Saving Kitty | OLD | ✔

Eleven | Ship of Fools

"As we spiral to the bottom, take someone else's Heaven away."

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 "You shouldn't have said those things." Kitty frowned, slowly dabbing at Eden's face. Her own side was sore, but she ignored the pain. It was the least she deserved. Especially now that Brandon had been fated for The Culling; something she never wanted to witness. Now that her father had publicly announced that she had been part of the decision to send Brandon to a fate worse than death (even though all she'd done was beg her father to be merciful, that Brandon clearly came back by mistake), the wolves who attended the annual slaughter would expect to see her by her father's side.

"The bitch deserved it." Eden snarled, her chocolate eyes still shining a bright gold. Her wolf was still on the surface, unhappy at how Katie had berated Kitty. But Kitty knew it was well-deserved – Katie had been Brandon's best friend, and she'd taken his loss the hardest. Kitty's mistake hadn't just cost Brandon his position in the pack, hadn't just cost him his life but she'd impacted all his friends – all of her old friends. While Eden thought they were being irrational for hating her, Kitty understood. And Kitty knew she deserved it.

Ignoring the strong smell of alcohol, Kitty continued to dab at Eden's face. She should have known how the altercation would have ended – in a fight. Eden was like a mother wolf; and you don't mess with her cubs paying facing the price. And Katie had paid dearly. Both had shifted and scrapped viciously. Katie caught Kitty's side when she threw herself at Eden to push her away. She didn't want anyone to fight, especially not because of her. Micah had pulled Kitty away, for her own safety, but Kitty didn't want to be rescued. She needed to stop the fight.

In the end, Gabriel had put an end to the fight after he thought it had gone on too long. It was only out of respect, and because she'd get an earful from her best friend, that Eden stopped. Katie, on the other hand, would have never defied an alpha. It was just in her nature. But she almost made a special exception for Kitty.

"Where did Gabriel and Micah go?" Kitty just shrugged. Everything was going downhill. Whatever chance she'd had with Gabriel had been wiped, she was sure. He knew that because of her, someone had been ripped away from everyone they loved. What's to say she wouldn't do the same again? And there was a small voice niggling at her, telling her she would do it again - that she wouldn't be able to help herself.

"I don't know." And not a bone in her body cared. It scared her, feeling as she did so many years ago but she couldn't help it. She was detaching herself from everyone – and she could see that her best friend knew it was happening. And there was nothing either of them could do to prevent what was coming.

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With the celebrations over, the ritual of 'initiating' Kitty back into the pack (even though it was just for show), everyone had gone on a run under the moonlight, as was tradition. And Kitty should have been at the front, running with her father but since she was incapable of shifting... she was cleaning up. Saved the maids a job and distracted her from the harsh reality that she'd never fit into the pack, no matter how many rituals she did, no matter how many times she involved herself in the pack.

Not a real werewolf.

Katie's words clung to Kitty, suffocating her mind. She deserved her harsh words – Katie wasn't wrong. It was Kitty's fault that Brandon had been thrown to the wilderness. He may have been able to shift, but a sixteen year old left in the wild? None of the teenagers had ever left the safety of the pack – they may have gone to the town, but it was always with supervision. They'd heard horror stories of poachers wanting them for their skin and the human government wanting them for experimentation. Not to mention the risk of running into other packs – and even though Samuel Flowers was arguably the most terrifying and the least merciful of all the alphas... they were still innocent to the ways of torture. She couldn't imagine what Brandon had gone through, living life rough. Living as a rogue.