No Bonds to Hold Me, but a Wolf to Run With Chapter 02

No Bonds to Hold Me, but a Wolf to Run With Chapter 02

My phone vibrated, and a new group chat popped up.

It was named “Grey & Hartwell Family.”

Six members, including me.

They remembered me this time.

There were already over forty messages in the chat.

A video of Sienna opening gifts, a photo of both mothers feeding her cake at the same time, and the backs of both fathers fighting over who got to carry her bags.

Nobody asked where I was.

At 1:00 AM, Sienna sent a single text: “Did Big Sis get home?”

Claire replied first: “She probably went running off to the Hartwells. Must be nice living with her new billionaire dad.”

It took Eleanor a few minutes to respond: “I figured she headed over to your place since she’s practically lived there forever.”

Claire: “It’s fine. Iris is sensible. Don’t worry, she must be on her way.”

Their replies were so clever. Not a single person tagged me, and not a single person invited me home.

A notification popped up in the university freshman chat.

The school was recruiting Orientation Leaders, and successful applicants could move into the dorms early.

After filling out the application, barring any accidents, I would be heading to Harvard in seven days.

At 9:00 AM the next day, Claire finally called.

“Where on earth did you go last night? You didn’t come home, and you didn’t even say anything in the chat.”

I looked at the puddles that had accumulated outside my window all night. “I didn’t know which home to go back to.”

Silence fell over the other end of the line.

An hour later, all four of them rushed into the library.

They arrived fast and accurate.

My adoptive father, Victor, was an Alpha of the Red Moon Pack. As long as I remained within the territory, tracking me down was effortless.

Victor shoved the door open, saw me sitting safely at my desk, and his face instantly darkened. “Your phone works. Why didn’t you say anything? Do you have any idea how long everyone looked for you?”

I was curious. “What time did you guys start looking?”

How funny.

Didn’t they only realize I wasn’t home at 9:00 AM?

Eleanor walked over, her voice strained as she explained, “We just assumed the Greys would take care of you. They raised you for eighteen years, after all.”

Claire immediately raised her head. “Iris is your flesh and blood. After last night’s pack bonding ceremony, your bloodlines should be pulling her home. She was supposed to go back with you.”

Eleanor immediately shot back, “All her things are at our house. Of course she should go back to what she knows.”

The two mothers grew more anxious by the second, one grabbing my left hand while the other gripped my right wrist.

Both wanted to prove they weren’t cold-hearted, yet neither of them uttered an invitation for me to come home.

I yanked my hands back and walked straight out of the library.

Both sets of parents followed behind me, and I heard them complaining to each other—my hearing was exceptionally sharp, even keener than my Alpha adoptive father’s.

“That girl is so unreasonable.”

“She can come home whenever she wants. It’s not like we’re turning her away.”

In truth, they knew very well that failing to invite me was just a disguised rejection.

Sienna ran up to catch my arm. “Big Sis, I’m sorry.”

“They kept talking to me last night, and I didn’t realize you weren’t there until bedtime. I asked in the chat, but I…”

She glanced back at the four parents and swallowed the rest of her sentence.

“This isn’t your fault,” I said.

To sweep the incident under the rug, Victor proposed organizing a seven-day “family bonding week,” taking all six of them on a trip together.

Marcus agreed on the spot, saying both daughters needed to get to know both families all over again.

The two mothers opened their phones to show me the tourist spots and restaurants.

“This time, no one gets left behind.”

My wolf refused to believe them.

Yet a stubborn part of me still fostered a shred of hope.

Right then, the school sent a confirmation email. My housing application had been approved, with the move-in date exactly seven days away.

Please reply to confirm.