"Being too embarrassed to walk everywhere we go, whispers at every step we make."

"Mom! I'm home!" I shout as I entered the house, kicking off my shoes and placing the car keys on the table beside the door.

I sighed in relief.

High school was over.

I've graduated.

Turns out I proved a lot of people wrong and I wasn't dumb as I thought. "Everest," my father called from the living great. I sighed, of course, my father was home early. "Where is mom?" I asked. "We're taking you out to celebrate you graduating today," he told me.

My eyebrows furrowed, that's definitely something they would usually do. "How come?" I asked. His eyes snapped to me and he dangerously tilted his head. "Don't question me daughter and appreciate what you're getting," he scoffed.

He had been acting like this a lot lately after my brother left for college last year. Erin was his favorite child so when he was gone, my father started treating me like shit more.

Seeming as he was right, I nodded my head. "Where are we going?" I asked. "To dinner," he replied shortly after. "Go change out of that grown," he told me before walking off into the kitchen. I got to my room and changed out of my blue graduation gown and exchanging it with a white short dress. It was one of my favorites dress to wear since it fit me perfectly in all the right places and flared out to my knees. After that, I took off my heels and slipped on a pair of black sandals before walking outside.

"Come on, let's go," my father huffed, pushing off the wall he was leaning against. "Wait, let me get a water," I told him, about to walk into the kitchen when he stopped me. "I got one for you already," he said and handed me the water bottle in his other hand. I took it and as we walked to the car, I chugged down the water.

I sat in the back seat, my head leaning on the backrest. My feet were killing me after doing all that standing at school. I still couldn't believe I was out of high school. It was so hard to believe. But here comes college. If I can convince my parents to let me move to New York that is.

My head suddenly feels light and fuzzy. It felt like the car was spinning. I tried to call out to my father but no words escaped my lips. My heart, racing and I began to panic but have lost all control of my body. "Alaska!?" I tried to scream for my wolf, Alaska, but she was unresponsive. "Dad," I whimpered out. By now I could barely see anything or hear. I tried to scream out when the darkness came closer and closer, everything fading into pitch black.

It wasn't long until the darkness consumed me and I was out like the light the darkness destroyed.

_♤_

"Fuck," I cursed out, grabbing my head. My eyes slowly blinked open, adjusting to the lighting of my surroundings. The first thing I noticed was the red shoes moving on the ground and I looked up, seeing my mother in a worried state.

Where was I and why was I on the floor?

"Mom?" I called out. Her head snapped to me and in a matter of seconds, she went from worried to angry. "Stupid bitch," she growled out, reaching for my head and banging it hard on the concrete. "What the hell!?" I screamed out, my head throbbing in pain and I tried to move away from her. She jerked to the side, allowing my father to come forward.

I finally got a look at the place I was in. And it was no restaurant, we were in a cave.

"There she is," he snickered. I don't think I've ever been more confused than now. "What are you doing?" I asked him, noticing the hammer in his hand. "You've given us no choice!" He screamed at me. I backed up against the wall of the cave, standing to my feet. "I didn't do you both anything!" I defended. I'm barely home. I'm usually at my friend's house or at a party somewhere. They both hate me because I look like my older brother, Elian, who went to college last year and ever visited or called.

"You think it's nice being the parents of the pack whore?" My mother shouts at me. I whimpered, still focusing on the pain of my head. "Being too embarrassed to walk everywhere we go, whispers at every step we make," my father added to the statement. I was still in shock so when my father walked forward and hammered the hammer into my ribs, it was completely unexpected.

I fall to the floor, water spilling out of my eyes from the impact. "Hmm...you think you're pretty huh?" My father grinned, rubbing his hands together as he walked closer to me. "You want me gone? I'll leave the pack. I promise. Just stop this," I tried to negotiate but they seem to have their own plans.

He grabbed me by the sleeves of my now filthy dress. I don't think I was physically capable of taking any more hits. I hated fighting. Sure, I knew how to defend myself. Or at least I thought so. "We're going to get rid of you instead, you're not even going to be able to have a pulse after this," my father snickered which was a fancy way of saying they were going to kill me.

I turned to my mother. She loved me, she helped me, she wouldn't kill me. This is nonsense. "Mom, can you stop this, please? I'll forget all about it. Just please stop," I begged. She rolled her eyes and stared at her husband.

"Hurry it up already, Ron," she told him. I gulped in fear. My father's eyes shown a bit of gold and darkened at the same time. "Let me show you how pretty you are," he snickered. And there he goes again, throwing another punch to my jaw, to my temple, to my nose, to my cheek. Over and over. Whatever direction he wanted my head to turn, it went.

"Help me chain her up, Esther," My father seemed blurry as he stepped away. My eyes felt heavy, then the only thing I could notice was the black dots forming everywhere.

That can't be good.

Some dinner this was.