Chapter 8

After the Alpha had left us, I slowly ambled through the flat, hunting for where my mother had disappeared to. I twisted as a noise came from the end of the small hallway, to the right of the living room.

Turning and heading down the hall, I opened the first door, finding it empty. Carrying on, I reached the second door, opening it softly. There, sat on the edge of the large bed, was my mother, tears in her eyes, head hanging low.

“Mom?” I called softly.

She looked up, trying to hide her tears, but failing.

“Are you okay? What happened?” I asked, concern lining my voice.

“Nothing, I-... I’ve just never had such kindness shown to me, not since I was a child,” she confessed, taking a shuddering breath. “The generosity, and the understanding, the sympathy, it’s brought all the pain and abuse, you and I suffered through over the years, to the surface. And I am so sorry,” she wept, “so sorry that I never took you and ran when your father first laid his hands on you. I have no excuses, I was just so young and terrified.”

I stood by the door for a few moments, taking all that she confessed in. Slowly, I walked to the bed and sat down next to her, wrapping my arms around her, pulling her into a hug.

“You never have to apologise, mom. I saw what he did to you, heard how he belittled you and put you down over and over again. He may have never physically hurt you, but he might as well have been, with the way he verbally attacked you. He is a monster. It’s no wonder we both feel so overwhelmed by all the genuine kindness."

She looked down, staring at her hands. I could feel her taking slow deep breaths, trying to calm herself. I had never seen her so vulnerable before, not like this. After a few minutes, she raised her head and looked at me, eyes dry and full of pride.

"You are so much wiser than anyone has given you credit for. You have seen the worst in the world, but it seems to have made you so much stronger. I am so beyond proud of you, my girl," she confessed, the look of unfiltered pride and love on her face.

She pulled me in, holding me to her chest and stroked my hair. I don't know how long we sat there for, but it must have been a while as both our stomachs began rumbling.

"Come on, let's go get something to eat," my mother chuckled, standing and walking to the kitchen.

The rest of the day went by slowly.

After lunch, my mother decided to take a walk to the clinic, to go introduce herself and meet everyone.

I decided to stay back at the flat, have a better look around and gain an understanding of where everything is located.

Plodding down the hallway, towards the bedroom, I stopped outside a third door, realising I hadn't been in there yet. Turning the door handle, I pushed the door open, listening as it scraped gently over the carpet lining the floor and looked around.

The walls were painted a soft, creamy grey and had plush cream carpet, which felt heavenly under my bare feet. There was a large oak framed bed, covered in a cream and black patterned duvet with a gorgeous yellow knitted blanket, hanging over the end of the bed. At the end of the bed, against the far wall, was a large wardrobe built into an alcove in the wall, a potted ficus and a wicker basket, sat beside its doors. A small dresser was placed on the other side of the wardrobe, with a round, gold-framed mirror situated above it.

Under the window, sat a beautiful oak desk. A plush, pale grey chair sat in front of the desk, looking out onto the field and the forest beyond. Sitting on the desk, was a box. Curious, I padded over to have a look.

Inside the box were some school supplies, notebooks, pens, pencils, and school textbooks. Beneath everything was something black. Taking everything out and placing them beside the box, I reached back in and pulled out a spiral-bound book. Turning it over, I realised it was a sketchpad, with some lovely coloured pens, pencils and some rather expensive looking sketching pencils.

I haven't drawn in a long time, I thought to myself. Who are these from?

When the evening came, I decided to have an early night, and prepare myself for my first day at a new school.

I decided to have a shower, savouring the heat and water pressure, washing off the emotions of the day. Wrapped in a large towel, damp hair slung over my shoulder, I plodded out of the bathroom and headed to my new room. Standing in front of the large mirror above the dresser, I scrubbed my hair until it was relatively dry and got dressed in my new leggings pulling a large soft Dark grey jumper over my head.

After chucking the towel into the wicker basket, I turned and walked to the desk. I had found a brown leather shoulder bag in the wardrobe while I was having a look around, and decided I would use it to lug books around in. Placing all the new books into the bag, I zipped it up and chucked it next to the door.

Climbing up onto the bed, I pulled the duvet back and snuggled up underneath. The softness lulled me to sleep. I turned and switched off the lamp, drowning the room in darkness. Closing my eyes, I drifted to sleep.

I dreamt that night. I dreamt of him, and the strange wolf that watched me from the forest.