one
VIOLET
My heart is racing in my chest as my mother brushes my hair and styles it into a conservative chignon. I’d much rather keep it long and loose, but Mother seems to think that controlling one’s appearance is akin to controlling one’s behavior. That’s why she holds the brush while I sit passively and watch.
“This alpha has come a very long way to meet you, Violet,” she explains softly, but an anxious edge undercuts her friendly words. “We want to impress him so he’ll come back with the rest of his pack and make you a formal offer.”
I press my lips together and nod, searching for her eyes in the mirror’s reflection.
Her gaze connects with mine, but she quickly looks away. She would never admit it, but I know she hates me for what I’ve done. She stopped loving me that same day I came home from school in tears and shared my shameful revelation… that is, if she ever loved me at all.
I am the disappointment that threatens to rip her perfect family apart from the inside.
It’s June now, and according to the profile my parents created on Knotty.net, I’ll be twenty-one next month. The truth, though, is that I won’t hit my twenty-first birthday until September of next year.
Hell, I should still be at preparatory school with my twin sister Jade, but instead I was pulled away the moment my parents got wind of my little indiscretion. I’ve been stuck at home for a year and a half now.
Things haven’t been the same since then. Jade’s off living her own life while I remain a prisoner in my own home. My other sisters are far too young to know what to say or how to offer any comfort.
Now I’m left with a hollow feeling inside as I wonder what could have been…
An angry bobby-pin jabs into my scalp, and I flinch from the sudden burst of pain.
“Violet, are you listening to me?” Mom demands, making it clear she’d poked me hard on purpose.
Suddenly my throat becomes dry, and I have a hard time swallowing. “Yes.”
She shakes her head with half-veiled eyes. I’m doing exactly what she wants of me, and still it’s not enough. I will never be enough. Not anymore. Not again.
“Tell me what you’ve learned about Pack Muldoon in preparation for meeting Alpha Miles today.”
I take a deep breath to steady myself, then recite the facts I memorized from the Muldoon dossier. “They’re a newly formed pack based in Anchorage, Alaska. The four alphas were born into poor families but bonded together and started a business in the adventure tourism industry that quickly became an overnight success.”
She raises one eyebrow and asks, “And what are they looking for in an omega?”
“Someone who is not only open to adventure but embraces it. Someone a lot more like Jade.” I can’t suppress the smile that blossoms on my face as I think of my twin sister. She’s my favorite person in the whole wide world, and I miss her dearly.
The brush jerks up in Mom’s hand, and for a moment I think she’s going to hit me. Instead she regains her composure and says, “Then channel your sister in this meeting if you must. This is the best offer you’re going to get. If they even make one.” She shakes her head as if she’s already disappointed in my performance even though the show has yet to begin.
“Yes, Mom. I understand.”
“Do you?” Her dark, piercing eyes find mine. “They’re looking for someone from out of state, which is perfect for us. I’d bet Pack Muldoon also has a less-than-ideal past, given their…” She clears her throat. “…humble beginnings.”
It takes all my focus to keep the disgust I feel from showing on my face. Sometimes I wonder if Mom has a single drop of compassion in her entire body. She’s lost touch with how the world really is now that she’s famous for being the #1 Mom of her generation—number one in terms of number of kids, that is. She’s terrible at the actual parenting part.
If I think way, way back to when Jade and I were hardly out of diapers, sometimes I can remember a different version of Mom. She had this smile that was like a spotlight, and when she turned it on you, you just knew everything would be okay. She also gave the best hugs.
But then Scarlett came along. And Amber. And Sapphire. And, and.
And with each new sister, I lost more and more of my mother.
Honestly, I hope Alpha Miles does like me. I hope he makes me an offer, one that takes me far away from here. I don’t know much about Alaska, other than that it’s cold and it’s three thousand miles away from Mom.
Well, I may be California born and bred, but I can learn to like the cold.
Anything to be free of the person who not only ruined my life, but did so with a smile.
“Pack Fernando put in an offer,” she reveals now with an almost sinister smile. “I didn’t think they would, given they’re one of the few who actually know what you got up to at that academy of yours.” That academy of mine, like she wasn’t the one who chose it from the long list of possibilities and shipped me and Jade off the moment we were old enough. But Mother has said something far more disturbing just now, and that’s what I choose to address.