Two Homes, No Place for Me Chapter 01

Two Homes, No Place for Me Chapter 01

After my parents remarry, they move into different packs.

Back then, they promise us in the family group chat:

Dad: “Two homes, two bedrooms. The girls will always have a room in each house.”

My older brother, Derek, immediately chimes in.

Derek: “I’ll personally oversee the renovations. I’m not letting either of you get the short end of the stick.”

My mate, Alpha Holden, makes his own promise in the chat.

Holden: “It doesn’t matter which pack you end up living in. I’ll help you move. Neither of you is getting left behind.”

Back then, I really believe them.

Before the new semester starts, Juliet and I drag our suitcases back home.

Dad pulls up pictures of his new house, looking incredibly proud.

“Juliet’s room is all finished. I had everything ready before you girls came back.”

Mom immediately puts her phone on the table.

“So is hers at my place. I had the whole room done in Juliet’s favorite pink. Why should she stay with you?”

Derek joins in, clearly proud of himself.

“I put in the starry-sky lights myself. They’re going to look amazing at night.”

Holden adds with a laugh, “And I spent two weeks helping your mom pick out that mattress. Juliet rejected every one we tried until we found that one.”

They spend the entire dinner arguing over which house Juliet should stay in.

Two pack territories, two Alpha families, and even a single bedroom become reasons for them to compete over her.

Finally, they reach an agreement.

Juliet will stay at Dad’s house during the school week and go to Mom’s on weekends.

I sit quietly and wait.

When they finally finish making arrangements, I ask softly, “What about my room?”

The entire table falls silent.

Dad looks startled, as if he’s only just remembered I’m there.

“Yours gets the best natural light, so I turned it into Derek’s study. You can stay at your mom’s.”

Mom immediately frowns.

“I gave my spare room to Cole. We can clear out your grandparents’ old storage room. We can fit a folding bed in there.”

Derek tries to convince me not to make a big deal out of it.

“You’re starting college soon. You’ll be living on campus most of the time anyway. If you come home, you can stay on the couch.”

Holden is already getting up to help Juliet with her luggage.

He doesn’t even look at me when he casually says, “Juliet has a hard time sleeping anywhere but her own room. You’re more adaptable. Just make do for now.”

My fingers slowly curl into my palms.

More adaptable.

As if being sensible and knowing how to endure things is just another reason I deserve to be the one who gets overlooked.

After dinner, I assume Mom’s comment about the storage room is just something she said in the heat of the moment.

Surely either Dad or Mom will eventually be willing to take me home.

At least until I leave for college.

But the moment we step outside the restaurant, Dad pushes my suitcase toward Mom’s car.

“Anne’s room may be gone, but you’ve got to have somewhere for her.”

Mom immediately pushes the suitcase back.

“She’s always stayed with you more. You deal with it.”

She pauses before lowering her voice.

“I don’t even have a spare room. And she isn’t part of Blue Moon Pack. You know how pack-house access works. Non-pack members need approval to stay overnight. It’s not as simple as just letting her in.”

Dad’s face hardens.

“She’s your daughter.”

“And she’s YOUR daughter, too.”

They stand outside the restaurant, neither willing to give an inch.

When it comes to deciding where Juliet should stay, they practically compete over who gets to keep her.

When it comes to me, they both rush to prove I don’t belong to either of them.

In the end, neither of them takes me home.

I can only drag my suitcase to Dad’s house in Darkstone Pack.

When I reach the door, I instinctively enter the old passcode.

The lock responds with a cold electronic chime:

[Access denied.]

I freeze.

Dad, my stepmother, Derek, and Juliet all have their fingerprints registered.

Even Holden, who often drops things off for Juliet and comes and goes here, has access.

Everyone except me.

I wait outside for forty minutes before Derek finally comes home.

He scans his fingerprint, and the lock clicks open.

I follow him inside.

My old bedroom has been completely turned into his study.

The bookshelves, computer desk, and gaming chair are already set up. There’s even a brand-new coffee maker sitting in the corner.

My books, clothes, and old photo albums have been packed into several cardboard boxes and piled in the corner of the living room.

Juliet is staying at Mom’s house these days.

The room she has at Dad’s is sitting completely empty.

I look at Dad and say softly,

“I’ll only stay until I leave for college. I won’t touch any of Juliet’s stuff.”

Dad barely hesitates.

“No. Juliet needs that room.”

I look up at him.

“She’s not even here.”

“She doesn’t have to be.”

His tone is firm.

“She sleeps better when she has her own room. And even if she’s away, that room is hers. We don’t take a Luna’s room away just because she’s visiting another territory.”

I suddenly find it almost absurd.

Someone who isn’t even here gets to have a room that will always belong to her.

And I, his biological daughter, can’t even have a bed.

I don’t argue anymore.

I take a blanket and make a bed for myself on the living room couch.

That night, Juliet video-calls us.

The moment she sees the boxes piled in the living room, her brows draw together.

“Dad, are all those boxes still going to be there this weekend? It’s going to feel so cramped when I come back.”

Less than five minutes after the call ends, Dad tells me to go to Mom’s house.

Mom tears into him over the phone.

“You couldn’t even make room for your own daughter? What kind of father does that?”

For a brief moment, I actually think she’s finally willing to take me in.

But when I drag my suitcase to Mom’s house, I can’t get inside there, either.

I wait on the porch for nearly an hour before my stepfather, Beta Brody, finally comes home.

When the door opens, I see the bedroom that used to be mine.

It now belongs to my younger stepbrother, Cole.

His LEGO models cover the desk, his clothes fill the closet, and even the pictures on the walls have been replaced with his.

Juliet has temporarily been picked up by Derek and taken back to Dad’s house to see the starry-sky lights.

The pink bedroom waiting for her at Mom’s is empty, too.

I look at Mom.

“I’ll only stay for a few days. I’ll be gone before Juliet comes back.”

But Mom blocks the doorway.

“No. That’s Juliet’s room.”

I ask quietly, “She isn’t here.”

“She doesn’t have to be.”

Her tone is exactly the same as Dad’s.

“Even if she only sleeps here once a month, that room stays hers.”

Dad and Mom start arguing over the phone again.

Only this time, they aren’t arguing about where I should stay.

They’re arguing over who doesn’t have to take me in.

Finally, Holden arrives.

He’s an Alpha.

In a pack, an Alpha’s word usually means the decision has been made. So when I see his car pull up outside, I finally let out a breath of relief.

My mate wouldn’t really leave me stranded here.

At least he’ll take my side.

But when Holden gets out of the car, he simply walks over and picks up two of my boxes.

“Come on. I found somewhere you can stay tonight.”

He doesn’t fight for either of the empty bedrooms.

He doesn’t take me back to his pack, either.

He simply drives me and a few boxes to my grandparents’ old cabin, which has been sitting empty for years.

The two new homes have been using it as storage.

The larger bedroom is packed with old furniture.

The only place with enough room for a folding bed is the storage room at the very back.

It’s filled with Juliet’s clothes and toys that she isn’t using right now. The folding bed barely fits in the middle of the passage, and I can’t even fully open my suitcase.

I stand there for a moment without saying anything.

Holden looks around, and even he seems to realize this place is hardly suitable for anyone to stay.

“Just get through tonight. I’ll come back tomorrow and help you clear this out.”

Before he can say anything else, Juliet calls.

Her voice is sweet and soft over the phone.

“Holden, I can’t sleep on Mom’s pillow. It’s too flat. Can you bring me the one from Dad’s house?”

Holden doesn’t hesitate for even a second.

“Yeah. Of course.”

He hangs up and immediately grabs his car keys.

Only then does he turn back to me.

“You get some sleep. I’ll drop the pillow off for Juliet and come back.”

I nod.

“Okay.”

After he leaves, I’m alone in the dim storage room.

That night, he never comes back.

While sorting through the boxes, I find two old keys.

One belongs to Dad’s old house. The other belongs to Mom’s.

After both homes are fitted with new smart locks, neither key can open a door anymore.

At the bottom of one box, I also find a rough renovation sketch Derek drew when he was little.

Two rooms are drawn side by side.

Each one has a name written above it:

Anne

Juliet

Underneath is a crooked line of childish handwriting:

[Two rooms for my sisters, one each. I promise I won’t play favorites.]

I stare at those words for a long time.

Finally, I fold the sketch back up and place it at the bottom of the box.

That night, both of Juliet’s bedrooms are empty.

And I can only curl up in a storage room filled with her old clothes and toys.

Messages keep popping up in the family group chats for both packs.

Mom: “Did Juliet finally get comfortable?”

Dad: “Is she sleeping okay?”

Holden: “She said the new room feels different. I’ll check on her tomorrow.”

No one asks about me.

No one asks where I’m staying. No one asks where I am tonight.