The customers applauded as I finished my second composition. I smiled and waved at the cafe full of customers before stepping off the small stage they made for me.
It had been two months now since I started working for Piper, at her small cafe. Before I came, it was apparently very isolated but now that I was the live entertainment, many people came to have lunch or breakfast here. And according to Piper, it was all thanks to me but I knew that really, it was just because of how delicious her food was.
I had saved up quite a lot of money and helped the pack towards the bills, even though they had more than enough to pay the bills for the next fifty years for every single pack member. I didn’t like sponging off people, and I wanted to earn enough money to move out and buy a little flat for the babies and I.
I was due in about a week or so now. I was nearly as big as a whale, or that’s what they teased me about. But it was only occasionally, and I knew they were joking, unlike the people back in my old pack, who seemed to think it was funny to make me cry.
I have never once cried after my ex-mate marked someone else; I refused to let him make me cry even if he wasn’t here. I’ve only been smiling or laughing since the pack never let me cry or get emotional. I was proud to be one of them.
“Caroline, Caro, are you listening to me hon?”
I blinked and turned to the source of the voice. Pulling me out of my thoughts was Piper, in her cute pink apron with cupcakes decorating it.
“Um yeah, sorry. What was that?” I asked.
“Just saying, amazing job as usual. There were more customers today, so thank you for saving my little cafe,” she said gratefully.
I rolled my eyes at her. “Seriously, Piper, I’ve told you so many times, it’s your amazing cooking that people come her for, not my okay piano playing.”
“It’s not okay piano playing at all. It’s AMAZING piano playing! Actually, I’ve always been wondering, who is your piano teacher?”
“My father taught me to play the piano.”
“Oh. May I have his name?”
“It’s Steward Forest.”
“What! Steward Forest!” She exclaimed surprisingly. “The greatest modern pianist in the world! You are her daughter!”
I gazed upon Piper, “Wait… You mean my father? But he never mentioned that to me.”
“I guess that’s because he’s a humble person as well.” Piper replied, “Anyway, no wonder you could play the piano so well. Oh, and I’m sorry to remind you of your father’s death…”
I smiled at Piper and said, “It’s fine. I’m proud of my father.”
“Well, anyway, someone told me that Alpha’s waiting for you, you better go now” she said and a small smile appeared on her face as she thought of Henry.
I chuckled. “I’ll see ya tomorrow then, at 10?”
“Yep, and take care of yourself and those two troublemakers, will ya?”
I laughed and shook my head. “Sure will.”
As I stepped out the warm cafe, I was attacked by the intense heat of the sun. The joys of living in California, I thought.
As usual, parked in front of me was Henry in his white Audi R8. I waved at him before walking to his car, or his ‘most prized possession’ as he says. Boys will always be boys, I thought shaking my head. But I doubt he’d say that after he found his mate.
Henry hadn’t found his mate yet, even though he was 19 years old now. But I had no doubt that whenever he did find his mate, she would be extremely lucky to have a guy like him. Not only was he very good-looking with his dark brown shaggy hair, light blue eyes, two cute dimples on both his cheeks and lean but very muscular body, but he was also a very kind-hearted person. He was generous and amazing with giving advice, which was why he was one of my best friends now.
I opened the door and stepped in. “Hey,” I said as soon as I plopped my butt on the luxurious leather seat of his very expensive car.
“Hey, how was work?” he asked, helping me to buckle my seat-belt around my massive stomach.
“Good, I’m kinda tired now so just get me home,” I groaned, resting my head back.
“See, I told you. You don’t need to work. We have plenty of money for the pack,” he stated.
“How many times have I told you this? I want to save some money for me and the babies-“
He interrupted, “And you don’t want to keep sponging off us and have your own house, blah, blah, blah.”
“Shush,” I muttered, my eyes closing already.
“You know I’m right,” he retorted.
I couldn’t be bothered to argue back, so I simply closed my eyes and mumbled, “Whatever.”
As soon as I closed my eyes, I was engulfed into darkness, with the music playing softly in the background.
Flashback
“Mom, you’re finally home!” I squealed once I saw my mom in the kitchen at home. I hadn’t see her in a very long time since she was always out.
I took in her appearance, her light brown hair dishevelled, her blood red lipstick smudged along with the rest of her make-up, and her black tight dress all crumpled up. But still, my mom looked beautiful as always.
“Unfortunately,” she grumbled.
I frowned, my mom wasn’t happy to see me? I could feel my tears prickling at the back of my eyes but said nothing. I knew already how much of a disappointment I was, thanks to dad and Ry and the whole of the pack.
I was supposed to have shifted on my 15th birthday, but now it was two months after it and I still hadn’t shifted, so Chris, along with the rest of the pack made fun of me, saying that I had a dormant wolf. There hadn’t been many cases at all where a she-wolf hadn’t shifted after the age of 15, but all of them never actually shift at all, ever.
So because of that, they all assumed that I was a human and automatically became the weakest link of the pack. I was frowned upon and I had no one to talk to. They even thought that humans were better than me, even though they hated humans.
“What are you doing here, you ugly b*tch?” Mom asked walking over to me.
Instantly I started sweating because I was scared from the punishments I would get. I kept my head low and didn’t say anything. I felt cold fingers wrap around my neck and squeeze it. I struggled since I was running out of breath, I moved around and tossed, trying to get her to loosen her grip.
I was too weak for her and I knew that.
I did everything but never looked at her face because I knew that it would piss her off even more. And I knew that if I did piss her off, I would certainly die.
Suddenly, I felt myself being lifted off and thrown against the wall. I landed on the ground with a huge thud and my back against the wall. I could feel myself slipping into darkness.
“I’d rather kill you, you shameful b*tch.” my mother said.
End of Flashback
“Caro, are you okay? You’ve been screaming,” I heard a voice ask. I slowly opened my eyes and saw Henry’s worried face in front of me.
I nodded and rubbed my eyes. “I’m fine,” I mumbled.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked, his face still making the worry.
“I’m fine,” I replied firmly.
“Anyways, we’re home,” he said.
“Wow! Already? Gee, I must’ve been well tired,” I muttered before a huge yawn escaped my mouth. Henry chuckled and stepped out of the car. He walked to my side and opened the door. Holding a hand out, he helped pull me out the car.
He shut the door behind him and we continued walking to the pack house hand-in-hand. It wasn’t really a romantic gesture, just something we naturally did without even thinking.
As I took my first step up, I felt wetness run down my legs. I turned to Henry with wide eyes and whispered, knowing that he’d be able to hear me perfectly anyways, “I think my water just broke.”