They Left Me Behind, Then Wanted Me Back Chapter 04

They Left Me Behind, Then Wanted Me Back Chapter 04

I waited on the curb as Dad pulled up in his car.

His family was inside. The little boy in the backseat was half-asleep, slumped in his car seat.

I reached for the back door. Dad clicked his tongue.

“Forget it. Take a cab.”

“If you wake your brother up with the door, he’ll throw a fit.”

Before I could respond, he gave me an address and sped off.

Exhaust hit my face. I coughed.

I checked my wallet balance against cab fare. Took the bus.

Two transfers. Almost an hour. I finally got to his estate.

Last time I was here, Grandma had just been diagnosed with cancer.

She’d said she was too sick to take care of me. She asked Dad to let me stay.

I didn’t even get to see his face. I stood outside the door, listening to him kick her out.

“My son’s about to start junior Pack Academy. I don’t have time for this! She’s old enough for Pack Boarding Academy. Stop bothering me!”

I pressed the doorbell. Dad opened it, annoyed.

“Took you long enough. Just like your mother.”

He threw shoe covers at me. “Put these on.”

Before I could step inside, he grabbed a footstool and laid a paper sheet on it.

“Sit here. Don’t get the couch dirty.”

I didn’t move.

“Just give me Grandma’s things. I’ll leave.”

The door cracked open. My little brother peeked out.

“Miss, don’t you have a pack house? Why are you at my pack so late?”

His innocent eyes tightened my throat until I couldn’t get a word out.

Dad shoved two plastic bags at me.

“Your grandma left these random odds and ends for you before she died.”

“Alright. That’s it. Leave. Your brother needs to sleep. Don’t disturb him.”

I turned and walked away.

Night had fallen. No buses in sight.

I couldn’t bring myself to pay for a cab. So I walked.

Almost fifteen miles across town. Blisters rose, burst, and formed again over seven hours of tramping through the dark.

Almost sixteen miles, all the way across the city from east to west. Over seven hours.

By the time I reached the pack house, the sky was light.

The breakfast pastry vendor gasped. “Kaia! You look so pale! What happened?”

I forced a smile. “Nothing. Just walked a long way.”

But no walk would ever be longer than the rest of my life alone.

Another few weeks. I got my paycheck.

The pack house broker called. The pack house sold.

I started shipping my things out.

The day before I left the city, my parents showed up.

For once, they were on the same page.

“Kaia, Dad just remembered—you’re taking your academy entrance trials this year too, right? What are you doing with the pack house?”

“Your mother thinks you’re too young to handle property. Scammers might take advantage of you.”

“How about you sell it, and we’ll put the money in a secure holding fund for you?”

I looked at them. Didn’t call them out.

Ten minutes ago, they’d been arguing outside my door. I’d heard every word through the wood.

Dad said the pack house should go to him.

Mom sneered. It was bought with marital assets. She had a claim too.

They both forgot.

When they tossed me to Grandma like garbage, she’d made one demand—the deed to that old pack house. In my name.

I said calmly, “Sure. Call the pack house broker.”

“But I’m tired today. Do it tomorrow.”

Their faces lit up. They left together, already planning.

The next morning, they arrived right on time.

The door swung open. They pushed inside.

And they froze dead in their tracks.

Workers were everywhere. Blueprints. Measuring tapes. Discussing renovations.

“What the hell? Who are you people?”

“We’re looking for our daughter—”

“What daughter?”

The Lycan cut them off. “”We finalized the pack house transfer yesterday.” We’re measuring for renovations.”

“Get out of here.”