Page 19 of The Alpha and His Song: Volume One

I had leukopenia and these pills to take every day to keep from getting sick. I had a low white blood cell count that would lead me to get infections easily. Unfortunately, it wasn’t super rare for people to have this disorder.

It was rare to have a case as severe as mine as I did, requiring medication, but that didn’t mean my dad had it as seriously as I did. Few people did, actually. I was rare. Yay me. Mom had to take me to some weird, out of network, voodoo doctor to help me.

Mom insisted that wasn’t what that lady was called, but she was old, creepy and clearly into voodoo. She wouldn’t let me see her face either, it was covered for some reason. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if that lady thought she was some kind of evil Witch.

Heck, her name gave me shivers: Valdoma. She looked at me like she was happy something was wrong with me. I didn’t like her. Mom came back into my room. I’d left a note for Melanie under my bed. She’d come by eventually.

I’d addressed it to Ashley just in case. Mom ordered, “Go get in the car.” I grabbed my bag and went down to the car. We were going to another new place. Mom followed fifteen minutes later. She threw the note at my face saying, “Your friend won’t be finding you again.” Probably not. When I turned eighteen though, I could track Melanie down in Nashville.

I was thinking about other things for now. Like the fact that I knew Luke occasionally showed up to check on me, I’d know to watch out for him. Mom muttered, “The last thing I need is some girl filling your head with these modern ideas. Abusive. Honestly.” Modern ideas?

It was absolutely NOT a modern idea to consider it abuse when someone you were in a relationship with hit you. Considering it anything else was simply archaic. I snarked, “If you’d bother to listen when I talk, you’d have heard me say I didn’t tell my friends about Luke.”

Mom asked, “Then where would you get the idea he was abusive?” I stared at her, wondering if she’d avoided technology all her life. I answered, “Google.” That wasn’t true. The school here had an assembly on abuse.

Honestly, I knew my mom was abusive right along with Luke. My ex was just around more than she was. Mom neglected me, but when she was around she was verbally abusive. I was never pretty enough or skinny enough.

The irony was that I lived in an apartment and not with my mom and her boyfriends because she didn’t want them to give me attention. As I’d gotten older, she’d worried I’d steal them from her, but in the same breath say I wasn’t pretty enough. It made no sense.

Mom muttered, “I can hardly keep you away from the internet.” Nope. She’d kept me away from a lot though. I used to love fantasy books. I was drawn to books about Werewolves but when mom found my hidden stash, she threw the books at me.

One hit me hard enough that I passed out. When I woke up, she had gotten rid of them all. Mom said that no daughter of hers would be some freak who believed in that shit. I was eight then and still to this day thought that stuff would be cool.

Turning into a wolf that could run around freely and being part of a pack. They were like family, and I desperately wanted one. No one ever had my back anymore since we took off when Lux’s dad won custody of him.

In the fantasy worlds crafted by many authors, Supernatural groups in the stories had great family connections. Not just Werewolves either. Other Supernatural’s did as well. They had their factions, but those factions had their back.

The only person who loved me was Lux, and I didn’t even know his last name. I didn’t know my last name either though to be fair. My lovely mother always said she didn’t give me one. She had to have a last name though and so did my dad. Everyone had a last name.

Which on some level the woman had to know I knew that. Talking to my mom was kind of pointless because you don’t get answers only insults. We drove the whole way to New Mexico, leaving Nashville and my newfound life behind me.

This time, I wasn’t going to follow their mold though. I had friends when they left me alone in Nashville. I fit in and I thrived. I wasn’t letting that Odette go. Melanie wouldn’t want me to. Mom found a new boyfriend pretty much right away.

Not the guy we moved here for though. No, no, that would be crazy talk. I was left in an apartment all by myself again, going to yet another new school. There were clear cliques here. Sometimes, I swear there were groups that were like catalog models in the schools.

They were very fit, the best at sports, and stuck to their groups. They always looked at me oddly. They asked strange questions too. I could never figure out why though. Part of me wanted to think they wanted me to belong with them.

Guys always flirted with me, but Luke put the last guy I kissed in the hospital right after I got here. I didn’t know how he knew, but he slipped a note under my apartment door. I didn’t want to be responsible for that again.

We had broken up and I really didn’t know why he was so possessive. Maybe because his dad was all in on the arranged married and my ex’s possessive ass thought I belonged to him. Luke needed to get over it, because deep down the man should be happy I was saying no.

It was pretty obvious my ex hated me. Luke locked me away and then didn’t even have the decency to be around when I got out. Not that I wanted him there, but still the point remained he wasn’t. Then he had the audacity to be upset I was moving on.

I closed my locker and one of those perfect, model like girls was standing there. Her name was Roxie. She casually said, “Hey Tess, what are you doing for Thanksgiving?” I answered, “Nothing. I’m working on Black Friday.”

I had gotten a job in a retail store here when we moved. I was working the entire Black Friday shift. The girl whose shift I’d volunteered to cover was grateful. She had a family and it was an easy shift for me to take because I didn’t.

Roxie bobbed her head then said, “Well, my mom always makes too much food. You could stop by if you want. We could really talk without other ears around.” I asked, “Why would you want to talk to me?” Roxie laughed, “Hey, we all have to stick together. You know? We aren’t like other people. I mean you and I aren’t the same, but you know what I mean.”

I told her honestly, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She studied me, then her jaw dropped. Roxie gasped, “Wait, you’re serious. You have no idea what the difference between us and them is.” She pointed at some other students in the hallway.

I responded, “Currently the difference is where we are standing as opposed to them. In general, I mean you could be a model. Your boyfriend and his friends clearly value lifting weights and keeping up their physique. Oh, wait, I know what you mean!”

Roxie looked relieved. I continued, “You mean being on a super strict diet. I didn’t realize that was a high school clique. I used to do my best to make enough money to follow my mom’s program. I cheat a lot though because that food is expensive. Some weeks I live off pizza rolls and ramen. They are cheap.”

Roxie looked horrified insisting, “Seriously Tess, stop by my house on Thanksgiving. We need to talk.” I shrugged, “I’m sure I can manage that. At least for a little bit.” I was literally not doing anything and a small, but loud, part of me wanted to hang out with Roxie for some reason.

Roxie sighed in relief, “Great. Give me your number.” I admitted, “I don’t have a phone.” Roxie frowned then wrote something down in her notebook then gave it to me. Roxie explained, “This is my email address. Email me. Ok?” I nodded.