Gray Valley

f i f t e e n

WHEN I WOKE UP, IT WAS MORNING. The sunlight streamed through the narrow window of the cellar, snapping me out of my sleep. I heard something crash in the distance and jumped up from the ground, fully alert.

"Bryanna?" I called out.

"I'm alright," her voice replied. "Besides, I told you to call me Anna."

"For the love of Luna, I forgot. Sorry, Anna... Where were you?"

She emerged from the shadows holding the rope Bryan had used to restrain me, the day before.

"I was just getting rid of this."

"Your brother used that to tie me up."

"Well, don't take it personally," her lips curved upwards into a light smile. "We do what Alpha West says."

At the mention of him, I frown, remembering everything he'd told me.

"I don't want love; I just want you."

Shivers ran up my spine at the memory of it. His scornful tone and touch, that made bile raise in my throat, we're both burnt in my mind. He was a sadist that fed off the grief and fear of others. I shouldn't; wouldn't be scared of him.

"What do you think he's going to do to me?"

"To be honest?" she asked. "I have no idea."

"What did West do to the last person?" She gave me a confused look. "The last person to break the Promise Code, I mean."

"He killed him." My heart momentarily stopped. Oh my Luna, Killed? Someone was killed... Just for breaking a promise? "His name was Graham Moonstone."

"Moonstone..." That was Liam's surname.

"Graham Moonstone was William's father," she stated, almost as if she knew what I was thinking. "Martyn told me all about it. He was your father's Beta. Technically, William would have been Alpha West's Beta... Since he was next in line. But the Alpha wanted someone who would willingly follow him, so..."

"HE'S A RAGING PSYCOPATH!" I exploded, growling fiercely. Bryanna recoiled, her eyes wide as they were fixed on mine. "HOW DARE THAT HEARTLESS-"

"Y-you're eyes are t-turning red," she stammered.

"Hey! Keep your voice down!" Bryan's voice called from the doorway. "Do you want the Alpha to hear you?"

"HE IS INSANE," I gritted out.

"He is not insane or heartless," she snapped angrily. Both Bryan and I froze in our tracks at Bryanna's sudden outburst. "He's a good person at heart and-"

"It's true in a way," he muttered, quickly recovering from his shock. "He had to be somewhat good to have given us a life by his side."

"What is that supposed to mean?" I demanded.

"Anna and I, we're orphans," he told me. "We were living at an orphanage until the Alpha came and found us."

"He saved me, years ago," she murmured. "He made me into what I am, today."

"What are you going on about? I thought you knew how twisted West Grayson is, but you're supporting him as if he is innocent. Anna, whose side are you really on? "

"There are no sides," she said quietly. "This isn't war."

"That's where you're wrong," I objected. "This is war."

"You're both Gray Wolves," she yelled. "Bloody hell, you're both siblings! Why do you both hate each other?"

"West is the Alpha for the Luna Pack and he's abusing his power by abusing, kidnapping and murdering people, he should be punished for what he is doing. And if war is the only way to do that, I am prepared."

"YOU'RE WRONG!" she screamed. "West isn't like that..." There was something about the way she said his name. When Bryanna said his name, it was as if he were special to her. "He's a good person; manipulated by a bad past."

"Why are you doing this?" I stare at her, astonished. None of this made sense. I wasn't alone, though. Bryan, too, was watching her in the same way that I was. "I thought you understood me, Anna."

Why would she be defending him?

As far as I knew, all he ever did was to hurt others and enjoy their pain. Nothing about him was worth protecting. But there was something else within her...

Bryanna had readily defended him, even when she knew he was flawed. She spoke of him fondly and dismissed anything negative about him.

But it couldn't be... Could it?

"Anna, are you in-"

"Shut up," she hissed. "Shut your mouth, right now." She turned to face her brother. "Bryan, could you please leave?"

He hesitated for a minute, then shrugged and left the cellar.

"By Luna, Bryanna..." I whispered. I no longer knew how to look at her. "You're in love with West Grayson."