The Black Sheep

Chapter 2

Riley

"You cheated!" Leigh accused, pointing her finger at me. Smiling, I shook my head and gathered up the candies and cookies that scattered at the center of the table. I was playing blackjack with the kids- Leigh, Dale, Adrian, Amber, and William. We weren't gambling with money. I'm not a bad influence, I won't encourage gambling money- even though I do at times. We replaced money with sweets- taffy, hershey kisses, chips ahoy, milano cookies.

I just won the round with 19. Leigh lost majority of her taffy; which is why she's so angry. Grinning, I unravelled the caramel taffy- her favorite. As I chewed it, I kept my eyes on Leigh. "It's so good" I dragged out, taunting her.

She huffed before demanding her brother to deal again. "I'll win back the rest of that" she said determinedly.

I opened up another taffy, banana split. "Not if I eat it all first" I pointed out with a smirk. I wasn't really gonna eat it all. I'm not that mean. We started the next round. Leigh took one look at her cards before smiling. She probably got a 19 or 20. The other four kids busted, so it was just Leigh and I. Peeking at my cards, I saw an ace and a nine. Easy 20. I might be able to win. Leigh was eying her candy as I pretended to think about what to do. "Hit" Dale slid another card over. Ace. That makes 21. "Damn. I busted" I feigned disappointment as I tossed my cards over to Dale. He didn't look at the cards, so no one knew that I was lying.

Leigh squealed, bringing her candy closer to her. She popped a caramel taffy in her mouth. "I told you I would win it back" she said, poking her tongue out at me. I rolled my eyes at her, but a smile appeared on my face.

Looking around the table, I spotted William staring at me knowingly. "You guys surrender yet?" I questioned, knowing that Dale and Amber were extremely bad at blackjack. They nodded their heads, so we all just sat back in our seats and ate what we had won. I tossed Leigh the last of the caramel taffy that I still had in my stack. Grinning, she thanked me. I gave Dale all of my Hershey kisses, since that kid loves chocolate. I also gave William my Milano cookies. The twins always shared their stuff, so I didn't bother with them.

"Wake us up before you leave" Dale said randomly. I quickly nodded my head in agreement as Leigh's eyes began filling with tears. Frowning, I moved over and wrapped my arms around her. "We'll miss you" Dale told me sadly.

Nodding, I brushed Leigh's hair back. "I'll miss you guys too. Take care of each other, okay?" They both nodded in agreement before we all got into a group hug. The twins joined us; and after grumbling about group hugs, William joined in. "Come on. Enough tears" I said, pulling away. Leigh wiped her face, being pulled back into Dale's side.

I didn't want to leave so early. I wish I could stay a week. But I really wanted to show Dave and everyone who doubted me, that I am serious about this 'mission'. I want to prove that I am motivated and worthy enough to be Queen, even if Royal Blood doesn't run in my veins. I didn't just want it for me. I wanted to prove to everyone that I was worthy because of Dave. He was risking a lot by even considering me as the next ruler. I didn't want his name tarnished because I couldn't prioritize.

So even if I didn't want to leave my siblings, I had to. Not for myself, not for the werewolf species, not for the kingdom. But for Dave. I had to do it for him. It's the least I could do after everything he's done for me.

***

I woke up before the sun was even up. I changed into a pair of sweats and a crop top since I would just be driving. Dragging my bags behind me, I trudged out of my bedroom. I only got about four hours of sleep last night. But I could survive the drive to Storm Pack if I drank a couple cups of coffee. "Mornin'" I greeted Dave and Lila, who looked equally as exhausted as I did. Lila poured me a cup of coffee and I thanked her. "The Storm Pack is an hour away. I'll drive there and probably sleep before I do anything else" I informed the pair as I sipped my coffee.