The Alpha’s Curvy Cinderella - Chapter 83: Chapter 83

Grant POV
I was tight-lipped as I dragged the redheaded woman along, none too gently, gripping her elbow tightly, careful not to touch the silver restraints that would burn me. She sobbed, the pathetic creature, stumbling along on the grass as the pack watched, the crowd silent, their eyes full of misgiving and condemnation. They knew the charges that had been laid against her, what she had been sentenced to and no one had spoken up on her behalf. My mother and father watched from their position near the forest, as I reached them, I let go of the woman’s arm, watched her stumble, and then fall weakly to the ground, tears trailing down her cheeks.
“Please” she begged in a quiet whisper, bowing her head, her red hair like a curtain, hiding her face from view “Please don’t do this. I’ll do anything, just don’t banish me from the pack. I won’t survive” she cried. “I’ll be dead before I can even make it out of the forest.”
My mother’s lips tightened. “Stella you knowingly hurt an innocent shifter and as such have been sentenced to be a rogue and banished from this pack forevermore. To step foot on this pack or to go near Jordan is to forfeit your life” she said in a harsh voice “Do you understand?” she said in the coldest tone I had ever heard her use.
Stella sobbed some more. “I swear, I didn’t know” she begged “I’m innocent. It was all Maxwell’s doing, not mine. I shouldn’t be punished for what he did.”
She looked pitiful. Covered in welts and bruises from her torture, her body was clad in the most basic of dresses as a courtesy from my mother.
“Please, I’ll die out there” she wailed, as I began to unlock the cuffs on her wrists, wincing as I flung them to the side, the silver burning my flesh slightly. I should have remembered to wear gloves I thought absently. Never mind, I’ll keep it in mind for the next time.
“You can leave on your own recognizance, or I can shift and kill you where you stand,” I said bluntly, half hoping she would choose the latter. I was feeling pent-up, and moody. I needed something or someone to take my anger and frustration out
on.
She wept. I was unmoved. Slowly she began to stand up, her head raising, her hair parting to reveal the bloodless pallor of her face. She looked me directly in the eyes. “You’ll all pay for this” she spat out, hatred and venom dripping from her voice “Just you wait and see. I’m going to get to make Jordan pay as well.”
“You’ll never find her,” my mother said quietly “and you’ll be killed before you can touch her” she warned Stella in a low growl.
“Let’s just kill her” I snarled, preparing to shift and deal with the problem head-on.
She’d threatened the pack and Jordan. Screw it. Screw being merciful. She didn’t deserve it. Not with threats like this. Not that I thought she was capable of carrying it out, but the fact that she had the nerve to even speak like that rankled me.
My mother sighed and shook her head. “Leave now or I will let him,” she said firmly.
Stella flipped her long hair over her shoulder and then turned and slowly, looking as though she was about to face an execution, walked into the forest, giving one last scorching glance over her shoulder before she slowly faded away into the distance and out of sight, unable to shift due to the wolfsbane which was slowly but surely leaking out of her system. It was up to her now on whether or not she would survive. It would all depend on just how skillful she was in hunting, tracking, and avoiding rogues, and her fighting skills. I personally thought she’d be dead by dawn the next day. She was weak, both as a human and as a wolf.
The crowd remained quiet and on edge. My father reappeared, flinging Maxwell to the ground. Maxwell swore and got to his knees, glaring at us all. He didn’t appear to be the least bit apologetic or remorseful for his actions. He looked the worse for wear. He had a blackened eye, his hair was matted to his head with old, dried blood, and his clothes were creased and crumpled but clean, another courtesy thing, bruises littered him from head to toe, along with whip marks and grazes. His nose had been broken and reset and his fingers broken and healed. He had burn marks, or the remnants of some on his arms. His face was drained of color, and he was looking weaker than ever. It didn’t seem to stop him from running his mouth, however.
“I want my daughter” he roared at the top of his lungs, his voice hoarse from all the screaming he’d done in the last few days.
“Maxwell, you are hereby banished from the Blood Moon Pack from now and forevermore. To step back onto these lands or to go near Jordan again, immediately forfeits your life, do you understand?” my father asked seriously.
He ignored my father’s words. “I want Sarah” he yelled, spittle flying everywhere “I’m not leaving without my daughter.” “Sarah is facing her own punishment,” my mother said frostily “and the consequences for breaking the law. You are not taking her with you.”
He struggled to his feet, his hair getting in his eyes. His hands swept it back impatiently. He glowered at my parents. “f**k you” he spat out, the crowd letting out a collective gasp at his audacity to speak to the Alpha and Luna in that manner “I’m not leaving without Sarah”
My father’s eyes narrowed in disgust. “Do you have no concern for your wife at all?” he asked, “considering that she’s now alone in the forest, unable to shift and waiting for you to find her?”
“Screw that b***h, I never cared about her that much anyway,” Maxwell said dismissively, making my mother’s eyes widen as she looked at Maxwell with disdain.
He was showing his true colours now I thought, raising an eyebrow.
“Leave Maxwell,” my father said, “before I use the Alpha tone on you and force you to do so.”
I tensed. There was such an intense look of hatred and fury on Maxwell’s face that I Instinctively knew what he was about to do. So much for him being in a weakened state. We should have given him another dose of wolfsbane, instead of presuming he was weak.
I shifted, just in time as Maxwell did the same and lunged at my father. I got in front of him, and he stopped, chomping his jaws at me. The crowd backed away, my mother taking my father’s arm and pulling him back. I never took my eyes off Maxwell. He darted towards me and I dodged to the side, swiping at his side with my claws. I gouged his side and he let out a howl of fury. I was surprised that he’d managed to shift, considering he should have still had some wolfsbane in his system, but perhaps we hadn’t given him enough or his system had metabolized it quicker than we had anticipated.
He turned back around and then jumped towards me. I met him in mid-air, clawing and scratching. We fell to the ground, rolling over and under each other as we fought for dominance, fought for control over the other, and fought to win the fight. I pinned him beneath me, clenching my jaws around his neck and he struggled weakly. I tightened them even further. Why was I hesitating? He bucked me off and I growled. Damnit. I should have just ripped his throat out. I ripped my claws into his back and dragged them down, watching as he arched his back and howled in pain.
I saw him glance over his shoulder, saw realization dawning on his face as he realized he couldn’t win. He made a run for the forest. I wasn’t going to let him go. I didn’t trust him. Not after the stunt he’d just pulled. He was a threat to the pack and a threat to Jordan. I cut him off and leaped on top, clamping my jaws around his neck and tightening them once again. This time I bit down hard, moving my head back and forth, until I heard the distinct sound of a sickening crack as I severed his spinal cord, his body flopping to the ground. I climbed off of him and moved away, my bones cracking loudly as they adjusted back into my human form.
I walked back to the crowd. “Maxwell no longer poses a threat,” I told my mother as she glanced at me with worried eyes, searching me all over for signs of injury.
I had minor scrapes and scratches but that was it. Maxwell hadn’t done any major damage and I saw her give a huge sigh of relief.
“You did what was necessary,” my father said quietly “Thank you for intervening son. If you hadn’t shifted, I would have,” he said, looking a bit dismayed.
“I know,” I said wryly “but I was faster” I teased as he punched my shoulder in jest.
My mother still looked concerned. I sighed and patted her shoulder with the aim of trying to comfort her. The crowd began to disperse, pack members offering their gratitude and thoughts of what had happened.
“Good job Grant.”
“Thanks, Alpha Grant,”
“Shame that it had to end that way, but rules are rules.”
“Who do you think is going to be the new Gamma?”
On and on it went as the crowd dispersed until finally my parents and I were the only ones left standing. I stretched, getting all the kinks out of my back and yawning widely. It was just past dawn and I was tired. My mother laughed.
“I take it you don’t want to do any training then” she joked as my stomach gave a large rumble in protest. I was starving. “I’m hungry” I pouted and my father chuckled.
“Let’s go eat, I know I’m starving,” he said agreeably and then narrowed his eyes at me.
“What?” I asked confused. Why was he looking at me like that?
He coughed. “You may um, want to get dressed first,” he said quietly and I looked down and gulped, realizing I was still nude.
“Good idea,” I said resignedly. My mother giggled and then glanced over her shoulder, a thoughtful expression on her face. “Mother, what’s wrong?” I asked.
She sighed. “It’s probably nothing, or I’m just being overly paranoid,” she said ruefully.
My father inclined his head urging her to continue. She bit her lip “It’s just well, maybe we shouldn’t have let Stella go” she said slowly “I thought she was harmless but now I wonder if I’ve underestimated her. What if I’ve made a deadly mistake in letting her go? What if I’ve put the pack at risk or worse Jordan’s life at risk by allowing her to live?”
“I doubt she’ll survive,” my father said doubtfully “Her wolf isn’t strong and she no longer has Maxwell to accompany her. Don’t fret my darling, it’s out of your hands now. What happens happens, but I’m certain there is absolutely nothing to worry about” he assured her.
We walked to the pack house, but it was clear, judging by the look on my mother’s face that she wasn’t convinced by my father’s words, the decision she’d made to let Stella go free, still weighing heavily on her.