Chapter Three
My body hits the floor hard, the rug saving me from the floorboards.
My head snaps up into the eyes of Kieryn, his evil smirk pissing me off.
I resist the urge to growl at him for tripping me.
Retaliating will only cause more sorrow for me.
I get up without a word and walk down the hallway on the way to my room.
I pass by my dad's office and remember he said he wants to talk to me.
Might as well get this over with now. I knock and go in after he answers.
His office isn't an office. It's basically another lounge room, his man-cave.
I sit on the one-seater couch while he relaxes on the big one.
“We can talk now,” I say, and he sits up.
“Okay, you're turning eighteen in a few days. If you meet your mate, what are your plans?” He stares at me.
“What do you mean?”
“Will you be moving into the pack house? I figure we should spend some time together before that happens.”
Pack house, hell no. That would literally be an abuse chamber. Spending time together, why should I? We've never had a close father and daughter relationship. Maybe he's just feeling guilty for my shitty existence so he's trying to make himself feel better.
“I doubt I'll meet my mate. I'm planning on moving into the city when I have the money,” I reveal, and his eyes widen.
“You could meet your mate so don't minimise that thought. Besides, why would you leave the pack to move into the city? The pack stays together in close quarters.” Dad frowns, as if he can't believe my decision.
“Are you serious?” I almost growl at him.
He doesn't have a freaking clue why I want to leave. I usually have composure but the fact he doesn't know about anything happening in my life lights my fuse.
“Elora.” He sighs. He has to know. Nobody can be that stupid.
“Screw you. I wish Lizzy had taken me with her.” I stand up and storm out of the room, leaving my dumbfounded father alone.
“We all wish that,” Step-Bitch says with a malicious expression. She's leaning against the wall outside his office, clearly listening. I ignore her and go into my room, slamming the door to let them know I'm pissed.
I grab my phone and text Amelia to see if she wants to meet up.
She agrees. I leave through my window not wanting to run into the deadbeats in this house.
Getting in my car I speed off and stop by Amelia's house to pick her up.
She runs out from the side of her house, clearly sneaking out.
She hops in the car and pulls out a bottle of spirits from her bag.
“I figured you were upset so I brought reinforcements.” Amelia grins.
Alcohol doesn't sound bad right about now.
I drive to one of the sports fields. No one is ever here at night so we have the park to ourselves.
We walk to the middle of the field and plop ourselves down on the grass.
Amelia pops the lid off the bottle and takes a sip, then passes it to me.
I take a long swig, the liquid burning while it travels down my throat.
It's quiet between us. Nothing needs to be said.
We know we're both troubled. No point talking about it.
As the bottle gets lighter, so does my head.
The burning of the alcohol lessens as we keep drinking.
The bottle is soon empty and we lie back against the grass.
The middle of the field is dark, the only streetlights being on the outside of the fence surrounding the field.
But as I'm a werewolf I can see well, a little hazy, but that's the alcohol.
This actually feels exceptional, lying on cold grass in a dark field, starry sky above me, head floating from alcohol.
Why don't I drink more? I'm starting to see the perks of it.
“Do you think university will benefit you?” I wonder aloud.
“It'll give me a tranquil environment plus partying on the side for four years. That's enough time for me to figure out my future,” Amelia explains.
I snort. “Tranquil is not the word I would use to describe university.”
“Any place other than my house will be tranquil.”
“Sounds nice.”
“You should come,” she coaxes.
“Even if my father paid and I actually wanted to, my grades would never get me in. That ship sailed long ago.”
“I get it.” She sighs. “Education is my faith for a better future and working is yours.”
“Yeah,” I agree solemnly. Before I wander off to my own pity party, I keep the conversation going. “What are you going to study?”
“I don't know. Something that makes a shitload of money.”
“I can't wait till school ends.”
“Same. By the way, when you were in detention, Reeve sat down and started flirting with me.”
“Don't bother with him,” I advise strongly. Reeve is another member of the pack. No male wolf is going to be serious about a human girl. He's just sleeping with any girl he wants before he finds his mate.
“Why?” she asks.
“He's a douchebag,” I reason since I can't say he's just a horny werewolf.
“Have you heard gossip?”
“No. Come on, what guy isn't!”
“Seems solid.” Amelia chuckles. It goes quiet between us for a while. I still feel woozy but I'm getting tired. “I could fall asleep here.”
“That's a sign we should go.” I sit up feeling like my brain slushes around when I do. We walk back to the car.
“Hm. Can you drive?”
“I don't think either of us cares, right?” I remark.
“Nope,” she agrees.
I drop her off and then go home. I throw myself back in the window I left wide open. After having a sip of the half bottle of water on my bedside table for my dry mouth, I get under my covers. Sleep takes me instantly.