Last time on Blind Hope

"Thank you, Luna Emily. Please retire to your seat." Larry instantly went to his mother's side, helping her to find her seat through her tears. "We'll pick up where we left off. Would Queen Hope please join us on the stand."

~~~~~~~~~~

Dorian hummed nervously as the High Elder assisted Hope to the seat. He took her hand and placed it on the lawbook of the Council, aware that the King was watching him very carefully. "Queen Hope, do you swear to tell the truth to the best of your ability? And admit when you do not know an answer?"

"Yes, I do." The Councilman nodded at the High Elder and stepped forward with a light smile.

"Your Majesty, I realize this subject is very close to you. However, would you please account the events leading up to your meeting the King?" Hope closed her eyes, aware that her testimony would do nothing but damage any hope that her parents might have.

"I've been thinking, and I suppose it started a few days before my father arrived..."

~~~~~~~~~~

"Viv! Hey, Viv! You know, hide-and-seek is a cruel game to play with a blind person!" Hope heard a snort and spun in the direction of the nose, growing increasingly annoyed. Vivian was purposefully hiding her scent. Yet even still, Hope could still catch whiffs of Vivian's very distinct cotton smell. "You're over here, aren't you?"

Gramm watched from the sidelines, amused. It did seem a cruel game, but despite Hope's protests, she was grinning from ear to ear. He watched as Victoria came storming in their direction, furious for absolutely no reason. She had been irritable for days and was constantly arguing with Drake.

The two of them had never fought so severely before.

Victoria scowled, seeing Hope playing around, and marched over to her. "What are you doing?"

Yelping, Hope spun to face her mother. "I'm playing hide-and-seek with Viv." Victoria rolled her eyes, not amused.

"And just how are you doing that? In case you forgot," Victoria growled, "you're blind." She continued on her way, and Hope completely stood still until her footsteps sounded away. Vivian walked up behind Hope, wrapping her arms around her and wiping a stray tear away.

"Ha, what does she know." Vivian rocked Hope back and forth knowing the motion and touch would soothe her more than words ever would. Yet still, she spoke. "You're the best hide-and-seek player ever. You're so good they want you as a coordin-."

"Hasn't she seemed strange lately?" Vivian had brushed that conversation off as Victoria was quickly becoming a sore spot in her and Hope's life. Instead, Vivian directed her sole attention to making Hope forget she was impaired and unable to participate in the trainings happening not far away.

The day had passed, and not another word from Victoria to Hope was spoken. Another day passed, and Victoria seemed to avoiding Hope - going as far as to walk in the opposite direction when she saw her. Vivian never mentioned it, but Hope could smell her mother, and then the smell would disappear. The next day, Hope had ignored all attempts mind-linking attempts from Victoria until Vivian had appeared, obeying her Alpha's orders and taking Hope to her mother.

The conversation had not gone over well.

"You called Mom?" Victoria sat at her desk, tapping a pencil against it furiously. Hope sniffed the air quietly. "Hey, Drake."

"Hey, kiddo." He moved forward and took Hope's arm, leading to the chair in front of the desks. "There's just one thing we need to talk about then you can go back out with Vivian, okay?" Hope tilted her head, the tapping noise beginning to bother her. It was creating a tension she was uncomfortable with.

"Okay... What's up, Mom?"

"You need to find your mate." There was silence. Absolute silence. Red perked up in Hope's mind at the mention of her mate.

"What?"

"Werewolves go on trips when they turn eighteen. It's to find their mates faster - you should know this. You and Vivian should go." Hope went to say something, but Victoria kept talking. "It's not that I don't want you here or that I don't love you-"

"I didn't think-"

"But this pack can't always baby you." Hope felt a surge of anger and felt Red begging to come out and show just how much of a baby she was. However, Hope bit her lip instead.

"It's not exactly like that." Drake said dryly, wrapping his arm around Hope's shoulder. "It's just-"

"No." Victoria said, disbelief in her voice. "We talked about this. She needs to know how the pack feels." Hope shifted uncomfortably.

"What the pack feels or what you feel? Have you forgotten she's your daughter?"

"Have you forgotten she isn't yours?" Drake growled and Victoria growled back. Victoria might have been born an Alpha, but Drake was mated to one and was declared Lunar by the pack. He didn't back down.

"I understand." Hope said quietly, feeling like tears could escape her at any minute. "I'm eighteen, but I can't contribute much to the pack. Vivian will eventually find her mate and be unable to help me. John and Tammy want to retire. I need my mate so my problems are no longer yours."

"Exactly."

"Victoria!" Drake shouted angrily. Hope winced and pulled away from Drake. "Oh, I'm sorry, sweetie." He kissed her forehead gently and Hope found herself leaning into him. Why was it that he was more parental than her real mother?

"It's true." Victoria muttered. "We have our own children to train and love."

"There's room for Hope in that too!" Hope stood abruptly and reached out to Vivian via mind-link.

Vivian arrived shortly after the interaction and had furiously lead Hope away, shocked by the outcome. Hope had been devastated, and it physically hurt Vivian to see that. They ran into Bruce, who had just arrived at the pack, and they shared a similar conversation; however, it had a different outcome. Vivian had punched Bruce.

~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm sorry," the Councilman interrupted. "Did you say your friend punched Alpha Bruce? Are you aware he could press charges? And by your own admission, she would be charged - no matter the circumstance!" Hope merely laughed.

"It was satisfying to hear." Vivian cheered from her place in the audience.

"Heck, yeah, it was!" The Councilman shook his head in disbelief.

"Please, continue." Hope nodded, and did just that.

~~~~~~~~~~

Hope had went off on her own as Vivian "interacted" with Bruce. Quickly becoming lost, Hope stood still, waiting for Vivian to catch up to her. However, to Hope's surprise, she ended up at the guest house where Emily and her brood were staying. Emily invited Hope inside, and the two began to speak. It was cordial, and both Emily and Hope were taken off guard by it all. But Emily was having a tough time, and Hope was a sweet girl.

Bruce eventually arrived home with a beautiful black eye, and it went all downhill from there.

Hope told Emily the conversation she had with her father. "I asked if looking back, would he have done away with me from the beginning." Emily didn't say anything. "He didn't say no."

"Things are stressful right now at the pack and-"

"That doesn't mean that he and Victoria can dismiss me as their child. I get it. I'm a mistake, but I'm here and that won't change" Despite herself, Hope continued to confide in Emily, growing curious as to when their relationship had progressed to that point.

"We're not dismissing you as ours," Bruce said. Hope's eyes widened in surprise, having not sensed him arrive. "Your friend has quite the punch." She smiled, but could sense that Bruce wasn't smiling. "But she'll learn."

"What do you mean?" Hope stood up quickly, noticing Bruce's deadly aura. Panic struck through her. "Where's Viv?" Terrified, Hope reached out to John and Tammy through her mind-link. They told Hope that Vivian kept muttering about an Alpha command. "Bruce!" she shouted. "Did you give Viv an Alpha command!?" Emily gasped.

"Don't shout at me." Bruce growled. "You're right. You were a mistake." Hope swallowed to keep her emotions in check. "Now, we need you out of our way. Our children are entering Alpha-in-training mode, and we can't have you as a liability."

"I don't want the Alpha role." Hope tried to explain. "I want to be lov-"

"Well, that's a good thing because you aren't getting it." Emily aura was angry. Bruce's was still deadly. Hope knew she needed to leave. "EVER." Hope was scared for her life. Bruce had never yelled at her before.

Bruce's hand went to Hope's shoulder, and she trembled. "We would never hand the title to you. You can't do anything for yourself." He pushed her, causing Hope to tumble forward. Her knee collided with coffee table, and she whimpered in pain. She tried to gain her balance, but she was thrown off, disoriented. She fell across the coffee table, the glass breaking and shattering. Hope cried out in pain, whimpering as she sat among the glass. She was bleeding from and glass was sticking out of her. Panicked, she tried to move away from the pain, but the glass surrounded her, making everything so much worse. Every time she moved, more glass found it's way into her or made more cuts. She cried and whimpered, floundering around in the glass, pain blinding reason.

"Stop moving, Hope." Emily said gently, going towards her slowly. Bruce grabbed Emily and pulled her away from Hope.

"Don't. She can't always be dependent on people."

"YES, SHE CAN!" Emily screamed. John and Tammy burst through the door and went straight for Hope.

Bruce left on Emily's order to go for a run and calm down. John and Tammy took Hope to the hospital, but she passed out.

~~~~~~~~~~

"When I woke up," Hope said. "I was in Alpha Blake's pack with Vivian. She felt familial bond snap, and we all knew that John and Tammy had been killed." The Councilman nodded, mystified. Two Alphas acting out just days apart, and both on the same topic? The jury listened in stunned silenced. They were angry at the treatment their Queen had experienced, but confused too. They all knew Victoria and Bruce. This wasn't them.

"I see." The Councilman paused. "Are you aware that it is possible to break a bond, such as familial one, without death?" Hope nodded slowly. "Could this be the case?"

"I... I am unsure."

"Thank you, Queen Hope. I just a few more questions." Hope nodded her assent, and the Councilman leaned forward, as if expecting her answer to solve the whole mystery. "It has been noted that your blindness makes all of your other senses sharper, so perhaps, did you ever overhear a conversation between your parents that would help make sense of what happened?"

Hope thought, her mind turning over everything she had heard Victoria say to Bruce or Drake in the past month. Only one phone call came to mind. "Now that I think about it, yes. I overheard a phone conversation..."

~~~~~~~~~~

Victoria sat alone in her office, waiting for an important phone call. The phone rang, and she had answered. She was unaware that Hope was passing by, or that Hope could hear through the walls. After all, they were supposed to be soundproof.

"Did you find out!?" Hope paused, knowing she shouldn't listen, but also knowing that was a strange way to answer the phone. "What!? You went alone!? ... Things are tough, but that is never the answer... Yes, I know... I know... I agree. It has to be done." Victoria's voice dropped in sadness. "How are we going to do this? ... What? Mate? ... I suppose... Yes, you're right..." There had been a great silence. "Speaking of her, how's she handling all this? Have you told her? ... Yeah, I haven't told Drake either..." Victoria's voice had lowered after that, and Hope had been unable to hear the rest of the conversation.

~~~~~~~~~

The Councilman nodded, as if that was the answer. "Yes, very cryptic. You suppose she was conversing with Bruce?"

"That was my guess." The Councilman proceeded to ask a series of question, clarifying different parts of the story. Once he was finished, he nodded and looked at the High Elder.

"No more questions." Hope went back to Dorian, and squeezed his hand as tightly as she could.