One-Way Ticket Out of the Alpha’s Pack Chapter 06

One-Way Ticket Out of the Alpha’s Pack Chapter 06

Mom refuses to leave.

She sits in the office, explaining over and over that they only took my tuition money temporarily.

Dad places a bank card on the desk.

“The money is back.”

My two brothers stand outside the door, their faces growing darker by the minute.

Brandon keeps texting me.

“We’re at the school. Come out and talk this through.”

“Don’t keep your parents waiting.”

I read the messages, then place my phone facedown on the table.

Nicole sits across from me and asks carefully, “You’re really not going out there? They came all this way.”

I take another sip of soup. “So?”

I pause, “I traveled ten hours by train to get here alone.”

Nicole falls silent.

At two in the afternoon, Professor Parker calls me again.

“Your mother isn’t feeling well. Would you like to come by?”

I finally agree.

Not because I’ve changed my mind, but because I don’t want this to keep interfering with my professor’s work.

When I walk into the office, Mom is leaning against the back of a chair, crying.

The moment she sees me, she gets to her feet.

“Eva, where have you been? I’ve been waiting for you for three hours.”

I stop a few steps away from her.

“I was working this morning, and I have class this afternoon. The school already told you I didn’t want to see you.”

Her hand freezes in midair.

Dad pushes the bank card toward me.

“There’s twenty thousand dollars in there. It covers your tuition and living expenses for this semester. If you can cancel the loan, do it. If you can’t, we’ll pay it off for you.”

I pick up the card, but I don’t thank him.

This is money they should have given me in the first place.

It isn’t compensation.

And it certainly isn’t a gift.

When Dylan sees me take the card, some of the tension leaves his face.

“Good. Then we’re done here. Pack your things and come home.”

I look up at him, “Who said I’m going home?”

His brow immediately furrows.

“Mom and Dad have already apologized. What more do you want?”

Professor Parker puts down the papers in his hands, his voice turning firm.

“Sir, watch how you speak to her. Eva is an adult. She has no obligation to change her plans simply because you came here.”

Dylan’s face turns red, then pale.

Growing up, he is the future Alpha of the pack.

No pack member or elder has ever stopped him when he orders me around.

Mom and Dad always tell me he’s my older brother and that he only wants what’s best for me.

This is the first time someone has looked him in the eye and told him he doesn’t get to order me around.

Victoria stands by the door, her eyes swollen from crying.

“Eva, I don’t want the room. I’ll have the Beta and the warriors move the piano out and put all your things back.”

“Please don’t let this tear our family apart because of me.”

I look at her calmly.

“Whether you move it or not has nothing to do with me. It can be a music room, a guest room, or a storage closet. It’s not my problem anymore.”

Mom’s tears immediately spill over.

“But that’s your home. How can you say it’s not your problem?”

Because when you decided to take my tuition money, you didn’t treat me like family.

When you decided to take my bedroom away, you didn’t ask me either.

“Now that you realize I’m not coming home, suddenly you’re telling me it’s still my home.”

I pause, “A storage closet without a bed isn’t my home.”

Mom covers her mouth, crying too hard to speak.

Brandon finally steps forward.

Eva, you’re making this bigger than it needs to be. Alpha and Luna handled things badly. That’s all. But shutting everyone out, ignoring our calls, changing your emergency contact… that’s cruel too.”

I suddenly laugh, “Cruel to who?”

“You took my tuition money. Didn’t you think the school might stop me at the payment office?”

“You took my bedroom. Didn’t you think about where I’d sleep when I came home?”

“Or did you know exactly what you were doing and just assume picking me up at the train station for Thanksgiving would make me grateful?”

His face goes pale, “I just thought you could handle it.”

“Exactly.”

I nod, “I handled it. So from now on, you don’t need to handle anything for me.”

Something in my words seems to register.

He grabs my wrist, “What does that mean?”

I pull my hand free, “Brandon, we’re ending the mate bond.”

“I don’t agree.”

“You don’t get to decide that for me.”

I look at him, “Can’t you feel it? There’s barely anything left between us.”

“Ever since you helped them hide what they did with my tuition, you’ve been choosing them over me.”

He stares at me, stunned.

After a few seconds, his voice finally softens.

“I can make it right. I won’t get involved in anything with Victoria anymore. I’ll come back with you. I’ll make sure you have everything you need.”

I shake my head, “When I needed you, you were with her.”

“Now that I’ve handled everything myself, you’re finally asking what I’m missing.”

“It’s too late.”

I take the house key from my bag and place it beside the bank card.

“I’ll take the money. The key goes back to the pack.”

“Whatever you owe me can be repaid.”

I lift my eyes and look at all of them.

“But I’m not coming home.”