Chapter One - An Orphan

Avaline

Getting on my wounded knees, I scrubbed the stain off the pristine white floor while the actual culprit, Jaxon Whitfield, enjoyed himself with Valerie. I could feel his satisfied gaze on me throughout. But not once did I look at him. To me, he was just another pack member who hated me.

My mother’s face kept flashing across my mind. I had to wrap this up and leave. At last it was done, and I hurried to the staff room to get my bag. Luna Cassandra wasn’t around, and I slipped out of the mansion through the back door. This was the last time I would set foot here.

The icy wind whipped at my wounded face and arms. The wounds all over my body throbbed as I ran towards my home.

A strange fear gripped my heart as I ran down the forested trail towards my dilapidated home on the pack borders. Branded as outcasts, we weren’t allowed to live near the other pack members. My mother had never explained why they hated us so much. Was it only because my mother was an unmated omega with an illegitimate child? Or was there more to the picture than met the eye?

I stopped at a clearing where the dense forest swallowed the last trace of civilization. My old house with rotting walls and shattered window panes stood right before me. Usually, no pack member ever came this way. But tonight, there was a visitor: Lucienne, my best friend.

I walked up to the open door, my heart constricting with fear. Her grim expression told a different story. I just hoped I wasn’t too late.

“Lucy, how’s Mom?” I whispered as I stopped at the door and stared inside. I could see my mother’s lifeless figure lying on the bed, covered with several threadbare blankets.

Lucy turned to see me and came forward, shaking her head. “Not good! I called the doctor, but he refused to come here and examine Aunt Annabelle. I was waiting for you. Your mother needs immediate hospitalization.”

I walked into the room and knelt beside my mom. She seemed oblivious to my presence. She was burning with fever when I placed my hand on her forehead. “I’m here, Mom.”

We stared at her for minutes, but she didn’t respond. “I can’t afford the hospital. Can you call the pack healer, Lucy?”

Just then, a faint movement made me turn towards my mom. Her lips trembled briefly. “No, I’m fine,” she mumbled. A violent bout of coughing followed, and a dark stain of blood appeared on the cloth she pressed to her lips.

“A healer won’t work, Ava. Aunt Annabelle has lung cancer.” Lucienne’s grim voice made my heart sink. She was persevering to be a doctor, and I trusted her diagnosis. Even at seventeen, she was quite knowledgeable and blessed.

“How will we take her to the hospital? Can you seek help from the pack?” I rose from Mom’s bedside and gave Lucy a helpless look.

“No. You won’t seek help from the pack.” Mom’s command was so sharp, it made us freeze.

I sat down beside her and picked up her hands. “Why, Mom? Your condition is getting worse.”

Mom’s breathing grew erratic, and her eyes almost bulged out. “No. Promise me you’ll never seek their help.”

Her desperation confused me. “Why? They’re our pack.”

Her fingers tightened around mine. “Because they won’t help us. They stopped being our pack a long time ago.” Her breathing grew worse, and she struggled to speak. I couldn’t understand why she was refusing help.

“Why, Mom?” My voice broke.

“Because of your father, Ava…‌” She closed her eyes as if the memory had already broken her.

This was a topic she had always avoided. “Who is my father, Mom?” I could barely whisper, but she couldn’t hear me. Her eyes bulged out ‌as she clutched my hand desperately. At that moment, I knew I was losing her.

“He’s…” She couldn’t complete the sentence, as her breathing completely stopped and her body sagged against the bed. Her grip loosened, and her hands fell to her sides. She was gone, leaving me alone in this ruthless world and pack. I lost the only person who loved me.

Now the question was left hanging between us forever.

“Ava, come home with me, please. This place isn’t safe. You can’t live here alone. How will you survive without money?” Lucy started packing my meagre belongings into a torn suitcase - the only one I possessed.

It had been ten days since I had lost my mother. Not a single pack member had turned up at the funeral. I felt nothing but hatred towards them. I lost my mother because of them, especially Luna Cassandra. What was the use of living in such a pack?

Lucy, Aunt Sera, and I buried my mom behind the house and stayed up all night for the pack vigil. My mother was right. The pack members would never help us. From now on, I intend to keep my promise. I would never seek their help. Maybe one day I would leave and start afresh somewhere….

“I’ll manage, Lucy. Don’t worry about me.” I stopped her from packing my belongings.

She paid no heed to my protests and walked out to my mother’s room. “I’m not letting you stay here alone, Ava. So, what do you want to take away with you?”

I sighed and sifted through my mom’s belongings. My heart filled with sorrow and a sense of worthlessness. I hadn’t been able to save her life. If only I had the money to treat her. She would be alive today.

“I can’t choose, Lucy. I’ll keep everything.” My fingers touched the stacks of old diaries arranged neatly on one shelf of her shabby wardrobe. I had seen them many times but had never checked their contents.

Today, a strange impulse forced me to pull one out and run my fingers over the name engraved on the cover.

Adeline Carter.

She was my grandmother.

I flicked through the pages and gasped at the handwritten contents. Every page was filled with exotic dessert recipes and recipes of baked goodies I had never heard of. A gasp escaped my lips. I had always known about my mother’s dream of opening a bakery one day. It was my dream as well. But I had no idea my grandmother also shared the same dream.

“Wow, Ava! You can finally start your bakery! With these items on your menu, you’ll hit the jackpot.” Lucy gasped, her eyes lighting up with excitement.

She was right. But I had no money to start the venture. “I can’t. Where’s the money to bake the first batch? I don’t have enough to buy myself a square meal even.” I closed the diary and picked up another. There were more recipes on every page. It was indeed a gold mine. But I was dirt poor.

“I can ask Aunt Sera to lend you some money. You can use our kitchen to prepare your first batch, Ava. Once they sell, you can use your profit for the next batch of goodies. Think positive, fight your way up.” Her eyes sparkled with more ideas, and I smiled. She was like the bright sun, and I longed to be like her.

“Yes, we can try. I’ll dispatch the first batch to the packhouse anonymously. If they know, no one will sample my wares. Once they sell, we can see our options.” A newfound energy surged through my body. I found a new direction in my life.

She clapped my back with a laugh. “That’s my girl. We can do this.”

We pored over the diaries and selected easy recipes to try first. Baking has been my forte, my escape from reality. It wasn’t easy to prepare my first batch, but I pushed on with Aunt Sera and Lucy’s help.