I'm not exactly normal. Not for the humans and not for the werewolves. I've searched many a time for something, someone who understood my situation, or just to help me come to terms with it. I mean...it's not a bad situation, per say.

I'm kinda rich.

I have a best friend.

I have both my parents.

I'm strong.

I'm smart.

I'm easy on the eyes... I'm told.

However, once you get past that, it comes out pretty quickly that things could go south in any given moment. Everything is hanging on a silver thread just waiting to break.

My parents aren't mates.

My parents are now currently living with their mates... and children.

They live in different packs (which are literally the two packs furthest from each other).

They're the Alphas.

My best friend was, essentially, raised to be my best friend.

I'm blind.

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When werewolves turn eighteen, sometimes they go on journeys through the different packlands, trying to find their mates. Hope's parents did that. They were both Alphas-in-training just looking for a little fun before they settled down into the role they were born into. They spent a night together, and Hope came out of it. Neither set of grandparents encouraged the mother's, Victoria, or the father's, Bruce, desire to keep their child.

But they did. Unfortunately, their situation was not ideal for raising a child. That became even more evident when they actually took the Alpha role and had less time for Hope.

Victoria lives on the East Coast. Bruce on the West. They both have their own packs to lead, and neither actually wanted to officially mate and mark each other. At the time, they were merely friends with benefits, shall we say. Victoria kept Hope for her first few years of life, eventually meeting her true mate. The man was very kind to Hope and loved her like his own. His name is Drake.

When Hope was weaned and potty-trained, Victoria let her go live with Bruce for a little while. He had also met his true mate, but she resented Hope. Her name was Emily, and she hadn't been the one to give Bruce his first child - thus Hope was hated.

Ever since, Hope is constantly going back and forth between Victoria and Bruce. It was exhausting for poor Hope. Both parents placed their children with their real mates above her, and so, unintentionally, Hope became a second thought, the in-between child just floating between two packs. She spent her school years with Victoria and the summers with Bruce.

Victoria and Bruce are great friends still - to their mates' disapproval. Emily can't stand Victoria, and Drake can't stand Bruce. It doesn't help that Bruce teases Drake to no end. Emily and Victoria just act like neither one exists. It creates uncomfortable tension for Hope who has to live and get along with all four of them.

Adding to the confusion, Hope was born blind. And unfortunately, it's fairly obvious that she is blind because her eyes are a milky white and have been since birth. Some blind wolves can see through their wolves eyes when they shift, but that isn't the case for Hope. Her wolf Red (colored as fiery red as Hope's hair) is also blind. So Hope's eyes stay the same when she shifts - milky white. Even though she can't see, everything else is sharp. She can hear, smell, and sense things way better than the average werewolf. Mix that in with the naturally enhanced abilities due to being from two Alphas, Hope is near unbeatable. She's stronger, faster, just generally better, than most Alphas.

But she's blind, a weak link. No one lets her fight. No one wanted to train her. She was pushed off onto "bodyguards." More like babysitters or substitute parents.

Victoria was worried for Hope, especially when she was younger, and made her top warrior family Hope's personal bodyguards. Victoria didn't want her going anywhere or traveling without them. Hope basically became a surrogate daughter of John and Tammy Barks - both fierce warriors. They had a daughter the same age as Hope, and due to all the time they spent together, they became close friends. Her name was Vivian.

Vivian trained incredibly hard, and quickly became the top all-around warrior. It always bothered Hope that Vivian wasted her talents on making sure she stayed safe, but if Hope was honest with herself, she needed Vivian. Even with heightened senses, she still couldn't tell what was in front of her, how far in front of her, how big, or how deadly.

"Hope! Hey, Hope!" Vivian's voice cut through Victoria's pack-house, and Hope found herself looking in the general direction of her bedroom door, waiting for Vivian to come bursting through. "HEY!" Vivian whisper screams, kicking the door open. Hope giggled at Vivian's antics, knowing she was whisper screaming for the sake of Hope's hypersensitive ears. "Your mom needs you. She says you're ignoring the mind-link." She pulls Hope to her feet and guides her down the stairs and through the pack house to Victoria's office. "I'll wait out here. It sounded serious." Vivian gives Hope a little push, and Hope obediently walks towards the door with her hands in front of her like a zombie. She felt the door's smooth wood greet her hands. "More to your right." Vivian said, peaking around Hope to see the handle. Hope nodded and found the knob.

"Thanks, Viv." She went through and shut the door behind her. "You called Mom?" Victoria sat at her desk, tapping a pencil against it furiously. Hope sniffed the air quietly. "Hey, Drake."

"Hey, kiddo." He moves forward and takes Hope arm, leading to the chair in front of the desks. "There's just one thing we need to talk about then you can go back out with Vivian, okay?" Hope tilted her head, the tapping noise beginning to bother her. It was creating a tension she was uncomfortable with.

"Okay... What's up, Mom?"

"You need to find your mate." There's silence. Absolute silence. Red perks up in Hope's mind at the mention of her mate.

"What?"

"Werewolves go on trips when they turn eighteen. It's to find their mates faster - you should know this. You and Vivian should go." Hope went to say something, but Victoria kept talking. "It's not that I don't want you here or that I don't love you-"

"I didn't think-"

"But this pack can't always baby you." Hope felt a surge of anger and felt Red begging to come out and show just how much of a baby she was. However, Hope bit her lip instead.

"It's not exactly like that." Drake said dryly, wrapping his arm around Hope's shoulder. "It's just-"

"No." Victoria said, with disbelief in her voice. "We talked about this. She needs to know how the pack feels." Hope shifted uncomfortably.

"What the pack feels or what you feel? Have you forgotten she's your daughter?"

"Have you forgotten she isn't yours?" Drake growled and Victoria growled back. Victoria might have been born an Alpha, but Drake was mated to one and was declared Alpha by the pack. He didn't back down.

"I understand." Hope said quietly, feeling like tears could escape her at any minutes. "I'm eighteen, but I can't contribute much to the pack. Vivian will eventually find her mate and be unable to help me. John and Tammy want to retire. I need my mate so my problems are no longer yours."

"Exactly."

"Victoria!" Drake shouted angrily. Hope winced and pulled away from Drake. "Oh, I'm sorry, sweetie." He kissed her forehead gently and Hope found herself leaning into him. Why was it that he was more parental than her real mother?

"It's true." Victoria muttered. "We have our own children to train and love."

"There's room for Hope in that too!" Hope stood abruptly and reached out to Vivian via mind-link.

Come get me, now.

I'm on it.

Drake looked between a devastated Hope and an angry Victoria and cursed. He was going to have to choose a side - his mate or his stepchild.

"Your father agrees." Victoria said just as Vivian burst through the door without knocking. That did it for Hope. The tears began to fall, and they didn't stop.

"I'm here. It's okay." Vivian took Hope's arm and lead her out of the room, but not without a stern glare at Victoria.

The door closed behind the two girls, and Drake pointed at the door while looking at Victoria. "What was that!?"

"What was that? That was what we agreed to!"

"You told your daughter that she was nothing more than a burden! You know good and well that this pack loves her." Victoria and Drake growled at each other. Drake stormed out of the room, knowing nothing would good would result out of their fight.

~~~~~~~~~~