The Alpha's Runaway Mate

Izzy’s POV I just turned eighteen two days ago. My life… where do I start! I have no illusions about what life is really like. Parents that were supposed to love you, protect you? What a joke. They got pleasure in hurting me every chance they got. I’ve lived in a shed in our backyard since I was five. I have a few old blankets, some old clothes. It’s not much, but it’s mine. The shed is my escape. I can hide from the world. It doesn’t always work out that way. Especially when my father has a bad day, and honestly that’s quite often. When I turned sixteen, I started getting these feelings of anger, disgust, happiness, and sadness, but they weren’t mine. At first, they would scare me. I didn’t know what was wrong with me. After a while, they were comforting. I didn’t feel so alone. I don’t know how I could feel them or even why. It was like I could feel every emotion he was having. I started getting this vivid dream of a man chasing me, yelling at me to stop. It only made me run faster. It was always the same dream; it never changed. I would wake up sweaty and scared. I was never able to see the man’s face. I never understood why he was chasing me. My day starts at three in the morning. I take a shower, make breakfast for my family, always making sure I’m gone before they come down to the kitchen; otherwise, I would get hit for still being there. My father, well, he hates to even look at me. I never understood what I did wrong. After everyone leaves for work and school, I come back to clean the house. My parents, Pete and Janie Rowland, work at the pack hospital. My father is the pack doctor, and Mom’s a nurse. My brothers, Devin, Zack, and Liam, go to school. Something I was never allowed. No one knows I even exist. After cleaning the house, I would make snacks for my brothers so when they got home, they had something to eat. This has been my life for as long as I can remember. By the time my brothers get home, I’m already making dinner. If I’m late with dinner, I get punished; my parents never overlook a chance to punish me. Even though my mother never touched me, she never helped me either. Honestly, it’s not like they needed a reason. My father said it’s so I could learn to be obedient, mostly because I deserved it. He never wanted me. I was a girl; for some reason, he hated women except for my mom. I think that’s only because she’s his mate. Otherwise, he would’ve hated her too. He wasn’t even that kind to her; still, she always stands by him and his decisions. No matter what they are. My brothers are kind; I love them dearly. They couldn’t tell anyone about me because my father told them he would kill me if they ever did. Liam was born one minute before me. My father, being the pack doctor, made it really easy for him to hide me. I’m Izzy Rowland, the youngest of all my siblings. My father said I was a disgrace. I was useless. I never understood why they just didn’t get rid of me. I found out later it was because my mom wouldn’t let him. When I turned sixteen and failed to get my wolf, things only got worse. I was a bigger disgrace, wolf-less, a human. I was a disgrace to the Rowland name. Not only was I a girl! I was also wolf-less. My father despised me even more. Liam got this beautiful brown and white wolf; his name is Zeus. Oh, how I wished I could just touch him; my father sent me back to the shed cursing at me, telling me I was useless and pathetic. I was a waste of space. He beat me so badly that he broke two of my ribs and my arm. I wasn’t sure I would make it through it. Even though I didn’t get my wolf, I still had its healing abilities. It still takes me longer to heal. My father hated me even more. I had let them down once again. Like I had a choice in the matter. My brothers begged them to let them help me. They just laughed, saying I deserved it. My father told them to stop whining. Actually, it only made him laugh even harder. Every time they whined, I used to beg for him to stop. After all the years, I stopped caring. I didn’t care if he killed me. I wouldn’t make a sound. Why give him the satisfaction? That only made him angrier. They would call me stupid, tell me I’m ugly. No one would ever want a useless thing like me. You’re a wh***, anything they could think of. It used to hurt, but now I just accept it. It doesn’t matter what I say or do; it will always be the same. My brothers would plead with my parents to stop, but they never did. Eventually, they stopped trying to help when my parents were around. My brothers taught me how to read and write since I was never allowed to go to school or leave the house. They would help with their rooms just so I could study. They made sure that whatever they were learning at school, I did too. My brothers are amazing. I’m so lucky to have them. They are everything I wished my parents would be. My oldest brother, Devin, is now twenty-one. He’s a pack warrior. Zack’s twenty, working on his law degree. Liam and I turned eighteen two days ago. We both want to be doctors, but I would never get that chance. My parents would make sure of that. We live on the edge of the pack lands known as the Red Moon pack. Even the Alpha and his family don’t know I exist. No one is ever invited over. If someone does come to visit, I’m locked in the shed and told if I made a sound, they would hurt one of my brothers. My father had put something around the shed so they weren’t able to smell me. I guess it’s the perks of being the pack doctor; no one ever questions you. The only thing that keeps me going is my brothers and the love they have for me. Even though they are unable to help me, they are always there to wipe my tears. Their love is everything.