The Human Mate

Useless Mutt

Emerald

More weeks has passed so my mom and my dad planned to leave both their lives behind to be with each other. The spent days of their future and how they wanted to spend it with each other. My mom had a surprise for my dad, me, and she was going to tell him the morning they were planning to leave. My mom made it to the lake where they first met, her heart filled with excitement and happiness, she felt hope. She said she waited for hours and for nothing, my dad never showed, just the same trees and lake staring back at her for hours. Feeling hurt and defeated, she left and cried the whole walk back. As soon as she returned to the pack lands Thomas was there waiting shirtless and covered in sweat and dirt, seething with anger as if he had just came from a fight. My mom said he suspected something, but she was too hurt to even mention anything about it. He took my mom and marked her right then and there in the woods, tying them together forever. Later, he mated with her, sealing the bond, and she let him because nothing felt worse than the hurt my dad caused her by leading her along and then abandoning her. Eventually my mom’s stomach began to round, she said she could tell Thomas had his suspicions. The timing didn't add up but he waited till I was born for confirmation that I wasn’t his pup. He could scent it, he knew I wasn't his and his mate had laid with another man. The verbal abuse began then with my mom. My dad’s whereabout were still a mystery, I couldn’t really get an answer about him from my mom and asking Thomas about him was an automatic black eye. So here I am, half human and half wolf but I would say ninety-five percent human and five percent wolf because I didn’t have even a quarter of the abilities a normal wolf could do. My mom could never tell me why I couldn’t shift because there was a good amount of half breeds around and they could shift, they just weren’t as big and strong as full wolves. My mom suspected I didn’t have a wolf when I was five when I fell and scraped my knees, and they wouldn’t heel. Even though wolves couldn’t shift until they were sixteen, they still had their healing abilities. So, on top of not being Thomas’ biological pup which he kept a secret to avoid further embarrassment from the pack I also couldn’t shift, and the other wolves could tell. He couldn't get himself to tell his Alpha that I wasn't his because he would have to explain why he didn't mark my mom when they found out. Thomas hated both me and my mom. For me it was being the physical reminder that my mom produced a mutt andr being a pathetic omega who mated with someone other than him. I couldn’t understand how he could hate her; I thought the mate bond was supposed to make you madly and unconditionally in love. I could only hope that would be the case for me one day, but I would be leaving my mom by herself with him, and I couldn’t imagine doing that. So, he moved us twenty minutes away from the main pack house so no one will see us and ask unnecessary questions. We lived a two-story house that had three bedrooms. They shared a room, and I had my own room. It was a beautiful home in and outside so at least he couldn’t complain about that. But there was always something for him to find fault in and I was the punching bag.

I was still in the garden; I take the seeds and sprinkle them in the holes I dug and patted dirt back over the hole before mom comes down the path in a hurry with a nervous look on her face. I take a deep breath and huff; I know there’s only two reasons why and that could be, Thomas is already here and is raging or is on his way here and is raging.

“Hey mom” I smile.

“Hey sweetie” she smiles back at me, temporarily losing the nervous frown on her face.

“Thomas just linked me….” She trails off.

“I know mom, make sure I clean the dirt off my nails before he sees me” rolling my eyes.

“No, it’s not that, well yes do that, you know how he gets” she forces an awkward giggle, “But we are having guest today.”

“Guest?” I raise my eyebrow in question. “We never have guest”

“Well apparently, we will today. An alpha from our neighboring pack is touring our lands to see if they are worthy enough for him to form an alliance with,” my mom says, taking a deep breath she continues “Thomas wants you to stay in the barn in the back before the Alphas get here and while they are here,” she finishes looking worried as if I would argue with her.

I know it sounds terrible, my mom asking me to do what Thomas says but if I don’t, we both get hurt. Usually, he goes straight for me when he’s in for the kill but when my mom tries to step in, he hurts her by hitting me even harder, his words not mine. So, I always beg her not to interfere so one I don’t get hit more and two she doesn’t have to see it. He tries not to hit her or at least in places where people might see. I’ve learned the hard way not to fight back or to beg for him to stop, it just fueled him even more. So, I take each beating with silent cries and whimpers until I have either drawn blood or my body is battered and bruised.

“Okay, mom, I’ll just bring my paint set and easel with me to keep me occupied,” I say as if it was not a big deal.

“I’ll just finish up here and run inside to grab my stuff and then I will be out of his hair,” I say as I look down to do one final pat on the lump of dirt.

“Be fast, honey…” my mom pauses, “He should be here soon, and we don’t tick him off in any way, he’ll still find a way to punish you Emmie whether it’s silently while the alphas are here or later when they leave,” she says as she walks away back towards the house.

That man got ticked off for anything, if the front porch has too many leaves on it, if there’s too much salt on his food or if he had a rough day at the pack house, it ranged from anything small and in between. Im talking about this as if it doesn’t scare me, it does, but I’ve also become numb to the inevitable. When I was younger, I used to pee myself as soon as he started yelling which then gave him a reason to hit me. Im terrified just standing in a room with him. Im terrified every time he has his grip on me but what else can I do? This one instance when I was eight, I brought home some purple flowers with petals that grew out and into the shape as a Christmas tree. I had found them nearing the packs border and I thought that they would look good in the kitchen window. I went into the house excited to show my mom my new discovery and the horror on her face confused me while at the same time Thomas was coming through the front door. It was wolfsbane, you see wolfsbane didn’t bother me much, maybe it made me sneeze more than usual but to your average wolf it was kryptonite. As soon as Thomas got whiff of the wolfsbane I closed my eyes and felt his huge hands across my face. The pain that radiated through my face had me seeing spots and sent me to the floor. He reached down and pulled me up by my hair and I could feel every strand sending a stinging pain through my scalp and threw me across the kitchen floor. My mom was screaming and sobbing watching her daughter get attacked by her so-called mate. She tried to intercept but he grabbed her by the throat till the white in her eyes turn pink and then threw her on the floor, she coughed and heaved trying to catch her breath all the while staring at the scene unfold before her. He made his way to me as I laid on the kitchen floor bleeding, dizzy and drenched in my own urine. He held me by my throat and a spat “Make an attempt on my life again and you will lay on this very floor and watch each other bleed out,” he released me and walked away. My mom crawled her way towards me and cradled me, the both of us sobbing. All because I picked some flowers that I thought would brighten up the kitchen. This memory still haunts me every night, it was the first time he had truly done harm to my body. To this day, I have evidence of that evening, a short smooth scar on the end of my eyebrow and the nightmares that drench me in sweat in the middle of the night and for every night since it happened.

Crap, I’ve gotten too distracted by that memory. I gather all the gardening tools and beeline for the house. As soon as I opened the front door, I slammed right into the devil himself, Thomas.

Emerald

“I’m s-so sorry f-father,” I stuttered, fear instantly invading my body. “I’m so sorry, I was trying to hurry and run to the..” he cut me off by raking his hands through my hair and yanking tight to make me look up at him. I whimpered, pain shot through my scalp and my eyes instantly began to water.

“Shut up, stop whining like a f*****g dying dog. Weren’t you told to be in the barn and out of sight by time I got home?” His spit hitting my face as he spoke. “You got f*****g dirt on me,” he said right before he slammed my body onto the floor. I groaned as I slowly tried to get up, avoiding making eye contact with him. I see my mom standing in the arch between the kitchen and hallway, with her hand over her mouth to cover her cries while the tears in her eyes threatened to fall. I shook my head slightly, warning her to stay still and quiet, it would make no sense for both of us to get hurt tonight. I used the small console table in the hallway to pull myself up and then steady myself. I took a breath in and before I could let it out, he demanded my mother to find him something and walked up the stairs. She came to me, cupped my face, and stared. I knew what she was doing, silently apologizing for the life she brought me into.

“JULIETTE! NOW” Thomas bellowed from their room. She placed a quick kiss on my nose before she ran up the stairs and to her mate from hell. Hot tears rolled down my face and I let them down because I wasn’t sure my legs were ready enough to stand alone if I was to let go of the table to wipe them away. My legs trembled as if I was standing in an ice bath in the middle of winter. The adrenaline was fading away and I tried to steady myself before walking up to my room. Tears were still rolling down my face as I quickly grabbed my easel, paints, and brushes. Ready to rush out of my room, I caught a glimpse of myself, red puffy eyes and broken but no marks this time. Thank Goddess for the guests. I flew down the stairs, stumbling as I missed the last couple steps and jogged out to the barn. I take a minute to steady my nerves before I set up my easel and paint my feelings away.