Chapter 1: Death is a New Beginning
The slap seemed to echo among the sparse woods. A crimson palm bloomed on Naomi's cheek. She tottered back a few steps, her fingers trembling. Was this really the loving, amiable uncle who had never forgotten to bring her presents? "Why are you doing this? Stop, please! I won't tell anyone!" she begged. Before she knew it, tears were rolling down her cheeks - even she didn't know whether she was more furious than desperate. Seeing him close in, she reflexively pushed him away, making him stumble back.
Gerald was furious. "Shut up, you little tease," He growled at her. Grabbing her shirt sleeve, he tugged so hard that an angry purple mark appeared on her shoulder. The shirt came tearing apart. Every small sound in that cabin was amplified as if Naomi's prolonged agony was also being amplified.
She let out a short scream. Her eyes were now scarlet, her cheeks were wet and her agonised screams seemed to reach no one. The cabin was near the border of the Jade Pack's territory. Even the patrol wolves had been sent away on Gerald's authority. No one could hear her cries. Her uncle seemed to have prepared well for this. She fought hard and fast but her uncle was a pack warrior. He was naturally stronger and faster, overpowering her easily. But she didn't give up. She continued to struggle against his hold.
Just when she thought it was all over, she heard a loud snarl from outside. The sound of paws thumping on the ground grew louder. Through the window, she saw a gigantic wolf running toward them. From afar, she immediately knew that the werewolf was her sister, Danielle.
Too quickly, it was all over. The wooden door shattered and the ash-grey wolf lunged at Naomi's molester. She clamped her jaws on his neck and relished the sickening crack when she twisted it. In a matter of seconds, Gerald was beheaded.
Naomi stared at the decapitated body of her perverted uncle. Her lower lip trembled, trying to form words, but her brain was frozen, unable to form coherent thoughts. Her legs lost their energy and gave way, and she fell to the ground. She didn't want to accept what had just happened. She began to shiver. Her joints felt stiff. She felt so cold and hollow that her bones seemed to ache.
But then, a pair of hands touched her shoulders. Naomi was startled, instinctively resisting. "It's me, it's just me," she heard her sister say. With some effort, she allowed Danielle to wrap her into her embrace. "You're going to be okay, it's all going to be okay," Danielle whispered in her sister's ear.
The younger girl was still shivering from shock and fright. Danielle rubbed Naomi's left hand. With her innate abilities, she induced calm into her. Immediately, the shivers stopped and Naomi's breathing evened. She took huge shuddering breaths, coming back to reality.
"What… what's going to happen now?" Naomi squeezed her fingers together anxiously. She looked at the mutilated body, then at her sister. She wasn't naive enough to think that her sister would get away scot-free with killing Gerald. But she was too young to understand the practical implications of her sister's actions.
Danielle smiled, trying to be reassuring. "Mimi, go home quickly. Calm down and try to move past it. I won't be there to remind you, but you must remember that it's not your fault," She stressed the words.
Naomi looked startled. "Wh-where will you be going?" The twelve-year-old asked, tugging at her sister's arm with a sense of dependence.
"Mimi," Danielle stared at the little girl. "Did you hear what I said? Repeat it for me."
Naomi's lips trembled. In a shaky voice, she replied, "It... it's not my fault."
"Good. Yes. That's right," Danielle was slightly relieved.
"But... where are you going?" Naomi persisted with her question.
"Very far away," Danielle replied. How could she be truthful when even she didn't know where she would go? "You know I can't stay, Mimi. Not after what's happened. Tell Bran or Ben about this when you're ready, and tell them why I had to leave."
Naomi nodded hesitantly. Danielle stood up to leave when she felt her sister grab her hand. "I won't tell anyone else," Naomi swore solemnly. Danielle smiled more genuinely.
"I know you won't."
***
Pack House
"This is unfortunate," Alpha Jacob Ward said, shaking his head. He was trying his best to not look at his brother-in-law's body. In all his years as heir-apparent, then alpha, he had never seen such a gruesome murder. He always knew Danielle had it in her. After all, she took after her mother. But this... as disgusting as the body was, everything turned out fine for him in the end. "I would never have thought that my daughter, the heir-apparent to the Jade Pack, could commit such an atrocity."
He looked so remorseful and repentant as if it was he who had committed the murder. A large group of curious, shocked and frightened pack members stood in the main hall. Towards the centre, despite their reluctance, stood the elders and the alpha's family. The coffin at the centre contained Gerald's mangled body. The elders clicked their tongues sympathetically. Danielle had been with them for only three years; they hadn't watched her grow up. They didn't know her well, but she was, after all, the alpha's eldest child.
She was a strange one. After going missing at the age of 7, she had returned to the pack eleven years later. She hadn't said a word about what had transpired during those years. When people had doubted her ability to rule, she showed them that she was overqualified for the job. So they waited for her to make a mistake — and this mistake lay in bits and pieces in front of them.
Killing her step-uncle? Jealousy could easily be the reason. A violent, perverse cry for attention. In fact, they had all concluded the same thing. She had just snapped and committed a heinous crime. They all knew how provocative Gerald could be.
"It really is a misfortune," one of the elders said solemnly, trying to pretend that the decaying body didn't affect him. "It's a greater loss for the pack. We lost a beta and an heir-apparent."
Naomi stood behind the pillar. She didn't have the courage to look at that man's body again. She would have to recall those horrible moments, then. When she heard what the elder said, she looked startled, only then realising why her sister had run almost instantly. She glanced at her mother resentfully, knowing that she had finally got everything she wished for. But before anyone realised any anomalies with her, she lowered her head, pretending to grieve.
Brandon, Naomi's brother, looked at the coffin frowning hard. His eyes narrowed when he heard the elder's words. "What do you mean, lost an heir-apparent? My sister is still the heir-apparent of the Jade Pack!"
The elder looked at the naive boy sympathetically. "Son, after what she has done, I don't think that she deserves to be a member of the Jade Pack, let alone being its heir-apparent."
Brandon swung to the side, facing his father. He waved his hands around in an agitated manner. "Dad! That's not true, is it? She'll come back, she'll just have to be punished a bit and that's all, isn't that right?"
"Shut up, Brandon! This is your uncle we're talking about! He's dead! Can't you see that she didn't even let go of his corpse?" Lydia Ward, Jacob's mate, nearly screamed, her eyes red with grief. She took out her handkerchief and dabbed her eyes delicately with it. She looked around the room casually to check if her words had their intended effect. She sobbed twice, with a touch of hiccupping.
"Besides," Jacob added, "That's no way for an heir-apparent to act, Brandon, losing your cool so easily."
Brandon looked at him quizzically. A second later, it hit him. His eyes went round with shock. Both Naomi and Benjamin stared at him from where they stood, daring him to accept the title.
"No," he whispered, "no way. That can't happen! I'm never taking her place!"
"You will because it was never hers, to begin with!" Lydia turned to Jacob and wailed, "Alpha! You need to give my family justice! My brother had always been loyal to you and the pack! You cannot let this be, you can't let this go just because she is your daughter! You need to bring that… wretch back from wherever she fled to and put her on pack trial!"
Jacob wanted to close his ears at her wails. He preferred people hurling accusations at his eldest daughter in a civil manner, not like a fishwife. But he managed to tolerate his mate and nodded solemnly. "You're right, Danielle has to be punished." He was feeling rather gleeful with the knowledge that Danielle could never inherit the pack after this incident. "But we needn't bring her back," he looked at Lydia with a mysterious smile and said, "we'll do something better."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
TheCrimsonOne
TheCrimsonOne Hi!
This is my first story on Webnovel, and here are a few things I'd like to tell you, dear reader.
The FL in this story does not need to learn how to be strong. She is already strong.
Hopefully, I will get my capitals right, write rogue instead of rouge and get my their, they're and there right. So if you spot any typos, grammar errors or any other inconsistencies, please let me know and I will look into it immediately.
I hope you, dear reader, will read this story in the right spirit and be accepting of all genders, sexualities, races, appearances, etc.
Please, please, please give feedback. It feels nice, and you get a better story. I might have plot holes and other semantic inconsistencies, so please point them out to me.
That's all. I hope you enjoy the story!
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