Cerita Pendek Melodramatic Werewolf & Novel Independence Family Emotions

On the day of the family's "Legacy Day," Dad announced he was giving us necklaces blessed by our ancestors. Everyone got one. Everyone except me. My older brother Leon received an obsidian necklace. Even the old butler who'd served our household for twenty years got a protective charm to calm his mind. The most beautiful one—a moonstone wrapped in rare runes, glowing with soft holy light—was gently placed around Mia's neck by our father. Mia is my little sister. She's been a rare white wolf since birth, but she's always been frail. She accepted it with delight. I stood at the very edge, running on no sleep after just returning from border patrol. I stepped forward and instinctively reached out my hand. But my Dad didn't even look at me. Click. The velvet box snapped shut in front of everyone. That sharp sound of the lid closing jolted me fully awake. Father dusted off his hands. "Yours isn't urgent. We'll talk about it later." My eyes stung. I walked over to Mother, who stood to the side. "Mom, what about me? Why does even the butler get one, but not me?" Mother just told me to wait a little longer. Just then, Mia coughed from the cold wind. My future mate, Garrett Whitfield, immediately took off his coat and wrapped it around her, escorting her all the way into the warm room. I stood alone in the biting wind, pulled out my phone, and replied to a warrior invitation message from the Silver Creek pack next door—one that had been sitting there for a week.

To get rid of our pup and date with his assistant on Valentine's Day, my mate Marcus forced our injured pup to go rock climbing and poisoned him. When I rushed my dying pup to the hospital, I unexpectedly saw my mate accompanying his assistant for a prenatal checkup. Our terrified pup lay convulsing from the poison, but Marcus didn’t even care about him. "He's just an Omega. If he was a proper wolf, he'd heal instantly!" I clutched the $100 million Moonlight Blessing herb in my pocket. I accidentally found it in the forest this morning. I was planning to tell him the good news today. But now? It was time to break this five-year mate bond.

Damian, my destined partner, is the alpha that all wolf girls dream of. For him, I went alone to the North, his pack. But for three years after we signed the contract, he remained chaste, staying at least three feet away from me, refusing to mate with me. I thought he was just busy with the affairs of the wolf pack and had no time to care about me. Until I stumbled upon Damian pinning Lyra, his sister, against a rough tree trunk, his mouth savagely devouring her lips like a wild beast. "You know I long for you, Lyra!" he roared. "Why did you force that boring Selena on me?!" At last I understood. The only person he truly loved was Lyra. He hurt me again and again for Lyra, and even when we were trapped in the forest and almost swallowed by the shadow plague, he ran away with Lyra in his arms without looking back. "Whether Selena can escape or not has nothing to do with me. You are the most important person in my world!" I was heartbroken, but he wanted to complete the final mark with me because of guilt. He didn't know that I had already dripped my heart's blood on the moonstone the day I found out about his affair with Lyra. Our mate bond had been completely broken long ago.

The day my college acceptance letter arrived, I found a post on Mom's phone asking strangers for advice. [I promised my older daughter I'd pay for her college, but now my younger daughter wants to apply too. How can I give the tuition I saved for my older daughter to my younger one without the older one holding it against me?] Every reply said the same thing. [You already promised your older daughter. Why would you betray her? Can't you find some other way?] Dazed, I accidentally hit refresh, and a familiar profile picture popped up. It belonged to my brother. [That's not really betrayal. It's your money, and you can spend it on whoever you want!] [I'm family, so I'll be honest. The older daughter is an Omega, the lowest rank there is. She's been slow since she was little, her grades are average at best, and whatever school she gets into is bound to be terrible.] [But the younger daughter is different. She's a noble Beta, just like the rest of us, and she's always had excellent grades. Plenty of colleges will want her, and our whole family is happy to spend the money on her.] My mate chimed in under my brother's comment. [He's right. Once the younger one gets in, we can all go stay with her and take care of her so she can focus on her studies.] I gripped my phone, my heart aching. My family and my future mate had always favored my Beta sister. They bought my sister expensive makeup and told me I was plain, not a tenth as pretty as her, so makeup would be wasted on me. They took my sister to all kinds of parties and told me I was too awkward, not bubbly and outgoing like her, and I'd just kill the mood. Even now, when it came to college, they thought I wasn't as good as my sister. I looked at the acceptance letter on my computer. Then I chose the university more than 600 miles from home because it had offered me a full tuition waiver. I was done with this home where I'd never been anyone's favorite.