Laura's Redemption

LAURA'S POV;

The heavy wooden door of the pack’s main house creaked open, its usual warmth was now replaced by an unusual chill. The palace, once blooming with life, now felt almost like a graveyard—cold, silent, and suffocating. As I stepped inside, the familiar scent of pine and earth was stained with something sour, something that was unsettling in my stomach.

The eyes of the pack members could barely meet mine for some unknown reason. Their gazes slid away almost like a night shadow, leaving me with the disturbing sense that something was terribly wrong. Whispers, barely audible, echoed in the corners of the room. My chest tightened. They’re sure hiding something.

I spotted a maiden in a corner, her shoulders trembling as sobs wracked her body. My footsteps echoed as I walked in the room, each step increasing my fear. I knelt beside her, reaching out.

“What’s happened?” My voice was firm, but there was a shake beneath it. “Why is everyone crying? What’s going on?”

The maiden’s eyes, which were red, flicked up to meet mine for a brief moment, before she recoiled, struggling to her feet and walking away without a word. Cold pooled in my stomach. What is going on?

The silence is still heavy, pressing down on me from all sides. As the Alpha’s daughter, I should know what’s happening, but every face I turned to was as unreadable as stone. The urge to find answers bit me, so I forced my legs to carry me toward my father’s room.

But before I could reach the door, a hand gripped my arm, pulling me to a halt. I turned around to see the palace cook, her face now lined with years of service and something else—something like pity.

“Please,” I said, with desperation sharpening my tone, “tell me what’s going on. Why is everyone so upset? Where are my parents?”

Her gaze wasn't as hard as before , but there was a sadness in her eyes that made my heart skip in my chest. “My dear,” she began, her voice shaking, “there are things in this world that are too heavy for young ones like yourself to bear. But remember, death comes for us all. It is just the way of life, and sometimes, we must accept it without understanding.”

The vague words only fueled my anxiety. My parents—where were they? Why hadn’t anyone answered me directly? My mind ran through a thousand possibilities, each one worse than the last that I thought about. The last time I saw them was when they went for the evening run… No.

I immediately freed my arm, the cook’s words doing nothing to get rid of the fear inside me. I pushed my way past her and ran down the corridor, the walls seeming to close in on me with every step I took. What am I going to find?

I reached the door to my father’s room. The door creaked open. The familiar scent of my father’s musk scent still in the air, but it was mixed with something metallic, something that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

There, on the bed, were two still forms covered in white linen.

“No…” The word escaped my lips barely as a whisper, which was audible over the sound of my own heart beating in my ears. My feet moved forward, almost against my will. With shaking hands, I reached out and pulled back the covers.

My parents. Pale, lifeless, and so very still.

A scream came from my throat, raw and primal, as I collapsed beside them. The pain was too much, slicing through me like a blade. My mother’s hand, so warm and soft just days ago, was now cold and unyielding. My father’s strong arms, the ones that had always protected me, lay limp and powerless.

I pressed my face against my mother’s chest, hoping—praying—that I might hear her heartbeat, that this was some nightmare which I could still wake up from. But there was nothing. Just silence, crushing silence.

I’m alone.

The weight of that realization settled over me, nearly suffocating. At twenty, I still hadn’t found my mate—the one the Moon Goddess promised would stand by my side. Now, with my parents gone, I was truly alone in a pack that was already whispering about who would lead them next.

But the pack needed an Alpha. Mate or not, I had to step up.

When the time came to take their bodies away, I was asked out of the room as tradition demanded. The elders and guards moved with experience, leaving me standing in the hallway, feeling like a ghost in my own home. I didn’t know what to do, or how to bear this burden alone. Without a mate, the future stood before me like a dark, unknown place.

Back in my room, the walls seemed to close in on me. Maidens surrounded me, their hands gentle as they tried to comfort me, but their words were definitely not helping. I dismissed them, needing to be alone with my grief. But that only made the pain more unbearable.

A knock on the door broke through the thought of my despair. It was Sonia, my best friend. I barely had time to register her presence, not until she enveloped me in a tight embrace.

“Oh, Laura…” Her voice was thick with concern. “I heard what happened. Please, you have to stop crying. I can’t stand to see you like this.”

Tears welled up in my eyes again as I clung to her. “Sonia, they’re gone. I’m alone. What am I supposed to do?”

“You’re not alone,” Sonia whispered fiercely, pulling back to look into my eyes. “You have me, always. And we’ll get through this, I promise.”

She handed me a familiar package—my favorite cookies and juice, a simple comfort we had shared since childhood. The sight of it brought a small, fragile smile to my lips. Sonia always knew how to take care of me.

“Thank you,” I murmured, taking a bite. The sweetness on my tongue was at least a distraction from the hard pain in my chest.

“Come on,” Sonia said gently, helping me to my feet. “Let’s go downstairs. There are things that need to be done, and you have to be strong, Laura. Your parents would want that.”

We descended to the main hall where the elders were deep in discussion, their voices low and serious. The weight of their words settled over me like a shroud as they debated when to lay my parents to rest. Chief Elder Magnus, a man my father had trusted implicitly, led the conversation with his usual calm authority.

“That’s the best time,” Magnus concluded. “We should begin preparations immediately.”

The other elders nodded in agreement, their decision made. They seemed almost too eager to put this tragedy behind them, and it struck me as odd. Shouldn’t there be more questions? Why are they not investigating? Find out more about this?

As the meeting was postponed and the elders walked out, I remained in the hall, feeling the emptiness of the palace. The grief was a heavy blanket that threatened to suffocate me, but beneath it, a seed of doubt was being formed. Something’s wrong. This isn’t right.

Alone in my room again, the darkness closed in around me, but it wasn’t just grief that consumed me now. It was the growing suspicion that there was more to my parents’ deaths than anyone was willing to say.