The Neglected Girl Chosen by the Moon Goddess Chapter 08

The Neglected Girl Chosen by the Moon Goddess Chapter 08

His smile was warm. “How are you feeling?”

“Better. Not as sore. Thank you for saving me.”

He shook his head. “I’m Ethan. You should carry something for protection. It’s been rough around here lately.

And we can’t exactly shift and eat people.”

Practically a confession.

I smiled at him. “Thanks. Wasn’t expecting to run into another wolf.”

My wolf rolled her eyes and muttered that he might be more than just another wolf.

He noticed my chapped lips, got up, and poured me a glass of water. After I drank, he nodded toward my

phone.

“It’s been buzzing. Probably your family.”

I licked my lips, still wet, and opened my phone.

The first message was Mom’s angry rant.

“Stop ignoring me! Reply!”

“What’s wrong with your mindlink? Why can’t I sense you at all? Did you disappear somewhere because

you’re too far away?”

I gripped my phone, hands trembling.

Ethan stood up and left the room, giving me space.

I blinked back the sting and scrolled up.

At the very top: they’d realized I wasn’t home.

Mom tagged me first. “It’s late. Where are you?”

Two minutes later, Dad: “Stop throwing a tantrum. You’re just making your mother upset.”

Five minutes after that, Lucas: “I checked the cameras. You haven’t been home in over a week. I called the insurance office. They said you never reported. Elara, where are you?”

No one was truly worried about whether I was safe. They were only angry that I had kept them in the dark.

Mom started calling. I let it ring a few times, then answered.

Her voice hit me like a slap.

“Elara, how dare you answer! You’re so irresponsible! Where have you been?”

“Mexico.”

Silence for a second.

Lucas’s voice came through, quick and sharp. “Why would you go there? It’s not safe.”

“Work.”

Dad snatched the phone. “We already found you a job! What are you doing?”

“I don’t want it.”

“Then what do you want?” Mom’s voice was sharp, mocking.

“You think you’re too grown to listen? Fine. Don’t ever expect us to care again!”

She raged on, like I was some ungrateful stray.

My body, which had only just recovered, grew tired again. My voice was soft, but every word carried clearly.

“Did you ever?”

“What?”

She took three full seconds to process it.

“I said-did you ever care?”

“You-”

I cut her off. “Have you ever celebrated my birthday for me? Do you even know what major I studied in

college? Did I get a single day of rest during those four years of winter and summer vacations? I paid my

own tuition. How much did you give me for living expenses-a fifth of what you gave Lily? Who does all the

housework? Do you really have the right to say you’ve ever been there for me?”

Silence.

They had no answers.

Dad finally spoke. “You’re the older sister. Why are you comparing yourself to Lily?”

I laughed.

Because they’d used that line on me countless times before. Whenever they had no excuse, “sister” was their

shield. A mountain I could never climb.

“Just because I’m one year older, I have to be invisible?”