Chapter 3

Riley

The rest of my shift seems to drag. A few other customers come in for birthdays or anniversary arrangements. Nothing interesting and nothing exciting. Another drab day.

I force myself to head to the shops looking for something to have for dinner. Although I only have £20 in cash, so it won't buy a lot. Plus, I need to get some cleaning supplies. Something for the mold that keeps coming back like a plague.

I used to be the gamma of this pack. Respected. Now as I walk down the aisle, I see a mix of sympathetic and proud faces. They think they are better than me. As a pack, we should stick together, be there during the hard times as well as the good. Since our world has started to change, it is like we have lost that side of ourselves. Everyone is out for each other. Taking and claiming what they want.

If anyone looks at me with pity in their eyes, I think I might very well scream. But now that I'm not close with the alpha family anymore—no one cares how they treat you. This is what I want Olly to understand. Just because he is friends with the alpha twins doesn't mean things will stay that way. He needs the respect from the pack on his own. I don't want him to feel the way I do. But what does a 17-year-old know about any of this?

I grab some chicken, bleach, potatoes, carrots, mold spray, and some more coffee before heading back home. The car crunches, and I pray to the goddess it actually makes it back to the house. I will need to find a garage I can take it to for sure. It's just Olly will be getting his wolf soon—that will mean I'll need to buy him more clothes from the fact he will no doubt shed them constantly. I guess it will have to be the month after—I guess I will have to start walking to work. Olly will have to as well.

Only that would mean...

I park up outside the house, the faded paint chipping away—another thing that needs sorting. Great. Houses are just endless money pits.

I bring the bags in and get to work on dinner. Olly should be home any minute now, and knowing what he is like, he will be starving. The kitchen finally starts to smell of herbs and spices as I tidied up, waiting for dinner to be ready. I hadn't eaten much all day, and I knew I needed to find a way to restore my gamma role. It would make things easier, but seeing Aurora and her mates again. After what happened... I wasn't sure I would be ready for that yet. Or ever.

The truth is I'm not even sure what caused the rift in our friendship. It didn't happen when I expected, when everything changed, but several years later. But I guess that's when I started to see things differently. Everyone else suffered but not them. Never them. Did I want my alphas to suffer—no, not really—but equally, did I want them to thrive while the rest of us lost everything?

My phone buzzed right as I had finished getting the chicken out. The potatoes were roasted to perfection and the carrots dripping in honey. My stomach rumbled just looking at it all.

"Olly, is everything okay?" I ask, picking up on the second ring. He doesn't usually call, so it must be an emergency. Plus, he should be home by now. I can hear some laughing and chatting in the background, which sets my teeth on edge.

"Yeah, Mum, I'm fine." I can almost hear the eye roll with his whispered words. "Then where are you? Why are you calling? When are you going to be home?" I switch off the oven, grabbing some plates to get ready for dinner.

"Yeah, about that. Logan has invited me around for dinner. We're playing the latest video game, and then there is a party at Sadie's house we were going to swing by." He speaks so fast I can hardly keep up with what he is saying.

"Cut the umbilical cord already, Logan, let's go!" I hear in the background. Is that Logan? My temper spikes at the audacity before I pinch the bridge of my nose. "Olly, you should have told me sooner. I cooked for you, and you need to study." I already regret the words, sounding so sad and pathetic. I need my son to come home to keep me company. We always promised it was us against the world, and now... well, I guess it is just me.

"Mum, come on. You were the one who told me to get out more and make new friends. It's just dinner and a party." He groans. I can almost picture his pleading puppy dog eyes down the phone. I look at all the cooked food, worried it will go to waste. I'm sure I can reuse it for something else.

"I know what I said, Olly. Don't take that tone with me. You know the rules." My stern voice travels down the phone, and I can hear Olly sigh before some muttering I can't make out.

"Hey, Mrs. Winters." I hear the new voice, the hairs on the back of my neck pricking up. I swallow, trying to bite my tongue from Olly handing the phone over to him. This is not the way to get on my good side.

"Look, Olly is safe. He can stay at mine, so you don't have to worry about him waking you up in the middle of the night. We will get him to school, and he will stay in one piece. Okay?" I can hear the laughter in the background—the overprotective mother smothering her child.

"If he isn't back after school..." I warn, but I don't get to finish my sentence as the sound of chatter fades away.

"Relax, Ri Ri. I'll keep him safe. I promise." My heart practically crashes into my rib cage. My mouth pops open to protest before the line goes dead.

"Logan? Olly? Hello?" I slam the phone down, my blood boiling. I look at the food before grabbing the chicken and ripping into it with my bare hands. "Entitled little shi—" I grumble, stuffing my face as I pick up a roast potato.

Goddess, Riley, what has gotten into you? You wanted Olly to make friends. He is. I grumble to myself. I just wanted him to be friends with the right people. Olly isn't like Logan or the others. He is special, and it's my job to protect him. Clearly, he has just been complaining about what an overbearing mother I have been.

I send him off a quick text telling him he needs to check in with me throughout the night and be back at 5 p.m. on the dot or he will be grounded. I see the three little dots appear before disappearing. No response.

Nothing.

I eat every last crumb of food until my stomach hurts.

Olly has never behaved like this. We were always a team.

The tears burn behind my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall. He needs to grow up. He should grow up. I've been waiting for this moment for so long, but now that it has arrived, it's not Olly that isn't ready—it's me.

A void spreads through me for the first time, and I realize just how lonely and isolated I really am. No matter how much I have tried to press it down, I can feel it spreading and letting loose.