GENUINE

“Shut up, you dirty thing, why are you yelling at me?”

She ran back outside and dragged Selina into the house. Her mother emerged just as she pulled Selina through the door, and her eyes widened.

“What are you doing?! What did you do to my daughter?” She rushed forward and grabbed Emilia by her shirt collar.

Before Emilia could speak, her mother slapped her hard across the face, rocking her head. She tasted blood and her ears rang from the blow. She shook her head and tried to speak. “Dad….”

“Who’s your daddy?” her mother challenged. “He’s not your dad. What did you do to Selina?”

“He’s hurt,” Emilia said, ignoring her mother and holding her face. “A monster…a monster entered the pack. Dad, he’s hurt by the river.”

Her mother seemed to piece it together that they were under attack. She dumped Juniper on the ground and ran off.

A few moments later, Juniper heard the warning bells ringing loudly into the night. She shut her eyes, and tried to scrub out the image of her father clawing at