جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 9

Everything went dark at the edges, and I felt myself starting to tip toward the ground.The squad leader, Leon Sinclair, rushed over, worry written all over his face. "Why are you so pale? Is it your blood sugar?"He pulled a glucose solution out of his pocket and held it out to me."Here, drink this. Don't try to push through it."I looked up at him, dazed.It struck me that the kind of concern I'd never gotten from my own family had just come from someone I'd known less than a month.I reached for the tablet, but my phone buzzed with a string of messages.It was my sister, Vivian Voss.She'd sent a screenshot of an order confirmation—a gown worth four thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine dollars, along with a transfer of one dollar to me.[There's a dollar left over after the dress. Consider it a gift. Should be enough for two pieces of candy.][Why haven't you accepted it yet? I thought you said you had low blood sugar. I think you're just lying so you can guilt Mom and D

I had to walk back to the dorms alone after dinner, since I couldn't afford to spend what little money I had left on a cab.Halfway there, my phone lit up.In the family chat, Dad had posted a photo of the four of them.Vivian wore a birthday tiara, a mountain of gifts piled in her arms. My parents stood behind her, with Xavier's arm slung affectionately around her shoulders, and everyone was smiling.I wasn't in the photo.Dad had captioned it.[Happiest day of the year for this family! Happy birthday to my baby girl!]I stared at it for a few seconds, then quietly turned off my phone.Honestly, there was a time they used to hold me like that too.When I was little, everyone on the estate knew the Alpha's favorite daughter was Lily Voss.Then, when I was four, I was playing near the estate when a Rogue attacked and kidnapped me.By the time the pack guards found me, I was covered in injuries, too terrified even to cry.When my parents arrived, they held me so tight, tears

Dad clutched his chest, his face growing worse by the second.He reached for my familiar scent through the bond and found that the connection, once so clear, had vanished completely.Mom was just as panicked."How is this possible? I could still feel Lily just a second ago..."Her voice shook, her eyes rapidly turning red-rimmed.They hurried out of the airport and back into the car. Dad barked at the driver, “Get us home, now!”The driver didn't dare hesitate and spun the car around immediately.The air in the car froze.Vivian sat in the back, her perfect makeup looking strangely brittle with worry.She suddenly remembered the scene before they'd left.I stood in the living room doorway, watching them scramble to pack. There was no crying or questions, not even my usual quiet request to come along.I just stood there watching, then turned and walked away.At the time, Vivian had assumed I was just sulking.After all, it didn't matter how many times they'd turned me dow

When Dad looked into the Northern Division's stipend rate, he froze.Three hundred dollars a month.He remembered perfectly well that Vivian had bought a $4,999 dress just days earlier, and that Xavier had complained the training meals didn't suit him, so the family chef started preparing meat and fruit just for him separately.And I had gotten sixty dollars a month.I'd asked for two dollars to buy glucose tablets, and they'd refused even that.Yet the moment I'd learned the Northern Division only paid three hundred dollars a month, I hadn't hesitated for a second before signing up for five years of isolated training.Mom sat in the car, tears falling one after another."Do you think she'd rather suffer out there alone than stay here with us?"No one answered, because the answer was obvious.After speaking to the dorm supervisor, Dad immediately contacted my homeroom advisor.The advisor listened to his request and answered flatly. "Lily's already completed her withdrawal pa

Before I reached the car, they asked if I could stay for a few days. I agreed to three days, making it clear that I would return to the Northern Division afterward.For those three days, Mom cooked dinner herself every night, the table piled with all the food I'd loved as a kid.She even had the chef prepare a dozen different meats and fruits, terrified I wouldn't get enough to eat."Lily, eat more."She kept piling food onto my plate, her eyes rimmed red."It was my fault before. From now on, I'll make whatever you want for you."I looked at the food piled high on my plate and quietly said thank you.Then I kept eating.I didn't tell her that I honestly couldn't remember anymore what I used to like as a kid.Five years ago, I'd survived on a dollar's worth of rye bread and a bowl of cheap broth a day.Back then, what I wanted most wasn't a lavish dinner. It was simply being able to eat a full meal without asking permission or putting it to a vote.Now, I was used to buying