The Luna Who Paid to Live in Her Own Home Chapter 02

The Luna Who Paid to Live in Her Own Home Chapter 02

Dad stormed out and slammed the door behind him.

Della laughed, the sound bright and satisfied, and strolled back to her room.

Mom held out her hand to me.

“Today’s rent is five dollars.”

I lowered my head. “All the money went to Della.”

Mom frowned. “That’s your problem. No money, no bed.”

She stood up and opened the door to the back porch.

“Be smart about this. Don’t make me say it twice.”

I didn’t answer. I went to my room and grabbed my bag.

Everything I owned fit inside it. One change of clothes, a few essentials.

This had happened far too many times. I was already used to it.

The second I opened my bedroom door, Della was already there, dumping an armful of clothes onto my bed.

She rubbed her wrist with a wince.

“You didn’t get into college, so go find a job and get out already.”

“I need this room back. It’s going to be my walk-in closet.”

Her clothes buried every surface of the room. I said nothing.

I picked up my small bag and prepared to leave.

But she caught my arm.

“You’re already hiding cash. Who knows what else you’ve got stashed away?”

She ripped the bag out of my hands and shook everything onto the floor, piece by piece.

Then she flipped the bag upside down and shook it empty.

When nothing else fell out, she tossed it back, satisfied.

“At least you’ve got some decency. You didn’t steal from us.”

I crouched down and slowly picked up my belongings.

Mom was waiting by the porch door.

“Hurry up!”

“You’re letting the heat in. Milo will get heatstroke.”

Milo belonged to Della.

He had his own wardrobe, his own treats, his own bed, even a cabinet just for his toys.

What did I have? I wasn’t even allowed on the couch.

I carried my belongings onto the back porch.

The door slammed shut behind me.

The lock clicked into place.

Through the glass, I watched her lock my bedroom door, then the kitchen. Then she checked Della’s room and her own.

In case I snuck in for food.

In case I went looking for money.

In this house, I wasn’t just an outsider. I was a threat.

Deep within my mind, my wolf quietly lay down.

When I was little and they locked me out, she used to pace circles inside my chest, whining at me to knock.

After enough nights, even she stopped expecting the door to open.

I sank into the corner. The memory surfaced on its own: me, small enough to still believe the answer would be different.

“Why does Della have everything?”

“Why do I have to pay for everything I use?”

She’d looked at me like I was something she wished she could return.

“If you had never been born, Della would be the Alpha family’s only daughter and the only princess of the Briarwood Pack.”

“She could have had a better life.”

“Every single thing you have? That’s because Della was kind enough to share. Don’t you ever forget that.”

That was when I learned my birth was a debt. One they owed Della.

But I didn’t choose to be born. They owed Della, so why was I the one paying it back?

I’d wanted to ask that question a thousand times.

And a thousand times, I swallowed it.

Later, I became used to it.

I pulled the sleeping pad out from its spot and unrolled it without thinking. Muscle memory.

The first time I talked back to Della, I had also been made to sleep on the back porch.

For the entire month after, she didn’t leave me a single cent.

On the final day, she ordered a coffee and handed me the remaining five dollars.

“Rhea, do you understand now? Your life is charity from me.”

Five dollars. That covered one night of rent.

Which meant I had spent the entire month sleeping on the porch.

My phone lit up.

It was a message from Mrs. Hadley.

[I’ll handle the plane ticket and scholarship paperwork.]

[Three days. We leave for London.]

I leaned against the door, phone pressed to my chest. Cool air leaked through the crack beneath it, and for the first time in years, I smiled.

Deep within my mind, my wolf finally raised her head.

I was getting out.

Three days. Just three more days.