When I got down from the flight, looking at the woman, my mother in front of me, I felt melancholic. The pang in my heart hit harder. Twenty years ago, she faced the same betrayal as me. My father, who was the beta of the pack, married my mother the Alpha's daughter from Clay Layer Pack. She was the most beautiful and potential bride at that time. But since she fell in love, she wanted to protect their relationship and eloped with my dad but once a bastard was always a bastard. After giving me birth, my mother's condition worsened. He felt that he could no longer fulfil his ‘need’ and seeked other women's warmth. When Lina’s mother, Natasha got pregnant by him and managed to be marked by him too, she knocked on our door and they had no choice but to take her in or dad would be banished from the pack. Then my mother left, she insisted on taking me with her, but being persistent and not ready to leave the usual life, the five years old me didn't want to go with her.
“Mom, I wanted to stay here.” I cried, sitting on my mother's lap, “Can't we just stay here? Dad is so good to us. Molly Aunty too.”
Molly Aunty was Lina’s mother who always behaved well with me. Sometimes she was closer to me than my own mother.
“Do you want to stay with Molly Aunty and dad?” My mother, Kathy asked.
“Yes,” back then the innocent me didn't know that was the worst decision I made in my life.
My mother wrote letters for me everywhere and always asked me that if I ever needed her help, her door was always open for me. All those years, I only thought whatever happened in life I would never leave my mate like my mom, but karma was real. Staring at her, I felt conflicted. But the mother could not stay away from her daughter. She came close to me and kissed my forehead. “My daughter, my child!” She patted my head telling how much she missed me.
“Do you know how much I waited for you?” She smiled broadly, “Finally after all these years you get the time, don’t you?”
Hugging her I cried, “Sorry mom!”
“Silly child, I know you have your own things.” she patted my shoulders, “But after all these years were you happy?”
I wiped my tears and nodded, “It was…it got worse recently.”
“It's okay. Now that you are back to me, I will make everything good.” Her comforting, warm lap was what I missed the most.
I wanted to tell her that I missed her too, especially at the festivals when everyone spent time with their family but my family didn't treat me right nor did I have my mother by my side. Instead of those, I buried my head in her shoulder and nuzzled for a long time before getting into the car. My mother, Kathy, introduced me to a beta, Emol, as her husband.
“Baby, he is my husband now. Do you like her?” Seeing her beaming and blushing, how could I say no? Moreover, for the whole time I was never with her. So, if she found her true love, I was not someone to meddle in it.
“Yes, as long as you guys are happy.” I smiled and nodded to Emol, the simple man with a good physique.
“Mari, your mother always talks about you.” He smiled, stretching his hand for a handshake.
“Since we will be staying together now, if you can't think of me as your father, you can take me as your friend instead.”
When she came here all alone, she was depressed and finally found her true love in him. Emol became closer to me than my biological father. Kissing my knuckles, he said that if I ever faced any problem I could come to him. Since Kathy was my mother, I already became his daughter and they were waiting for me all along. That was why they didn't take any children. I didn't know but somehow he managed to warm my heart. Tears couldn't help but come out again.
Giving me a cup of soy milk, he asked me to replenish my body. I had more fights left. When we were moving to our house, I looked outside. The unfamiliar surroundings gave me a surreal feeling. At that moment, I thought of Clavis, was he worried for me at all after receiving the message? Since when did we drift so apart? Three years? Two years? I couldn't even calculate anymore. Initially, deep down from my heart, I wanted to put all the blame on Lina’s shoulder but the man was not innocent either. If you did not grow tired of a relationship or with someone's presence, an outsider could never make an entry there. So, if I should blame someone, then blame Clavis for giving others a chance. Thinking about them tears came out of my eyes. My body trembled when I sobbed in a low voice, scared that my mother and Emol would hear me.
In the meantime, I got a message on my phone, [Marianne Willson, where are you? Put your shit together and come back within one hour!]
