back-and hurled it at my face.

“Too late to regret it. Take your things and get out.”

“Whether you want it or not. You’re not our daughter anymore.”

The second they turned their backs on me, the system came online in my head.

[EXIT COUNTDOWN. THREE. TWO. ONE.]

I bent down. Picked up the dagger.

Didn’t hesitate.

“No need to cut the oath.”

“Take it all back.”

I drove the blade in.