The Pixie's Warrior Wolf (Completed)

Pushed

Having been invited to mediate the anger and tension between them, Camille could tell instantly it was a mistake to come. Seeing Katherine picking at her food having lost her appetite, Camille felt the wall up whenever she spoke to her.

“How was work today?” Scooping up more mash potatoes, Katherine shrugged as she casually mumbled, “It was good. Sold a bunch of those new journals like crazy but that was it. How’s Aiden?” Grinning, Camille gushed, “He’s amazing, growing up so fast!”

Rambling on like a true mother, Camille proudly boasted at how he was growing and learning quickly. And Katherine knew it would be soon the kid would be up and running around. Having a calm and happy moment, it was as they were wrapping up dinner, David announced, “Well we invited Camille to this dinner to try and talk to you about something.”

Raising an eyebrow, Katherine didn’t blink so her dad continued, “We really think you should speak to Elder Solar.” Freezing, Katherine knew then this dinner wasn’t just family bonding time.

It was to help prepare her for more judgement.

“I thought I said no to this already?”

Answer coming out harsher than she thought, Katherine watched her parents look away. Because they knew why, and it wasn’t anything personal against the Elder. She just didn’t want to go to the colonies.

And both knew why Katherine did not want to go into the heart of the forest and see the colonies. From pixies and fairies to elves or gnomes, they all lived together and while beautiful and a place she’d always felt at peace, Katherine knew that was before.

Before she’d been ostracized and judged for her teenage years.

Now it’d be ruined like everything else in her life had been. A place where she’d once felt like she’d been surrounded by family and loved, was a vague memory now. Now it was just another place to expect side eyes and whispers. A place that had once felt like home, that would now feel like foreign soil. She’d see memories in every frame from her childhood that was full of brightness.

Only to have them jaded with the bad of what had occurred when her own people, her own kin, betrayed her.

“I don’t want to go there. Just drop it.” Katherine grumbled stabbing a cabbage roll. Watching her do so with a tight expression, David started to speak but Eloise cut across him knowing he’d go in harsh. So, she tried to go in gentle.

“Sweetie, we just think it would benefit you-.” Eloise stopped dead as Katherine threw her fork down giving up pretending to eat, “Yeah, I don’t need you or the elder judging me because I’m nothing like any of you. I can be my own counsel. Thanks.” David scoffed in disagreement as he threw out like mud, “Well considering you murdered five people? I’m going to have to disagree.”

Leaning forward, Katherine went tic for tat as she countered, “Well I didn’t brutally kill some helpless old woman like those assholes, you’re defending did. I killed a bunch of men who had thoughts of r****g and killing me and my mother. I call that self-defense, father.”

Words leaving the table silent for a moment, David didn’t have anything to throw back, so he turned to his wife for help. And as Eloise gnawed her bottom lip, she took another swing at her daughter, “Katherine darling, we also just think it’ll be good for you to just speak with him. Maybe get some deep mind space therapy.”

A mocking laugh as she took a swig of water to calm her racing heartbeat, Katherine felt like her skin was on fire. “Well for starters, if I wanted to go to therapy, I can book my own appointment.” Camille blew out a breath feeling the anger and power she’d felt before build again, “And as for the elder taking a swan dive in my head? I’m gonna to take a pass.”

Her mom and dad started to speak but she harshly reminded them, “Because my mind is my own as are my thoughts and I don’t owe you or anyone else an explanation to them. Let alone feel obligated to let them jump around in my head so they can pick me apart even more. Haven’t you given everyone free reign to do that enough?”

Flinching from her daughter’s words, Eloise was whipped emotionally as her husband became a bull. Seeing red as he glared at his daughter, David bit out, “Last I checked there were other ways to handle men like them that didn’t resort to death. And you are the reason why anyone ever had any ammunition to judge or assume anything about you. If you had been more like-.”

Glasses frosting over, Katherine’s voice was eerily calm as her strained words came out clipped, “If you say like her, I’m going to f*****g scream.” Camille held up her hands seeing this going left, “Hey, we agreed I’m not the gold star here.” Laughing mockingly, Katherine knew the knee jerk reaction to snap at Camille wasn’t fair.

Only as her blood boiled, Katherine was done being nice as she promised, “Oh but you are! You are their perfect little angel that can do no wrong in their eyes!”

Camille saw then that Katherine was about to break as Eloise came to her defense instead of figuring out where the bitterness was truthfully coming from. Looking at her daughter with a stern glare she barked, “Do not speak to Camille that way! She’s done nothing wrong!”

An unattractive snort slipped out as her daughter began to nod like that was to be expected, “Right of course you’ll, defend her but you couldn’t even say a word for me when everyone else was calling me a tramp? Seriously?” The air was fraught and the words were heavy.

But as the weight of them finally crashed into the room, David finally said it, “You were lying to us. Yo were sneaking out with boys, and fighting with us, and we couldn’t keep it together.” So, when did they hear the rumors? They hadn’t known what to believe.

“I can admit,” he looked at his daughter for a moment, her beautiful blonde hair falling like a halo around her as her pale aqua eyes trained on him, “I was more disappointed in the fact you were sneaking out and skirting around with boys who didn’t even have the respect to come to my door and say hi to me. But this situation with Josie was different. You and her mate having a connection upset her for a reason I understood more than just you wanting to be a-.”

He stopped but Katherine finished, “What? A w***e dad? Is that what you want to call me? A slut? A jezebel temptress from hell? I’ve gotten all of them since I was seventeen, nothing you say would be new.”

Protesting him ever calling his daughter that, Katherine felt a numbness settle over her, “Maybe not to my face or out loud. But your eyes say clearly what you think about me. And you know what? f**k you.”

Camille’s jaw dropped as Eloise whispered her daughter’s name. Only Katherine was now off leash and crying.

“You know I spent my entire early life trying to make me be like the daughter you idealized in your dreams and I tried so hard, to be perfect. To smile, and be pretty, poised, and nice even when I didn’t want to be. I tried to be the perfect dainty little pixie princess you wanted, but I didn’t, I didn’t know how to be her. And every time I failed, I saw it on both of your faces, and it tore me apart. Because I didn’t know how to tear myself apart and collage that perfect image you wanted so badly.”

Eloise, voice thick with tears looked at her trembling husband and back to her still as water daughter, “Darling we never expected you to be perfect.” Katherine scoffed, “Mama me and you stopped seeing eye to eye the second I stopped pretending to be that faux version of myself. I sat down that bubbly doe eyed persona, because I realized it wasn’t me. It was who I thought everyone wanted to see and I was tired of wearing that mask and pretending to be someone I wasn’t.”

She was exhausted with it actually, “And you noticed when I stopped. You hated me. You hate me for who I am.”

Telling her that wasn’t true, Katherine clearly didn’t believe her and it made David rasp, “We had high expectations of you Katherine, hell every parent does. But that doesn’t mean we didn’t want you to shine as you were. We just…we had different ideas on how it would look. But we would have adapted. Your hot and cold change to this, wild, loud, and mean person was scary and we worried.”

Katherine rolled her eyes, “Sorry you thought raising a teenage girl would be easy. But I was hormonal, angry, and I wanted…everything. Power, a life, excitement, love, stability, adventure, I didn’t know! I had to figure it out. I did figure out.”

Both of them looked angry at the reminder and it made her roll her eyes with a scoff, “Right, and now we’re at the nerve.”

She looked at her mom, “Are you even being serious being mad at me right now about leaving mama?” Eloise was quiet for a minute, and then she sighed, “I may have been less than helpful when this matter happened, I wasn’t thinking about it. I was just…so shocked it was even a thing happening. You were sneaking out, hanging out with boys we didn’t know, and then you were claiming to be in a relationship with that Tommy boy. I felt bad for Josie only because I was a mate, I know how it feels to be irrational in jealousy and possessiveness in wanting to be their all. I hoped like your dad that it would all blow over. When it didn’t, I didn’t think you’d leave…and when you left, it hurt.”

Which left her like a wounded animal when she returned, scared her kin would attack her heart again.

Only Katherine was soft whispering, “I wasn’t trying hurt you. But you two didn’t seem to care how bad I was hurting.” David looked at her for a moment, “Katherine-.” She laughed coldly, “Right, it’s my fault right? If I had kept my lips to myself, Josie would have never had anything to say about me. Right? Is that what it is?”

Of course not, but David knew this circle of blame game would go nowhere. Especially since the tangled roots had so many other ends not in sight.

“Katherine we all have to accept responsibility for what has happened and just move on-.” Katherine shook her head, “Easy for you to say. You walk down the street and no one snickers or says your name like a sin. I get that and a bunch of people feeling entitled to call me out of my name. And even worse? My own parents haven’t even defended me, making it all seem true.”

David glared at her for the first time in her life, “Well maybe it is, maybe it isn’t.” He snapped like thunder, “For all we know, and all your past lying and behaviors.”