Chapter 32: Chapter 32

Laughter spilled from my lips in waves, and I realized I hadn’t truly laughed in a long time. Axel sat in his seat, a perplexed look forming on his face as he watched me. It was comforting to know that mental deterioration ran in the family, but it didn’t give me much hope for the future. My erratic laughter subsided, and I took a few deep breaths.

“Look, Axel,” I laughed, placing my hand over my mouth to stifle another wave of laughter. “I think you need help, which means I definitely need help too.”

“Sussan…” Confusion formed on Axel’s face. Did he really think I would believe that? Werewolves? He rips me from my life and confesses that there’s a world of magical creatures?

This isn’t a book. Life isn’t filled with fantasy. You work, people screw you over, you try to survive, and then you die.

“No…” I shook my head. “I shouldn’t even have to consider this.”

I turned on my heels and went up to my room.

I closed the door behind me, checking a couple of times to make sure the door was securely locked. My legs were tired from the long shift at work, but the good pay would be worth it for my Friday plans.

Now lying on the bed, I refused to even entertain the idea of what Axel had told me. Gea complained, furious, in my head, but I paid no attention. I made a long playlist of music in my mind and went through each song, one by one.

When I finished, I had taken a long shower and gotten ready for bed. I slept well into the morning, not bothering to answer when there was a knock on my bedroom door. The phone Aly had given me was on my nightstand, her picture flashing on my screen.

That’s how I spent the night, unable to sleep but determined not to leave the next day. Screw the twins and my promise not to miss school, which wasn’t really a promise but more of an intention that I now didn’t feel like fulfilling, or rather felt I shouldn’t fulfill because Friday was just around the corner, and one more day or one less wouldn’t make a difference.

Furthermore, and above all, I didn’t want to deal with Axel’s madness and his fantasies about being some kind of werewolf. I had more than enough with my own madness and that voice called Gea that refused to leave and, on the contrary, seemed determined to convince me to talk to Axel, to listen to him.

“But of course, you want me to talk to him,” I said to Gea when it was becoming truly exasperating. “That way, you’ll feed my madness, and you’ll last longer in my head.”

My response didn’t satisfy her; instead, it enraged her and made her more intense.

Around one in the morning, I heard someone approach my bedroom door, and I approached as well, fearing it could be Axel who, after a few more glasses of liquor, had decided to barge into my room. Then I realized that he, as the owner of the house, probably had keys to every room.

My heart twisted at the thought of that possibility, but I quickly realized I was being too paranoid, courtesy of living under the same roof as Dud.

“Miss Sussan, don’t you want to eat something?”

It was Maggie’s voice. I don’t know how she knew I was awake, but it reassured me that it was her.

“I’m not hungry, Maggie. Thank you,” I replied, although my stomach protested. I was afraid it could be a trick, and Axel might be behind the cook, waiting for me to open the door to beg me to listen to his stories about werewolves to justify something as serious as abandoning a newborn daughter.

Maggie tried to convince me with soft and persuasive words, as well as the smell of stew reaching my nose, making my stomach growl even louder. But I insisted on not opening the door. After several minutes of torture, Maggie decided to stop insisting and left. I stayed by the door, listening to the sound of her footsteps fading away, but what interested me the most was whether she had come alone or not. I didn’t hear anything else, so I assumed I could have opened the door without any risk.

“That’s what you get for being suspicious,” said Gea. “I would have liked to try that stew too.”

“Now you’re telling me you have a sense of taste too? And you get hungry?” I replied.

“I have many things you don’t know because you haven’t decided to listen, obtuse,” Gea said.

“And that’s not going to convince me to do it,” I protested after regretting having provoked her to speak again.

I lay back in bed with my cellphone in hand, going through a book I had read years ago. It hadn’t even been five minutes when I felt someone approaching the door of my room again. I looked at the clock on my cellphone and saw that it was 1:24 a.m. If it wasn’t Maggie again, it had to be Axel, and I approached the door prepared to rage at him. Sensing that presence behind the door still lingered without revealing themselves, I decided to open it. I was met with an angry face that immediately felt familiar to me.

I hadn’t come across Annabeth or Stacy all day. It was nice not having to deal with their looks and mockery. Stacy was next to the tray of food that Maggie had left at the door, leaning against the wall. She was beautiful with her golden hair and green eyes, but the expression on her face spoiled her features. Despite the early hour of the morning, she was well-dressed, just like her mother. Both of them dressed as if they were about to step onto a runway at any moment.

“Do you know what it’s like to live in the shadow of someone you’ve never known?” Stacy said, her green eyes squinting as she looked at me.

My lips parted in confusion. I knew she wasn’t talking about me. Axel ignored me for seventeen years; I didn’t even have a shadow for her to live in.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I looked at her intently, expressionless. It wasn’t my fault that she had issues with her father, nor was it my fault. I sympathized with her because her life had also changed, but that didn’t mean I would let her trample over me.

“You’re the firstborn,” Stacy clarified, and I rolled my eyes. “What’s wrong with you guys?” I growled, “Firstborn? I couldn’t care less! Who the hell cares!” My chest was heaving when I finished, but Stacy seemed angrier than ever. Her green eyes were now black with rage, and her l*p curled back in a wild grimace.

“I try to tell you, and you don’t even listen,” Stacy mocked. “What a shitty Luna you would be. You shouldn’t even exist. Pathetic. You’re nothing but a damn half-breed.” Stacy’s words were confusing, yet they felt like a slap in the face.

Gea was furious, hurling obscenities in my mind. I could feel her pushing at the edges of my head, almost as if she were in a cage.

“You’re completely crazy,” I replied. “You, your dad, and your snobby mother. You’re all determined to drag me into this s**t, something I never wanted. I don’t even want to be here in the first place.” I slammed the door in her face. By that point, I could at least thank Stacy for killing my appetite because the smell of the stew tortured me again. My stomach growled in protest, but I could hardly feel it. My mind was spinning with what Axel had said.

A few hours passed, and the sun finally rose behind the tree line that bordered the house. A knock sounded on my door, but I had grown accustomed to ignoring it at this point. I didn’t even look up as the knocks continued. I sat in a large chair by the window, with a forgotten book resting on my lap. My cheek pressed against the cold glass window as I gazed out at the forest. I tried to imagine what Axel had told me, picturing the werewolves of his fantasies running through the woods. I had only seen a werewolf once in a movie, a grotesque, human-like creature with claws and excessive body hair.

“That’s not what we look like,” Gea complained, rolling her eyes.

“I’m worried that we’re already becoming one of them,” I sighed, rubbing my temples. “I understand, you’ve been through some s**t,” Gea snorted. “But you can’t keep shutting people out.”

“Sure I can,” I frowned. “The last time I thought about letting someone in, I was mugged and almost raped.”

Gea fell silent as the sound of a door opening filled my room. My head turned toward the source. Axel stood behind my open door, holding a silver key in his hand.

“Seriously?” I grimaced, my eyes narrowing at him.

Axel entered my room, with the same majestic air about him. The swirling aura around him gave him that feeling of superiority, while his suits gave him the appearance of a great leader.

“You locked yourself in all night,” Axel arched his eyebrow at me.

“What did you expect me to do after the bullshit you said to justify leaving me?” I scoffed. “Leave me alone, let me go back to Lia, disappear from my life again.”

Axel seemed indifferent to my miniature tantrum. He was well aware that locking myself in all night was childish, but I didn’t care. I had been an adult woman for so long, taking care of myself, that I deserved a moment of immature selfishness.

“Sussan, whether you choose to believe me or not is your decision,” Axel closed the door behind him and paused. “But sooner or later, you’ll be forced to face the truth.”

“Sure, absolutely,” I nodded, “I’ll turn into a furry creature and howl at the moon.”

“We don’t howl at the moon,” Axel rolled his eyes, his expression making him look a decade younger. I could see what Lia saw in him so many years ago. Axel was relatively handsome, with a full head of hair and a sharp jawline.

“I don’t need details,” I shook my head, “It’s bad enough that you’re saying this crap, but your daughter is saying it too.”

“Stacy?” Axel paused, his lips downturned in a frown.

“Unless you have another daughter,” I pinched the bridge of my nose.

“She’s unhappy…”

“And full of s**t!” I interrupted.

I rolled my eyes at him. I could feel his temper flaring as the aura of power around him became much more hostile. I could feel the hair on my arms standing up, but I wasn’t afraid. I should have been, Axel looked terrifying, and yet I wasn’t.

Gea sat disinterested while Axel stood threateningly over us. Axel didn’t seem surprised that we weren’t cowering in fear. His eyes burned with acceptance, even if his posture radiated anger.

“She will take care of that,” Axel snapped, his deep voice resonating throughout the room. “And you will deal with it. You will go to school today, Sussan. I gave you some time for yourself, but you will leave this room.”

I felt my lips part. Grandma had never been forced to yell at me before since I wasn’t a bad kid. Lia never tried to raise me, avoiding that catastrophe. Axel was clearly playing the role of the concerned father, the idea made me shudder.

“I’ll leave the room,” I shook my head, “But I don’t want to go back to that school.”

“You can go to school or I’ll drag you and the rest of my family back to my pack,” Axel growled, his thick arms crossed over his chest.

I ignored his last word, knowing it definitely had something to do with wolves.

Did he just say “pack” referring to his hometown?

“You can’t do that,” I scoffed, “LiaMelissa has custody, and I’ll be eighteen in less than six months.”

“Lia no longer has custody,” Axel said, shaking his head, his face remained stern. “I’ve been taking care of some business.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I shook my head, “I’ll leave the day I turn eighteen.”

“A few months in my pack, and you won’t want to leave,” Axel sneered. “You’d become the next Luna.”

“Luna?” I pressed my lips together, “Stacy mentioned something about a Luna.”

Axel stiffened and muttered something about Stacy.

“The Luna is the female leader of a pack,” Axel nodded, and I pretended not to be interested. “She said you shouldn’t have existed.” I looked at him before returning my gaze to the window. “Would you mind explaining that?”

Axel remained silent for a moment, the aura of anger swirling around him diminished.

“Lia wasn’t my mate,” Axel’s voice sounded harsh but sincere. “I had gotten her pregnant just before meeting Annabeth.”

“Friend,” I repeated, the word sounding strange in my language. “And is Annabeth your companion?” “She is,” he replied. His voice had a different tone, one in which I could perceive love and adoration in his words. I had thought Annabeth was a b***h, but Axel’s words held so much love for that woman that it made me feel guilty for what I had thought of her.

“She’s right, then,” I shrugged. The fact hurt a little, but it was a pain I had felt before, and Axel’s words made sense. They answered my question of why I never fit in anywhere. Why Lia never loved me and why Axel stayed away.

“Destiny has a very peculiar way of changing things.” Axel paused. “Destiny isn’t kind, nor does it give us what we want.”

One day, I could deal with one more day. I would survive school, collect my paycheck from the restaurant, and finish planning my escape that very night.

“I’ll go to school,” I said, my eyes fixed on the forest outside the window. “But I don’t want anything to do with your pack or your life.”