Congratulations

Adira

“Congratulations, Adira Hall. Your application to Dark Arrow Academy has been considered and you have been awarded a full scholarship, inclusive of monthly stipends. You are required to pay a five-thousand-dollar miscellaneous f*e in the next 48 hours. Resumption date—26th of August”

26th of August? The next five days?

Excitement crossed my face, a muffled squeal slipping through my fingers that slammed over my mouth because the last thing I wanted was to garner any attention to myself. This was too good to be true. Tears of joy welled in my eyes and I did a little twirl, underneath the little drizzle that fell from the sky. 

Finally, I would leave this house, this darned Moon Viper pack, my family, and most importantly, Rio— My abusive cousin who sexually assaulted me at every given chance. 

Rolls of crystals dropped from my eyes, my heart dropping to my stomach when my mind drifted to the unfortunate event that happened six days ago. During the half-moon festival where the rest of the pack were celebrating and I was forced to work in the barn, Rio came in the company of his friend, Stefan, and tried to force themselves on me. 

I screamed for help when Rio attempted to forcefully cover my mouth with his, Stefan struggling to rip my clothes apart but luckily for me, someone came to my aid. While I had thought that the pack would give them the appropriate punishment as per the laws of the pack, they turned on me, accusing me of seducing Rio and Stefan, and had me locked in the dungeon for weeks just because Stefan was the Alpha’s son. 

After days of unrelentless torture, I was finally set free after they forced me into writing a statement admitting to being the one at fault. 

They even made me apologize to those two. 

My chest tightened because of the memories that flooded through my mind and I didn’t know which hurt the most, the betrayal from the pack that was supposed to protect me or the pain from the scars that were now marred on my skin. 

I took a tiny sniffle, swiping away my tears while squashing the thoughts as I fixed my eyes back on the congratulatory message. A wistful smile crossed my face as I hugged the letter to my chest. “I will be starting a new life now, meet a lot of people, have new friends and the past would fade into oblivion” 

This wasn’t the time to be sad now. I had to prepare for school and break the news to my ‘said’ family later on. 

I turned on my heel, my feet padded across the cobblestone as I made a run for my room’s window, the wind whipping some strands of hair to my face. Because of the sexual assault case, I had been grounded from stepping foot out of the house and if any of my family members spotted me outside, they would whip me. 

My fingers rested on the windowsill, sliding the glass panel open before dropping to the floor of my room, and hitting my head against the wall.  

“Ouch,” 

I shoved to my feet, moved to the wardrobe while running my fingers through the clothes as the thoughts of what to wear crossed my mind. However, they were all torn, jagged, and faded. 

I tilted my head to the side, pushing my blonde hair back. “This wouldn’t make a good impression on me. I need to buy a dress at least…” My words trailed when it hit me that the money in my safe box wouldn’t be enough to get the things I wanted. 

Before the school would give me the monthly stipend, I needed something to rely on. Transport, food, textbooks. I doubted the money available would be able to cater for a dress. 

“I should have fifteen thousand dollars in the safe box? Twenty?” I muttered to myself, dropping to my knees while peeking underneath the bed, reaching for the wooden piggy box. 

The moment my fingers splayed over the wooden surface, I dragged it out, pulling it closer to me. My fingers slipped into my bra, reaching for the key because of the counterfeit family that I had. 

They couldn’t be trusted. 

“Now, let’s calculate the amount of money that I have saved” A grin split across my face.

I removed the key, opening the safe box but the moment my eyes came in contact with the insides of the box, the smile on my face faded and my heart stopped. 

My eyes squeezed shut, dread rapping his fingers at the door of my room as I tried to settle with the fact that I wasn’t seeing right. Perhaps I was hallucinating. My fingers fluttered to my neck anxiously but the moment I  forced my eyes open only to be met with the empty box, a scream escaped me. 

It had disappeared. Not disappeared. Someone had taken it— the money I had worked for the past year, taking odd jobs in several packs just to be able to fend for myself and pay rent in the same house that was supposed to be my inheritance since my parents passed. 

My uncle, in the guise of taking care of me, claimed my inheritance and squandered my money on his immediate family. 

And now, this?

I sprang to my feet, tears welling in my eyes and at the same time, anger coursed through me. What sort of wickedness was this? 

In the blink of an eye, I was out of the room, rushing towards the dining hall with tears streaming down my face with the box pressed to my chest. The sweet smell of bacon, toast, and scrambled eggs filled my nostrils the moment I got to the dining hall. 

My uncle, his wife, and my two cousins sat for breakfast and their laughter did nothing but infuriate me the more. I wasn’t allowed to have breakfast or even eat at the same table with them— worse, I had to pay for the food offered to me. 

But that didn’t matter now, the only explanation I needed was regarding my money. 

The moment I arrived at the dining hall, I tossed the wooden box to the ground, the sharp sound cutting off their laughter as their eyes settled on me. My breath came in ragged gasps, my chest heaving slightly as I pointed to the wooden box. “Who…took…my…money?”

“How dare you show your ugly face while I am having breakfast?” my uncle snarled, eyes turning red. 

My uncle’s wife, Janet, who was dishing out scrambled eggs, dropped the spoon, placing a hand on her husband’s shoulder in a bid to soothe him. “Max, don’t get angry at her. She is just a child,”

She fixed her eyes on me, clicked her tongue in her mouth. “Adira, why are you bent on dragging this family’s name into the mud. First, you accused your cousin Rio of rape and now…”

I cut in, staring her in the eye. “I want my money!”

She shook her head. “Can’t you see that you are a wicked child? Your cousin, Kiera has been burdened for months because the money for her plastic surgery wasn’t complete. You know how important it is for her to fix her nose before the mating convention and you had the money, yet you kept quiet”

My head spun, sudden pain splitting through my skull as I stumbled back for a second. The moment my eyes landed on Kiera's bandaged nose with a smile creeping at the corners of her mouth, a scream escaped me. 

They had used my money for her rhinoplasty!

“No,” I screamed at the top of my lungs, tears cascading down my cheeks while Rio and Kiera laughed at me. 

This had to be a dream. A nightmare probably. If I didn’t get the money, how was I supposed to pay the one-time five-thousand-dollar f*e requested by the school?

I wiped off the tears from my face, rising to my feet as I stared at them furiously. “Y’all are evil. I don’t care what happened to the money but as long as you just admitted to stealing it for Kiera, return the money. I would not forfeit my admission into Dark Arrow Academy because of you” 

Silence. 

Their mouths dropped in shock and when I thought they were about to have compassion on me, they burst into a peal of hysterical laughter. “School? A disgusting being like you going to Dark Arrow” Rio scoffed. 

Kiera rose to her feet. “Adira, don’t you think that accusing me of stealing is a stretch? Shouldn’t family help each other when you know I want Alpha Aiden and he doesn’t like women without straight noses?”

I was going crazy, the fear of my dreams slipping away, gnawing at me. 

I snapped, choking out the words. “I don’t care, return the money. I need to pay”

Janet clicked her tongue, strutted towards me as she stood before me, and cupped my face, her fingers brushing away my tears. “My child, girls like you with no parents, no hope, no future deserve to go to a school like that…” My heart squeezed. 

“Instead, your uncle and I have something better for you” Her dark green eyes pierced mine. “You see, your father and I got into a debt with the Lycan King, and in exchange for the debt— ” She paused, tugging at the pendant around my neck. 

“—he asked for my daughter but you are also my daughter. So, kill those dreams of returning to school and prepare to wed that old man, his folks will be coming to take you to your new home tomorrow morning”

My lips wobbled and I shook my head. “No…No…I…am not your daughter…” Before I could complete my words, a slap that whipped my head to the side, landed on my cheeks, knocking the air out of my lungs. 

“You insolent child. I don’t care what you think, Adira, you will marry that old man. Rio lock her in her room and make sure she doesn’t come out until they come to fetch her.”