Chapter 3

It had been months since I talked to my mother. The last time I had a conversation with her was when she asked me to deliver an important package to Andrew. After that, she continued treating me like I didn’t matter to her. 

“Okay, I’ll let him know, but he’s been really busy lately. Not sure if he’ll have time to—”

“Who the fck do you think you are to decide for him?” my mother yelled. Even if I couldn’t see her, I could already imagine the smo-ke coming from her nose. “You can’t even do a simple thing like delivering a message properly! You’re fcking useless. We should’ve let your sister marry him instead. At least she wouldn’t be such a pathetic excuse for a Luna like you...”

Useless.

Pathetic. 

Disgrace.

I heard those words multiple times from my mom. But no matter how much I got myself used to it, it still hurt every time she hurled those words at me. No matter what I did, it was never enough for her. Everything I did was wrong in her eyes. Sometimes, I even questioned myself if I was really her child. 

"Did you forget, Mom?" I reminded her. "Andrew couldn’t marry Jessica because she didn’t have Beta blood. I did. That’s why you brought me here in Dark Desert Pack, right? To be Jessica’s substitute?" 

“YOU UNGRATEFUL BIT-CH—”

“Sorry, but I have to go.” 

I ended the call before she could say anything else. Maybe, it was time to stop dreaming that Mom could ever love me. Because no matter what I do or say or achieve in life, I would never be the daughter she wanted me to be.

Perhaps, I should have stayed in Blood Moon Pack instead of coming here with her. 

Even after all this time, I still felt like an outsider here. People were nice to me, but that was only because I was married to the Alpha. Deep down, I knew I didn’t have any real friends here. No one treated me like family. Even my own flesh and blood was treating me like a piece of shiit. Here, I never experienced how to be cared for and loved. Everyday, they let me feel like they were just nice to me because of my title. My life here was far from what I had in Blood Moon Pack. 

When I was about four years old, my nanny took me to a stroll in the woods and lost me in the process. Luckily, a group of kind-hearted rogues found me. Since I was too young to remember who I was, they gave me a new name, Emma Walters, and raised me like their own in a rogue pack called Blood Moon. 

My life in Blood Moon wasn’t bad. I grew up in a life far from luxury, but I was happy. My adoptive parents cared for me deeply. I was blessed with a strong wolf, and over the years, I became skilled in both combat and survival. I earned my place among the pack and felt like I truly belonged there.

But somehow, I longed to find out about my past. Big mistake. 

One day, a she-wolf suddenly showed up in the Blood Moon Pack. She stared at me with wide eyes before declaring, “I’m your mother. You’re the daughter of the Dark Desert Pack’s Beta. I’ve come to take you home.”

My heart soared. I thought they had forgotten about me but they had been looking for me after all. As much as I wanted to stay in Blood Moon, my adoptive parents knew I deserved to learn about my roots. So, they let me go, hoping that finding my biological family would give me a better life than what they could give me. 

But I was wrong. I was dead wrong.

The welcome I got when I set foot at Dark Desert Pack was far from what I imagined. No one gave me some flowers or even warm hugs. Instead, they welcomed me with indifference. 

Shortly after I had gone missing, I found out that my parents had another child, Luke, and adopted a daughter, Jessica. The four of them were a perfect family, and my return felt more like an inconvenience than a blessing. They looked down on me for being rough around the edges and for not knowing proper manners. I struggled to fit into their perfect family. Even their servants were looking down on me for being a “rogue.” They all compared me to Jessica. In their eyes, I was nothing but an outsider. 

I was ready to run away and get back to my loving family in Blood Moon until I saw Andrew. I admit, it was love at first sight. He was warm and compassionate. While we were not yet friends, he showed me kindness when no one in the Dark Desert would. Because of him, I decided to stay. 

Andrew was way out of my league. His relationship with Jessica only added to the complication. I mean, how could we be together? Jessica was everything I was not. With that, I settled on us being friends and decided to just hide my feelings for him. 

One day, Andrew said he wanted to date me. During this time, Jessica broke up with him and decided to study at uni. Of course, I was happy! We became a couple and eventually, he proposed. 

At that time, I was the happiest she-wolf alive. But my happiness was short-lived. Because after the wedding, I found out that I was only a substitute for Jessica because the council didn’t agree to let Andrew marry her for not having a high-ranking werewolf blood. Do you know what made this worse? It was my parents’ idea. They never really cared for their lost daughter. They decided to look for me so they could still be married off to the Alpha family since Jessica couldn’t.

It wasn’t an issue at first considering Andrew and I were already married and I felt his love. But that didn’t last. I just woke up one day and realized that Andrew was no longer paying attention to me. His love was the only reason I endured everything my family put me through, and now that, too, was slipping away.

******

I decided to come home against the doctor’s wishes. Staying there alone was only making my ordeal worse. I just assured her that I would take care of myself and my baby. She agreed and just prescribed some medicine to help me recuperate. 

I walked into the alpha mansion with a heavy heart. I felt so tired from all the stress and worry my marriage was giving me. I headed straight to the bedroom, but the moment I stepped inside, I froze when I noticed something. 

There was a black lace br-a lying on our bed! And it wasn’t mine!

Suddenly, I felt the urge to throw up. I felt disgusted knowing that Andrew brought his woman here, in our very own bedroom. Did he hate me that much to trample on my dignity like this? 

I leaned against the sink and stared at my reflection in the mirror. Dark circles surrounded my eyes. My cheeks looked sunken and pale. My hair thinned with so much stress and my li-ps were dry and cracked. I hardly recognized myself. 

When did I become so pale and frail?

I walked to the bedroom and sat at the edge of the bed. I tried to make sense of how my life had turned into this mess. I did everything for this marriage to work. But regardless of the amount of love and understanding I poured, it was still not enough. I still wasn’t enough for Andrew. 

I heard the front door open. I knew right away that it was Andrew. And yet, I could make myself run and greet him like I always did. I felt exhausted…exhausted to fight for this love knowing it was only I who was fighting for it. 

Then, I heard his loud voice booming throughout the mansion. 

“Emma! Did you not prepare any dinner tonight?”