47. My Fault

“Congratulations, you’re pregnant.”
Allium Ren sucked in a breath and tears sprang to her eyes. She whipped her head to the side—but no one was there. Oh. Right. The wolf who had been shoulder-to-shoulder with her for their whole lives was torn away. Severed, more like it, and it was Allium who held the scissors.
“Write your information here. Your signature, too. We don’t allow the records written to be forged or used without the consort’s agreement.”
Allium did as she was told—jotting down her status as an Omega female, the dates of her most recent heat cycle, the dates she knotted with Kiran, and the day and time of testing positive. She signed the paper at the bottom and the Beta snatched it and the pen from her to turn and sort it into a folder to be transcribed into the masterlist.
Allium knew the Contest was real. She would be a part of it by producing Kiran Cyrus’s offspring. Nine months later, her pups would add to a number toward a final tally. It was a race to win against Selene Hilal, Allium’s and the Sun pack’s enteral rival.
Providing her life to the Sun Alpha was something Allium anticipated and accepted since she was twelve years old. It was her duty as an Omega and a Magnolia werewolf to give herself to Lord Kiran. She would lounge in white and gold and feast on the finest meat and wine she could ever ask for. It would be an existence of luxury, sleeping and fucking a beautiful immortal male.
She didn’t anticipate losing her friends.
Cedar and Endine betrayed her, betrayed the mandate of the Magnolia pack. Endine was still in the clinic and Cedar was locked in her room; after Endine was back to full health, they would be escorted to the College. Banished. Allium was ashamed of and disappointed in them as a former Magnolia and a current Sun. And as a friend.
They had attacked Seff, her best friend, her sister, her packmate.
Allium slipped off the medical bed and dressed before padding through the halls of the clinic to return to her room. She envisioned a much happier reveal surrounded by her other pack mates. They would all cheer and throw glitter and ask her how many in a litter she’d have. Instead, she left without genuine congratulations, weaving through dozens of Sun members, to stop by one of the kitchens and swipe some cuts of steak and enjoy them alone in her couch pit. It wasn’t long before she salted the meat with her tears.
*Seff, I’m so sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.*
Who could have anticipated her own ugly jealousy? All Allium ever wanted was to be loved by Kiran Cyrus. Seff *hated* him, hated Selene, for half of her life, and at the Choosing, suddenly they were both infatuated with her? Allium worshipped them. Why would the Alphas care for someone who shunned their lifestyle? It was unfair.
She was starving but she couldn’t stand to take another bite.
*I’ve been so selfish and mean, Seff*. She’d run through an entire speech, but she’d been to proud and cowardly to actually say it aloud. They were best friends. Why was it suddenly so hard to talk to her? Of course, neither of them sought the other out. Neither wanted to admit they were in the wrong. *I wanted to beat your ass after he called you to the nursery. And I saw you in the courtyard. I wanted to defend you. I wanted to be the one to shield you, not Kiran. I wanted to apologize for all the mean things I’ve said to you. I’m an idiot. I’m sorry.*
Allium wrote to her parents and Hawthorn—and her fuck buddy—every day. They all asked about Seff—except her fuck buddy—and how they were sticking together to navigate their new home. It was insult to injury. She couldn’t bear to tell them that they were more or less estranged within days of the month they’d moved. After a few exchanges, however, they seemed insistent on asking about Seff, wondering why she wasn’t answering their letters to her.
It struck Allium very odd. Seff wasn’t writing Hawthorn back? They were best friends too. Hawthorn was *in love* with Seff. After he announced it in front of the entire College before the Alphas themselves, surely she knew that, and would write to ease his pain of rejection?
She rested her head back on her pillows and closed her eyes. Even her parents were asking more about Seff than their own daughter. What kind of wolfshit was that?
Something in her mother’s letter didn’t sit well. Wisteria Ren wrote,
*If Seff does not write back soon, please ask her if Kiran can grant us a visit? I want to see you, daughter, more than anything, but I fear for your friend. Your father and I were close to her parents and there is something they confided in us and the time has come for us to tell her.*
Was Seff in danger? From what? From Kiran or Selene? What would Linden and Alarik Bleize keep from their own daughter?
Allium sat at her desk and smoothed down a fresh piece of paper. One hand scrawling her thoughts and the other over her still-flat belly, she wrote back,
*Mom, there’s a lot going on here. I’m pregnant. I tested positive today. I haven’t spoken to Seff in a few weeks and it’s my fault. I miss you and Dad more than I can say. I’ll put in a visit request myself. I’ll tell Seff what you said. But what do you need to tell her? Is she in danger? Tell me how to fix my friendship, Mom. I’m confused and lonely here.*
Allium dated the top of the letter and folded it to fit in the envelope she plucked from the stack she kept. There was a collection box just outside of her room in the hallway; she slipped it inside for it to be sent by the end of the day.
That’s when she heard the shouting.
Hand still over her belly as if her babies were already there, she ran toward the entrance gate. Other members also came to investigate why Sienna was yelling for medics and for the “nosy bitches” to make a “damn path.”
Indeed, a large group formed quickly. Allium had to stand on her tiptoes to see over many light-haired heads. The gasps and whispers traveled like wildfire and soon reached Allium’s ears, stopping her heart dead in her chest.
*“Lord Kiran’s gravely injured! It was Selene! Selene attacked him!”*