HUNTED

Chiara whipped her head to see Lydia standing opposite her. Her arms crossed against her chest and a smirk plastered on her face. After hearing Lydia's challenge, the crowd silenced with a few murmurs that swept away with the breeze. The tension in the atmosphere became thick as the pack members kept glancing between the black wolf and her sister. Their faces were filled with both confusion and anticipation as they held their breaths. 

Their dad came forwards, his face mirroring his wife's, both shocked and bewildered by the turn of events. 

"Lydia, honey. You don't mean that.." Their mum began sobbing when she saw the conviction on her younger daughter's face. Her mum's tear-filled eyes gnawed at Chiara's heart, causing her wolf to start whining quietly before her attention snapped to their so-called sister.

"Oh, I do! I don't think Chiara is fit to be Gamma. But I am," Lydia smiled maliciously. At that moment, Chiara didn't recognise her sweet sister at all. 

She silently cursed herself as memories surfaced to her mind; there were so many signs that her sister wasn't who she appeared to be. But Chiara was so distracted and set on her path to becoming a Gamma that she ignored them. Her friends often said her sister was a sly bitch, and she stuck up for her on multiple occasions. Chiara thought what her friends told her was so bizarre, but little after little, it all began to add up in her mind, especially as she looked into the burning hatred of her sister's eyes.

"Gamma Chiara, do you accept this challenge?" Alpha Damon looked at her, his face unreadable. 

"No!" Their dad intervened, "Lydia, forfeit right now! What are you doing?" 

"Silence!" Alpha Damon stood up from his chair as a growl erupted through the forest, causing the pack to bow their heads in submission. Including their dad, who bowed even lower as an apology for his intrusion. 

"Chiara?" Alpha Damon asked her in a softer tone.

"I accept," Chiara growled through the pack mind-link for everyone to hear. Her dad backed away slowly then pulled his wife in for a hug after she fell to her knees. 

Sister or not, she was the Gamma of this pack, and she had waited her whole life for this moment. If she died at the hands of her sister, so be it, Lydia would have been right- she was not fit to be the next Gamma.

Everyone turned their head to the Alpha, waiting for him to announce the fight to begin. Yet, he was looking at Beta Kane, presumably in a mind-link. While the Alpha and Beta had their discussion, Chiara began to pace as her fur started to bristle. Any time she looked at Lydia, who stood there looking smug, she began to growl. Her wolf, Gia, was barely under control; she wanted to rip her to pieces and be done with it. 

Chiara was not about to back down. Lydia childishly showed up the Gattoni family name and made it seem that she was not fit for the Gamma role. This could make the pack question her leadership, especially if her own sister challenged her. Disrespecting and challenging her prideful wolf, Gia, was also the last thing Lydia should have done. 

Her sister walked towards her, her hips swaying from side to side, with her face still smug as though she won the fricken lottery. Their parents called out to her but stayed in their position, scared of any reprimand by the Alpha. Gia growled loudly and through Chiara as she inched forwards, restrained by Chiara, who barely held onto her. 

Lydia opened her mouth, ready to bait her into a rage, but Alpha Damon raised his hands to silence the crowd's chatter, "After talking to Beta Kane. I have decided that the fight will be tomorrow night at midnight instead. Chiara, Lydia, please come forwards. Everybody else, return to your homes."

The pack began leaving the stalls, and Chiara could hear the hushed whispers about the 'Gattoni sisters'. She growled and snapped her teeth at a few people that tried to stay and watch for more drama. She returned to stand in front of Alpha Damon; her parents stood behind her and Lydia, who were but a meter apart. He gave them the extra time, believing that it was a family matter and would not host the fight if the issue was resolved before the following evening.

But the matter was never resolved. In fact, the next 24 hours for Chiara ended up being excruciating as she learnt more about her loving sister. After hours of family fights at home, her parents finally went to bed, leaving Chiara and Lydia to scream it out. Chiara was much more of a physical person than wanting to open up emotionally about things, making her feel drained after going over past endeavours. 

Lydia was smoking a cigarette by the time they had gone through three rounds of tiring screaming matches. Another thing, Chiara did not know about her. It turned out, her sister loathed and resented her.

.. "I was training. I haven't been taking this so-called 'lime light' of yours. You have had a normal life that a teenage girl should have! You have friends, your family, a social life FYI that I never had, you've been able to go to parties, hook up with guys, have boyfriends.. I couldn't have that." 

Chiara was pacing again, feeling agitated by the turn of events on an evening she had been preparing for her whole life.

"I was always training, learning politics, battle strategies outside of schoolwork. Our time together was not us bonding but dad ordering me around. I am not our parent's golden child, okay.. I am just taking on a title that has been passed down through the generations. What else could you possibly want?"

"Power! To have someone bend to my will. You may have had your training, but I taught myself. When I wasn't partying, I was studying. From time to time, I watched you and dad see what was so special about you and what you needed to know as a Gamma. Guess what, there's nothing special about you, and I will do better than you once I'm through with you."

"You mean when you've killed me?" Chiara asked; her voice was cold and distant, with her face showing no signs of sadness or hate. Even though she felt as if a knife had been stabbed and twisted in her heart. 

Lydia scoffed, "You'd think after all this arguing and me CHALLENGING you… that you would get it into that thick head of yours. My life will be better once you're dead."

Chiara looked into her sisters' eyes, and she saw pure hatred burning behind them; the many years of resentment were there painted on her face. Her loving sister that she always used to think was so beautiful, turned ugly and vile as her true self was revealed. Chiara nodded her head and walked closer to her sister, so they stood close to each other. 

Lydia immediately tensed after seeing Chiara's cold and scrutinising gaze on her before she smirked, "Well, one of us will be dead tomorrow, and it's not going to be me." 

Chiara continued to the stairs, keeping her indifferent expression plastered on her face. The whole time, she felt her heart restrict and combust, and as soon as she closed her bedroom door behind her, the tears fell down her eyes. She searched her room and found countless photos of the pair smiling and posing at the camera. The last image her eyes settled on was of them as children, both at a park wearing matching pink dresses. That night, she fell asleep with swollen eyes, exhausted from crying over the heartache she felt over her sister.

The following day, her ordinarily cheerful self was gone and replaced by somebody of indifference about something she had to do – kill her own sister. The pair stayed clear of each other all day, and Chiara even did a mini session with Kane that helped alleviate the stress she was feeling. Kane was quiet throughout the session, letting Chiara vent through her thoughts through the power of a kick or a punch. 

Once she returned home, she went to prepare a shower for herself but saw the bath was already run. Turning around, she called out to no one in particular if they were having a bath, but there was no response. She swore there was nobody in the house. Shrugging, she turned the shower on and went to undo the plug in the bathwater when suddenly her hand sprung back out from the water.

"Ah!" She screeched. Her hand was sizzling, with steam rising off the surface, as the water began melting her skin to the raw flesh underneath. 

The next thing she knew, her head had been grabbed and thrown into the water. When she tried to back away with the screams that left her lungs, she felt unable to because of a hand keeping her head in the water. She unintentionally gulped down the water from her scream and began sputtering. Her lungs, insides and face erupted into an excruciating burning sensation. Her heart pounded, and she felt her vision beginning to go; black dots were growing until one of her eyes completely went blank, and she couldn't see outside of it.

The bath was filled with wolfsbane. A shocking revelation flashed through her mind, was this Lydia?

Gia howled and was shrinking into the darkness of her mind. Gradually, both their consciousness was fading out. But her head was pulled back out, and she gasped for breath.

"You know, I think you should forfeit. You're not capable of winning now!" Lydia spoke slowly with malice, and just like that, her skin by her neck was ripped by her claws. The tearing of flesh was loud and much more agonising as the liquid of the wolfsbane went into the wound, causing Chiara to cry out even more. 

Lydia then smacked her head into the side of the bathtub, and with a loud thud, the darkness consumed her immediately, ripping her from consciousness. The next time she woke up, she heard her name echoing across her mind, and when her eyes fluttered open, she saw her dad nudging her in a panicked state. Chiara sat up slowly and leaned against the bathtub, the lights were on, and the dark windows implied it was evening, and she had been knocked unconscious for quite some time. Although, she could only tell from one eye. Had she gone officially blind?

Her head felt groggy, and her body was aching and tired. She gripped her head and moaned in pain before accepting the bottle of water and painkillers from her dad. His eyes were on her throat as he spoke, "I think you have to forfeit, sweetheart."

Chiara's eyes flickered to her dad's and glared at his suggestion, "I will not back down, dad. This pack doesn't need a pyscho like her in charge!"

"I don't want to lose you.. How can you even compete?" Her dad's gruff voice was low as sorrow filled it.

"I will NOT lose. This just proves how much Lydia needs me to be weak so she can fight against me.."

"You're sisters.." 

"Not anymore," Chiara said icily before standing up and refusing her dad's help to lift her up. 

In the remaining time she had left, Chiara rested and made sure to eat and keep her fluids up. She hoped that drinking water would flush the wolfsbane out of her system, but it didn't work like that, and she still felt her wolf was in a weakened state. 

When the time was 11:50pm, Chiara walked with her head held high in her black shorts, sports bra and her long hair, now cut into a bob, revealing her barely healed neck. She heard pack members gasp as they looked at the condition of her face and neck. Her normally smooth and olive skin was now red and covered in blisters from second-degree burns. Her left eye was white, showing her sight had gone. Chiara hoped it would be temporary because her other eye healed while she was knocked out.

The two sisters walked towards each other while they watched the other calculatedly. Alpha Damon stood up once again and quietened the crowd, "Lydia Gattoni, do you still wish to-"

"Yes."

"Gamma Chiara-"

"Fuck yes." She growled before looking over the crowd slowly, showing the pack that she was serious about her role, and show what sort of a person her sister was.

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