The Pack Left Me Behind, So I Claimed My Future Chapter 08

The Pack Left Me Behind, So I Claimed My Future Chapter 08

When we arrived at the Blackwood packhouse, Nerys led me into what had once been her art studio. It was now a clean, tidy bedroom.

“Maeve, we’ve kept this room ready for you. Mom and Dad bought all the furniture new.”

There was a cautious, tentative note in her voice.

“Maeve, now that you’re back, you’re not leaving again, are you?”

“It’s a beautiful room,” I said.

Mom made five dishes for lunch that day. Before serving anyone else, she heaped my plate with mashed potatoes.

“Eat up. I remember you always liked potatoes.”

“I didn’t. I only ate so much because none of the other food on the table was ever made for me.”

Mom froze with the loaded plate still in her hands. I did not take it. Instead, I picked up another plate and served myself half as much.

Dad spoke, his voice unusually cautious.

“Maeve, we failed to consider your feelings before. We’re sorry. We’ll do better from now on.”

I looked at him, then let my gaze pass over the other three. Every pair of eyes was fixed on me. They were no longer looking through me as they had for the past twenty years, but their attention no longer mattered.

“There’s no need,” I said. “Let the past stay in the past.”

I wasn’t putting up a tough front or pretending to be the bigger person. I genuinely no longer cared about any of it.

Only now did I understand how they had felt all those years. They truly had not ignored me on purpose or pretended not to care. I simply had never mattered enough to stay on their minds—and now, they no longer mattered enough to stay on mine.

Evander placed a chicken drumstick on my plate.

“Maeve, it isn’t safe for a woman to live out there alone. You should come home. We all—”

“Evander,” I interrupted, “I’ve gotten through more than twenty years on my own.”

The room went dead still. Everyone pressed their lips together, unable to say a word.

I continued eating, one bite after another. After such a long trip, I truly was tired and hungry. It was only after I had eaten my fill and set down my fork that I realized all four of them were still staring at me.

“I’m finished. If there’s nothing else, I should go.”

As soon as I stood, Mom and Nerys moved to block me, one on either side.

“Maeve, I know you’re upset with us. If you’re angry, let it out. Please don’t leave home.”

I pushed her hand away.

“I don’t resent you, but I can’t stay. I spent twenty years trying to find a place in this family and never did. I don’t want one anymore.”

“I don’t hate any of you. But the truth is, you gave all of this family’s resources to Evander and Nerys. My classmates mocked me because I couldn’t pay the $180 fee for my school uniform. No one told me Grandma had died. And I was shut out of all eighty-two Pack Council meetings.”

“I no longer care about any of it. I have left this family behind in every way that matters. But what happened is still real, and none of us can erase it with a few words.”

I paused.

“Now I only want to live the life I choose. I spent the first twenty years of my life being overlooked. I don’t owe you the rest of my life so you can use me to make amends for the past.”

As I opened the door, Mom asked one last question.

“Will you ever come back?”

With my back to her, I did not turn around.

“Maybe I will, and maybe I won’t. It’ll depend on what I want.”

I stepped outside and closed the door behind me. I neither eased it shut nor slammed it. There was no emotion in the gesture at all.

After that, Mom and Dad often messaged me. They told me what was happening at home, asked how I was doing, and reminded me to take care of myself.

After graduating, I went on to graduate school. Once I earned my advanced degree, I threw myself into the work I loved.

With my field gear on my back and my tools in hand, I traveled across the borderlands…

I left the cramped study—and all eighty-two Pack Council meetings I had been barred from—far behind me as I continued toward the open wilds.