Chapter 18
CARINA
I gulped as I entered our house. My mom walked without looking back, and I felt the impending wrath she was about to
release.
She stopped in the living room, so I halted a few steps back. She didn’t turn around for a couple more moments, so I took in the view of our house.
I had been living here for the past 22 years of my life, and it was the same as always. My parents‘ achievements were on one wall, and the three other walls were reserved for Natalia.
Her artworks as a child. Her achievements in school and in the pack. Her pretty pictures.
There wasn’t a singular picture of me on the wall. Well, that’s if you didn’t count the large family portrait I was a part of.
Finally, my mom turned around, so I straightened my posture and looked her in the eyes. I didn’t know why she had called me so harshly. I was sure I didn’t do anything wrong.
“You had an episode on your way back?” she asked, making me freeze.
Falco had told her?
“Goodness,” she said, massaging the bridge of her nose. “You embarrassed our family again. You couldn’t even hold it in until you got here?”
I pursed my lips. Of course, that was the first thing she would tell me. She didn’t even ask me if I was okay.
“We were stuck,” I muttered, trying to explain the situation. “You know I’m afraid of the dark and thunderstorms.”
“You are afraid of a lot of things,” she said, walking closer to me. “That’s why you’re weak. You’re afraid of such a measly thing! You showed Alpha Falco that we have such a weak child.”
I bit my lip, trying to keep my emotions in check. However, that was difficult in front of my mom, who was doing her utmost best to show me that I wasn’t enough.
“I bet you gave him a hard time,” she smirked. “How are you going to make him love you when you’re like that? Oh wait, you can’t! No matter how hard you try to put on the weak act, he will never think of you as someone worth fighting for.”
“I don’t even know who would put up with someone so weak like you! You have no wolf. You’re not smart. You’re sickly. Ah, what a deadly combination,” she continued.
I sniffed, not being able to take it anymore. I quickly wiped my tears with the back of my hand. However, my mom didn’t stop. Instead, she kept adding salt to the wound.
“Oh, so now you’re crying?” she chuckled.
I sighed and shook my head. “What do you want me to do, Mom?” I asked. “I couldn’t help it in that situation.”
“Just do what you need to do,” she said through gritted teeth. “Be his wife in the meantime until your sister comes back. Don’t do anything unnecessary.”
“Don’t get too close to him. Don’t make them worry for you. If it weren’t for Luna Selene, I wouldn’t even want you to be in the same room as him.”
The tears streamed down my face, and I wiped them continuously.
1/3
11:41 Mon, 3 Mar NUO
Chapter 18
“What did lever do, Mom?” Lasked. “You don’t even bother to ask me if I’m fine.”
67%0
Nothing,” she said, her arms crossed in front of her chest. “You’ve done absolutely nothing. That’s why you are nothing”
My breath got caught in the back of my throat.
“Now,” she mercilessly said, walking to the cupboard and scrimmaging through her stock of medicine.
She brought out another pill container.
“What is this?” I muttered.
Your new medicine,” she said. “Since you had another episode, that means you’re getting worse. This is a stronger maintenance dose. Take it every morning without fail. At least you could do that, right?”
I pursed my lips and nodded.
“Now go,” she said. “Go and fulfill your fake wife duties. Don’t make a scene, and stop bringing attention to yourself.”
As soon as I was out of our house, I didn’t go straight to Falco’s. Instead, I ran to my safe place.
The tears streamed freely down my cheeks now, making my vision blurry. How could she love her children differently? Was I actually the one at fault?
I knew she could be a good mother. She had done so with Natalia. If so, then am I just not worth being a good mother for?
I stopped right in front of the river near our pack’s borders. I sat on the ground, not minding how the twigs and rocks scratched my body. I merely stared at my reflection in the water.
Then, I allowed myself to cry. In the solitude of the cold river, I found a peace in letting the salty tears consume all of my
senses
I cried and cried until I felt like I couldn’t feel. My face was still buried in my palms when I felt a cold hand on my shoulder. I jolted, standing and assuming a fighting position.
“Woah,” he said, raising both hands in surrender.
My tears still stained my cheeks, and my hair clung to my skin. I probably looked like a mess–one that I wished nobody would see.
However, someone just did.
My expression softened when I saw who it was.
“Tim?” I muttered.
He smiled and walked closer to me, slowly at first. When he realized I wasn’t going to run away, he held onto my cheeks.
“What?” I asked, glaring at him.
He chuckled and removed the pieces of hair from my face before pinching my already red nose.
I gently pushed him away.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“I thought I heard a ghost crying,” he said. “However, it’s just you.”
2/3
11.41
IVION, 3 Iviar M
Chapter 18
“If you came here to tease me, then I suggest you just leave,” I muttered, turning away from him.
Tim chuckled and placed his hand on my shoulder before turning me around.
“Hey,” he said. “I didn’t come here to tease you.”
With that, I faced him again. His expression had changed now, Instead of his usual nonchalant face, he actually looked…. concerned.
He walked closer to me and tucked a hair strand behind my ear.
“Are you alright?” he softly asked.
3/3
