After the Alpha had left us, I slowly ambled through the flat, hunting for where my mother had disappeared to. I twisted as a noise came from the end of the small hallway, to the right of the living room.
Turning and heading down the hall, I opened the first door, finding it empty. Carrying on, I reached the second door, opening it softly. There, sat on the edge of the large bed, was my mother, tears in her eyes, head hanging low.
“Mom?” I called softly.
She looked up, trying to hide her tears, but failing.
“Are you okay? What happened?” I asked, concern lining my voice.
“Nothing, I-... I’ve just never had such kindness shown to me, not since I was a child,” she confessed, taking a shuddering breath. “The generosity, and the understanding, the sympathy, it’s brought all the pain and abuse, you and I suffered through over the years, to the surface. And I am so sorry,” she wept, “so sorry that I never took you and ran when your father first laid his hands on you. I have no excuses, I was just so young and terrified.”
I stood by the door for a few moments, taking all that she confessed in. Slowly, I walked to the bed and sat down next to her, wrapping my arms around her, pulling her into a hug.
“You never have to apologise, mom. I saw what he did to you, heard how he belittled you and put you down over and over again. He may have never physically hurt you, but he might as well have been, with the way he verbally attacked you. He is a monster. It’s no wonder we both feel so overwhelmed by all the genuine kindness."
She looked down, staring at her hands. I could feel her taking slow deep breaths, trying to calm herself. I had never seen her so vulnerable before, not like this. After a few minutes, she raised her head and looked at me, eyes dry and full of pride.
"You are so much wiser than anyone has given you credit for. You have seen the worst in the world, but it seems to have made you so much stronger. I am so beyond proud of you, my girl," she confessed, the look of unfiltered pride and love on her face.
She pulled me in, holding me to her chest and stroked my hair. I don't know how long we sat there for, but it must have been a while as both our stomachs began rumbling.
"Come on, let's go get something to eat," my mother chuckled, standing and walking to the kitchen.
The rest of the day went by slowly.
After lunch, my mother decided to take a walk to the clinic, to go introduce herself and meet everyone.
I decided to stay back at the flat, have a better look around and gain an understanding of where everything is located.
Plodding down the hallway, towards the bedroom, I stopped outside a third door, realising I hadn't been in there yet. Turning the door handle, I pushed the door open, listening as it scraped gently over the carpet lining the floor and looked around.
The walls were painted a soft, creamy grey and had plush cream carpet, which felt heavenly under my bare feet. There was a large oak framed bed, covered in a cream and black patterned duvet with a gorgeous yellow knitted blanket, hanging over the end of the bed. At the end of the bed, against the far wall, was a large wardrobe built into an alcove in the wall, a potted ficus and a wicker basket, sat beside its doors. A small dresser was placed on the other side of the wardrobe, with a round, gold-framed mirror situated above it.
Under the window, sat a beautiful oak desk. A plush, pale grey chair sat in front of the desk, looking out onto the field and the forest beyond. Sitting on the desk, was a box. Curious, I padded over to have a look.
Inside the box were some school supplies, notebooks, pens, pencils, and school textbooks. Beneath everything was something black. Taking everything out and placing them beside the box, I reached back in and pulled out a spiral-bound book. Turning it over, I realised it was a sketchpad, with some lovely coloured pens, pencils and some rather expensive looking sketching pencils.
I haven't drawn in a long time, I thought to myself. Who are these from?
When the evening came, I decided to have an early night, and prepare myself for my first day at a new school.
I decided to have a shower, savouring the heat and water pressure, washing off the emotions of the day. Wrapped in a large towel, damp hair slung over my shoulder, I plodded out of the bathroom and headed to my new room. Standing in front of the large mirror above the dresser, I scrubbed my hair until it was relatively dry and got dressed in my new leggings pulling a large soft Dark grey jumper over my head.
After chucking the towel into the wicker basket, I turned and walked to the desk. I had found a brown leather shoulder bag in the wardrobe while I was having a look around, and decided I would use it to lug books around in. Placing all the new books into the bag, I zipped it up and chucked it next to the door.
Climbing up onto the bed, I pulled the duvet back and snuggled up underneath. The softness lulled me to sleep. I turned and switched off the lamp, drowning the room in darkness. Closing my eyes, I drifted to sleep.
I dreamt that night. I dreamt of him, and the strange wolf that watched me from the forest.
I had awoken early, my dreams throwing me out of sleep. Why was I dreaming of the Alpha? Is it a side effect of drinking his blood and swearing myself to him? Confused, I threw my blankets back and stood up out of bed. I stepped towards the window, pulled the curtains back and opened the window, letting the cool morning air surround me. The early morning mist was sitting low in the air, the dew-wet grass shimmering in the light of the sunrise. The colours, pale and soothing. It had rained that night, leaving the damp earthy scent lingering in the air. Thick, dark clouds hovered in the distance, a promise of rain. I took in the air, waking myself up fully. Sifting through the view, I caught a glimpse of two figures out on the field, fighting. Focusing on them, I realised that it was Beta Matthias an
Standing outside the school, I began to feel my nerves fighting to take over. I could see a few people glancing towards me. Clearly, I was going to be the topic of conversation for some. Nothing new then. Taking a deep breath in and letting it go, I strolled into the school, aiming for the main office. The school was clean, recently redecorated, by the faint scent of pain in the air. The corridors were packed with students, all either rushing to their lockers or to their first class of the day or just gossiping. I eventually managed to find the main office, I opened the door and walked in. Glancing around I see a familiar face behind the desk. “Ah, Amelia, there you are,” Eliza motioned me over. “I was wondering if you’d gotten lost,” she said, a kind smile on her fa
My first class of the day went well. Dani helped me adjust quite quickly, and nobody paid me much mind once the class started. I hadn’t felt so relaxed in a school for some time. But I knew that it wasn’t going to always be this easy, this chilled out.Walking to our next class, Dani chatted enthusiastically, the entire way. She pointed people out to me, even introduced me to some. They all seemed quite nice to me.Entering our Math class, Dani ushered me straight to her table in the middle and we sat. Some of the people she had introduced me to, were sat nearby and had started chatting to us while we waited for the teacher to arrive. While we were chatting the rest of the students walked, taking their seats, but still no teacher. There was one girl in particular who was watching me, openly glaring.&ldq
I stood outside the changing rooms, waiting for the others to get changed, and decided to check in with my mother. She was really enjoying her work and was getting along great with her new colleagues. She wouldn’t be back until 7 pm so she asked me to make dinner. I agreed, happy to help her out, excited to tell her how things went for me. Ben was the first one out, heading straight to me. As soon as he reached me, and the moment Grace walked out of the changing rooms, I felt my hair get yanked backwards and being slammed into the ground, hard. My eyes watered from the impact, head throbbing after it connected with the hard floor. I jumped up, having to catch myself as I felt a little dizzy and spun around, and I was honestly not surprised at who I found behind me. Marissa was fuming, I could almost imagine steam coming out of her ears.
Walking into the flat, I saw everyone sitting in the living room, chatting and laughing. My mom turned and smiled at me, getting up to give me a hug. “What did the Alpha want?” she asked, being nosey. “He just wanted to tell me to contact him directly, if anything like this happened again,” I told her, pointing to my head. “Wait, as in mind link him?” Grace quizzed. “Yeah, that’s what he said,” I replied. “Literally nobody is allowed to mind link him directly. Well unless you are one of the Patrol officers, commanders or Beta Matthias, that is,” Ben stated, shocked. “I think it’s because I’m new? And he knows the situation mom and I have come from,” I explained.
I needed to have a quick shower, especially after the state I was in when I woke up and I needed to cool myself off. My body feeling hot. I jumped up off the bed and started to make my way to the bathroom, but I stopped and glanced out the window. He wasn’t there this morning. Feeling a little dejected, I padded into the bathroom and turned the water on. Once I was done, I dressed in legging and my long grey hoodie and slipped on my socks and shoes. I walked into the kitchen, finding a small note on the fridge from my mom. I had to leave early this morning, I should be back by 5 pm, but you go out and have fun, make sure to call me if you need anything! Love mom x x Smiling to myself, I grabbed a granola bar
Getting changed for training was a little awkward. The girls in the changing room were constantly glancing at me, but I managed. “Damn girl!” Dani whistled, “look at those curves!” I flushed beetroot red at her compliment. My leggings fit comfortably, but they really accentuated my curvaceousness. And my top, well it pushed my breasts up slightly, they were a little larger than. I was a little curvier than most, and a few people had told me that I should be proud of my body, but I had such a lack of self-confidence, making me feel uncomfortable with compliments about how I looked. I wasn’t worthy of them. I offered her an uncertain smile at her compliment and pulled my loose vest over my head. I yanked my hair back into a ponytail and tucked the little wispy bits behind my ears.
I couldn’t believe a month had passed already. For an entire month, my mother and I have been safe and protected. I would never have been able to believe that this could be real, would never have known that we could be cared for, not until it truly happened to us. I would not have had enough brainpower to imagine all these people around us. Thankfully over the course of the month, the rumours that had been spread about me had died down and no one seemed to be paying them any mind anymore. Marissa had backed off, but most certainly had not backed down. I knew she was planning something but for the first time in a very long time, I wasn’t scared of facing it alone. I had my friends, my amazing, supportive, sassy and hilarious friends to back me up and support me. And I do the same when they need me. We all spent so much time together, enjoying life and having fun. I haven't been so happy in many years and I