56 The pride

The next morning, Lana and the children hurried to leave the clinic very early. She was sure that if they linger, Greg will rush over to pick them up. That, in fact, was confirmed by his numerous calls, as soon as she sent him a message that they are already at home.

Lana did not want to talk to him just yet. Therefore, like a fearless werewolf,she decided to hide at home and not pick up his calls, carefully ignoring the problem.

Fortunately, the day off was given to her without any questions. Miss Bright apparently thought that this would be even better, given the hype Lana had provoked lately.

Nicholas already looked much better and even managed to turn back into a human form. External injuries have almost completely healed, but internal injuries will take some time. Therefore, the whole day he either slept or waking up ate everything that came to hand and dozes off again.

Vicky initially kept quiet, but you could easily spot indignation written all over her face.

In the morning, Lana diligently avoided her. But after dinner, Lana even started to wonder how much longer Vicky can hold it in.

It turned out - not that long. After another snack time, Nicky went to his room for some shut-eye. Lana decided to relax a bit and do her favorite thing, which always helped her to put her thoughts in order - baking sweets. Victoria was pretending to just slack around, but as soon as her mother's hands were smeared with flour and dough up to the elbow, she pounced right away.

"I think you're acting silly, mom!" - Went straight to the point Vicky. Her posture and face expressed willingness to defend her opinions to the end. Lana, out of the corner of her eye, glancing at her daughter's fierce look, sighed wearily.

" Sweety, I know what you want to tell me, so you can relax. Stupid or not, time will tell. I just couldn't do otherwise. Although, I am glad that he accepted everything so easily. But I can't just relax now and throw all my problems on him. And if we had unloaded all our problems back then - that's exactly what would have happened. Greg - is like this. Even then, 13 years ago, if I had told him the whole truth, he would undoubtedly try to help somehow. And would get hurt in the process even more."

" But now he is not a weak boy!" - Tried to protest Vicky. Lana turned to face her daughter.

" It's true. Greg is a strong and successful man. But I am no longer a little girl myself. Therefore, before Greg is involved in all of this, I have to solve all my problems on my own. I don't want to be a damsel in distress, always waiting for her knight. I have pride too. Even though, I need to dig a little to find it."

"And what are you going to do?" - confusedly asked Vicky.

" For starters, I will bake the most delicious sweets and try to win the love and admiration of my colleagues. If it doesn't work, I will have to feed them forcibly. Fear and respect could be quite satisfying too." - With a wicked smile said Lana, turning to her dough. Vicky grinned in response.

"Kiki promised to find out everything about the accident. In the evening, while Niki is resting, I plan to go to Bennin and try to address this matter with Ralph." - Continued to list Lana, as if it was a shopping list. When the meaning of her words reached Vicky, she choked on the air, not finding the words.

"But, mum!"

"Sunny, listen to me carefully. This can't remain as it is. I have already spoken with Daniel, and we have to put an end to this matter. I will try to persuade him to calmly agree to terminate our relationship. I will not make a fuss, and if he agrees to leave us alone, then Daniel will let him go. Both of you are already adults, so you, too, will have to decide: to stay here and lead a loners life or to return to Bennin and rejoin the pack."

"And if he won't agree, or pretend to accept, and then will find and force us to return. I don't want to go back! I like it here. I'm free here!" - Clinging to the edge of the table with heat spoke Vicky. Her voice shook, and her eyes began to fill with tears. Lana hastily shook off and wiped her hands on her apron.

"Vicky, I get it, but I need to at least try it first." - she said seriously, coming close and taking her daughter's hands.- "Daniel can't hold him forever. We need to solve it now. In the pack, conflict is brewing. He must either expel Ralph, challenge him or let him go and allow him to continue living in Bennin, at least like this he can watch Ralf. Daniel suggested another way out, but neither he nor I fancied it."

"Which one?" - Asked Vicky nervously. The serious tone of the mother and her cold eyes began to frighten the girl.

" If Ralph does not go with reconciliation, and other options won't work either, then we will have nothing left to do but to report all this to Council. This is the last choice since everyone will suffer. The reputation of Daniel, who wasn't able to manage his fellow kinsmen. We - because we hid the truth for so long and lied to everyone around. My own pack. The reputation of my father was not so good even before, because of his hunger for power in a human world. But when everyone finds out that he sold his own daughter for that, anything can happen. How can I allow internal wars in two packs at the same time?I'm not a freaking Helen of Troy! And I'm not even talking about your father and his friends. An attack on a person and several at that is always punishable by death. Do you think I want to walk the road full of dead bodies to my happily ever after?!"

Lana, feeling that Vicki was beginning to tremble, hugged the girl more tightly.

"Stop it, baby! Don't think about the bad things. I'm sure everything will be fine. Your father is maybe a total jerk, but he is not an idiot. I'll find a way to deal with him quietly. And then everything will be over, and we'll be finally free."