Her Second Chance✔ (Published)

5 (Edited)

Cari

Cari watched the passing scenery with little passion, her blood pumping through her body as if it were sludge as fear gripped her. She knew her fear polluted the air so that even with her duller senses she could smell it. Everything she tried failed to reign it in.

She was a beta blood for crying out loud. She should be able to control her emotions, be able to not be afraid of such a small thing. How many times had she crossed the pack border before? And the Nightwolf pack was not a strange pack that she'd be afraid of them.

The silence in the car didn't help, but she was the one who'd made it so. Her grandmother had tried to engage her to no avail. Cari still couldn't bring herself to talk much as she wanted to. Words wouldn't come no matter how much she wanted them to.

Trying to relieve her stress, Cari took out her phone. She no longer had any friends, the few she had had given up on her so no one but her family sent her messages. She decided to google something just to while up time, maybe gossip about celebrities.

The message icon showed she had one new message. Staring at it she wondered if she should open it. As much as she wanted their love and support when her parents had shown it, it'd felt like a burden. Biting her lip she debated if she should open it.

As much as she wanted to be brave, to face the world, a large part of her just wanted to shut down. Did she want to be faced with her mother's self-recriminations? Or her father's self-blame? Then there was Trip.

He too had been ordered not to say or do anything. Which meant he hadn't been able to even support her. But would he have if he could? Her older brother had always been closer to her sister and always took her side. Would he have sided with her?

Cari decided to ignore the message and go to YouTube. Silly videos were better than the drama that was her life. She could be selfish and ignore her family, couldn't she? There was nothing left in her to give and their concern seemed to take more from her.

With her headphones on, she lost herself in the antics of humans and weres embarrassing themselves for a quick buck. She couldn't understand why they would but she smiled at their absurdity.

Losing herself in them, she soon lost her fear of leaving the pack. It took her a long while after they'd crossed the border between packs to realize it. As her eyes took in the new scenery, relief washed over her so swiftly that she almost cried. Tremors wracked her body before she took a deep breath to calm herself.

Her grandmother's soft hand took hers and squeezed. Without looking away from the window Cari returned that squeeze. She was free! At least for the time being. It was like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. A heavy one she hadn't realized was crushing her.

A part of her had been afraid that the second alpha's reprieve wouldn't stand against the Alpha's command. That she would come to the border and experience the pain of trying to disobey an alpha order. Now she was already in her grandmother's pack and feeling a bit safer.

Not that she wouldn't feel it when her sister and Xander had sex, but she wouldn't have to face them on a daily basis.  That at least was something. She also wouldn't be there for the pity and or accusations of her pack when they found out. She knew some of her pack mates would agree with the Alpha and see no problem with what he'd done. Even if she had suffered because of it.

"Open the message dear." Her grandmother advised.

Cari turned wondering eyes to her and then swiped down on her phone to see her notifications. Most were generic, Facebook birthdays for online friends she'd never really talked to and the like. The message was there too, a foreign number she couldn't reason. She looked back at her grandmother who smiled her encouragement.