Betrayed and Claimed by the Lycan King Chapter 253

Isolde's POV

Lydia snatched the phone from my hands so violently I almost lost my balance.

"Mom!" she shrieked into the device, her voice piercing through the temporary safe house like a banshee's wail. "What the hell do you mean we have to stay in this godforsaken place for another day? You said we'd be going home tonight!"

I watched her pace back and forth across the small living room, her blonde hair whipping around her face as she gestured wildly with her free hand. The rage radiating from her was almost suffocating, and every few seconds, she'd shoot me these looks that could have melted steel.

If we had to spend one more day in this strange place, hiding from Alpha Ezra's potential surveillance... that was completely my fault.

The guilt sat like a stone in my stomach, heavy and unforgiving.

"You can't be serious," Lydia continued, her voice climbing higher. "We're supposed to just sit here and wait? This is ridiculous!"

I could hear our mother's voice through the phone, though I couldn't make out the exact words. Whatever she was saying only seemed to make Lydia angrier.

"What do you mean we need to make sure Alpha Ezra doesn't have people watching us?" Lydia's eyes flashed with fury as she spun to glare at me. "This has nothing to do with me! I'm not the one hiding from anyone. She can stay here by herself. Let me come home!"

My chest tightened. Of course she wanted to leave me behind. I was nothing but a burden to this family.

"I said no!" our mother's voice came through the phone, loud enough that even I could hear it clearly now. "You need to stay with your sister until I say it's safe to come back. This isn't up for discussion!"

"Sister?" Lydia practically spat the word, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she hung up the phone. She turned to face me fully, and the hatred burning in her eyes was so intense I felt like it might actually burn me to ash.

"This is all your fault!" she screamed, pointing an accusatory finger directly at my face.

And you know what? She was absolutely right.

I thought back to how we'd ended up here. Last night, Mom had gotten a call from her brother—Alpha Liam, who controlled Sapphire District. He'd warned her that the CEO of Silver Moon Group, Alpha Ezra himself, was coming to visit. Mom had immediately understood what that meant. He was looking for me.

When I'd broken down crying and begged her to hide me, she'd asked me three times if I was absolutely sure this was what I wanted. When I'd confirmed it each time, she'd moved into action immediately. Within hours, she'd arranged for me, Lydia, Holden, and several security personnel to be transported to this safe house.

"I was supposed to go to the party at Obsidian tonight," Lydia continued, her voice reaching a pitch that made me wince. "The whole thing is ruined now, thanks to you!"

I glanced over at Holden, who was sitting on the couch across the room. He shot Lydia an annoyed look.

"Don't look at me like that," she snapped at him. "This whole mess is her fault!" She pointed at me again, her finger trembling with rage.

Something inside me finally snapped.

"Today is Tuesday," I said quietly, but firmly. "It's a work day. Even if we were home, Mom wouldn't have let you go to some nightclub party anyway."

Lydia's mouth fell open, and she stared at me like I'd just slapped her across the face.

"You... you just used that tone with me?" she stammered, her voice filled with disbelief. "You actually dare to question me like that?"

"Yes," I said, my voice steady despite the trembling in my hands. "I did."

"Holden, did you hear that?" she whirled around to face our half-brother, but he didn't respond. He just kept staring at the floor, clearly wanting no part of this confrontation.

I took a deep breath, feeling words that had been building up inside me for days finally ready to spill out.

"I've apologized to you more times than I can count," I said, my voice growing stronger. "I'm sorry that you're experiencing this inconvenience because of me. But I really hope you never find yourself in a situation like mine, because if someone treated you the way you're treating me right now, you'd regret it."

"How dare you raise your voice at me!" Lydia shrieked.

"You've been doing it to me all day!" I shot back, feeling my own anger finally rising to match hers. "Why is it okay for you to yell and scream, but I'm not allowed to speak up for myself? What makes you so special that only you get to be angry?"

For a moment, Lydia actually fell silent. She stopped pacing and stared at me, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. I could see in her eyes that she realized she had no reasonable answer to that question.

That's when Holden finally stood up from the couch.

"Lydia," he said, his voice calm but firm. "She's right. Give her some space. She didn't want any of this to happen either."

He started walking toward the stairs, clearly done with this whole argument.

"Why should we have to suffer for her problems?" Lydia called after him, but he didn't respond. He just kept walking up the stairs without looking back.

I stood there in the sudden quiet, my heart still pounding from the confrontation. Part of me was terrified that word of what I'd said would get back to Mom, and I had no idea how she'd react. But another part of me felt... lighter somehow. Like I'd finally stood up for myself instead of just taking whatever Lydia wanted to dish out.

I guess I'll just have to keep dealing with her toxic attitude until she decides to change it herself.

"This is so unfair!" Lydia stomped her right foot against the floor hard enough to make the windows rattle. Then she stormed toward the front door.

"Where are you going?" I called after her, suddenly worried.

But she was already slamming the door behind her, leaving me alone in the safe house living room.

I sank down onto the couch, suddenly exhausted. The silence felt overwhelming after all the yelling and chaos.

Maybe I should have just let Alpha Ezra find me. Maybe this whole thing was a mistake. I don't think I can handle another family war.

I closed my eyes and tried to imagine what would have happened if I'd never asked Mom to hide me. If I'd just stayed in that cell and waited for Ezra to come back. Would that have been easier than this? Than watching Lydia's hatred burn brighter every day?

I didn't know.