😍Click to continue reading 🔞
If youre somebody in a wolf pack, life comes preloaded with comfort. Doors open. People smile. Youre protected. Youre provided for. I used to live like thatright up until my dad died. He was head warrior. He went down shielding the Alpha, and the second he was gone, my mom and I stopped mattering to the ones at the top. Mom had never needed a job before. Shed met her mate at eighteen, had me, and built her whole world around home while Dad handled everything outside it. That was five years ago. Sometimes I still dont understand how she survived losing him. I dont understand how she kept breathing when her other half was suddenly justgone. Shes the toughest woman Ive ever met. She had to be, after they stripped us of everythingour house, our car, the life wed been promised like it couldnt be touched. Now we sit below even the omegas. Mom takes whatever dead-end shifts she can get, stringing them together to cover the inflated fees the Alpha dumps on us, just so we can eat. And Ive watched her fade since Dad died. She barely eats. She works until shes a ghost. She doesnt take care of herself anymore. The old Alpha handed power to his son, and the new one is just as brutal, just as smug. All Mom wants is for me to get out. To leave this pack behind and carve out something that isnt misery handed down like inheritance. The morning I woke up on the couch, rain was hammering the trailer windows so hard it blurred the world outside. The sky looked like it had decided to punish everybody. I slid off the couch and shuffled toward the kitchen, hunting for coffee. Thats when I saw them: a handful of flowers, obviously picked by hand, standing in a chipped vase. A note was propped in front. Happy Birthday Maddox, Im sorry I cant be there to celebrate with you. But you have a good day. Youre finally 18. I cant believe it. Youve grown up so quick. I love you. Love Mom. Briars voice brushed my mind, warm and soft. She really does love us. We know, I told her. I know. Are you going
