Beyond the Pack’s Law: My stepsister or nobody else

Hayley’s POV

Turns out having two loyal, fierce friends on your side is a total game-changer when you’re suddenly the most reviled person at school.

With Mona and Holland – well, I thought he was my friend, but more on that later – running interference, the torrent of vicious harassment and cyberbullying slowed to a trickle within a few days.

Anytime someone tried to post a cruel meme or video mocking my relationship with Aiden, Mona was johnny-on-the-spot reporting and getting it taken down.

She even started a social media campaign condemning the bullies and slut-shaming, rallying people to our side.

And when the jerks inevitably tried to retaliate in person, Holland was right there to shut it down with an intimidating glower and cracking his knuckles menacingly.

I’d never been more grateful for their steadfast loyalty – especially since literally no one else at school seemed to be on my side, apart from a handful of other close friends.

The taunts and whispers still followed me, but at least now I had a formidable human shield to help deflect the worst of it.

The complete radio silence from Aiden, however, was agonizing.

I hadn’t heard a single word from him since being hauled off in cuffs that awful night.

I kept calling and texting constantly, desperately needing to hear his voice, but never got a response.Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

It made my heart feel like it was being slowly ripped to shreds from the inside.

Which was how I found myself, nearly two weeks later, taking the city bus alone down to the county jail in a sketchy part of town.

The guard at the reception desk eyed me suspiciously when I told him I was there to visit the inmate Aiden.

“He’s got some serious charges hung on him, missy,” the beefy guard grunted, chewing loudly on a toothpick. “Don’t go getting any ideas about trying anything fresh, if you know what I mean.”

I bristled at the implication. “I’m just here to see my… my boyfriend. That’s all.”

The guard’s eyebrows shot up. “Boyfriend, huh? Ain’t that a kick in the pants…”

Thankfully, he didn’t comment further, just roughly patted me down for contraband before ushering me through to the grim visitation room.

My heart was pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat as the door buzzed open.

And there was Aiden, looking utterly miserable and disheveled in his orange jumpsuit as he was led in by another guard.

His eyes widened almost comically when he saw me.

“Hailey? Baby, what are you doing here?” His voice was low and gravelly, like he hadn’t spoken in days.

“What do you think?” I shot back, unable to stop the tears that suddenly sprang up. “I had to see you, I’ve been going crazy!”

The guards retreated to give us some privacy, though they were still visible through the reinforced glass between the barred visitation rooms.

Aiden took a shaky breath and reached across the table for my hands. “Hailey, you shouldn’t have come here. It’s not safe for you.”

I squeezed his hands tightly in wordless refusal of that idea. “Don’t even try to push me away, Aiden. We’re in this together, for better or worse, remember?”

“God, just look at you. You’re hurt because of me… and if I freaking get my hands on those cyber bullies, they won’t hear the last of it.”

I raised a hand to the yellowing bruise on my temple where Jada’s planter had struck me. “This? It’s nothing, I’m just glad it wasn’t worse.”

Aiden swallowed hard, and I could tell his anger was slowly brewing. “When I saw you crumple…” He had to stop. “And snapped. She could have died at my hands if not those stupid bastards she calls bodyguards holding me down. I hate seeing you hurt.”

A lump formed in my throat at his anguished expression. I reached up to tenderly caress his cheek. “Hey, I’m still here, okay? Whatever trouble we’re in, we’ll figure it out together.”

He turned his face into my palm, inhaling deeply for a long moment before pulling himself together again.

“You’re right, you’re so strong,” he murmured gruffly, squeezing my hand again. “But that’s why you have to be smarter than me, babe. You need to get out from under all this darkness I’ve dragged you into.”

I frowned in confusion. “What do you mean? Aiden, I’m not going anywhere without-”

He cut me off urgently. “My father came to see me, Hailey. He told me everything about Jada’s world… a world I stupidly pulled you into because of my selfishness.”

My heart stuttered in my chest. “But that nightmare stuff about her… transforming into some kind of literal monster, that can’t have been-”

“Very real,” Aiden said grimly. “Aunt Jada and her whole Russian mafia clan? They’re not human. Not anymore.”

I stared at him, uncomprehending and chilled straight through to my core. “Then what…?”

“I don’t know all the details. Just that my dad warned me they’ve been involved in occult rituals and sacrifices for generations, believing it gives them power and immortality by invoking dark, ancient forces.” He shook his head slowly, an expression haunted. “They’ve been cursed and corrupted into something not human. And now, because of me, Jada’s marked you as one of her targets for that same transformation.”

The blood drained from my face as a memory from that night flashed through my brain – Jada sneering the word “abomination” at me before her fangs and talons emerged.

“Oh god,” I whispered in a strangled voice. Tears of sheer terror flooded my eyes. “Aiden… Aiden, I’m so scared!”

He pulled me close across the table, wrapping his arms around me in a fierce hug as I cried against his shoulder.

“I know, baby, I know. And that’s why you have to get as far away from me and my family’s messed up legacy as possible right now,” he urged, voice breaking. “If Jada managed to… to turn you into one of those monsters like her, I could never live with myself.”

I clutched him tighter, my entire body shaking with soul-deep fear.

But even greater than the terror was the burning refusal to abandon Aiden.

“No,” I said firmly, pulling back to meet his gaze head on. “I don’t care what kind of insane supernatural world I’ve stumbled into. I’m not leaving you behind, Aiden. We’re a team, remember?”

He opened his mouth to protest further but I cut him off.

“Besides, how are you planning to fight off your aunt and her clan of weirdos by yourself?” I challenged, mustering up some of my old fierceness through the bone-deep exhaustion. “You’re going to need me to have your back.”

Aiden stared at me for a long beat, looking utterly torn.

But I could see the spark of determination rekindling in his eyes, fueled by my own resolve.

Finally, he gave a curt nod of acceptance, the ghost of his old cocky grin playing around his mouth.

“Alright then, badass babe. You want to strap in for the wildest, most messed up battle of our lives? No judgment if you back out while you can…”

I leaned forward and kissed him fiercely, not caring about the guards or rules against physical contact.

When I pulled back, a fierce smile of my own curved my lips.

“Does that answer your question?” I shot back confidently. “Now let’s get you out of this hellhole already. Those monsters don’t stand a chance against the two of us.”

For the first time since that nightmarish night, a feeling of hope bloomed in my chest.

Together, Aiden and I would somehow find a way to face this incomprehensible new breed of darkness threatening to consume us.

And with that new sense of purpose and partnership, I strode out of the visitation room with my head held high and my soul fortified against whatever fresh horrors lay ahead.

Suddenly, a hand shot out from the shadows and yanked me into a grimy alcove, slamming me up against the wall.

I gasped in pain and shock – straight into the furious, hateful sneer of none other than Holland, my “friend.”

“Well, well, if it isn’t the freak stepsister slut herself,” he spat with dripping derision. “Did you enjoy your little cozy visit with your perverted boyfriend?”

I stared up at him, realization dawning along with utter betrayal. Of course – it had been Holland running that despicable cyber bullying.

Holland’s face twisted with disgust as he pinned me against the wall. “Did you really think sicking your guard dog Mona on me was going to stop me from exposing you for the sick freak you are?”

I struggled against his grip, panic spiking. “Holland, what the hell are you–”

He cut me off with a cruel laugh.

“That’s right, play dumb. But I know the truth about you and that disgusting monster you’re shacked up with.”

His hand shot out to clamp around my throat, squeezing just enough to make me choke.

“You’re not a normal Lycan, are you a freak? Just another one of those unholy abominations like Aiden’s whack job aunt.”

Suddenly, his face began to distort and elongate into a snarling, wolf-like muzzle as coarse fur sprouted across his features.

I watched in horrified trance as razor-sharp claws extended from his fingertips digging painfully into my skin.

“I’m not her and will never be her.”

“Oh don’t worry,” the creature formerly known as Holland growled in a chilling dual-toned voice. “Once I reveal what you really are to the world, you and your filthy bloodline will get exactly what’s coming to you… excruciating deaths at the hands of humanity!”

With a vicious swipe of his newly-formed claws, he raked them deep across my cheek, drawing forth a scream of agony as fiery pain blossomed across my face.

The last things I saw were his glowing amber eyes glaring with animalistic hatred and I felt those deadly talons wrap around my throat with a merciless squeeze…