The Pack Left Me Behind, So I Claimed My Future Chapter 06

The Pack Left Me Behind, So I Claimed My Future Chapter 06

The four of them searched Grandma’s house but found no sign of Maeve. After asking around, they learned that she had left not long after arriving that day.

Maeve’s father stared at the note, troubled by an uneasiness he could not explain. Her mother felt it too, though she continued trying to reassure everyone.

“She’s probably just upset. She’ll be back in a few days, so don’t worry.”

But all four of them knew that Maeve had never been the type to storm off in a fit of anger.

In fact, they had already begun reflecting on their behavior during the drive home from Grandma’s house a few days earlier.

“We were wrong not to tell Maeve that Grandma died,” her mother said.

Her father nodded.

“Looking back, we’ve neglected Maeve for years. We need to change.”

Evander decided that he would use his first paycheck to buy Maeve a gift and take better care of her from then on.

Nerys resolved to ask their parents to buy her fewer things so they would have more money to spend on Maeve. She would also give up her art studio. It had been Maeve’s room in the first place, and Maeve never should have been sleeping in a partitioned alcove off the common room.

Unable to find Maeve, the four of them returned to the Blackwood packhouse, each lost in their own thoughts. The car was frighteningly quiet, nothing like the lively rides they were used to.

Her father kept his full attention on the road. In the back seat, Evander and Nerys stared out their windows, each lost in thought.

Her mother took out her phone, opened her conversation with Maeve, and sent her $7,200—the allowance and wages that belonged to her.

Mom: [Honey, I sent your money back. Stop this and come home.]

In twenty years, it was the first time she had ever called Maeve “honey.”

What she did not know was that the Northern Frontier base camp had no cell service, so Maeve could not receive the message. Even if it had reached her, the Maeve she had become would not have replied.

The four of them returned home distracted and unsettled. Without realizing it, Maeve’s father wandered over to the partitioned alcove where she had slept. It contained nothing but a twin bed that a relative had discarded during a move many years ago. The faded, patched quilt was folded neatly on top of it.

Her mother went into the kitchen to make dinner and found herself wondering what Maeve liked to eat. She could not think of a single thing. In twenty years, she had never once asked.

Evander looked at the new briefcase his parents had bought with the money Maeve earned working at the tavern. He remembered passing Moonfang Tavern one day and seeing that Maeve had burned her hand.

He had not even slowed down. He had felt no concern for his sister at all. He had grown so used to Maeve being treated as if she were invisible that he had forgotten she could get tired and hurt, and that she had feelings of her own.

Nerys moved everything out of her art studio and back into her bedroom, then cleaned the vacated room from top to bottom.

Later, their parents bought a new bed and dresser. They turned the bedroom into a warm, welcoming space and waited for Maeve to return and move into it, but no one touched the old bed in the alcove.

Every day on his way home from work, Evander wondered if Maeve had returned.

Nerys began her first term at Royal Werewolf Academy and called their parents every few days to ask if they had heard from Maeve.

On the first day of the new term, their parents went to Royal Werewolf Academy and found Maeve’s faculty adviser.

“Professor Helena, we came to see Maeve.”

Professor Helena looked at them in confusion.

“Maeve left for the Northern Frontier Wildlands Survey base camp in July. You didn’t know?”

Maeve’s mother stumbled, and her father’s voice began to shake.

“Professor, what are you talking about?”

Professor Helena explained everything that had happened.

“How could the Academy send her away without consulting her parents?”

Professor Helena looked helpless.

“We called you several times, but neither of you answered. Besides, Maeve is an adult. She had every right to sign the forms herself.”

They remembered the last Pack Council. Their daughter had brought them some kind of agreement, but no one had paid any attention to it.

Her parents returned home dejected. As they looked at the old bed where their daughter had slept, they finally realized, after twenty years, just how badly they had failed her.

Every day of the next two years was agony for her parents. Far away in the Northern Frontier, however, Maeve’s life was full and happy.

Before they knew it, the survey was over, and it was time for her to return.