The Inauguration

Genhji grabbed the male’s hand, twisting it and throwing him over her shoulder making them both land on the floor with a thud. She hears the male’s breathe hitch and she smiles before standing on her feet.

“That’s my point”, she chuckled watching him stagger to his feet.

"Is it? I remember letting you win little one,” he smiles at her.

His white hair now sticking to his wet forehead. His green eyes shine up at her and she laughs, “Yeah keep telling yourself that Raed, one day you’ll be begging for my help”.

“Do I look like a man that begs Genhji? If so, then I must be doing something wrong,” he says pushing her slightly.

“Raedwulf, Genhji!,” the rough voice calls out to them and they immediately stand straighter, looking into their father’s green orbs. “Yes father?”, Raedwulf asks.

“Where is Solani?”, he asks looking around the room.

The two siblings eye each other before turning their attention back to their father, “We do not know, father”.

“What do you mean you don’t know? Shouldn’t she be training with you?”, he questions them.

Genhji rolls her eyes,” Last time I checked I wasn’t Solani’s handmaiden, father”.

Her father growls and she bows her head slightly in submission, “Attitude Genhji. I advise you to find her. One of her bases has been attacked and she is nowhere to be found. When you do find her, tell her to report to my office immediately”.

“Yes father”, they say in sync. They both watch as he turns to leave but he hesitates and turns to Genhji, “Good job on getting the upper hand on your brother.” He nods, leaving Genhji with a smug look while Raedwulf grumbled under his breath.

He rolls his eyes as Genhji gloats. He waits for a few moments, making sure that their father was out of range before turning to Genhji with a knowing look.

“I’ve been following her for the past few weeks and I’ll deal with her tonight”, she says reassuring him.

“Are you sure that I shouldn’t handle this?”,

" And let you ruin the bonding we’re about to have? Umm no thanks Raed,” she chuckles before exiting the room shouting over her shoulder, “I got this”.

Genhji watches as her sister enters the room, unbothered by the fact she was just seen having a conversation with a certain alpha that was well known for being against their father. Genhji didn’t want to draw any conclusions but the evidence was doing all of that for her and seeing her sister didn’t help the anger that she wanted to subdue.

“Sister,” she merely states. She watches Solani pause in her tracks, turning to face her. Genhji twirls the small knife in her hands, matching her sister’s glare.

“Where have you been?,” she asks, "Father has been looking for you. One of our facilities was attacked last night and he needed that smart mind of yours to help with something”.

“I had matters to deal with,” Solani answers back, her voice void of emotions but Genhji couldn’t help but feel the hostility her sister was throwing at her.

“Matters more important than our duty, your duty?”,

"Yes”.

Silence falls between them and Genhji doesn’t look away from her. She assessed what Solani was wearing: her black combat boots, black jeans and a black turtle neck. Her hair was tied tightly, leaving no strands out of place. She looked ready for war.

“If that’s all Genhji, I would love to take a shower”.

Genhji does nothing but nod. She stands and walks towards the door whilst twirling the knife in her hand. A minute passes with the only sound being Genhji’s footsteps but a second later, the sound of a whistle echoes in the room and a thud follows after.

Solani catches her breathe while looking at the knife, now stuck in the wall behind her head. She turns back to Genhji, and her heart skips a beat when facing her sister who’s only inches from her face.

“Father doesn’t like liars, and I’m beginning to understand the reason behind it. I’m not going to ask you again because you’re simply going to lie to me, so I’m going to tell you where you were,” Genhji says taking a step closer to her sister.

She holds her sister’s back, pushing her body and hers together. She stares into the green eyes and she could feel Solani’s hot breath fan her face. She smiles sweetly before ducking closer to her ear.

“You were meeting up with William Lugar like you usually do every week and you were giving him updates on father’s plans. Now, dearest sister, I don’t know why you would do such things but I hope you know that if you continue to do so Raed and father will be the first ones to know”.

Genhji pushed her away and watches as she falls on her ass, “Loyalty is what I really care about. This family, this pack may know nothing of love but we know what loyalty is, what it looks like and what it smells like and right now, you reek of betrayal. So I suggest you take that shower and scrub that stench off and never have it again because I won’t miss next time”.

Genhji stares at her sister once more before walking to the door, "And you can keep the knife, I have plenty. Let it be a reminder of my warning”, and she walks out of the room.

She walks towards her brother’s room and finds him sitting at his desk looking over the map. He hears her come in and she kisses his temple, he hums in response. She sits on the couch and watches him.

“Did you find out where she’s been running off to?”. He asks.

She nods and chuckles, “Our dear little sister has been exploring her new maturity if you know what I mean,” she smirks when his eyes meet hers.

“Genhji you shouldn’t be comfortable with telling me such things, what if I kill the poor lad,” he says walking around the table and lays on the couch next to her.

Silence hovers over them and she turns to catch his eyes already on hers, ” It’s bad, isn’t it?”, he asks.

“Yes,” she says, laying her head on his shoulder.

“Is it something I should be worried about?”

“No brother, I gave her a warning.”

He chuckles at the statement, “One of your knives,” he smiles kissing her head, “I still have mine. Am I forgiven?”.

“Yes, I forgave you a long time ago. The knife is just a reminder to never do it again”.

÷

Solani feels the brittle cold of winter seeping into her room through the window but she can’t seem to pay any attention when all she could think about is the night she got the metallic item she holds in her hands.

She stares down at it, remembering the promise that came with it. The knife, small but sharp, remained beautiful and still had her sisters initials after all this time. She rubbed her thumb against the engravings and she let a tear fall.