Chapter 7
+25 BONUS
Chapter 7
Ryan sped home, arriving to find Dad in my room, clutching my journal.
He opened it to the first page, and his hands began to tremble.
[17: Tenth birthday. The whole family forgot. Only the housekeeper remembered and bought me a small cake.]
[23: Ella got a paper cut. Mom and Dad stayed up all night with her. I had a broken bone and had to lie in bed alone.]
[32: I won first place in the Pack’s science fair, but Mom and Dad went to watch Ella’s hunting trials.]
Page after page, it was a litany of disappointments.
Ninety–nine entries, from childhood until now.
Every single one was dated, a detailed account of their neglect.
The three of them huddled around the journal, tears streaming down their faces.
[45: At the Bloodline Awakening Ceremony, I became the most common gray wolf. Dad was so disappointed he turned and walked away without a single word of comfort.]
148: Our anniversary. Ryan spent the day helping Ella pick out a dress. Are we still going to have our Mating Ceremony? Moon Goddess, please show me the way.]
[52: Mom said it would be better if Ella were their only daughter. Mom, it was my birthday.]
The last entry read:
[Once it hits 99, I’m done hoping for their love.]
lit’s probably going to hit 99 tomorrow. They won’t remember to come to my award ceremony. They only care that it’s Ella’s graduation.]
The journal slipped from Dad’s numb fingers.
“What have we done…”
Mom slumped to the floor, sobbing hysterically.
“Sophie, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…”
Conner picked up the journal, his hands shaking as he flipped through the pages.
Every number was a needle piercing his heart.
“We owe her so much,” he choked out. “She remembered everything, and we just took it all for granted.”
Ryan stood frozen in the doorway, a silent witness to their grief.
He remembered the past two years, how I had so cautiously tried to share my academic achievements with him,
I had craved his attention, but he had always been distracted by something–or someone else
I’ll hold a funeral for her,” Dad sobbed. “The grandest funeral the pack has ever seen
“I want the entire pack to know that Sophie was our most outstanding child
But it was too late.
An apology can’t bring the dead back to life
I was too tired to care
Chapter 7
A week later, my funeral was held.
All the werewolves who had missed me at the award ceremony came to pay their respects.
They mourned me, calling me the pack’s most brilliant researcher.
But my family had never known that part of me.
All they knew was the troublemaker who fought with Ella for their affection.
Ryan knelt before my grave all night.
“Sophie, I was wrong. I was so wrong…” he whispered to the cold stone.
“I thought I didn’t love you, but now I know I’m nothing without you.”
“Come back, please? Yell at me, hit me… just come back…”
But I could never go back.
Mom placed a platter of my.favorite desserts in front of my headstone.
She had finally remembered that I loved mango tarts when I was little.
But she remembered far, far too late.
Dad and Conner knelt beside her, repeating my name like a prayer.
They swore they would spend their lives atoning for their sins.
But I didn’t need their atonement anymore.
The funeral was grand. Only Ella wasn’t there.
She claimed she wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t come.
In reality, she was at home, celebrating.
Celebrating that there was finally no one left to compete with her for love.
