𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐂𝐊⠀ ⁽ ¹ ⁾

WAR

It isn't supposed to be this way. She's supposed to live. The last shoveled bits of dirt, hide Aunt Patty's body amongst the gravestones of the rest of the family. We aren't able to bury her in a casket because no one would be able to understand how she died and that's the painful part of it all.

Darlene and Dirk stand side by side, hands interlocked as they gaze numbly down at the ground. Darlene's eyes are red and puffy from not having slept all night because she was scrubbing her mother's blood out of the floor. Dirk's eyes were the same, except they're fueled with hatred, dried blood stains his shirt, and I can see his right fist was shaking uncontrollably in anger. 

Arthur stands beside Darlene, his hand resting on the small of her back. As for me, I'm more of a traitor to them than Quill because I knew that this would happen. Allison stands beside me in silence not even attempting to comfort me but I can see her eyes darting towards me every minute.

The rest of us are quiet, heads bowed as is pack custom. No one says a word aside from Dirk. "I'm going to kill him," he says as he slowly turns around, his status flashing. "But I'll deal with you first!" He lunges at Gates, but as he raises his arms to defend himself, I don't give Dirk the chance to grab him. I quickly stand between them, pushing him back. "That's enough!" I shout into his chest. "He helped killed her! He didn't tell us who his Alpha was and now my mom is dead!"

"He's not the only one who knew something!" I give Dirk a final shove and knock him back, he doesn't fall, but he does stumble as he looks at me confused in anger. "What are you talking about?" From behind me there's a hand on my shoulder. "Kid, don't. Let me take the fall for this." I can't let Gates be the only one taking the blame for something I knew too.

Keeping my eyes leveled with Dirk, the look on his face distraught. "She warned me before, about Quill being involved. She warned me and I didn't listen. You want someone to hit right?" Slowly opening my arms to the side, I give him a clear shot at me. "Hit me." Dirk immediately takes the chance. Taking a single step towards me and has my shirt collar in his fist. 

"Why didn't you believe her!" He shouts, raising his fist as it comes into contact with my cheek. "Even I understood what he was capable of, so why didn't you listen!" Another blow against my opposite cheek knocking my head to the side. "You ruined everything! You let her die! How could you!" I lurch forward the second his fist connects with my stomach and I spit up as a result.

Which is how I end up kneeling in front of Dirk looking up at him in disappointment. But not at him, at myself. "I thought I could get through to him, I wanted to help him." He looks at me again shaking his head in disbelief as he lets go of my shirt and I slowly get up rubbing the spit off my chin. "Quill was already a lost cause." He tells me. "But you just had to try! Try and keep us all together!" He waves his arms in defeat. "Well, let me tell you something. We were happy where we were! At least we had what was left of our parents while all you did was run away when the pack needed you the most!" 

Pointing an accusing finger at me, he continues to shout, his teeth grinding together. "He was right all along, you're too weak to be alpha." At his statement of me being weak, I don't bother to fight with him, instead I choose to activate my status and enforce my position over him. To which he takes a step back from. "I knew that I would bear the consequences of my actions, whether Aunt Patty told me this or not. I tried keeping our family together but if this isn't what you want any more Dirk, then . . . "

I slowly exhale, becoming lenient because of his grief. "Then I give you permission to leave. And anyone else who wants to follow you can go too. I won't keep anyone here if they don't want to be." Turning around I can see Allison looking at me distraught. She knows how much I wanted all of this to work out for us, but seeing where my hopeless dreaming led me and the costs I had to pay, it wasn't worth putting them in this danger.