Luna

Chapter 1

"Ah! Stop it! Stop!" Emily's high-pitched voice squeals.

"Hope," she giggles, then screams as she yells, "Hope, help me!"

I watch as the little girl runs around the backyard without a care in the world. She lets out a shriek as the puppy finally catches up to her tiny self and lunges, making her lose her balance. Within a matter of seconds, the shrieking turns into uncontrollable and adorable laughter as the golden retriever smothers her little face with wet kisses. I smile at the precious sight of her blissful innocence as she rolls out of my sight attempting to rid herself from her captor.

I don't remember being that age. An age filled with laughter and innocence. An age where being carefree is expected and the knowledge of repercussions is little to nonexistent. Emily's four now. She's growing up faster than expected, and I have watched as she turned into a mini me. Well, the me I used to be anyway. She is bubbly, sassy, arrogant and stubborn. How is that even possible? I know kids take after their parents, yet she has never known either.

Dad died before she was born. I had just turned fourteen then, and the memories I have of him are my most precious possession. He was a gentle soul. Always happy, smiling, adventurous, and my own personal clown. He would always pride himself as being "hip", and "down with the kids", something we never agreed on. We played pranks on each other constantly, often getting onto moms' nerves. She would always say she had two kids instead of one, which almost always encouraged dad to do something silly; mostly chase mom around and tickle her as I laughed at the sight. I know I'm not supposed to have favourites, but to this day, dad will always be mine. He was my best friend, the one I ran to with everything. With him, there were never any secrets.

Mom. She is a woman who does not deserve that title. Before our world turned upside- down, she was the most amazing woman I had ever seen. Strong, independent, ambitious, courageous, loving, caring, selfless, and words I cannot fathom at the moment. She may not have been my favourite parent, but she was definitely the woman I wanted to be when I grew up. And despite the person she has become today, I aspire to be the woman she used to be.

After losing my dad, her mate, she crawled into a deep dark hole hard even for me to see. She was depressed constantly, slept through most days, and almost bit my head off numerous times. She was a complete mess, and I never thought she would recover in time for Emily's birth.

At fourteen, I began to take care of mom daily. She managed to isolate herself from everyone else, so everything lay on me. Diamond Rock Pack was usually a very friendly and understanding pack, but after moms' abuse a mere few weeks after dad died, almost everyone stopped calling and checking up on us. She became a monster no one wanted to be around, and by association, they avoided me too.

By the time Emily was born, I had lost so much weight. Depression. Well, that's what I heard them say as I walked by. I couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, couldn't get out of my head. I was all over the place as I lost the stability that was once solid. I skipped school most of the time, and spent my days by a little abandoned cottage in the woods no one knew about. It was my solace away from all prying eyes eager to see me crumble and fall, away from the abusive mother in need of love and attention I couldn't give her, away from everything that reminded me, he was gone.

I gave her everything I had, everything I could to pull her out of the hole sinking deeper and faster as her due date came along. She however didn't recover. She refused to. The closer the due date came along, the more anxious I became. I was scared. Terrified I would have to raise a baby by myself. I, was suffocating.

I don't know how, but she managed to pick herself up after Em's birth. She was bright, vibrant, happy... The love she showed Em was real. Raw emotion I hadn't seen in a while. Emotion I craved, emotion I needed.

I hated her! She didn't deserve any kind of happiness while I lay in a hole I dug myself as I attempted to give her life. As I poured out everything I could to bring her back to me, she sucked the life right out of me and never turned back. Sometime between Emily's birth and her first few check ups, she became selfish and self-centered . I realized then, that she had stored every bit of energy I had given her and lay in wait. In wait for something and someone she deemed worthy of her time. And that, was not me.

In my mother's eyes, I was a constant reminder of the mate she lost too soon. A spitting image of the man who she was trying to forget. She suppressed me as much as she could. Hid me away from the public as soon as she was 'well'. Her happiness and Emily quickly became the most important things in her life, and I was simply a tag along. I would have reached out to family if we had any. But this circle was as far as it went.

Mom, Emily, and I, though I quickly became the family maid. I stopped going to school completely that year, fed on scraps, and slaved through the house. My depression was on an all time high, and I withdrew from myself completely, becoming a mere ghost of myself.

During this period, she amazingly managed to snag a new man, a Beta from Crescent Moon Pack. He was tall, dark, and I dare say handsome. He made her laugh and forget about the world, which was all I ever wanted for her. She became warmer towards me, kinder, and stopped bruising me both physically and emotionally.

I cringe as I recall how fast this relationship was. One minute we were almost nobodies at Diamond Rock Pack, the next, mom was the wife of the Beta at Crescent Moon Pack where we moved after they got married. Under the new packs watchful eye, mom liberated me from the prison she created for the sole purpose of suffocating the life out of me. I went back to school in the pack territory, and for a full year I was me again. Well, as long as I kept my head down, that is.

Pulling myself out of my thoughts, I realize the laughing has stopped. I immediately stop peeling the potatoes in my hands, my eyes desperately scanning the backyard through the kitchen window. No one. I can't see her! I prick up my ears as panic rushes through me.

"Em?" I call as I attempt to calm myself while I make my way to the door. It's fine. She's fine. Don't panic. She. Is. Fine.

"Em!" I call louder when I don't get a response and rush out the kitchen door.

My heart drops when I don't see her in the backyard. Could she have wondered to the edge of the woods? Why wasn't I watching her?! Dammit! My heart begins to thump as numerous scenarios run through my head. Paralyzed with fear and anxiety, I lose all concept of time.

Go after her! my subconscious yells. Go! Damn all consequences and repercussions, just go! she yells.

As I slowly regain the use of my limbs, I hear soft laughter to the side of the house. Em! I let out a sigh of relief as I place a hand on my chest. Briskly, I walk towards the laughter and stop dead in my tracks. The sweet relief that washed over me a few seconds ago disappears in a flash. Oh no!