The Pack House

When I looked up, my eyes landed on who had spoken, causing my breath to hitch. It was Rafael. 

Seeing him brought back so many emotions, and it felt like fate was playing a sick and twisted game tonight. “What the hell do you want?” I asked him. “If you’re offering a ride, I’d rather drop dead than accept it.” 

“I won’t repeat myself. Get in the car, Cassie.” He said in a monotone, his eyes trained on me. “It has been three years; have you not changed?” 

“Three years…but you were supposed to be my best friend. You were literally my boyfriend, Rafael,” I reminded him. I took a step closer to the car, adrenaline rushing through my veins. “You testified against me and sent me to prison! That is the lowest you have ever gone.” I scoffed, the reminder burning my chest. “You’re a monster!” I turned to leave, but he stopped me.

“Can you stop this and just get in?” He was not giving up. “It’s a long way back, and it will be midnight before you make it on foot.” 

I knew that he was right, and that pissed me off so bad. And with barely any food in my stomach and so little energy, there would be no way that I would be able to make it by walking. So I sucked up my pride and pain, turned back, and got into his car…holding back tears. 

Once inside, I was right beside him as he drove. A few minutes of silence lingered before he spoke, “Three years ago, you did something despicable. You betrayed your pack and people. What made you even do something like that?” He chuckled bitterly. “When did you become like this, Cassie?” He asked after a few seconds. “I don’t even recognize you anymore. Do you remember when we used to swear to protect our pack?” 

Anger filled me, and I could feel my blood boiling. I clenched my fists, holding back. 

“You should at least apologize,” He continued. “Apologize to the people you have brought pain to; to the ones who lost their loved ones because of you. Apologize to my family.” 

I could not hold back anymore. “For what?” I fired the words at him, not because I was being insensitive, but because I was not the one who had even committed the crime! It wasn’t me! But it was not like he knew that.

“For what?” Rafael repeated himself in disbelief. “Are you seriously asking me that? Have you lost your mind?” He scoffed, taken aback. 

“I didn’t plan the leak, Rafael!” I defended myself, letting my emotions rule me. I was never supposed to reveal the truth…a truth that I was willing to hide and serve years behind bars. But as I said, my emotions were leading the way right now. I could not help myself. I was ready to explain more so he could understand, but he stopped me. 

“Stop!” He raised his voice, shooting a glare at her before looking back at the road. “Just stop! Enough with the excuses. Just be a grown-up and take responsibility for once. We’re not kids anymore.” He was annoyed. “Take f*cking accountability, Cassie.” 

I swallowed hard, feeling a knot in my throat as I breathed heavily. 

The rest of the car ride was in silence; I could not even look at him. I kept everything that I so badly wanted to say to myself. The truth was never supposed to come out, anyway. So yeah, I sealed my lips. 

We soon arrived at the Pack House. Everything looked almost the same, just with a few changes. I removed my seatbelt and was about to get out of the car when Rafael spoke. 

“Listen…” His voice held authority even though it was not as loud as before. And if I were not overthinking it, maybe there was a hint of concern and care for me. “For the sake of what we once shared, I will give you one day.” We locked eyes, and his were hard…filled with pain and anger. But for some reason, beneath all of that, I could almost see some empathy. I had forgotten how warm they used to be. Those light-brown eyes of his. “If you come to me and apologize, we can go back to how things used to be.” 

But hearing those words come out of his mouth only amused me. Go back? At this point, was that even possible? I was still hurt about what he had done to me years ago, and so much was going on at the same time. 

Without saying anything, I peeled my eyes away from him and stepped out of the car, closing the door once I was out. It did not take me long to see Leon at the entrance. This sparked a bit of hope in me because I felt like maybe he was waiting for me. If that were true, then that would mean that he still cared about me. 

But I knew that would not be the case. 

I walked towards him and closed the distance before stopping. 

“Sage is already home,” He began. “Stop with that miserable look on your face. I don’t want her to see you like this; she already feels guilty enough.” 

I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. Guilty? I knew for a fact that Sage did not feel guilty about my taking her place in prison. She felt like I deserved it for enjoying the life that belonged to her for those ten years before she had shown up. 

I closed my mouth and followed him into the mansion, sniffling dryly. I was so hungry. He led me to a small room, and when we entered, he picked up a set of clean clothes from the bed. “Wear Sage’s clothes. She knew you would not have anything to wear, so she picked these out for you,” He explained, and I took them from him tentatively. “ She’s always thinking about you. You know what you should do in return.” 

He then sighed, running his hand through his perfect hair before continuing, “She wants to marry the Alpha King. What’s done is done. And you should know that I will deal with anything or ANYONE that stands in the way of her happiness.” 

I locked eyes with him, fear dancing in my heart. “I know the drill. I promised to take the blame for her, so trust me, I won’t go back on my word. No one will know the truth,” I replied to him. “But you have to keep your promise, too. I have already repaid your family for raising me. From now on, I am free.” 

Leon frowned, creasing his brows. “Whatever.” Then he sneered, “You’d better mean that, though.” 

I nodded, then I knew that I had to change. He was still standing there, so I got the untold message that he was not leaving. I proceeded to change, making sure to turn around when I did. While I did, most of my skin got exposed, revealing the ugly scars that I had gotten from prison. 

“You’ve started putting on acts now?” Leon said impatiently, annoyance clear in his voice. Before I could even speak, he walked over to me, exposing more of my arm. This made me flinch, but I had a feeling that maybe he thought that I had faked the scars for sympathy or pity. 

He was facing me now, frozen as he stared at the old and fresh scars that covered my entire exposed arm. “Cass…how–how did this happen?”