Give Her A Second Chance

Chapter 2

Nyx's P.O.V

   I watched as my big sister limped to the bathroom. I don't think she even realizes that she is limping. I know that she was in pain, but she never tells us or lets it show on her face. But she forgets that we are the ones that bandages her wounds that don't require serious medical attention. However, when you've lived the life we do, you develop a high tolerance for pain.
 
   I feel the familiar nagging shame and guilt. I hate that she won't confide in us when she's in pain. I hate more that she won't let me share in her burden. Not that she thinks of us as burden, but at six feet tall and 165lbs and I can't even keep my sister from being used as a punching bag.

    I want to help her. Really, I do. For as long as I could remember Selina has protected me and our little sisters from this "pack." She protected us from beatings. Made sure we were fed from what little food they allowed us to eat, even if it meant that she didn't eat herself. And I hate it. I hate that she spends all her time looking after us, but not herself. She is constantly sleep deprived because she is either in too much pain to sleep, or in a state of constant protectiveness. Always on guard. Plus, she is extremely malnourished. Alona is the only thing that is keeping Selina from dying of starvation.

    But she won't ask for help. . .not anymore. And it's all Percival's fault. I know that Selina doesn't blame him, but I do. It's his fault that Selina refuses to ask for help, because if our own brother won't help us why would anyone else give a fuck? Which especially sucks considering he's the whole reason Selina became a Marked Wolf.

     Flashback six years ago.

     Selina was reading "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe to us. We love when she reads to us as she has such a captivating voice. Don't ask us why we find his poems and tales soothing, but it is. Although Selina will read us lighthearted thing, like fairytales, from time to time as the few books were the only ones we were allowed at the time. Rowena and Seraphina's favorite is Peter Pan. These were really the only books we had access to.

     Rowena and Seraphina were both laying against my side while our big sister read to us. She read with such a calm voice that it was almost chilling considering the source she was reading from. 

    "Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling. by the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore. 'Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,' I said, 'art sure-"

    All of a sudden when heard a crash downstairs, cutting Selina off. Rowena and Seraphina instantly became afraid and curled into my side, trying to hide. I looked at Selina and saw a look of resignation on her face. She knew from the sound that Father was in one of his moods. I knew that he took Andres and Percival to training. And judging from the amount of yelling and swearing, things did not go as planned.

     "I'll be back soon," Selina sighed. "Nyx, come down in ten minutes and get Percy. Girls, you stay here. Do not come down for any reason. Do you understand?"

    Rowena and Seraphina nodded. Without another word Selina left left us. As soon as she left I nervously waited with my younger sisters. It was probably only a couple of minutes before we heard a rage filled roar and the sound of splintering wood.

     Time seemed to crawl slowly by as I waited for the full ten minutes before finally going downstairs. The scene I saw before me in the living room was frightening. Percival laid in the middle of the room all bloody. The door to the front was ripped from the hinges and thrown across the room. Father and Selina were nowhere to be seen. I quickly moved to Percival's side. My older brother was barely conscious. I gently tried to pick him up off the ground, trying to be mindful of his injuries.