01 In a nutshell

Desiree

We had finally graduated, and it was time to move on. I knew it would be hard to say goodbye to my friends, but I knew I did not intend to hang around anymore. Janet, my best friend, was going to miss me the most, and that was why I decided to tell her at the last minute so she wouldn't do anything to spoil my plans. I had enough of my mother's mate. I couldn't take it anymore. The fact that she chose to stay with the asshole made her seem weak to me. I could not understand someone as beautiful as her, the daughter of the former Alpha could stoop so low to staying with Rob the slub. He started beating her three months after he claimed her and never stopped. That was seven years ago. I tried to convince my mother to leave him, but she was too scared to be alone. Everyone knew what was going on, and people chose to look away. The man did not only beat her, he also cheated, and he was not discrete about it too. I did not like him, and the feeling was mutual. He started beating me up too, and my mother never defended me. Instead, she would beg me to keep my head down. The man was a coward. Rob must have felt intimidated by my mother and me. He was a Zeta that my mother chose to help her cope with the loss of my father, the former Beta of our pack. I guess he came short and started messing up to compensate for it. I had saved a lot of money, enough to take me far away from our pack and settle elsewhere.

I rushed home after graduation to pack my stuff and prepare for the graduation party. I needed to spend time with my friend before I leave and I believed the best way to do so was to spend time with her at the party. I had to avoid Zeta Rob the slob, so I needed to be very discrete. I was very unfortunate when I got home because I found the asshole beating my mother. He was carrying something, and she was trying to prevent him from taking it. When I saw what it was, I was in shock. If I had gotten my wolf, I would have shifted and killed the bastard, but I was just seventeen, I still had a year or two to go before my wolf came.

Rob had beaten my mother beyond recognition. I ran towards them, and she tried to stop me from approaching.

"Run, Desiree!" she screamed, but I wouldn't listen. That was all I had. The man had found my stash of cash and carried it. He punched her in the stomach and ran out of the house, leaving my mother on the ground. I ran to her to help her, and all she could say was she was sorry.

I was crying. It wasn't because of what he had done to her, but because the bastard had messed up my plans. That was my ticket out of the hell we were all living in, I worked hard to save that money, and he had just stolen it. I left my mother on the floor. I hated her so much for bringing Rob upon us. There were times I wished she had gone instead of my father. She was too stupid and weak to protect both of us. I left her and decided to dress up and go to the party.

I felt numb while dressing up that I knew I looked underwhelming. I had to go somewhere. If I stayed, I would break down. I just graduated, I couldn't let my mother's bad choices mess my day up. She didn't even have the decency to show up at my graduation, and I was valedictorian. I doubt if she knew anything about my life.

"Desiree," my mother's shaky voice said to me, standing at the door of my room. I turned to look at her, she was already healing. That was the only thing she was good at, healing her physical wounds, but I also noticed that she wasn't healing as fast and as well as she used to.

"How was the graduation?" She asked, and I looked at her with so much hurt.

"Mom, I want your husband out of my father's house. Both of you should find another place to stay. My father left this house to me, and I think I have accommodated you and him enough." I said to her, and she was stunned.

I would have left the house for her because I intended to leave, but now that he had taken my money, I had to make do of what I had. I was turning eighteen in some months, which meant I had the right to do just that. I did not love my mother because she did not love herself. She didn't care enough to want what was best for both of us. She brought Rob into our lives and did not summon the courage to leave him when she realised he was bad for both of us. When he started to beat me, she should have walked away, but she stayed. She didn't care for my well-being. I did not need to care for hers.

"I need both of you out before my birthday, and I never want to see or speak to you again,"

"Honey, he was my mate too," she protested, sounding hurt.

"You have sold everything he left you. This is all I have, and the only reason you couldn't sell it was because of the clause in his will. Your new mate is a thief and an asshole, and you indulge him. I do not need a guardian anymore, so I am telling you now, I need you out of my house.

"Sweetheart," she said, but I wouldn't listen. I walked past her and left the house. I hoped she took my warning seriously because I wouldn't hesitate to kick her out when the time comes.

My father had left us a lot of money. My stupid mother had squandered it all. I dreaded what the future held for me. Unlike the past when the Moon Pack was thriving, things had changed. War had left our lands desolate and impoverished. We now lived in a society where the rich was very rich, and the poor was very poor. The rich people were the Blood Pack. They were the victors, while the Moon pack were the poor ones. We wore blue crescent moon badges to separate us from Bloods. We had a separate school, hospital ad social infrastructures from the Blood pack members, and we lived to serve them, which was why I wanted to leave in the first place. Thanks to my mother, I now needed a new plan. Surviving in my part of the world was not easy especially if you were on the losing team.

I walked to the party venue in tears, hoping the nightmare of my life would end.

I arrived at the party and everywhere was bubbly. Janet spotted me and brought me a drink. I collected the soda from her and gulped it down. She led me to the dancefloor, and we began to dance to the music while the light flickered and changed colours giving me the false feeling of being alone in my private world.

We danced for a bit, but I couldn't push away the incident that happened at home from my mind, so I left Janet on the dance floor and went to find something to eat.

Heading towards the food table, I bumped into someone.

"I am sorry," I apologised but became scared when I saw who it was. It was Nickson, the son of the Blood packs Delta. I became really scared because the guy was a wicked and arrogant boy.

"Are you blind, moon girl?" he asked me after seeing my Moon badge, and I couldn't respond. We were not allowed to talk back to Blood members. We were not allowed to defend ourselves when they attacked us, and we were not allowed to look into their eyes. I kept my face trained to the ground and prayed that he would forget about it and let me go, but I was wrong.

"Moon girl look at me !" he yelled, and I shook my head because I knew it was a crime to do that. I began to regret coming to the party. The music stopped, and I felt everyone looking in our direction.

"Moon Girl!" he yelled, and I was in a big dilemma, so I looked up with my eyes shut.

"I am sorry!" I apologised, trying hard not to show weakness and not to look defiant at the same time, but the asshole wasn't having it. He was a foot taller than me, so he grabbed my brown hair and pulled me out of the hall. A lot of my pack members were worried. Janet linked me to ask what I did, and I told her.

He threw me outside, and his friends came around.

"King Kingston should not have let you lots live," he began, referring to their Alpha, who was now a self-proclaimed King and our Alpha. My grandfather was the Alpha of the Moon Pack, but Alpha Kingston killed him, my father and everyone important in our pack and took over.

"If he wiped them out, we would not have slaves," I heard one of his friends say, and they began to laugh.

Nickson was wicked, this was Moon territory, he had no business coming here.

"Look at me b*tch!" he yelled at me, and I had to look at him out of fear. We were in an alley. Nickson and his friends could beat me to death, and no one would come to my rescue.

"Please, I am sorry," I pleaded, about to cry, realising the severity of the mess.

"Sorry, won't help you b*tch," he said, " Kneel!" he yelled, and I didn't think twice and went on my knees.

"How old are you?" he asked me, approaching me, and I told him my age.

"So you have no wolf yet?" he asked me, and I shook my head, and they began to laugh. Before I could figure out what was going on. They started beating me. I cried for help, but I knew no one would come.

Just when I thought that might be my last night alive, the beating stopped, and I heard someone crash hard into something. I opened my eyes to see what was happening, but Nickson and his friends had run away, and I became scared. A few seconds later, A guy in a blue hoody came to help me up. I didn't know who he was, but he was very handsome and pleasing to the eyes. Realising he might be a Blood member because he had no badge, I quickly looked down.

"Go home, wolf and tend to your wounds," he ordered with a breathtaking voice that carried authority, and I began to run. He was handsome, his voice was something else, his build was of a god, but he was a Blood member, which made him above my pay grade. I wished I looked at his face a little longer, just to memorise the features of the person that had saved my life, but my station did not afford me that Luxury. I thanked the goddess for sending the stranger in my direction. Nickson would have killed me, and no one would pay for it.

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