3. CAST OUT OF MY HOME

~WILLOW

"You?" I exclaimed as I stepped away from him immediately.

He only watched me with an unreadable expression. “I’d have expected a simple thank you from the person I just saved.”

I swallowed hard as I felt my wolf go silent within me. I couldn't blame the poor thing. The first thing she got was a cruel rejection as she surfaced.

"You should have let me fall," I whispered in defeat.

That was when I saw River's blue eyes begin to glow fiercely under the moonlight with an emotion so strong yet impossible to identify.

He took slow steps toward me. I didn't back away. The pit was not so far behind.

"If you are planning to die, do it far away from me," he finally broke the silence. "So long as I'm in charge of this Pack's security, I won't let anyone die on my watch."

Something stirred within me. My breath caught in my throat and I just stared wide eyed at him.

"Go home, Little Mist," he concluded. "And don't fall into any more traps."

I hesitated for a few seconds. Watching him— trying to understand why it had to be him right now.

I eventually gave in and stepped aside, before walking away. I didn't have to look back to know he was watching me.

I could feel it.

In the end, I made it back to my house. It was empty. Violet and my father were probably still at the ceremony.

They had every reason to celebrate, after all, Violet was going to be the next Luna.

I quietly entered the house, went straight to my room and collapsed on my bed, too exhausted and broken to even shower.

I probably cried myself to sleep, had recurring nightmares about the rejection before drowning further into darkness.

The next time I opened my eyes, the sound of heavy incessant pounding against my door startled me.

I blinked in confusion as I stared around at the now bright room. The sun was out and blazing hard.

"Open this door now or I will kick it down!" My father's voice echoed from the door.

This was enough to jolt both me and my wolf completely awake.

‘Not good. He smells angry,’ I heard her say in a tiny voice.

She sounded so soothing and as much as I wanted to get to know her, I needed to face whatever drama my father had in store for me.

"I'm coming, Father," I answered as I got off the bed.

When I opened it, I found him standing tall before me with a dark expression and folded arms.

"Step aside," he ordered.

I obeyed and he walked into my room. Violet was behind him but she remained in the doorway.

"W— what's wrong, Father?" I cautiously asked.

He turned to face me. "Everything!"

I flinched at the sudden change of tone.

"Do you even care about this family at all, Willow?" He demanded.

I frowned. "Of course I do."

"You lie!" He snapped. "If you cared then you would never humiliate this family constantly! Last night was the last straw and I will not overlook it."

I blinked hard at him. "I— I did nothing wrong last night."

My voice was trembling now and the only thing keeping me together was my wolf. I could feel her sending me waves of support.

Father narrowed his eyes before looking at Violet. "Can you also hear what your sister says? She refuses to admit her mistakes."

I looked at Violet too but she remained silent, clearly taking our father's side.

"If you had taken your weight loss journey seriously then Axel would have never rejected you! You would have been good enough for him!" He roared.

I staggered back in shock.

My expression turned horrified with pain and I blinked hard again as tears started to fill my eyes.

I was the one who got hurt, broken and humiliated last night yet my father was blaming me for it!

I just stood there without a word as the tears finally gave way, helplessly flowing down my cheeks again.

Father finally exhaled sharply. "I have made my decision, Willow." He paused to look at me. "Now that you are a renowned rejected woman, you no longer have a place in this house."

"What?" I breathed in disbelief.

"I don't need you freeloading in this house anymore," he continued. "You must now earn your place in this pack like everyone else. Either you go work as a warrior or as a palace maid in the pack house."

The pain that hit me right after that was almost too tough to bear. I released a shaky breath as I stared at him.

"Have you ever loved me?"

His left eye twitched visibly before he turned away. "Leave my house."

A sob escaped my mouth this time and I slowly began to walk toward my duffel bag. I was about to start taking my clothes when father suddenly spoke again.

"What do you think you are doing?" He demanded coldly.

"M— my clothes," I said in a broken voice.

"I paid for those. Until you earn back all the money spent on you— you can't have them."

I squeezed my eyes shut in pain. Nothing was supposed to hurt me anymore. Not after this blow.

My wolf shifted again within me as I released another breath and dropped the bag.

Then I started to walk out of my room. Violet stared at me and for a moment, I saw pity in eyes.

"You brought this on yourself, Willow," she finally said.

A dry laugh escaped me. I looked at her one last time before leaving my home.

Anyways, it stopped being my home since my mother died.

The hot sun scorched my skin with every distance I put between me and the house.

"What do I do now?" I asked out loud when I got far enough.

‘Find job. And place to sleep,’ my wolf spoke again.

I released a defeated sigh. Just as Father had said, all roads were pointing to it now.

"You have not told me your name," I said as I started heading to the pack house.

‘Can't tell you. Search your heart.’

With that. She went silent again. I didn't even feel her move.

Was this how all wolves behaved or did mine just have an attitude?

I eventually arrived at the pack house. I looked around helplessly. Where was I supposed to begin?

There had to be someone in charge of these things. I just needed to ask.

So I walked up to the first guard at the entrance. "Good morning."

"What do you want?" He demanded as he scrutinized me.

"I— I wanted to ask about a job here..."

The guards exchanged glances before facing me again. "Go in and ask for Lady Martha."

"Thank you," I muttered before walking in.

I barely made it a few yards into the building when I ran into the last person I expected to see.

Axel Hale.

Yep, now I hate both Hale brothers.

"Willow!" Axel called happily almost as if nothing had happened yesterday. "I just knew you wouldn't be able to stay away from me."

I widened my eyes at him. What was wrong with him?

"After a good night's rest, I have decided not to punish you for accepting the rejection. You were probably overwhelmed."

I parted my lips at him in disbelief. How did I not see this side of him all these years?

Was I so blind?

"I thought about it carefully, even if you can't be Luna, you can still be quite useful. Thus, my new proposal."

He stepped closer. "I want you to serve as Violet's surrogate."

My heart sank. "What?"

"I mean, it's a good enough deal. In exchange, you get to eat whatever you want, stay by my side or whatever it is your..." He looked me over as if there was too much of me for him to take in. "Heart desires."

I just stood there, too speechless and weak to react. Never in my life had I thought I would be downgraded to this level.

"Why are you looking at me like I said something wrong?" He asked as if he was completely clueless to the world around him.

He sighed like he was already getting bored.

"Look, Violet is going to be Luna. She needs to stay beautiful. You know how pregnancy changes a woman's body. I don't want Violet to have to go through that."

He paused to look at me again with the stare from before. "You on the other hand... You're already ruined. Pregnancy shouldn't hurt you."

This was the final straw.

I snapped with a courage I never knew I possessed.

And my hand landed hard against his cheek.

The shocking sound sliced through the entire hall.

That's right, I just slapped the future Alpha of my pack and I don't regret it.