Zoe’s POV:
The car was smoothly running on the charcoal roads heading towards Redwoods pack as after spending 5 years in New York for my studies of medicine,I had intended to return to the pack and become an excellent pack doctor. But my expectations were not met; to be precise, my goal changed midway, and this change made me realize a cruel fact: I was destined to be abandoned, and no one wanted me.
12 years ago, I was abandoned by my biological parents at the border of the Redwoods Pack. It was my adoptive parents, Alpha John and Luna Alice, who took me in. 5 years later, I was rejected by my mate, who thought I was just a poor girl from a small-town pack. He only meant to play with me, and after finding an alpha's daughter from a powerful pack, he inserted his dick into that girl's vagina in his apartment. Then they mocked my stupidity together.
I took a deep breath. I couldn't dwell on it any longer; the Redshirt Wolf Pack was almost here. I couldn't let anyone in the pack see my dejection, or else every one of them would seize this opportunity to mock me, to mock that even after going to New York, I was still abandoned. This conveniently proved their prophecy; I remembered the curses they cast on me when I left the pack.
I was the only female wolf in the pack admitted to college, so the other female wolves harbored great hostility toward me, this orphan. Only my adoptive mother, Luna Alice, understood me and helped me leave the small town to study in New York. My adoptive father's only reason for not obstructing me was that I had to prove my worth to him.
Worth...I was unsure whether he would continue to remain indifferent after I told him I had rejected my mate, the third-ranked alpha of the pack, Daniel. He never liked me nor wanted me raised as his daughter. However, Luna Alice needed me; she had just lost her daughter, so my arrival made her feel the greatness of fate. Alpha John saw Luna Alice's anguish at losing her daughter and her will to live, so he had no choice but to respect Luna Alice's wish. Mates are very important to werewolves; losing Luna Alice would mean his soul would be incomplete, and his power would weaken. But I could sense that apart from this, he had no love for Luna Alice.
Alpha John—powerful, indifferent, controlling. I often saw the bruises on Luna Alice's body, and I hated my own weakness for being unable to protect her; I was just an orphan. So he always seized opportunities to remind me of my place. "After coming of age, I must see your worth, or else, Zoe, you'll know your fate."
Yet I had to return. I needed to use my expertise to help Luna Alice regain her health; she was the only one in the pack who loved me. I hoped she could leave the pack and see more of the world, see the tragedy of her relationship with Alpha John, and then find a happier way of life.
Even though I knew what I would face next.
‘Miss, we have reached’ I was so lost in recalling the past that I didn’t keep check on the route, startling at his voice, I quickly looked through the glass and found myself standing in front of the pack house. I inhaled deeply and the exhaled, gathering a courage to again face the humiliation that I have been experiencing from all these years.
Taking my luggage in hand I walked through the door and heard the voices coming through the dining hall and kitchen. There was only voice which I had to figure out as she was the only and solely reason of my return back to this pack.
‘Zoe!’ I was dragging my foot towards kitchen as I remember that my mother loves to take care of her every pack member and she makes sure that a proper and mouthwatering meal is served to them thrice a day. Before, I could have spot her, she caught me and exclaimed my name.
‘Mom’ letting go of my luggage I moved towards her and wrapped my hands around her petite body. Her health has gone more worse in those five years. She was much better and healthy when I was leaving the pack for my studies, but today seeing her skin who was stuck to her bones, she has lose so much of her muscle mass. Her pale face and yellowish eyes tells how much she has been fighting with her illness and it is hurting her from inside. I bit donw my lips harshly to suppress my sob, me crying will only make her worry and seeing her sad or worry is not in my list. I can't afford it, because her health can't take the sorrows anymore and I don’t want to lose her, she was always there when I needed someone beside me and maybe I am now a grown up woman I still need her, she is the only person who loves me unconditionally.
‘Finally, you came back’ she kissed on my forehead and cupped my face in her palms, water pooled in her eyes. I can understand how much she would have missed me because I had gone through the same emotions.