Chapter 11: Emily in the lion's den
I almost made it past the second oak tree to my house when I met my mother on a bicycle.
"Mama!" I shrieked at her.
Eloise stopped the bicycle and stared at me. Her brown hair falling gently down her waist. I got my green eyes from her.
"He hit you again, didn't he?" She asked me even though she already knew the answer to the question.
"I am alright" I said and straightened my posture to show her how brave I am.
"I'm working really hard to get us out of there, Emily. I just need more time, the coffee shop doesn't pay well" My mother always told me that whenever things got bad.
I always nod with a smile. She knew it and I knew it, we can't leave the black silver pack.
Every other pack was afraid of Alpha Noah and no one would dare step on his toes by accepting rogues and without the pack link we wouldn't last long on our own. It didn't stop my mother from making the promise and it didn't stop me from pretending to believe her.
"I know" I nodded.
"Who wants ice cream?"
"Emily does!" I yelled just like I always do ever since I was little.
Mama and I went to the nearest ice cream kiosk and we shared a plate of ice cream.
"Do you think he cares about me?"
Mama looked at me. She was confused.
"The human that got you pregnant, would he care if he knew about me?" I asked her.
"I don't know, Emily" mama was blunt
I look away, so my mother couldn't see the sadness in my eyes.
We live in a country occupied by werewolves alone. Astoria country is one of the largest countries in the world but most people on earth don't know that we are lycanthropes. We hide it well and we are territorial too. There are about twelve major packs in Astoria. The black silver pack was the largest and the most deadliest, with an Alpha who was legendary for his temper and ruthless, Alpha Noah, Owen's father.
"Tell me about him, Mama"
My mother smiled, talking about the week she spent with my father was one of her favorite things in the world.
"I was just a week shy of eighteen when I stumbled across his weak body by the side of the road, he was in a car crash. So…"
I have listened to mama tell this story so many times that I knew it by heart.
After she found my father, he told her he was King Williamson of Castaway, a small island country known for its gold and agriculture.
Mama said it was love at first sight. He was a smooth talker and by the end of the night, she gave him her virginity. And for a week they lived together, he promised to take her with him to Castaway but one day she came back and he was gone. She never saw him after.
It was a freaking stupid love story that ended with him pulling a disappearing act and my mother pregnant with me - the pack's freak.
"He is a coward, ma. A big fat coward" I whispered to her.
"He is not all that rotten, Emily. He gave me you, didn't he? And you are my biggest blessing, sweetheart" my mother touched my cheek.
"I am a girl with no wolf and you are unmated. There is no blessing there" I stood up from the place I sat.
"Can we go home now? I would prefer that I take the beating your lovely brother would dish out in time to do my math homework"
I walked away and waited for her outside.
When we got home, uncle Phil, like I predicted, was waiting for me with his belt.
Judith, his ugly mate was there too judging me silently like their son Martin wasn't the pack womanizer.
I dropped my bag on the ground and went ahead first to meet him.
"You stupid child, because of you I have to pay a fine for hitting the Alpha's son. I have to pay three hundred dollars. Why should I pay such an amount for a whore like you"
I watched my uncle as he fumed with anger. He was a short man, even my mother was taller than him. My mother tells me that he wasn't always a prick. He was once upon a time a kind hearted man who was next in line to be the beta of black silver pack until the scandal that made Alpha Noah strip my family of their rank. We were not even omegas, we are just... nothing.
Mama said deep down that Phil was a good man but it was hard to look deep enough at someone who's always looking for excuses to smack me.
"I don't know why I bother with you, you are destined to be a whore just like your mother"
It stung too much.
"Don't talk about my mother like that, you buffoon!" I yelled at him.
I yelled again out of pain when he slapped me across my face. It was the last thing that happened before Malia, my mother's Wolf attacked him and tried to rip him apart.
Everyone knew that even though my mother was quiet and good natured, her wolf wasn't. She was stronger than most wolves and very overprotective.
"I told you severally that I might be fair game but my daughter isn't! Next time you lay a hand on her I will fucking rip you apart!" My mother yelled at her brother.
My mother was strong but she was no match for a former beta of the biggest pack in Astoria.
Phil changed into a wolf and in the brink of an eye, he went for my mother's neck.
"Let her go you effing Psycho!" I screamed at him. And attacked him by throwing my whole body weight at him. I don't weigh much and so it didn't matter.