A life changing decision

A life-changing decision

Chapter 1

Harper's POV

The bridge was cold. I sat on the wet concrete floor with my back against the railings, knees pulled to my chest and my hair crusty from the dried flour. I was not sure how long I had been sitting there for long enough for the cold to seep into my skin and make me sniffle. Long enough for the voices in my head to grow bored of me and become quiet after leaving one last haunting cackle.

“Pathetic! You don’t even dare to end it all! Coward!”

The moon shone brighter than ever as if mocking me for my predicament. That was right. I was a coward. I came to the bridge after school with the intention of ending it all. It wasn’t as if anyone would miss me anyway. But I couldn’t. A tear trickled down my cheek. I was tired of it all, but at the same time, I was scared of being alone in a cold, dark place.

"Harper! Harper! Are you alright?" Scott called out to me. I turned towards the direction of his voice and he was running towards me. I tried to get up with the support of my arm but I winced feeling the pain from when my arm grazed the railings.

I was nothing but a pathetic omega, a coward and a disgrace to the pack. I forced myself off the floor just as Scott reached me panting slightly. His hair had stuck to his forehead with sweat.

"What happened to your hand? Don't tell me, you tried to jump down?" he asked in disbelief trying to take my bleeding hand in his. I pulled my hand away and snorted.

"Way to remind me about my inability to end my own life."

He shook his head at me. He seemed angry but I was too exhausted to say anything else. "We talked about this. You promised me you wouldn't have that thought. You promised you would live, no matter the cost.”

His words made the tears flow harder and in no time I was sobbing loudly. He held me in his arms while I cried my eyes out. I knew there was no way I would be able to jump down the bridge, perhaps thinking I could for a while gave me some sort of temporary relief. A truck zoomed past us making me sniff and pull away from him.

He frowned staring at my dirty uniform. "Is that flour?" I nodded. It wasn't news to anyone at school that I was getting bullied. The students came up with new inventions to torment me each day. Someone apparently thought dumping a bucket of flour over me in the school hallway would be an interesting sight to see.

"I'm so sorry Harper. I don't get why everyone is so mean to you when you are so sweet."

"Not everyone. Aside from you, the newspaper man is nice to me and the cafeteria lady, she added an extra sausage to my lunch..." I paused internally berating myself for how stupid I sounded.

He smiled draping an arm over my shoulder. "Of course. Think about it. Everything would be all over soon. We have less than three months till we finish high school. We can go to college as we planned and finally put all these behind us."

I sighed. I haven't told him the truth yet but I wasn't sure that dream of mine would come true any longer.

He suddenly stopped. "What's with the long face? Is there something you are not telling me?"

I had mastered the act of carrying my burdens on my own. Scott was already in a pickle by being seen anywhere around me.

"Are those chocolate chip cookies?" I asked to change the topic.

"Don't do that."

"Do what?" I asked trying to reach out for the box in his hands. He raised his hands above his head. I jumped, trying to reach for it but who was I kidding? He was way taller than I was.

He raised a brow. "Really?"

"My college fund is gone," I mumbled kicking the pebbles on the floor in defeat.

"What? I thought no one could access the money except for you? How is that even possible? Was that why you…” He paused from the shock.

I gritted my teeth. The thought of the empty bank account made my head spin. My step-mother spent every dime my late father left for my college tuition on funding her multiple failed businesses. "That's what I thought too but then I found out last weekend that it's all gone. Every single penny."

"It's Stella, isn't it? How could she? That's why you've been acting off lately. Why didn't you say anything?" he asked in disbelief.

I smiled sadly. "I thought she was pulling her usual pranks till I saw the account details myself. My dreams of going to college and leaving this shit hole are going to remain nothing but a dream."

"Oh, Harper. I'm so sorry," he squeezed my hand reassuringly. I felt a lot better after telling Scott what had happened. I felt awful keeping it away from him. Scott has been a friend to me since we started high school. Regardless of what the other kids said and how they bullied me, he always defended me. I didn't know what I would do without him by my side.

"It's okay. I will figure something out. I always do." It sounded more like I was reassuring myself.

He handed the cookies to me just as my stomach grumbled with a small smile. I knew he got them for me because they were my favourites.

"I'm sure you will. Promise to tell me if there's anything I can do to help and to never come back here with any strange thoughts running through your mind..."

"Pinky promise.”

“I’m serious. The thought of that should not even cross your mind. As a matter of fact, I don’t want you anywhere close to this bridge. You need to know how serious this is. You can’t just brush it off.”

My lips lifted in a small smile. “I’m sorry. I won’t do it again. I mean it.”

I nudged my shoulder with his. He nudged mine back and we chuckled as I munched on the cookies. We got to a path that led to Scott's home.

“Are you sure you are okay? You could stay over at mine…”

I shook my head cutting him off. “I’m fine. See you in school tomorrow.” He nodded in response.

I waved at him, turning towards the direction of my own home. I could barely call it a home, it was just a place I slept in till I could afford to get out.

My smile faltered as soon as I left Scott's presence. I felt sorry for always dragging him into my mess. I took in a deep breath stopping in front of the house in front of me. It was small, barely more than a cottage. The roof sagged slightly in the middle and the front door creaked whenever it was opened. A narrow dirt path led to the entrance lined with stones and wild grass.

"You are back," Stella, my stepmother, muttered, stepping out of her room with a glass of wine in her hand as soon as I stepped in. I clenched my fists tightly. I wanted to give her a witty response but I bit my tongue in protest and simply nodded.

"Good. I have good news to share with you."

Her words got my attention, igniting a spark of hope in me. "Did you get my college fund back?"

She snickered. "I have way better news than that." The hope died down as fast as it came. She smiled moving closer towards me. I noticed quite a few changes in her. Her black hair which was usually in knots was combed neatly and curled behind her, her brown eyes were lit up in genuine excitement. And for once she wasn't wearing her slutty outfit. She had on an expensive knee-length gown which I knew she couldn't have afforded herself.

"Pack up your things step stepdaughter. Our lives have turned around for the better. We are moving out," she added twirling around.

I frowned. "Moving out? Where would we be going?"

"I got remarried," she replied twirling the huge diamond ring around her finger and sighing dreamily.

My mind went blank for the next few seconds. "W...what?"

"Long story short. I got married to the Alpha of our pack in court. He needed a mother figure for his kids and someone to redeem his public image. Who else could have done that better than me..."

"The Alpha? You mean our Alpha?" I asked cutting her off. Those were the only words I heard.

"That's right. I will become his Luna and his sons will become mine. You are going to have more siblings. Isn't that wonderful?" The room suddenly felt like it was spinning and a bucket of ice-cold water was dumped on me.