Work Text:
Justice demands blood.
Ali couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“You can’t,” she gasped. “She’s human. She’ll die.”
“That won’t happen,” Callum said.
“You don’t know that,” she protested, trying to hold back her rage at the calm detachment in Callum’s voice. “Callum –”
“I do,” Callum said. “Bryn is a tough girl, Ali. She can take it.”
“A tough girl?” Ali repeated furiously. “You can’t do this, Callum. She’s a kid.”
“It’s the law of the Pack,” Callum said. Ali couldn’t understand how he could be so cold about this. Callum was hard on Bryn, but he didn’t go out of his way to be cruel to her. “She knew that.”
And you knew she’d break those rules before you set them, she thought, but knew better than to say.
“Callum,” she said. “She’s my kid. I’m responsible for her. If anyone should be punished for this, it’s me.”
“That’s not how this works,” Callum said. “She’s not a little girl anymore, and I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t have to.”
Ali wanted to hit him. To scream that none of this was right. But before she could say another word – not that anyone would listen – Sora grabbed Bryn and threw her to the ground.
“No!”
She started forward, no plan in mind, desperate to just get herself between her daughter and the person who was hurting her. Before she could even take a step forward, someone caught her arm and pulled her back. She turned, ready to yell at Callum, only to see that it was Casey who’d grabbed hold of her.
“Ali,” he said, practically pleading with her. “Don’t. You’ll just get hurt, too.”
Ali flinched as she heard Bryn scream. She hated herself for it, but she couldn’t bear to look. It was becoming clearer by the second that there was nothing she could do to stop this.
Casey put his arms around her and pulled her in close. Even as she clung to him, crying into his shoulder, she could feel herself growing colder. For the first time since she’d met Casey, she hated him.
Behind her, she could hear Bryn’s cries, each one like a knife to her heart.
As soon as Bryn recovered, Ali was getting her as far away from Callum as she possibly could.