The Luna Who Paid to Live in Her Own Home Chapter 03

The Luna Who Paid to Live in Her Own Home Chapter 03

The next morning, my soap was gone.

Mom called from the hallway.

“Della needed it for Milo’s cashmere vest.”

“That thing can’t go in the machine. Hand wash only.”

She set a bar of generic soap on the counter.

“Use this. I won’t charge you.” A beat. “Your five minutes of free water already started.”

I said nothing and moved faster.

The second the five minutes were up, Mom was at the door. “Time’s up.”

I threw on my faded school uniform and ran.

A month ago, I’d competed in the Inter-Pack Physics Olympiad for Briarwood Prep. First place.

After the competition, Luca Prescott, the Gamma of the Moonfang Pack, hired me to tutor her younger daughter in physics. It was the first job I’d ever landed on my own merit.

That was why I valued it so much.

Today was the final lesson.

After today, I’d finally get paid.

It wasn’t a lot, but it was enough for a new outfit and a pair of shoes. Enough to board that plane looking like I belonged there.

I got to Luca’s house and raised my hand to knock.

My phone rang first.

“Don’t bother coming in. We’re done.”

I froze. “What? I haven’t even started today’s lesson.”

She scoffed. “Are you seriously playing dumb right now?”

“You couldn’t even get into college, and you think you’re qualified to teach my kid?”

“You actually had the nerve to use some fake score to scam me out of my money.”

“Good thing your parents had the decency to warn me.”

I stood there. My mind went blank.

Then came footsteps. Fast ones, right behind me.

Mom, Dad, and Della. All three of them.

Mom seized my arm, her face twisted with fury.

“You’re so desperate for attention you went out and got a tutoring job with fake scores?”

“And what was that nonsense about studying in London?”

“Where would you even get the money for that?”

By now, the neighbors were watching.

Della’s lip curled. “You shameless liar.”

Her voice wasn’t loud, but everyone heard it.

The whispers started immediately. Fingers pointed. Every pair of eyes on me.

Deep in my mind, my wolf shot to her feet, a low growl building in her chest.

“No!” My voice cracked between rage and panic. “I didn’t lie!”

“My results are real.”

“I never cheated anyone!”

Dad’s hand clamped around my arm.

“What the hell are you doing making a scene out here?”

“You want the whole Moonfang Pack laughing at us?”

“Move!”

He dragged me away.

I grabbed the doorframe. “No! My pay!”

Luca looked at me like I was something she’d scraped off her shoe. “The money’s already been sent to your parents.”

The door shut in my face.

I spun around and grabbed at my parents. “That’s my money!”

“Give it back to me!”

They dragged me back to the pack house.

I hadn’t even caught my balance before Della shoved her phone in my face, grinning.

A transfer notification filled the screen.

[Payment Received: $1,800.00]

It was my pay.

My vision blurred red. I couldn’t look away from the number.

A full month of work. Up before dawn, home after dark, talking until my throat was raw.

That money was my ticket out. My proof that I could start over.

“Give me my money back.”

My voice was hoarse.

Inside me, my wolf lunged forward, fangs bared to the gums.