The laughter poured out of me in waves, and I realized I hadn’t truly laughed in so long. Sebastian sat in his seat, a perplexed look forming on his face as he watched me. It was comforting to know the mental decline ran in the family, but it didn’t give me much hope for the future.
My erratic laughter died down, and I was left taking a few deep breaths. “Look, Sebastian,” I snickered, placing my hand against my mouth to stifle another wave of laughter. “I think you need to get some help, which means I definitely need to get some help.”
“Sophia -” Confusion formed on Sebastian’s face. Did he really think I was going to believe that? Werewolves?
He rips me from my life and confesses there’s a world of magical creatures? This isn’t a book; life isn’t full of fantasy. You work, get screwed over by people, try to survive, and then die.
“Don’t,” I shook my head. “I shouldn’t even have to entertain this.”
I turned on my heel and stormed up to my bedroom. I got halfway down the hall when I realized I had no idea where my bedroom was. I remembered Sebastian telling me I could pick, but I simply didn’t care enough to try.
“Um, excuse me?” I frowned, walking down the hall to one of the cleaning ladies. She looked fairly young and smiled at me softly.
“Yes, miss?” The woman smiled as she folded a pile of towels onto a thick metal cart.
“Do you know where my bedroom is?” I pursed my lips, feeling antsy being so out in the open. It would be too easy for Olivia or Krystal to find me.
“Yes, miss,” the woman nodded, gesturing for me to follow. “Mr. Sebastian chose a room for you. He hopes it is up to par.”
She turned down the hall and opened the second door on the left, revealing what looked like a hotel suite. I scoffed as I looked at the size of the bedroom. This wasn’t a bedroom-it was a damn apartment. All I needed was a kitchen, and I’d never come outside.
I locked the door behind me, checking a couple of times to make sure it stayed put. My legs were groaning from the long shift I just worked through, but my paycheck would be well worth it.
I refused to even entertain the idea of what Sebastian told me. Silver was grumbling angrily in my head, but I tuned her out. I made a long playlist of music in my mind and went through each song one by one. By the time I was finished, I had taken a long shower and gotten ready for bed.
I slept well into the morning, not even bothering to answer as a knock sounded on my bedroom door. The phone Kat had gotten me was set on my bedside table, her picture flashing on my screen.
That was how I spent the next few days. I read books I’d read a thousand times, talked to Kat, and kept to myself. Of course, Sebastian tried to talk to me, to ask why I wasn’t going to school, but I ignored his knocks and questions each time.
Every few hours, Tracy would bring me up a tray of food, but I wouldn’t open the door until she left. I felt guilty ignoring Tracy, but I knew Sebastian would use her to get to me. A couple of times, she tried to convince me to leave the bedroom, to come and talk to her. While I was tempted, there was nothing to talk about. Sebastian was clearly plagued with mental illness and was trying to force his crazy thoughts on me. It must’ve been working to some extent, as Silver continued to mutter snide comments at me.
I slammed down one of the books I’d been reading. The words were floating around my head annoyingly, and I could practically recite each chapter from memory. I was getting tired of reading the same books over and over, glancing at my phone whenever Kat texted.
She texted a lot, which didn’t surprise me. She wanted to know when I was coming back to school, something I’m sure the twins were wondering as well. I tried to placate her as much as I could, telling her I’d be back Monday.
She reminded me very clearly that I promised to explain what happened to my face this Friday.
I looked down at my phone; the calendar read Thursday, 6:32 p. m. I could avoid Kat long enough, keeping what happened to myself. Or, if I was feeling particularly rueful, I could tell her the truth. It wouldn’t matter what happened, I’d be gone shortly after. It’d be nice imagining all sorts of things happening to Jessy once Kat found out the truth. I’m sure Jessy would look beautiful in a jail cell.
Tracy knocked on my door fifteen minutes later, letting me know a tray of food was placed outside my door. She tried to reason with me for the next ten minutes, but eventually, I could hear her soft footsteps retreat down the hallway.
I sighed and opened my bedroom door, ready to pull the tray inside when I was met with an angry face. I hadn’t run into Olivia or Krystal all week, refusing to leave my bedroom for anything. It was pleasant, not having to deal with their glares and sneers.
Krystal stood behind my food tray, leaning against the wall. She was gorgeous, with her golden hair and dark eyes, but the sneer on her face ruined her features. She was well-dressed, but her mother was the same. The two of them dressed like they were about to step on the runway at any minute.
“Do you know what it’s like, living in the shadow of someone you’ve never met?” Krystal snapped, her brown eyes narrowing as she glared at me.
My lips parted in confusion. I knew she wasn’t talking about me. Sebastian ignored me for seventeen years; I didn’t have a shadow for her to live in.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I stared at her, deadpan. It wasn’t my fault she had daddy issues, nor was it my problem. I sympathized with her because her life shifted as well, but that didn’t mean I’d let her walk all over me.
“You’re the firstborn,” Krystal snapped, and I visibly rolled my eyes.
“What is with you people?” I grunted. “Firstborn? It doesn’t even matter! Who gives a fuck!”
My chest was heaving by the time I finished, but Krystal looked angrier than ever. Her brown eyes were now black with rage, and her lip was pulled back in a feral sneer.
“He tried to tell you, and you wouldn’t even listen,” Krystal scoffed. “Some shit Luna you’d make. You shouldn’t even exist. Pathetic fucking half-breed.”
Krystal’s words were confusing, and yet they also felt like a slap in the face. Silver was enraged, spewing obscenities in my mind. I could feel her pushing at the edges of my mind, almost like she was in a cage.
“You’re all insane,” I snapped. “You, your dad, and your stuck-up mother. You’re not dragging me into this shit. I never wanted to be here in the first place.”
I slammed the door in her face, the food a forgotten thought in my mind. My stomach rumbled in protest, but I could hardly feel it. My mind was spinning with what Sebastian had said. I spent the last few days pretending it never happened, but he even pulled his daughter into this mess.
A few hours passed, and the sun finally set behind the forest line. The moon was quick to rise, casting its white light on everything. A knock sounded at my door, but I’d become attuned to ignoring it at this point. I didn’t even look up as the knocking continued.
I sat on a wide window seat, a forgotten book in my lap, my cheek pressed against the cool glass as I gazed into the forest. I tried to imagine what Sebastian had told me-wolf people running around in the woods. I’d only seen werewolves in movies: grotesque, human-like creatures with claws and way too much body hair.
“That’s not what we look like,” Silver grumbled, rolling her eyes.
“It worries me that we’re already calling ourselves one of them,” I sighed, rubbing my temples.
“I get it, you’ve been through some shit,” Silver huffed, “but you can’t keep locking people out.”
“Sure, I can,” I frowned. “Last time I even thought about letting someone in, I was assaulted and nearly raped.”
Silver went quiet as the sound of a door opening filled my bedroom. My head whipped toward the source. Sebastian stood behind my open door, a silver key in his hand.
“Seriously?” I grimaced, my eyes narrowing into a glare.
Sebastian stepped into my bedroom, exuding that same regal air. The swirling aura around him radiated authority, while his suits gave him the appearance.
“You’ve locked yourself away all week,” Sebastian cocked his eyebrow at me. “What did you expect me to do?”
“Take a damn hint,” I scoffed. “Leave me alone, let me go back to Lauren, disappear from my life again. Take your pick.”
Sebastian seemed unfazed by my miniature temper tantrum. I knew locking myself away all week was childish, but I didn’t care. I had been an adult for so long, taking care of myself for so long. I deserved a moment of immature selfishness.
“Sophia, whether you choose to believe me or not is your decision,” Sebastian closed the door behind him and paused. “But sooner or later, you’ll be forced to face the truth.”
“Sure, totally,” I nodded. “I’ll turn into some hairy creature and howl at the moon.”
“We don’t howl at the moon,” Sebastian rolled his eyes, making him look a decade younger. I could see what Lauren saw in him all those years ago. Sebastian was relatively handsome, with a thick head of hair and a sharp jawline.
“I don’t need details,” I shook my head. “It’s bad enough you’re spouting this nonsense, but you have your daughter doing it too.”
“Krystal?” Sebastian paused, his lips turning down in a frown.
“Unless you have yet another daughter,” I pinched the bridge of my nose, “then that would be the one.”
“She’s unhappy-”
“Understatement,” I rolled my eyes at him.
I could feel his temper flare as the aura of power around him became much more hostile. The hairs on my arms stood on end, but I didn’t feel afraid. I should have; Sebastian looked frightening. And yet, I didn’t. Silver sat uninterested as Sebastian stood threateningly over us.
Sebastian didn’t seem surprised that we weren’t cowering in fear. His eyes burned with acceptance, even if his posture radiated anger.
“She will deal with it,” Sebastian snapped, his deep voice booming throughout the room. “And you will deal with it. You are returning to school tomorrow, Sophia. I allowed you some time to yourself, but you will leave this bedroom.”
I felt my lips pop open. Grandma had never been forced to yell at me before, as I wasn’t a bad child. Lauren never tried to parent me, sparing me from that catastrophe. Sebastian was clearly playing the part of the concerned father; the thought made me cringe.
“I’ll leave the bedroom,” I shook my head, “but I don’t want to go back to that school.”
“You can either go to school, or I will drag you and the rest of my family back to my pack,” Sebastian growled, his thick arms crossing over his chest.
Pack. I ignored that word, knowing it definitely had to do with wolves. Did he call his hometown a pack?
“You can’t do that,” I scoffed. “Lauren has custody, and I’ll be eighteen next year.”
“Lauren no longer has custody,” Sebastian shook his head, his face remaining hard. “I’ve been busy this week while you hid away from the world.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I shook my head. “I’ll leave the day I turn eighteen.”
“A year in my pack, you wouldn’t want to leave,” Sebastian scoffed. “You’d become the next Luna.”
“Luna?” I pursed my lips. “Krystal mentioned something about a Luna.”
Sebastian stiffened and muttered something about Krystal.
“A Luna is the female leader of a pack,” Sebastian nodded, and I pretended not to be interested.
“She said I shouldn’t have existed,” I glanced at him before returning my gaze to the window. “Care to explain that?”
Sebastian was silent for a moment, the aura of anger that swirled around him diminishing.
“Lauren wasn’t my mate,” Sebastian’s voice sounded hard yet truthful. “I got her pregnant right before I met Olivia.”
“Mate,” I repeated, the word sounding strange on my tongue. “And Olivia is your mate?”
“She is.” His voice was one tone, but I could hear the love and adoration in his words. I thought Olivia was bitchy, but Sebastian’s words held such love for the woman.
“She’s right then,” I shrugged. The fact pained me a little, but this was all pain I had felt before. It made sense why I never truly fit anywhere, why Lauren never wanted me, and why Sebastian stayed far away.
“Fate has a way of changing things,” Sebastian paused. “Fate isn’t kind, nor does it give us what we want.”
One day, I could handle one day. I’d survive school, grab my paycheck from the restaurant, and plan my escape that night.
“I’ll go to school,” I nodded, my eyes glued on the forest outside the window. “But I want nothing to do with your pack or your life.”