Resounding slap landed on Naomi’s face. A crimson palm bloomed on her cheek. She staggered back, her hands trembling with disbelief. Was he really the kind, amiable father who had never forgotten to bring her presents?
“Dad...please listen to me,” She cried and begged her father, but he stood there like a stone, glaring at her.
“It’s not Dad for you, Naomi; it’s Alpha for you.” He growled.
Her mother gasped, and she looked at her mother with tears in her eyes, pleading to do something, but she couldn’t interfere.
Her mother was well aware of her father’s nature; it would not make any difference even if she interrupted them.
“Please let me explain,” Naomi cried.
“Of course, I am giving you a chance to explain yourself. Please pick up those papers and tell your Luna and everyone else standing in this room, what’s written in them,” It wasn’t a request of a father. It was an order from the Alpha.
With trembling hands, Naomi picked up the reports from the table and looked at him instead of reading them.
She knew what was written in them; she knew that she could not hide this anymore. Tears were rolling down her cheeks, whether from regret or despair, only she would know.
“I am sorry. Please forgive me. I am really, very sorry,” She begged.
“I said read the reports.” Alpha growled, and she whimpered.
“The-there is a noticeable increase in the hCG levels, which indicates that-that I am pregnant.” She whispered.
“LOUD, SAY IT LOUDLY,” The Alpha roared.
“I-I am pregnant,” she said out loud, and everyone looked at her with wide eyes.
How can she make such a huge mistake?
She was always a well-mannered girl.
She is our gem.
She never even had a boyfriend.
These were the thoughts running through their minds.
Alpha Jacob Ward shook his head, looking away from her daughter. “I would have never thought that my daughter, out of all people, the heir-apparent to the Jade pack, could commit such an atrocity.”
He looked so remorseful as if it was him who had done the deed. The elders clicked their tongues sympathetically. Now we had been wisdom forever. They had watched her grow up. They knew her well. She was, after all, the Alpha’s eldest child.
When people had doubted her ability to rule in future as the Alpha, she showed them that she was overqualified for the job. No one knew that she could commit such a grave mistake.
“It really is a misfortune and shameful,” one of the elders said solemnly. “It’s a double loss for the pack.”
“Yes, not only will this hinder her path as the future Alpha, but now the pack members will also question the Alpha family.” The beta said and shook his head as if he was remorseful.
Noelle, Naomi’s sister, looked at her elder sister, frowning hard. Her eyes narrowed when she heard the elder’s words. “What do you mean by this will hinder her path? My sister is still the heir-apparent of the Jade pack.”
The beta looked at the naïve girl sympathetically, “After what she has done. I don’t think she deserves to be a part of the Jade pack itself, let alone being higher-apparent.”
Noelle swung to the side, facing her father. He waved his hands around in an agitated manner. “Mom, Dad! Tell me that’s not true. She will just have to be punished a bit. That’s all. Isn’t that right?”
“Shut up, Noelle, this is a serious matter! What are others going to think? We’ll be the laughing stock of the entire pack!” Her mother, Lydia Ward, screamed at her younger daughter.
While Naomi looked down, ashamed that she had let this happen. It’s not like she wasn’t cautious. She even took the pills to prevent the pregnancy, but somehow her plan failed.
“Naomi, Look at me?” Alpha Jacob called her, but this in his same fatherly that melts her heart.
She raised her head slightly but didn’t meet the eyes of her father.
“You were not raped, right?” He asked while clenching, unclenching his fists.
“No-no, I wasn’t raped,” she answered and looked at him; he knew that she was telling the truth. Her eyes said it all.
“Then tell me, who did you sleep with? Was it someone from the pack?” He asked softly.
This is Alpha Jacob ward, the cunning and the shrewd Alpha. He knew all the tactics to bring the truth out on the surface.
He knew his soft voice could do wonders for his daughter; he just needed a name so that he himself could kill that man who touched his only daughter.
“He-he was not from this pack,” she answered hesitantly.
“Oh, okay, so it was someone from the other pack?” He asked, his eyes gleaming as he was trying really hard to keep his wolf in control.
She wanted to tell him the truth; she knew that she couldn’t, or her father would kill her right on the spot. She cannot tell him that she slept with one of the Callum Black.
“I-It was; it was just a random rogue and I-,” she blurted out and soon realized her mistake.
“A rogue?” The beta cut her off, Gamma and the elders flinched in disgust.
On the other hand, her father was calm, too calm for her liking. She knew what it meant; it meant it was the calm before the storm.
“Did you just say, rogue?” He asked with a heaving chest and eyes that were full of rage.
“Y-yes,” she confirmed, and he lunged at her, not caring that she was pregnant.
But Noelle and the Beta Roman stopped Jacob from killing his own daughter.
“YOU SLUT! YOU SHOULD DIE! YOU DON’T DESERVE TO BE A PART OF THIS PACK. I SHOULD HAVE KILLED YOU WHEN YOU WERE BORN. ALL OF THEM WARNED ME, BUT I DIDN’T LISTEN TO ANY OF THEM! YOU ARE A CURSE TO THIS FAMILY!” He lost his sanity, his self-esteem was wounded, and he knew that he needed to amend things quickly before anyone else found out. He needed to make things right.
He took a deep breath to calm himself, and he looked at her as if she was nothing but filth. Jacob wanted to kill her. But he preferred people hurling accusations at his eldest daughter instead, on his name or his entire family.
“I think there is only one way to make things right,” he said solemnly.
“What is it, Alpha?” Everyone in the room asked and waited for his decision with baited breaths.
Minutes later, an announcement was posted on the Jade pack’s official website, and the article was shared on every one of their social media accounts.
“We regret to announce that Naomi Arabella Ward, the former heir-apparent of the Jade pack, has been expelled from the pack and exiled for the rest of her life on the grounds of impulsive and indiscreet and inappropriate behaviours. We are also pleased to announce the new Alpha heir-apparent of the Jade pack. Noelle Julius Ward, may the moon goddess bless her rule.”
Some people rejoiced, while some were heartbroken, others were indifferent. But everyone, without fail, knew that by losing Naomi, the pack would never be the same again.
Some people wondered what was the need for this sudden, impulsive decision, while some began to disperse so that they could give the Alpha family time to cope up with the loss. Suddenly, they felt a tug in their minds. Every wolf in the pack grunted with the pain as their bond with the alpha heir-apparent was broken.
Howls instinctively filled the air, carrying grief, blame and confusion with such an able Alpha exiled from the pack; it wouldn't be long before the pack members doubted the pack's leadership and its ability to rule. They all knew that their new Alpha heir apparent is nowhere close to Naomi, when it comes to protecting the pack and ruling it.
