The Mark of Betrayal (by Cooper) novel Chapter 2

Sloane

One Year Later

My birthday is tomorrow. My tenth birthday. I’ll finally know if all my hard work has paid off.

Please Moon Goddess, please let it have been enough.

“SOANE!” I turn to see my brother running toward me on his small little toddler legs.

“Hey, Teddy,” I say, rushing forward to scoop him up.

“LOANE!” Aria yells, right behind him. I put him on one hip and then scoop her up into my arms as well.

“You’ve got quite the handful there,” Aunt Samara says, walking up. Her stomach is large with their second pup, a little girl. They told me already that they’re going to name her Jessica after my grandmother. Jessica Devi. Grandma Devi doesn’t know that yet, but I know she’ll begin crying as soon as she hears.

“I don’t mind,” I tell her and I don’t. At least here in our home and in our pack, no one makes snide comments about my parents being murderers. Uncle Roman caught a pack member once saying something and he not only publicly dressed them down until they were practically crying, he threw them in the cells and told the entire pack that if anyone had a problem with me or my siblings, they could find another pack to live in. It’s made things here easier, but at school, the other packs don’t have that restraint.

Unfortunately, that means that I’ve had to use what I’ve learned from Uncle Roman in our individual warrior training to shut them up. I’ve been sent home twice in the last year for fighting and I’m getting a reputation at school of being a problem child. I’m not, it’s just that everyone has their breaking point and I’ve reached mine. Now, it’s almost like a rite of passage for the kids at school to try and tease me when I can hear them. The new kids get set up and I take them down, just to make sure it doesn’t happen again from the same person.

Unfortunately, when I get caught, Uncle Roman gives me the talk and let’s me know that he’s disappointed in my choices and that he wants me to rise above the snide comments of others. Having Uncle Roman expressing his disappointment in me is hard, really hard. He never yells, he never disciplines me, he just tells me that I’m better than that and that I need to rise above.

And I do, sometimes. But sometimes, there’s just no way to get your point across, especially to other, arrogant Alphas, except to put them on the ground. And thankfully, they usually don’t want to hurt their precious egos by telling on me, so I’ve only been sent home twice, when I could have been sent home many, many more times.

“Grandpa William, Grandma Jasmine, and Will will be here in about an hour, and Alpha Waylon and Luna Judith will be here first thing in the morning,” Aunt Samara says, trying to take Teddy from me. He begins fighting against her to stay with me, but Uncle Roman walks in and growls softly at him.

“What have I said about fighting with your mother when she’s pregnant, Theo,” he says sternly, coming over to take Teddy from me. He already has Slade in his arms. We all know that as soon as Grandma Jasmine walks in, Slade will have no time for any of us. He still adores her. I get it, I still adore Grandpa William.

“Don’t do it,” he pouts.

“That’s right,” Uncle Roman says, leaning over to kiss first Aria on the forehead and then me.

“Are you ready for tomorrow?” he asks me.

The answer is no, I’m not. I’m terrified. It’s not that I don’t think that I’ll get a wolf, it’s that I really, really want her to be a white wolf.

But, instead, I tell him that I’m ready.

“When are Scarlet and her parents arriving?” I ask.

“WE’RE HERE!” Scarlet says, rushing up to me and carefully hugging me and Aria together. Scarlet is a couple of months older than I am and she got her wolf on her birthday. I know from punching some kids at school that you get stronger when you get your wolf. But it’s different when it’s your best friend who you know so well. The first time she hugged me after she got her wolf, I had to tell her it was too tight. It was like she got strong overnight. I can’t wait to get my wolf so I have that level of strength and maybe even more if my wolf is a white wolf.

“Momma, Momma!” Aria says, leaning over to Aunt Samara as she is saying hello to Alpha Austin and Luna Elizabeth.

Aunt Samara takes her, easily adjusting her around her large stomach as she continues her conversation.

“Hi Alpha, Hi Luna,” I say to Scarlet's parents before Scarlet pulls me away.

“Don’t stay up all night,” Luna Elizabeth calls as we make our way upstairs to my room.

“As if we don’t have weeks to catch up on,” Scarlet scoffs. “So, what time does Will arrive?” she asks excitedly.

Scarlet still has a huge crush on Will. Every chance she gets to join me in Alpha William’s pack, she does. Will’s a good sport about it, mostly, but he and I get along a lot better when Scarlet isn’t there causing chaos.

“Aunt Samara said they’ll be here in about an hour.”

“Perfect, I need to get ready.”

“Get ready for what?” I ask her.

“He’s fourteen now, silly. I want to make sure he doesn’t see me as a little girl. He’s a teenager. He’s starting high school next year.”

I roll my eyes. “Whatever,” I say.

“Oh please, don’t tell me you haven’t seen Benedict watching you at school,” she smirks before walking into my bathroom and going through my drawers to find the makeup she left here.

“Benedict watches me as I punch his friends in the face,” I say.

“Yeah, but he looks at you with admiration,” she says, grinning.

“Please. I’m just thankful that he’s smart enough to keep his mouth shut. He has his wolf and given that he’s like what, one-hundredth generation Alpha, I’d probably break every bone in my hand if I punched him in his pretty little face,” I growl.

“Ha! You do find him attractive! I knew it!” she says.

I roll my eyes and change the subject to something I know will distract my bestie. “So, what are you going to wear?”

Verify captcha to read the contentVerify