Blair

I lay on the small single bed that was now mine. It was a welcome relief to my spine after spending what seems like forever sleeping on a solid stone floor. Someone had even piled some blankets up at the end with a change of clothes. I’m assuming mum as it was already here when Ryken brought me here.

I could hear my brothers running around upstairs. Their footsteps pounding the floor. Mum yells at them to quieten down before they wake Braelyn.

It was odd, I never thought I would find comfort in the sounds of my family. I had always preferred silence until Cooper forced me into it. Now every silence was uncomfortable. Every silence means a punishment is on its way.

Closing my eyes, a smile appears on my face. I was still alive. Still breathing. Maybe I could find a way to keep it that way. Maybe I just do everything that they ask me too and they will forget about punishing me.

I hear the handle on my door turn and my eyes shoot open. One of my brothers is standing on the stairs, staring at me. I’m not even sure which one. They both had blonde ringlets framing their eyes.

“You look like a boy.” He spits out in disgust. I assume he is the slightly older one, Kade. The one Ryken had mentioned when he came to the office. The one he was having a meeting about some time this morning. I was starting to understand why there were problems with him.

My hands automatically go to my hair. His brown eyes are wide as he stares at me. His lips turn up at the corners. Proud of himself because he thought he had upset me.

“It’s what happens when you are naughty.” I tell him.

“Then you shouldn’t have gotten caught.” He runs back up the steps and slams the door. His feet move quickly across the floor which is then followed by mutterings with mum. Though I couldn’t make out what any of it was.

Minutes later, my door opens again. I stay sitting on the bed, watching my mother slowly descend the stairs. Her hair had been scraped back in a bun, a few white hairs were making their presence known amongst the jet black. A deep green dress clung to her frame. For someone who has had four children, you wouldn’t think so to look at her. Her body was in better condition than mine. Just the soft wrinkles forming on her face gave her age away.

“What did you say to Kade?” She asks softly

Of course he had gone running to mum. “He made a comment about me looking like a boy because of this.” point to my head. “I just told him it’s what happened because I was naughty.”

Her hands go to her hips. “You can’t say stuff like that to a seven year old.”

“Maybe he needs to hear it. I know Ryken has gone to have a meeting about Kim with the Alpha. There is only one reason why he would have to do that.”

She purses her lips. But I knew that she knew I was right.

“Can you please just be careful what you say around the boys? I don’t want more trouble than necessary.”

“Mum! You and Ryken have been tasked with keeping an eye on me. What more trouble could you possibly have?”

She glares at me and I back track.

“I’m not saying I’m going to be trouble. I’m just saying that you are already on the Alphas radars.”

She nods as she mulls over my words. “Come upstairs for breakfast. You will be going to work in a bit and you can’t do it on an empty stomach.” “I’m okay.”

“I will tell you the same thing as I tell the boys. It’s not negotiable.”

I follow her up the wooden stairs and through to the dining room. She gestures to a chair next to my youngest brother. He hadn’t met me yet and he drops a spoon into his bowl to stare at me with dazzling blue eyes. He was a miniature Ryken but with blonde ringlets just like Kade. Ryken must have been blonde before he went bald.