5. They Abandoned Her

Noelle's POV:

I am the youngest daughter of the Bluemoon Pack's Alpha.

I have a twin sister, Naomi, and I grew up with a loving Alpha father and Luna mother.

Our family of four was always so happy together.

I thought those days would last forever, but I never expected everything to change so quickly.

When I was four, my father met his fated mate-Eliza Jackman. From that moment on, it was like he became a completely different person. His heart and mind were consumed by Eliza, and he seemed to forget that he still had a wife and two daughters waiting for him at home.

That was the first time I truly understood the power of a fated mate bond. It was strong enough to make my father break his bond with my mother without hesitation, naming Eliza as the new Luna of Bluemoon Pack.

To ensure Eliza wouldn't feel uneasy, he went as far as exiling my mother from the pack, showing no regard for the years of love they once shared.

Of course, I wasn't there when all of this happened. At the time, I was away at a werewolf art school, training because of the talents I'd shown from a young age.

My father had always placed high hopes in me, enrolling me in all sorts of lessons and programs, and grooming me to be the future Alpha.

I wasn't just learning battle strategies and defense tactics. I was also trained in etiquette, music, painting, chess, and all kinds of high-society skills.

So, I was stunned when I returned home and was greeted by Eliza, who sweetly called me "Noelle."

I asked my father where my mother and Naomi were. He casually told me that he had broken the mate bond with my mother and that she had taken Naomi and left Bluemoon Pack. From now on, Eliza would be my new mother.

I stood there, frozen, overwhelmed by the flood of information.

I couldn't believe that my father had broken the mate bond with my mother in the time it took me to attend a few classes.

And my mother had left me behind and taken Naomi with her.

I refused to believe what my father had told me that my mother and Naomi had abandoned me. I ran out of the house, determined to find them.

My Alpha father simply gave me an order to stay, and my legs wouldn't move. I was rooted to the spot, completely unable to resist his command.

As a member of the Bluemoon Pack, no one can disobey the Alpha's orders.

I cried and begged my father to let me go, but he just had the servants lock me in a small and dark room. I wasn't given any food or water, and he said I wouldn't be let out until I accepted Eliza as my new mother. 

Of course, I wasn't about to acknowledge some stranger as my mother, so I stubbornly refused to give in.

Besides, I was still convinced that my mother and Naomi would come back for me.

So, even though I was locked in that room alone, I held onto the hope that they would come and rescue me.

However, day after day had passed and they never came for me. I still didn't see them when my throat was so dry that I could no longer speak, and my body so frail that I could only lie on the floor.

I thought I might die in that dark room, but eventually, my father let me out.

As I lay weakly in the hospital bed and my eyes were unfocused, my father looked at me with disappointment.

"Noelle, have you come to your senses? Your mother and Naomi don't want you. They won't come back no matter how much you hurt yourself! You've put yourself through all this for two people who abandoned you. You've made me so disappointed."

"If it weren't for Eliza speaking on your behalf, I wouldn't even bother with you!

I won't stop you if you're so determined to leave the Bluemoon Pack. But, you're no longer my daughter from now on if you do that!"

I was only four years old. If I left the pack, where could I possibly go? I didn't even know where my mother and Naomi were.

In the end, I stayed and accepted Eliza as my mother for the sake of survival.

Eliza treated me well, at least in front of my father and the servants. To them, she acted like I was her own daughter.

But I could feel that, deep down, she didn't want me around. After all, I wasn't her real child.

That feeling only grew stronger once she got pregnant.

In public, she was as kind and patient as ever. But behind closed doors, she became strict and scolded me for the smallest things-like sneaking a snack during a break.

She even had people spy on me, just waiting for me to slip up, so she could find an excuse to get rid of me and send me away from the Northcutts.

I walked on eggshells every day, terrified of making a single mistake.

And in front of my father, I had to play along with the charade, pretending to have this perfect mother-daughter relationship with Eliza.

Over time, the hope I once had for my mother and Naomi slowly turned into hatred.

How could they leave me behind like this?

How could they abandon me in this den of wolves, forcing me to go through all of this?

I hated them. I hated them so much that I wished they would both just die.