I want to go home

Marilyn’s POV

By the time I returned to the packhouse, the world felt wrong against my skin. The walk back had been a blur ,just the crunch of leaves under my feet, the fading echo of Liam’s footsteps in the opposite direction, and the quiet hum of a wolf inside me that refused to come forward.

The lights from the packhouse spilled across the lawn, warm and golden, but I felt no warmth as I stepped inside. A few pack members glanced up from the common area, their conversations dipping for a moment before continuing. Their eyes lingered though curious, judging, pitying.

I kept my head down and moved quickly up the stairs.

My room felt too big and too small all at once. I closed the door behind me, leaned against it, and let out a shaky breath. Liam’s words looped in my head like a cruel announcement.

“You’re too modern.”

“You don’t belong here.”

“I can’t claim you… not like this.”

I pressed a hand to my chest, as if I could quiet the ache underneath.

Before I could talk myself out of it, I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and dialed the one number I knew would answer no matter what hour it was.

It rang once.

“Marilyn?” my aunt said, instantly alert. “What’s wrong?”

For a moment, I couldn’t speak. My throat tightened, my jaw trembling. “Aunt Agnes… I want to come home.”

There was a pause on the other end . It was long enough for guilt to creep in, but not long enough for her to doubt what she heard.

“You want to… what?” Her voice softened. “Sweetheart, slow down. What happened?”

“I can’t stay here,” I whispered, sinking down onto the bed. “I tried. I really tried. But I don’t fit here ,not with them, not with this world. I feel like I’m suffocating.”

“Did someone say something?” she asked sharply. “Did they mistreat you?”

Mis-treat. I thought of Liam’s expression as he told me he couldn’t claim me. As if it hurt him to admit it, but not enough to stop him.

“I just… don’t belong,” I repeated quietly.

“Marilyn.” Her voice was firmer now. “You ran from this place your whole life. You finally go back, and you want to leave after a few days? At least stay until the holiday ends.”

“I can’t,” I rasped, rubbing a hand over my face. “Every day I’m here, it feels like something is wrong with me.”

“You listen to me,” my aunt said, the edge of her old Beta authority slipping through. “Nothing is wrong with you. You’re a wolf, Marilyn. Maybe your path is different, maybe it’s harder , but you don’t fix that by running again.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. “Coming home isn’t running.”

“It is when you’re scared.”

The words weren’t cruel, just painfully true.

I opened my mouth to respond, but the door swung open before I could. Caroline slipped inside, closing it quickly behind her. Her eyes were wide, worried.

“Are you talking to your aunt?” she mouthed.

I nodded.

Caroline crossed her arms. “Give me the phone.”

“No,” I whispered, turning away, but she was faster. She plucked it from my hand before I could stop her.

“Aunt Agnes?” she said breathlessly. “Yes, hi. It’s Caroline. She’s being dramatic.”

“I’m not being dramatic,” I hissed.

Caroline pinched my arm without looking at me. “She’s fine. Nothing happened.”

Nothing happened.

The words sliced through me. She had no idea.

“She’s saying she wants to come home?” Agnes asked through the speaker.

“Yes,” Caroline groaned. “But she doesn’t mean it. She’s just overwhelmed. This is her first time back. She needs time to adjust.”

“I don’t need time,” I snapped. “I need to leave.”

Caroline shot me a glare. “Stop. You’re not thinking straight.”

“I’m thinking perfectly fine.”

“No, you’re not,” she said, frustration bubbling into her tone. “Marilyn, people here want to help you. You just won’t let them. You won’t even let me.”

I stiffened. “Because you don’t understand.”

“I understand more than you think,” she said quietly.

We stood there, breathing hard, the space between us thick with everything neither of us knew how to say. Finally, she held the phone back out to me.

I took it with shaking fingers. “Aunt Agnes, please i don’t want you to be mad at me .I’m ready to come home.”

Caroline flinched, but she didn’t argue this time. She just stepped back, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed tightly over her chest.

My aunt sighed ,long, tired, and full of defeated love. “If that’s what you really want… then come home. But Marilyn, hear me out . running won’t silence your wolf. Wherever you go, she goes with you.”

A chill prickled across my skin. “I know,” I whispered. “I just… need space.”

“Then come home,” she said gently. “We’ll figure it out.”

When the call ended, the room felt heavier.

Caroline stared at me, hurt flickering behind her eyes. “So that’s it? You’re just leaving?”

I swallowed. “Yeah. I am.”

“For good?”

“I don’t know.”

She pushed off the wall. “Liam didn’t say anything to you, did he?” There was warning in her voice, suspicion.

My chest tightened. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Marilyn…”

“It doesn’t,” I said firmly. “I just don’t belong here.”

Caroline stared at me for a moment longer, then deflated with a groan. She rubbed her forehead. “Fine. If you’re going, then I’m taking you myself. But I swear to the moon, if you change your mind halfway there…”

“I won’t.”

Her shoulders slumped. “Yeah,” she whispered. “I figured.”

I lay awake long after she went to pack her things, the room dark and unfamiliar. The wind outside brushed against the window , soft, almost mournful like a wolf calling from far away.

I turned my back to it.

If this wasn’t where I belonged, then I’d find my place somewhere else.