Chapter 35: Laura’s Past

Laurel followed Eden to an inn, almost rushing him to get there. The inn was a little dirty and looked cheaper than the one she was staying in with Sarah. She was skeptical that they would stay in such a place, knowing what she knew of her parents. They had cared so much about their reputation and their appearance. They liked fancy rooms, money, and nice clothes more than anything in the world, and they were the alpha of the Emerald Twilight pack’s betas.
Why would they ever stay in a place like this?
Laurel and Eden approached the door of the inn as the door slammed open to reveal Laura’s parents. Henry and Collen Hamiltion looked older than she remembered. Their hair was unkempt; their shoes were scuffed. They were dressed in ordinary clothes, looking just like the roadside vendors or worse.
She almost didn’t recognize them.
“Hey—”
Laurel pulled Eden back and around the corner of a nearby building to avoid them. She hadn’t been ready to see them yet, let alone in such a state. Had something happened to the Emerald Twilight Pack? Maybe the pack had been attacked sometime during the war and they were just refugees now.
It would explain why they seemed so out of sorts, but it didn’t explain why Laura’s father seemed so furious.
“Laurel—”
She pressed a finger to her lips to signal him to be quiet. Eden closed his mouth and nodded stiffly.
“We can’t just go back!” He yelled, “We haven't seen one nobleman! They told me everyone could attend the imperial city’s celebration, but it was just a commoner’s celebration!”
Laurel leaned around the corner to peek at them as Colleen let out a weary sigh. She looked exhausted before shooting a baleful glare at her husband.
“I told you. We didn’t get an invite so there was no way to enter the castle!” She huffed and crossed her arms. “If you were still alpha’s beta, maybe we would have gotten an invitation!”
Laurel gasped in shock. How had that happened? From what she remembered, there was no way that the alpha would have kicked them out without reason.
“And whose fault is that?” Henry growled at her, “You wanted more money to buy jewelry. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have embezzled all that money—“
Colleen scoffed as Laurel’s heart lurched.
“Don’t blame me! You spent the money on clothes and wine. Always throwing parties at home, and you don't even know how much money you spend on each party! The alpha kicked you out of the beta position because you got caught.”
“You—”
“And you're still spending money like we have it to waste! Look at this hovel we’re living in because of you!”
They glared at each other as Laurel tried to make sense of everything she heard. She should have been horrified and shocked, but she didn’t have it in her. Laura’s parents had been greedy snobs, only interested in their gratification. They had to pay for their greed sooner or later. How long had they been embezzling funds from the pack? Were they on the run or had they simply been kicked out?
“They... don't seem like nice people.” Eden grimaced. “Why did you come to see them?”
Laurel was about to answer, but Colleen wailed.
“If Laura were alive, she would have taken us into the castle! Our daughter was luna! How could our alpha fire you?”
Henry’s expression turned dark and furious as he scowled, “Don't mention her! We spent so much money to raise her and send her to the palace, but how did she treat us? She tossed us away like we were nothing!”
The thought made Laurel furious. How selfish could they be to say that aloud and besmirch her name after her death? She clenched her hand and kept listening.
Colleen shook her head, “She is our child! She couldn't have left us alone—”
Henry slammed his hand into a wall, his voice tight and impatient, “She is dead! Dead! Even if we use her name to visit the nobility now, no one will care about us. The late luna's parents? Hah! They’ll say they have a new luna now, and no one will care about us or her.”
“But still—“
“I doubt anyone cared about her before she died anyway!” He sneered, “She had been in the castle for so long, but she couldn't keep the prince's heart! She must have been as stubborn and uninteresting as you are if she couldn’t please a man...”
“What did you say?” Colleen screeched. “How dare you!”
She slapped him. He stumbled a bit before growling and lunging at her and grabbing her by her hair.
“Unhand me!” She cried, kicking him in the shin.
People came out of the inn to watch as they crashed to the ground. Some pressed their faces against the windows as they tumbled around in the dirt trading blows like overgrown children squabbling about a toy.
“It’s all your fault!”
“Stupid wench!”
“Bastard!”
Her eyes burned with tears as they poured down her face unable to do much more than watch them as people nearby jeered. She was almost certain someone was taking bets about who would win just as they shifted into their wolf forms and began to trade blows.
They had been cruel before, but this was too much. How could they still think of Laura as a tool after her death? How could they be so greedy?
“What crazy—Laurel!”
She turned unable to watch anymore and ran down the street. She heard Eden rushing after her and heard him calling for her, but she couldn’t face him or even explain why she was so heartbroken.
She didn’t want to see them again. She didn’t even care if they had been behind her death, but she doubted it. Her death would never have served their purpose. They had needed her alive to reap any sort of benefits and that was all she had ever been to them.
An investment that they had never gotten much of a return on. It was sickening.
“Laurel, wait!”
She pushed her way through a small crowd and kept running until she could no longer hear Eden calling her name. She ran for a while, losing track of which streets she turned down and the sights she passed until she reached a small alley that was far enough from the busier parts of the city that it was quiet.
She sunk against the wall with a little sob feeling ridiculous for crying. Laura was dead, and Laurel knew how wretched her life had been. These had to be the last tears she cried over Laura’s circumstances.
*It’s okay to cry*, Alice soothed. *We couldn’t have known they were so much worse than we remembered.*
That was true, but she hadn’t been prepared. She sniffled and wiped her face, thinking back to their words. It was clear that they hadn’t even been in the city when she’d died. Maybe they were trying to figure out where they would live after they were kicked out of the pack. It was a shallow comfort to know that they hadn’t killed her.
She got to her feet with a tired little sigh and prepared herself. Having to live in squalor and squabbling in the dirt was what they deserved for the way they had treated her and how little regard they had for her life and death.
Had they mourned for the daughter they lost at all, or had every bit of her death been twisted into a slight against them?
A part of her knew the answer, and it was enough for her.
No more tears would be shed for Laura, not about her parents, Basil, or her death. All she could do now was move forward and seek justice for Laura’s death. She reminded herself that as soon as it was done, she would leave the Imperial City just as she planned.
As she turned the corner to head back onto the main street, she met a solid wall of warmth. She stumbled, bumped back, and felt a hand on her shoulders. The scent of cedar, roses, and blood made her heart flutter, but she pushed it away. It was just a trick of her loneliness. Adolph was gone and he wouldn’t be out in the city even if he were here.
“I’m sorry about that—“
“Laurel?” Laurel flinched at the deep, warm voice that sent a zing of wanting through her. It was impossible.
“What happened? What are you doing out here?”
She frowned. She knew that voice and she looked up with a gasp. His clear blue eyes were searching her face with concern beneath his frown. His blonde hair caught the sunlight and seemed to glow above her.
Alice howled in joy. *Our mate found us! See!*
But how could Adolph be here? Chasel said he was out of the city.
“Your Majesty, when did you come back?”