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Things were moving too fast and too quickly. I needed time to think.
“I’ll let you know,” I said, wincing in pain as she wrapped my hand tightly in a long cloth. I wasn’t ready to make a huge decision like that yet. The only thing I knew was that I was locked up in my room for hours at a time, cleaning the house and reading the books my aunt would smuggle from the human world.
“Here, nice and snug,” she said, tightening the makeshift cast. “How does that feel?”
“Much better than before,” I said. “Thank you, Auntie.”
“No problem. Listen to me,” she said, and I looked up to see her eyes glimmering with tears. “Please know this is wrong. This is not the way a father should treat his daughter.”
A lump formed in my throat, and I nodded before I ended up crying.
“I know,” I whispered.
“Good,” she said. “I just don’t want you thinking that’s normal, okay? He won’t get punished by our society, as we know, but the one thing you can do is leave and never put up with him anymore. I care about you like you’re my daughter. And when you get hurt, it hurts me even more. Sometimes, I wish I could absorb all your pain.”
Tears were free-flowing down my face. I hadn’t realized how much she cared.
I wasquietly readingin my room on the wooden floor next to the floorboard opening, where I stashed away the books I’d borrowed from my aunt. Reading stories of happy families always transported me to a happier place in my mind. Books, movies, and television were all forbidden here at the Alpha Compound. Pretty much anything to do with humans was forbidden, so I learned all the information I needed from fiction books. My aunt said she acquired the books when they first landed from Howl’s Edge onto the human lands.
I sat cross-legged on the floor, leaning against the cold wall as I read a magical novel for the twentieth time,Inkheartby Cornelia Funke. But before I could fully immerse myself into her world, a scream sounded from upstairs.
Shit.
Did Alan hit my mom harder than usual? I needed to go upstairs and take the beating for her instead.
Just like I always did.
Setting my book down, I threw it under the floorboard and quickly made my way up to the third floor. I was shocked to see quite a few people surrounding the entryway.
“Mom?” I called, walking inside to see a man wearing a white coat and glasses standing in the middle of the room. She was lying on the bed on her back in a birthing position.
My eyes widened. The baby was coming tonight.
“Wait outside, sweetie,” she groaned through her pain.
My heart was pounding with trepidation as I waited outside her door, listening as she screamed through her intense labor. I sat with my knees pulled to my chest as I waited outside the door. Time was going by unbearably slow, and my mind was drifting as I constantly nodded off to sleep.
Hours passed before I finally heard the cry of a newborn.
Heart-racing, I burst back into the room.
“You have a boy,” announced the doctor proudly, and Iwatched with horror as Alan lifted the baby. I was worried instantly about what he’d do.
Yes, it was pretty messed up that it was my first thought. I watched as Alan’s face twisted into the first smile in decades.
“Finally, an alpha,” he said, looking at the baby proudly. He had never in my life looked at me like that. When he handed the baby to my mother, she also smiled as they both looked at the baby boy with pride.
I hadn’t realized how my heart was aching at this moment. Tears were streaming down my face as I watched.
Slowly backing away, I started to realize they never loved me like that. Did I ever bring joy to their faces?
The fact was clear as day.
Heart racing with adrenaline, I quickly walked to my room, roughly wiping away my tears as I decided I had enough.
Packing my favorite books into my backpack, I grabbed one pair of pajamas and rushed downstairs while they were occupied with the new baby. I didn’t give a fuck anymore about my old family.
It was time to start my new life.
