It was in self-defense. I tried to rationalize it to myself, but those words weren’t going through my head no matter how many times I repeated it to myself like a mantra.

Eventually, night turned into day, and by the time the sun rose, I had gone the entire night without proper rest.

Days passed since Dahlia Elrod’s death with no sign of Damon or Blaise’s arrival. As much as I overheard through strained ears and the power of my quickly fading enhanced hearing, my mother had her men stationed all over Lumiose, especially Upper Lumen, all in preparation for their arrival.

However, despite their advanced preparation, the famed alpha and beta of Fangborne had yet to show up.

My guts felt as though they had been knotted tightly in my stomach. It was good that they weren’t here yet. I was even hoping they wouldn’t show. That way, my mother wouldn’t be able to do anything to them.

It was one thing to cause minor discord here and there in Fangborne’s outskirts, and a whole other thing to kill off the pack’s leaders in a city filled with hunters and vampires. Fangborne could recover from the first as a pack. If its leaders were assassinated, that would be a different case.

There might not even be a Fangborne left, if it came to that.

However, I knew that something wasn’t right when I woke up on the fifth morning that I was kidnapped and brought to my mother’s hunter headquarters. There was a clenching ache in my chest and I woke up practically gasping for air. My hands reached for my heart, clawing at the fabric of my t-shirt as I struggled to breathe.

Coughs and hacks flew past my lips as a piercing ache flooded through me, followed by waves of anxiety and distraught. It took me a moment to reorientate myself, and by the time my head cleared enough of the pain to think straight, I finally realized what it meant.

Damon and Blaise were close― or at least, close enough for the mate bond to come through.

A knock at my door quickly caught my attention, and I had to stamp down the onslaught of emotions and maintain a straight face as my mother’s voice rang from outside.

"Harper, sweetie, are you awake?" she called out. Her voice was honey-sweet, and judging by how elated she was, she must’ve already caught the news.

That only proved how efficient her team was. I had just felt the bond connecting again, and nearly instantly after, my mother found out as well. Her intel was nearly as efficient as what was considered supernatural, and that thought was frightful.

I cleared my throat, then said, "Yes, I’m awake."

She pushed open the door once she received my confirmation, wearing a jubilant smile and bright eyes. I couldn’t help but stare at her new coat. The weather was starting to turn a little colder outside, but it hardly called for a fur coat yet at this time of the year. Yet, she was showing off her new outfit, posing as she looked at me expectantly.

"How does it look?" she asked. "I just had this made."

I eyed the midnight black fur coat my mother wore, frowning at how the shiny fur looked awfully familiar. My nose wrinkled, trying to catch any clues I could, but there wasn’t a single odd scent that came from my mother’s body. Yet, the nagging feeling in my mind didn’t go away.

"It looks..." I said, "familiar."

My mother laughed, a hand placed on her chest as she swatted playfully at the air, amused by my reaction. As she did, my eyes suddenly went wide as a thought clicked through my mind.

It couldn’t be.

"Oh, I sure hope it does," she said. "After all, you were quite well-acquainted with the owner of this gorgeous pelt. For such a distasteful girl, she at least kept her coat well groomed all twenty over years of her life."

Instantly, my stomach began to turn as I felt the contents of it well up my throat and out of my mouth. I gagged, hurling last night’s dinner off the side of the bed as waves of nausea rolled over me. No wonder it looked so familiar. My mother’s new coat was made of the fur of the animal I had killed.

No, not just a random animal. A werewolf, a woman I once knew.

"You are so dramatic," my mother said with a laugh, but even her words sounded a little distorted at this point.

My head was whirling and I was starting to see colors that weren’t supposed to be there. The whole world around me was starting to spin, and the smell of my own bile was causing me to gag even further.

"It’s just the fur of an animal, darling," she said. "What’s the matter?"

"What’s the matter?" I asked, my voice gravelly as I panted heavily. "What’s the matter?! What’s the matter with you, Mom? You just skinned a werewolf and you’re now parading around in her fur?"

"It’s an animal," my mother replied calmly. "Rather than throw the carcass away, I’ve repurposed its fur to make couture. It’s a wonderful way to honor its death."

"She had a name," I said through gritted teeth. I was starting to see red, and even though I had loathed Dahlia Elrod with every fiber of my being when she was still alive, she didn’t deserve to be treated this way after death. It didn’t feel right.

My mother’s face darkened as her smile left her face in just a click of a hand. She stepped forward, smoothly evading the vomit I had left on the bedroom floor.

"Harper," she said, gently patting my cheek. "You will have to learn that werewolves are just beasts that have hidden beneath human skins all their lives. Their ancestors may have come from humans, but after centuries of evolution, they are no longer mankind. And every other being other than mankind are natural enemies to us― be it predator or prey." 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"Then what about the vampires?" I asked, seething. "You seem to be perfectly alright about working with them."

My mother merely smiled knowingly but she did not reply. Instead, after a pregnant pause, she said instead, "Gus, there is no need to stand out there. Come in and say what you must."

I turned my attention to the door, surprised that my mother had caught his presence when I hadn’t even noticed. Although, I had been distracted by what my mother had presented to me that everything else was as minuscule a matter as a fly.

"Madame, your guests have arrived," Gus said, stepping in once he was called. His gaze landed on me for a fraction of a second, but swerved to meet my mother’s gaze once she turned away from me to look at him.

"Wonderful," my mother said, clapping her hands in delight. "Gus, have someone come over to clean up this mess. Harper and I will need to play host."