one
The Half-Shifter Without a Wolf
*GWENDOLYN*
Igrab Faye’s favorite plushy and a game while rushing into the living room. “Faye, sweetie, are you here?”
“I am here.” Faye waves at me from her spot on the carpet, where she is currently playing with one of her dolls.
“Alright, I am heading to work.” I hand her the game and the plushy. “I got this for you.”
She squeals, her blue eyes lighting up with joy. “Thank you so much, Gwen.”
“Alright, honey, you can play as much as you want. I will be back from work in three hours. Oh, and on the kitchentable, there are some sandwiches and cookies for when you are hungry.”
Faye giggles. “I am okay, Gwennie. And Mommie is here too, after all.” At her words, I look up, eyeing the woman who is sitting on the sofa, Faye’s mother. She is my best and oldest friend. We have known each other since we were children.
“Marina,” I say softly, stepping closer and squeezing her hand. As usual, she is completely unresponsive. She just keeps staring at the TV, her lips moving like she is muttering something, but even when I bend down to listen to what she says, I can’t hear anything.
They broke her.
When she left the pack a couple of years ago, she was fine, then suddenly she was back with Faye and in that completely unresponsive state. “I will be back soon, Marina,” I say, pretending like she will hear what I am saying. “You stay here and play with Faye.”
Faye gets up, grabs her game and plushy and hops over to her mom, sitting down next to her. She pushes the plushy into her mother’s arms and smiles brightly. “We can play together.”
My heart breaks at the sight. Faye is so strong, so strong. She shouldn’t need to be. She should be free and without worries like most children her age. I don’t know her exact age, but when I go by the timeline of Marina leaving and then returning again, I’d assume she might be five years old. Maybe even younger. She is way too mature for her age, though, coming off like a school kid.
“Aunt Evelyn will drop by and check on you,” I reassure her. Evelyn is the head of the kitchen staff and has always been supportive of me. She is a true gem, always checking in on us and helping us in any way she can.
Faye just giggles. “I am fine.”
I don’t know if she truly is. She always laughs and smiles, she always tells me she is okay; she barely cries or demandsanything. Something tells me it’s just a front she puts up to survive, but I can’t say for sure. For now, I can’t do anything else but believe her. I pull my hair back and into a ponytail, cursing my locks once again. I got my wild locks from my dad, and he always said they make me look special. They might be, but they are also hard to maintain.
It seems I got all my looks from my dad, well, mostly. My hair is dark blonde, and I am tall; however, my eyes are green, apparently like my mom’s.
Once I decide I look fine enough to go to work, I leave the little cottage and close the door firmly behind me. I am instantly met by the fresh air of spring. I have no time to enjoy the warm breeze, though, and instead hurry to the stables next to my cottage, swiftly greeting my old horse. “I will come back later and take you out on a ride, Tulip,” I promise him, while putting fresh hay into his box.
He neighs, rubbing his head against my shoulder. I wish I could spend more time with him and with Faye, but work is calling, and I can’t afford to be too late. I kiss Tulip’s nose and leave the stables, then I grab my bike to cycle to my job in the small coffee shop close to the pack.
My cottage is on pack grounds but far away from the packhouse. I am just half wolf, a hybrid. My mom was a human, which didn’t add much to my worth here. Dad was a warrior, and while he was still alive, the pack treated me with some respect at least. Once he died, however, things changed for the worse.
Well, it’s not all bad. I have my own little cottage, I have a job, I have Tulip, and I have my best friend and her daughter. It might not be the best life, but at least I can live peacefully.
I take the route over the rocky path through the forest. I could take the main road, but I don’t want to cross the alpha’s son and his friends. They will just mock me when I do, and I don’t need the additional stress so early in the morning. The forest pathisn’t a smooth ride, but I like the way the wind blows against my face and how liberating it feels to ride like this. The only thing more liberating is riding on Tulip. There is just something about sitting on my horse when we gallop down a meadow that makes me feel free and happy.
The bike ride takes me twenty minutes. Unfortunately, I need to push it for the last part of the path, as it’s too narrow to cycle through. I don’t mind usually, but today, when I step out of the forest, my eyes fall onto a well-known group of young wolves, and my heart sinks.
I know there is no use hoping that they might have overlooked me. They never fail to notice me. Maddox raises his head, and his eyes meet mine. He is the alpha’s son, a tall and strong guy with dark hair and a broody attitude. As usual, he is surrounded by his goons – his future beta, two of their warrior friends and two girls. One of them is the young beta’s girlfriend, and the other is-
“Oh, look at that,” Josie sneers the moment she spots me. “It’s the wolfless little misfit.”
I have learned to ignore her. Josie and I have been in the same class throughout high school. Needless to say, she made my life hell. Sadly, I was the half wolf-half human girl who became the half-breed with NO wolf spirit.
Couldn’t get any more worthless in their eyes.
I used to be bothered by my heritage, but Dad always told me how beautiful I was, how happy he was to have me and that it didn’t matter that I was half-human. Tears fill my eyes every time I think of him and how he isn’t around anymore.
On his deathbed, I had to swear to him that I would never look down on my roots and that I would never look down on myself, but it’s easier said than done.
