Chapter 79: The Other Sister's Rage Pt. 2

Harlyn:

It was a beach. Not the one where I was attacked, where Penelope abandoned me to be ravaged by hungry, mindless beasts of the night; where my sister…where Vale saved my life. No, it wasn’t that beach, but it was one like it.

Alpha Ares had gone ahead to ensure that all weak spots of Shadow Vale were secure. Turned out that the great Alpha was not in the mood to party. But then, who was?

Certainly not me.

After what I had been told by Vali, part of me-that annoying, and naively arrogant part of me found it hard to believe that someone like Penelope had the bloody stones to do what had been done. Vali knew this.

I assume that was the reason why she had said that she was giving me a heads up. She wanted me to know that one way or another, Penny would be held accountable. She knew that, despite Penny’s betrayal that night at the beach, despite how positively aggravating she could be, she was still-is still my best friend.

She had been for years. I usually didn’t befriend people like Penny; needy, annoying, overconfident, and very talkative. She wasn’t always like that, though.

It wasn’t until Agnes came around that she became far more…useless than she once was. She had become far more concerned about her placement along someone of prominence’s side than just being her once strong, and independent self. She had become far too reliant on everyone else to make her path to betterment for her.

And I knew that it was because of that damned aunt of hers.

Penny was no longer the Penny that I knew. She was no longer the same, and as much as it hurt to come to this conclusion, she wasn’t my friend anymore.

“A Lot on your mind, I take it.”

When I heard Vali speaking to me, I remembered that I had been walking with her down the beach where the festivities had been going on.

“I guess there is a lot to think about.”

We continued walking down the beach, sand subtly crunching under our boots as we followed the trail to our father.

“I’ve given you a bloody lot to think about, haven’t I?” Vali said.

It was hard not to watch my older sister as we made our way to our father. We were nearly the same height, give or take a few inches or so. I was the taller one, by the way. Even in spite of that, however, I found myself feeling as though I was looking up at her.

There was a prominence and even regal nature about Vali that was hard to deny or ignore. She always had the power to turn heads even when she was a human and she wasn’t even aware of it.

That’s what I was always envious of. She was so confident, so self-assured, and self-reliant. No one doubted her because everyone seemed to trust that whatever she was tasked with, she would always get done.

I wanted to be her. I wanted to be like Valene.

“You have been trying to convince yourself that Penny does not mean something to you, Harly. Despite her world of flaws, she is your friend. This isn’t as easy a situation to you as it is to me.”

Silence ensued. It was then that she looked at me. She didn’t say anything else, she didn’t fill the air of silence with more words, words that I was sure I needed to hear. She just waited for me to speak.

“Do you doubt my loyalty to you and daddy?” I asked. I could guess that she had every right to.

“I think…I think that’s always been your hiccup, Harly, thinking that it’s just about having loyalty to your family. It isn’t about that. No, it’s about your loyalty to the concept of right and wrong.”

“Right and wrong is subjective in this world, Vali, you know that.”

Vali stopped walking, causing me to stop as well. She faced me, and said. “But that, Harly-what happened on that day is not. Not to me, and it shouldn’t be to any decent soul.”

Yet again, she was right.

“Again, I’ve given you your heads up, Harly. Whatever happens, I need you to be prepared for whatever happens next.”

Truth be told, I didn’t know whether I could ever be prepared enough for what she was saying. It was surreal, facing my sister, knowing that Penny was the culprit to her demise and that she would have to pay for it.

It was officially getting real, that was for bloody sure.

“Let’s go find, dad.”

I nodded, sure.

We headed down the length of the beach until we came up on a few of the higher up pack members. They always loomed around the alpha whenever near, it was a part of their make to do so. So I knew that Dad was around.

“Up ahead,” we both said in unison, sharing a small dry chuckle because of the verbal coincidence.

On approach, the members began to move to the side to allow us space to walk through, bowing their heads and watching us almost anxiously as we did. I guess was odd seeing the two sisters who once tried to kill each other, walking side by side in truce.

“Dad.”

As he turned and faced us, his eyes went wide and suddenly filled with concern. His gaze shifted nervously between us both.

“H-Harly?” he looked worriedly at Vali. “Val? Is…everything…”

“Everything’s fine, dad,” said Vali. “But we need to talk.”

“If this is about having a gathering while all of this is going on, love, I-”

“N-no, dad, it’s…” Vali sighed. “Well, I don’t think it’s the best idea, but Ares is out there with the others…making sure everything stays safe.”

“It is risky, but….”

As daddy began to explain to Vali why he did this, I heard a familiar laughter in the distance. A voice that spoke of exuberant excitement, and fun. And then suddenly, I angry.

“I’ll be back.” I said to Vali and dad.

“You alright?” I heard Vali ask as I started off.

A short smile on my face. “I’ll be fine.” I said and. “Don’t start that conversation without me.”

Vali nodded with what I had hoped for reassurance before I continued off. I needed to have a chat.

I needed to know what happened that day. The truth of it all. What she was thinking. And who better to tell me than one of the two murderers themselves. My best friend. And there she was, dancing, and laughing it up, having the time of her life. I took a look back, watched the broken countenance of my half sister because of what she had been through. Then I looked at her.

Such a stark difference.

“Harly?” She said to me, a nervous greeting.

“Penny,” I said with a small smile. “It’s been a while. Let’s talk.”