Saving Briar

Harlow stood, balanced on a pair of ridiculously high heels, watching as the space around her filled up with wolf shifters. She knew many of them, especially the men who had frequented the strip club that she had worked at, but just as many were strangers. Two young women were standing nearby, whispering about the ranking wolves from other packs who had been invited to come to the celebration. They had to have said the name “Alpha Marek” at least a dozen times in the past minute and Harlow wondered for a moment which of the Alphas sitting in front of the stage he was.

No one seemed to know what was being celebrated, or if anyone did then they didn’t seem willing to share it with the other guests. Instead most of the guests had been milling around, enjoying the large quantities of free alcohol that had been flowing for at least an hour.

Harlow was standing next to the large stage that had been erected for whatever it was that was being celebrated. She hadn’t seen Hux again, but she saw Briar’s mother standing between two hulking brutes on the other side of the stage. Harlow’s gaze swept over the older woman, and she frowned.

She didn’t know Briar’s mother all that well, she thought that her name was Cindy, or something like that. Every time she’d seen her, the woman had looked completely exhausted and run down. Like Briar, she appeared to be half starved, and Harlow suspected that she kept little of the food in the house for herself, instead pretending that she wasn’t hungry, or had eaten somewhere else, to make sure her girls had a bit more on their plates.

At the moment though, she looked truly terrible. She had circles under her eyes that were so dark that Harlow couldn’t tell if she’d been punched in the face, or if they were simply the result of being pushed far beyond what her already half starved body was capable of. And she was trembling hard enough that Harlow could see the slight tremors even from her side of the stage.

She would have continued to watch the other woman who she thought was probably also a captive, when she heard a small, familiar voice call out her name.

“Mama! Mama! Over here!” Harlow’s head whipped in the other direction, her eyes searching the now crowded open space for her daughter. When she finally saw where Kayla was standing, her heart seemed to stutter in her chest.

Kayla was standing in a roped off space that Harlow hadn’t noticed earlier. Behind her, with her hands resting lightly on the young girl’s shoulders, was Cara. At one time, seeing Cara with Kayla would have calmed Harlow. She had liked the other girl quite a lot. Cara was one of the only female wolf-shifters who wasn’t rude to her, and she’d been especially attentive, visiting weekly and bringing little things for the baby, once Harlow’s pregnancy had been announced.

Hell, she’d mostly agreed to go along with sleeping with Theon because she’d needed the money desperately, but a small part of her had also done it because Cara had seemed so desperate for her to do it.

She had realized that like Briar, Cara was also her half sister, but for some reason now, staring over at the other woman who was standing beside her daughter, her mouth curved into what could only be described as a smirk, Harlow didn’t feel any sort of connection towards her. Instead she felt fear threatening to smother her.

Cara, Hux had said, would do anything to be Luna of this pack. She would even reject her mate, if that’s what she had to do. And if she was willing to reject her mate, who knew what she was capable of doing to her niece.

A gasp from the area below the balcony caused Harlow to drop her eyes to see what all the fuss was about. She couldn’t see right away what was going on, but then the crowd parted, and Cadoc, Theon’s old third, strode forward, with Briar by his side, wearing a silver collar.

Harlow sucked in a sharp breath and tried to step forward. She felt a strong hand clamp down on her bicep, pulling her back. “Behave. Or your daughter might have an accident today. And that would be a tragedy that might mar such a joyous occasion.” The man who had grabbed her was some hulking brute that Harlow didn’t recognize, but the person who had spoken was the woman who had helped her get ready. Harlow hadn’t realized that she was standing just behind her right shoulder.

Harlow simply nodded in response to the threat, because there wasn’t really anything else that she could do. She tried to tell herself that Cara obviously wouldn’t really want to hurt the small girl. As long as Harlow did exactly as she was told, her daughter, at least, should be fine.

“If you’re asked, you are here supporting the pack’s new Alpha as the mother of his daughter. Trying to call attention to your situation will be considered disobedience.” Harlow nodded again, her eyes focused on her daughter.

While she’d been standing near the stage at least a half dozen Alphas and Lunas from other packs had arrived and been seated in the front rows, near the center of the stage. There were still four empty chairs near the center of the front row, which Harlow guessed meant that there were important guests that had not yet arrived.

Harlow’s eyes dipped down to watch as Briar slowly made her way to the stage, trailing half a step behind a man that she recognized as Cadoc, the entire way. As Briar drew closer to where Harlow was standing, Harlow could see that the skin beneath her half-sister’s neck had blistered around the collar that she was being forced to wear. Briars’ eyes were focused straight ahead, and she gave no indication that she had seen Harlow, or even her own mother on the other side of the stage as Cadoc continued to pull her forward.

A hush fell over the crowd as more people spotted Briar and noticed the silver collar. Cadoc didn’t step off to the side of the stage, as Harlow half expected him to. Instead he led Briar up the stairs and onto the stage, forcing her to kneel next to his seat, which was on the far side of the stage from where Harlow had been made to stand.

Harlow hardly had time to process Briar’s condition when a commotion near the Packhouse caused her to turn her head. Hux was dressed in an expensive suit, and he strode easily through the path that Cadoc had cut for him. His eyes shifted, for a single moment to Harlow, who felt sickened by his smug expression before he turned and greeted each of the Alphas and Lunas in attendance. Then he took the stage

“Welcome, all of you, both members of my own pack who gather today to celebrate your Alpha, and those of you who have come from other packs to enjoy the day’s festivities. As many of you know, our pack has had a crisis of leadership. For the last several years I have tried to look the other way as the man who should have stepped up to fill the void left when his father died, squandered the pack’s funds until the bank accounts ran dry, letting our pack fall from a place of prominence, to a dusty backwater that was becoming less and less relevant day by day.”

“Because Theon was my friend, I tried to look the other way, hoping that in time he would rise up and lead our pack. When things got so bad I could no longer pretend that a change needed to be made, I tried to help our former Alpha become the man that he needed to be. But nothing could motivate Theon to become the leader that the Goddess intended for our pack. And so finally, as this pack cried out for leadership, I made the sad decision to do the only thing that could be done to save our pack.”

Harlow felt sick to her stomach, listening to Hux’s twisting of the truth. She had the distinct feeling that the money missing from the pack’s accounts had nothing to do with Theon and everything to do with Hux needing the money to buy her during that auction, along with his need to pay for the outside staff members that he had clearly brought in as part of his attempt to consolidate power.

“One of my scouts has told me that ten minutes ago our former Alpha crossed onto our pack lands. I gave him a chance to go, to leave behind the mess he’s made and let me rebuild what he had broken. But he has returned.”

“I will always feel a soft spot, deep inside, for our former leader. We grew up together. He was my best friend. If I thought he had any chance of succeeding as an Alpha I would support him. But I cannot allow him to continue to drag this pack down. Therefore if he appears today, I will challenge him to a fight. And then, I will end his miserable existence, once and for all.”