MAXINETogether, we walked back to the house. Zel and Cinder held my hand all through the way and I was grateful. It was time to say goodbye to all the kids I had come to love.There was a dinner waiting for me. The kids had managed to wait, keeping their hands to themselves. When they saw me, they all rushed to hug me."Maxi!" They called. That was what they mostly called me.I felt tears well up in my eyes as I wrapped my hand around all of them. Raine and Oz watched, smiles on their face."Raine said you're leaving, is it true?" Chester, the boy who had scared me by saying he changed into an orange cat on the first day I came, asked. He was holding onto my tunic.I nodded my head. "Yes. The reason I came, I've done it. Now, I'm free. I have to go back."He pouted, then hugged me. "I will miss you, Maxi." He said. "So much.""I'll miss you too," I smiled, my heart aching. I didn't want to leave. I didn't want to go back to a world where I had responsibilities, where I had to be what
MAXINEThere, on the bed, was another woman and Liam, both of them stark naked and tangled in the sheets. Liam was on top of the woman. She moaned, her hands holding tightly to his back as he pounded into her.He grunted and I froze, watching the scene unfold in front of me. Liam turned his head, wondering who would interrupt him like that. I saw his face shift from anger"Maxine," he called breathlessly. I turned on my heels. "Maxine, wait!" He called after me.I didn't wait. I hurried down the stairs as fast as I could, ignoring everyone and anyone who tried to get my attention. I didn't stop even after I was outside the pack house.I thought, oh my goodness. I'm so stupid. I thought Liam and I had something going on. I thought I could finally find that one person for me. I thought Liam was the one.I was so wrong.I felt wetness on my cheeks. Why was I crying? I swiped at the tears with the back of my hand harshly."Stop crying!" I yelled at myself. He doesn't deserve my tears. I b
MAXINEThe moment I heard Liam's voice at the door, Ella had seen the panic in my face."Go to my room and stay there." She whispered sternly, getting to her feet. She waited until I had entered the room before she walked towards the main door and answered it.I held my breath, waiting patiently to hear her come back into the house. It took a while but I finally heard Liam's car driving away. I exhaled in relief and only came back outside when Ella came to get me."He's gone now." She replied as we walked back to the couch. "What's going on? Why is the Alpha looking for you? And why are you hiding?"I bit my lip, contemplating how to tell her. "I don't know how to put this…" I began.""Start anywhere," she said.So, I started from the beginning. I told her about Liam, about how my father gave me to him, and how our relationship had started. How he only came to me to satisfy his needs.I felt vulnerable coming clean to her about that. I hadn't told anyone about it. It was something I h
LIAMThe sun was setting across the streets as I drove from one place to another, searching for Maxine. Each friend I visited had the same answer: they hadn't seen her. No one had seen her.It was almost like she hadn't truly returned. My frustration grew with each passing second. Everywhere was a dead end. The only lead I had was from Ella, who had seen her briefly.I couldn't shake off the feeling that I needed to find her, to explain myself. The truth was, I missed her more than I cared to admit.Our late-night talks in her apartment, the way she moved around the kitchen while cooking, the sound of her laughter—they had become the highlights of my days. The intimacy we shared, the way she moaned when we were together, it had played on repeat in my mind for weeks.My phone began to ring. I answered it, still driving. "Hello?""Liam," It was Varis, "any luck?"I sighed, "None. It's almost like she's disappeared. There's no trace of her." I replied."Do you want me to send word to the
MAXINEI found a night bus leaving the city and I bought a ticket. I didn't know where I was headed but I needed to leave so Liam wouldn't be able to find me.I found a seat by the window, putting the bus on my lap. It suddenly felt heavy in my lap as the bus rumbled down the highway, carrying me away from the city. I was leaving the heartache behind.I needed to find a place where I could think, and figure out my next steps. I never even got to show Liam my wolf and I was so excited to show him.I decided to go back to Cinder and Zel but first, I had to find the Luna Queen's palace. Not many people knew it. The people who did were mostly werewolves.To get there, I had to take another bus. Its seats were uncomfortable and I could barely get any sleep that morning. I kept my head down, avoiding eye contact, hoping to blend into the background.I didn't know if Liam had anyone looking for me. I need to lay low. As the bus drove, the view outside changed from the urban cities to the rol
MAXINEMy heart raced and I tried to free my hand. "You know, your father has been looking for you. He'll be very interested to know where you've been hiding.""Let go of me," I said.He chuckled. "We'll see about that.""Sister!" Someone yelled, coming to me. They shoved the man away. It was Oz. "Annalise, are you okay? Do you know this man?"I rubbed my wrist and looked at him, shaking my head. "No," I said.Oz looked at the man. "Why are you bothering my sister? Poor Annalise has struggled with bad health for many years and now that she can go out, you decide to trouble her?" He asked.The man realized that he had a mistake. "I'm so sorry," he glanced at me. "I thought you were someone else. I'm so sorry."He apologized and left. We watched him go. "Are you okay?" Oz asked."Yeah," I said, "Smart thinking calling me Annalise."He grinned. "I've always wanted a sister named Annalise." He said.I chuckled. "I guess from now on when we're outside, I'm Annalise," I replied.We drove
MAXINE"Okay," I said. "Let's do it. Let's run away together."Zel's eyes shone with excitement. "We'll make it work. We'll find a place where we can both be happy doing whatever we want. We could go anywhere."The night was filled with so many possibilities. I could be anyone I wanted. Nothing was holding me back. I was going to take this opportunity to create the life I wanted.No one told me to be a midwife. No one to tell me who I should be. No one to lean on, who would give up on me because I wasn't what they wanted. I would do it all for me.The next few days, Zel and I spent countless hours talking and fleshing out our ideas for a new life. We each had some savings tucked away, enough to get us started but not enough to last longer than a few months. We knew we had to find work and a place to settle soon.At the kitchen counter one morning, Zel spread out a map in front of us. "Where do you think we should go?" she asked, her finger tracing various routes across the country.I
MAXINE"No, thank you," Zel said. "Anna, let's go."She grabbed her bags and we quickly began to cross the road. It looked like they wanted to follow us until a police car passed by, blaring its siren and slowing down."Are these men disturbing you ladies?" The police officer asked as he rolled his car window down.I looked at the men as they turned and walked away. "Not anymore. Thank you." I said politely."That's a lot of stuff. You people moving in with someone in town?" He asked, seeing our stuff.Zel smiled. "Yes. With our aunt. She's supposed to come pick me and my sister up but she called saying that she'll be a few days late so we're going to find a motel to stay for a while." She said, the lie rolling off her mouth effortlessly.I understood where she was coming from. She didn't want the police officer to snoop into our business. We were legally adults so, there wasn't a problem if we lived alone.The only problem was, Zel and I hadn't gotten our IDs. We would get them here