No Bonds to Hold Me, but a Wolf to Run With Chapter 08

No Bonds to Hold Me, but a Wolf to Run With Chapter 08

She pushed her phone toward me with reddened eyes.

The screen showed a notification from the Council app.

All four parents had already prepped the paperwork for our legal status updates.

Sienna said quietly, “They decided everything for us again.”

They could decide whatever they wanted, but I wasn’t going back.

I was keeping the name Iris Grey.

Just because it was the name I’d used all my life.

Without any sentimental strings attached.

I contacted the Council directly, and the elders happened to be quite fond of me.

So… nobody was changing my name, not even if my adoptive father was an Alpha.

Because I refused to go back and change it, they came after me again.

Claire looked almost smug. “Sweetheart, you still like the name we gave you, right?”

The Hartwells looked displeased, but they held their tongues, “We respect your choice,

sweetheart.”

Claire invited me to dinner, mentioning she’d booked a private six-person room and making sure to emphasize that there were enough seats this time.

I turned around and walked away.

I didn’t want to hear what they had to say, and I didn’t want to see any of them.

Sienna caught up to me. “Can we still stay in touch?”

I stopped. Honestly, I didn’t hate her. After all, both sets of parents favored this little sister.

My wolf let out a soft whine deep inside.

She liked Sienna.

“Just friends. No passing messages, and no trying to play peacemaker for them.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

After that, seeing that I couldn’t care less, the two sets of parents finally gave up and went back

home.

Still, they left Iris behind-this girl my age had also come to Boston, though she was attending a

more ordinary school.

The first heavy downpour of autumn arrived out of nowhere.

When the end-of-class bell rang, rainwater was already spilling over the steps in front of the main

building.

I stood in the lobby rummaging through my backpack before remembering I’d left my umbrella drying back at the dorm.

The group chat with the six of us suddenly popped up with four messages in a row.

Claire said: Iris, remind Sienna to take an umbrella. She’s dressed too light today.

Eleanor wrote: Are you and Sienna together? Don’t let her get soaked.

The two fathers chimed in-one asking if Sienna’s class was over, the other telling me to call a cab

for her.

Every time I saw messages like that, I wanted to laugh. They knew I’d been in touch with Sienna lately, so they fell back on their default routine.

They weren’t asking if I needed anything. They just assumed I’d show up on cue and play babysitter to their other daughter.

I stared out at the sheets of rain, my fingers growing stiff in the chill.

Normally, I wouldn’t even bother replying.

I typed a single sentence into the chat: I don’t have an umbrella either.

The chat went dead silent for a long time.

Victor was the first to wire money for an umbrella.

Marcus told me to call a cab too.

Claire explained that she only thought I was better at taking care of myself, while Eleanor added

that Iris had never traveled far from home and people just worried.

I watched their little performance with cold eyes, then left the group chat.

I clutched my backpack against imy chest, ready to make a run for it through the pouring rain.

The second my foot hit the bottom step, a figure came sprinting through the rain with an umbrella.

The storm was so fierce the person’s pant legs were completely soaked, yet they were holding another unopened umbrella in a tight grip.

Sienna rushed up to me, doubled over to catch her breath, and thrust the dry umbrella into my

hands.

“Nobody came to pick you up on your birthday.” She wiped the rainwater off her chin. “Big sis, I’m picking you up this time.”

I took the umbrella. The handle still held the warmth of her palm.

She didn’t try to crowd in under my umbrella.

Two umbrellas went up, each shielding one person, their rims occasionally bumping before sliding

apart.

A strange, unfamiliar feeling began to spread through my chest.