2: Sore Thumb

One look at Kaila, and one would doubt she was a she-wolf, she looked more like a cute puppy than a wolf, that look of hers that evoked one's pity was just the type that Tianna disdained the most. 

She was just eighteen years old this month and had found that she was the Alpha’s true mate on her birthday, which shocked everyone in the pack, after all, her sister had just rejected the same Alpha the previous month.

                              

A lot of people couldn’t dare to think of the mess that would have become of the pack if Tania had agreed and then found out that her little sister was the true Luna.

“Don’t pass aggression on Kaila, Tania.”

 Tania looked up at the sound of the familiar voice and stared at the woman who held a sixty percent resemblance to her but was way older.

“Mom.” Kaila called with a smile, “When did you return?”

Gina smiled at her lovingly and patted her back as she walked in, “I rushed home with your father as soon as I heard the news about your sister.”

“News sure does travel fast.” Tania chirped in a mocking tone which made Gina frown.

“Everyone is worried about you.” 

Tania scoffed, “More like they’re excited to finally be getting rid of me.”  

Tania commented as she began to push the clothes into the box which she could not shut  because it was overly filled and messy. Gina stared at her and her frown deepened.

“You are being sent away because you refused to bow to the Alpha and integrate yourself with the pack. This isn't anyone's fault...”

"But mine, right?" Tania looked at her mother, then laughed sarcastically at her mother’s words, "I don’t have time for your haggling, Mom."

Gina felt annoyed at her unruly character, "Why is it so hard for you to just submit?!"

“You want me to bow to that coward who can’t even beat me in a hand-to-hand combat?” Tania asked with her raised her brow at her mother.

“He is still the highest authority in the pack, that has nothing to do with just strength alone.” Gina tried to explain to her daughter who never listens to her.

 “If you promise to change, if you can just be a little humbler, then I could talk to him to change his mind concerning you.”

“No thank you,” Tania replied almost immediately and Gina was stunned.

“You…, don’t tell me… you’re planning to return to that life.'' 

She was sure Tania would never agree to an alliance marriage, so if she claims she didn’t need her help, didn’t that mean she wanted to return to the life of a rogue.

This time, Tania gave no response, she only walked into her bathroom to get her toiletries. Gina sighed and turned to Kaila, who hadn’t said a word the entire time. “Kaila darling, can you please give us a minute.”

“Okay Mom,” She glanced at the bathroom and sighed, “Take your time, I will be downstairs with Dad,” Kaila replied before walking out of the room immediately shutting the door behind her.

Gina followed Tania into the bathroom and watched her take out her toiletries and all sorts of skin care products which she carelessly tossed into a small toiletry bag she had brought along. Gina never really understood this daughter of hers, at least she understood her before they joined the pack, but from the moment they became a part of this pack, the distance between them had done nothing but gotten farther apart.

Sometimes she even wondered if coming to the pack was the right thing, but was there much she could do? She met her second chance mate, who happened to also be the beta of the pack and a widower like her, she got a second chance at love and life. How can she refuse him when he didn’t even despise her for being a rogue?

Yes, she admits, she never considered her daughter’s opinion but was there any need to? They were nothing but a mother and child struggling to survive in the wild since her previous mate died, she didn’t see any reason why her daughter would even consider continuing that life of hunger, fear, and violence.

She thought her daughter would be happy to join the pack and be a member of the new pack, but Tania changed since they came here, they drifted apart and she hardly spoke to her and her new father. She always felt it was Tania being childish, but now, it seems her daughter never liked it here.

Tania was a very controversial person, she always looked down on people and talked about their strength all day but then turned around and dressed like a sex worker. Gina just couldn’t understand her mentality.  

Her eyes drifted from Tania’s waist-length hair which was dyed light pink, the color alone hurt her eyes and made her annoyed, to her three-inch-long nails on her fingers, she sighed.

She still remembered the first time Tania came home looking like this, then her hair had been dyed deep red, and her nails had been long and painted royal blue. She didn’t know where her daughter had gotten the seven-inch high heels she wore or the dress that hardly covered her thighs but she almost went crazy with anger when she saw her that day.

She had ordered her to take them off immediately but her daughter just batted her newly fixed long lashes at her and smacked the gum she had been chewing, she was very seductive, so seductive it hurt the eye, and worse still, her daughter didn’t even give a shit about what she said or ordered her to do.

Since then Tania never joined the pack training, she was either seen manicuring her nails or playing with her phone, and when asked, she always said she didn’t want to dirty her precious nails. She could say it gave a lot of wolves peace of mind including herself because before this, her daughter’s actions had been a nuisance to every single wolf on the training ground, male and female wolves alike. No one could beat her and she stuck out as a sore thumb because of her strength as a woman.

Gina always felt worried then that her daughter would never be able to blend in, as she hadn’t made any friends in the five years they had been there, so when she saw her changing, no longer eager to show her prowess on the training ground, she felt maybe becoming like that had been a good thing. 

Maybe she had been too selfish then and wanted her fifteen-year-old daughter to blend with the pack so much that she didn’t force her to stop then, she wasn’t really sure, but she knew if her daughter’s character had been considered bad before the age of fifteen, after she changed, her character got worse after that and no one, not even her could control her anymore.

“Do you blame me?” Gina asked Tania after ruminating on her own thoughts for a while but got no response, she was ignored as always.

“Do you hate me for bringing you here?” She asked again, but this time Tania laughed.

“Don’t flatter yourself mom, a person like you doesn’t even deserve the hate of someone like me.” Tania responded and Gina nodded, a sad smile on her lips.

At least one thing hadn’t changed all these years, the fact that she still called her mom. But Tania was right, she shouldn’t think too highly, her daughter had always been unfeeling towards her, it has nothing to do with anything that was just how Tania was, right?

She asked herself as she watched her daughter walk out of the bathroom, without sparing her a glance.

"You do not hate me then?" She dared to ask again.

"No, you're dead to me," Tania replied nonchalantly and Gina's eyes widened with shock then she laughed in a self-deprecating manner.

"So you really do blame me."

"It took you so long to realize that?" Tania asked and Gina frowned.

They had spent ten years in the wild together as rogues and in those years she had never worried about being alone because her daughter was always there with her. This girl who seemed to have made her indifference a normality was the one who once snuck into a pack and almost got herself killed just to get some medicine back for her illness at one time.

 But she had tried her best too, since she brought her to join this pack at the age of ten, she had tried to help her integrate, to get used to living a peaceful life, to live as a pack wolf who had little worries, but it didn’t work, it never worked.

Instead, Tania stuck out like a sore thumb all on her own. Not only did she not hide her strength to blend in, she even took up this weird lifestyle of dressing excessively and seductively every day, with heavy makeup and high heels. Even then no man still dared to approach her.

As a mother, she didn’t know where she went wrong, she didn’t know why her daughter didn’t seem to be able to live a normal life but chose to blame her for all the wrong things in her life.

“So you choose to return to the wild? You choose to become a rogue again?” Gina spoke up finally as she followed Tania to the bedroom.

She knew in her heart what this girl was planning to do. She could see it from the way she packed her things and the things she packed. She was leaving her heels, seductive clothes, and even makeup behind. There was only one place where those things were not needed, it was the wild.  

When a person spent his days looking behind his shoulder running, how could she have time to look seductive? In fact, a seductive lifestyle was a danger for a she-wolf in the wild.

“Do you have a problem with that mom?” Tania asked as she raised her brow at her, a mocking look in her eyes.

“Of course, I do! I worked so hard to take you out of the wild, how can you go back there so easily...” Gina scolded her in anger but Tania laughed, interrupting her.

“You worked hard to take me out? I think you got it all wrong Mom,” Tania sat on the bed, crossed her long sexy legs, and looked her mother in the eye, “You worked hard to get yourself out. From the start, it never had anything to do with me.”

She smiled while Gina looked at her stunned. “How can you… how can you say that…?”

Tania immediately waved her hand as if losing interest, “No need to be dramatic Mom. I do not have the patience for your drama right now.” She turned to resume packing.

“I am not letting you become a rogue, Tania,” Gina said sternly.

“Oh?” Tania tilted her head and looked at her mother, “Isn’t that where I belong? Your Alpha said it himself.”

“He didn’t mean that.”

“Oh, but I think he did, and he’s right. I have to go where I don’t have to pretend to be who I’m not. Don’t you think so too, Mom?”

“No one is asking you to pretend to be who you’re not!”

“Says the woman who asked her ten-year-old daughter to conceal her strength and make sure to integrate with the pack so she can live a peaceful life! Says the woman who would rather her daughter be beaten up by pack bullies while pretending to be weak than defend herself, so the pack can accept her!!! Don't you think it is a little too late to pretend to care about me, Mom? ”

“I did all that for your own good! What bullies are you even talking about? The only one who ever bullied people in this pack was you!" Gina pointed at her while Tania stared at her subtly, not the least angered, this look of hers shocked Gina and forced her to calm down, "You never even obeyed any of that.”

“Don’t you already have a very obedient daughter? Don’t be too greedy mom, one obedient daughter should be enough for you.” 

“She’s different, both of you are different. No matter what Kaila does, she would always be accepted by the pack. She is one of them, she has always been one of them. But you…”

“...are a rogue?” Tania finished for her.

 Gina stared at her unhappily and sighed. "Why have you decided to blame me for every single thing that goes wrong in your life?"

"I don't know, maybe because it is actually your fault?" Tania shot back then stood up. “Mom, I think you have overstayed your welcome here. You should leave."

"No!"