BEAUTY & THE BRUTE

Prologue

                         "You're supposed to hide. Why didn't you hide?"

"Because I was looking for a place to hide"

"You should have gone with the others"

"I couldn't find a place to hide. Let's start over" Mikaela said on the brink of tears. When the countdown started, she got nervous and froze but if Billy had given her more time, she would definitely have found a place to hide. It wasn't her fault the other kids were so fast.

"Why do you always ruin the game?"

"I didn't mean to" she tried hard not to cry, but after the first tear, she couldn't hold back. Her mother said it was okay to cry because crying would make her feel a little better, but the other kids called her a crybaby and refused to play with her. The only reason they let her join was because she promised not to cry but here she was. What was wrong with her? Why couldn't she be like the others?

"See, see? I knew we shouldn't have let you join. Now your mother is going to tell on us and the Alpha will once again make us listen to his long seech about how we should all be friends."

"It's speech, not seech"

"Who cares?" Billy yelled. The other kids came out and surrounded them. Their proximity made fresh tears start falling and Mikaela buried her face in her tiny hands so they wouldn't see her cry "Stop crying and leave. We don't want you here"

"But I don't have any other friends"

"No one cares"

"I'll be your friend," someone else said. They all turned around to find Beverly Anson, the Alpha's daughter, standing there with her hands behind her back. Some of the kids gasped in shock. Beverly wanted to be friends with Mikaela, the crybaby? Why? She never talked to any of them "Do you want to be my friend?"

"Yes," Mikaela nodded wiping away her tears and snort.

"Then let's go" they left together but not before Mikaela stuck her tongue out to Billy. They were kids. Fighting, sticking their tongues out at each other, and refusing to accept a bad player or crybaby in their group was normal. Most kids did that.

But Billy had a short temper. He got angry at Mikaela and went after her. Shoving her so hard she fell to the ground and scraped her knee and elbow. Naturally, she started wailing again. And instead of apologizing, Billy laughed at her. It wasn't the shove that made Bev angry but the laugh. She understood that he was angry. What she didn't understand was why he was laughing after he hurt her. Shouldn't he have felt contrite at his actions? Especially since Mikaela was bleeding? Why hadn't his parents taught him what was right and wrong? Taking a step towards him, she said,

"Apologize and help her up"

"Why should I? She stuck her tongue out at me"

"Then you should have done the same. Not push her"

"Just because your father is the Alpha doesn't mean you can tell me what to do"

"Apologize"

"Or what?"

"That look on your face. I don't like it" she replied smiling. The smile turned into a smirk before she grabbed his hair and said "People who hurt others then laugh about it aren't good people"

"Let go of my hair. My father will hear of this"

"What will he do? I'm the Alpha's daughter. Remember? I can do whatever I want". Billy tried to get her to let go and when he failed, he pushed her to the ground. They toppled over and he fell on top of her. There was a ringing sound in her ears, which made her loosen her grip. Billy took the chance to get out of her hold, stood up, and kicked her in the stomach. Bev grunted in pain. Turning to the side with her arm around her stomach. Billy kicked her some more and the other kids thought it would be fun to join him. They took turns kicking her while laughing. Mikaela tried to stop them but they pushed her aside and continued.

Once the ringing stopped, Beverly jumped up. Except it wasn't really her. To their surprise and shock, she'd partially shifted. Wolves normally shifted at the age of eighteen and it took most of them some time to learn how to partially shift. But an eight-year-old who hadn't even shifted already knew how to partially shift. Because they were all kids, it took them a few minutes to realize something was wrong. Those few minutes were all she needed. With her outstretched claws, she swiped them over their necks. Making three fatal wounds. One after another, they dropped to the ground, choking on their own blood. Scared, Mikaela sat where she'd fallen. Frozen. When Beverly looked over her shoulder at her, she quickly scrambled up and ran back to the pack screaming. Calling for help.

However, when the adults arrived, it was too late. Beverly had killed nine kids and she was standing over them, covered in blood from head to toe. Her appearance and the look in her eyes was said to haunt pack members for years to come. If she wasn't the only one there, they wouldn't have believed she'd killed them. She collapsed just as her father arrived. He carried her back to the pack, cleaned the blood off her, and put her in bed. She didn't open her eyes until the next morning.

"Good morning daddy," she said excitedly coming down the stairs. Alpha Anson took a deep breath and asked her to sit down. He still couldn't believe what she'd done. How was that even possible?

"Honey, do you remember what happened yesterday?"

She thought about it for a second then answered "Yes"

"Can you tell me why you did it?" The entire pack was shaken and they wanted an explanation. After calming her down, Mikaela had told them what happened. Beverly had just been defending her when the other kids ganged up on her. While cleaning her, he'd seen the bruises on her back and legs. He believed his daughter wasn't a cold-blooded murderer but he needed to understand what was going on. When he arrived at the scene, she was unconscious. But pack members said they'd seen her partially shift. He didn't want to doubt his people but they were talking about an eight-year-old. Unless he saw it with his own eyes, it was hard to believe Beverly had done that. Yet the blood on her said otherwise.

"Have you forgotten? You told me to do it"

Anson's heart skipped a beat "I told you to do it?"

"Yes. You told me to make more friends and I did"

"Friend..." What was she talking about? "Beverly, that's not what I'm asking. I mean, what you did to the other kids"

"What kids?"

"Tell me everything you did yesterday" was she pretending not to remember? She told him what happened up until the moment she met Mikaela. That was the last memory she had. Which meant she didn't remember the other kids ganging up on her or killing them.

As a father and the Alpha, whose side was he supposed to take? His people or his daughter's? He had a responsibility towards both. Anson decided to protect his daughter and asked the pack to be understanding. He promised nothing of that sort would ever happen again. As long as no one provoked Beverly, she wouldn't react the way she did. Of course, most of them listened. Especially the parents who lost their children. Half the pack left. Claiming they didn't feel safe and would rather end up as rogues rather than stay there. Those who chose to stay didn't fully trust him. Every time they saw Beverly, they would turn around and go the other way. She grew up alone.

But true to his word, nothing happened. Blue moon pack enjoyed peace until seventeen years later. When Beverly turned up at the pack covered in blood. Just like those years ago, she didn't remember what had happened. Which meant, they couldn't find out who she'd killed. For all they knew, she might have slaughtered an entire pack and forgotten about it.

Or maybe crossed someone she shouldn't have.

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