Trapped Between Three Fated Mates

Chapter 1 Zoe’s POV. “Dad, I’m home!” I call into the seemingly empty living room of our shabby little apartment. Shabby because I haven’t bothered to clean up in a while, and my Dad’s too much of a lazy ass to clean up as well. I hear a grunt come from somewhere inside and that’s enough sign of life for me to dump my bag on the floor and flop onto the couch, tired from another day of learning absolutely nothing and dealing with the endless teasing about my appearance. I get it, my eyes are really blue and my hair is nearly white. f*****g lay off already. This is what I wished I could say to the people teasing me, but I’d probably end up being locked in a locker again. Not that I didn’t fight against the bullies, it’s just that it was really hard when you’re fighting off people with their father’s money fattening up the principal’s pockets. On the bright side though; I whip out my phone and smile at the text Jake sent me an hour ago. ‘Meet me at the Shack later tonight?’ Of course I said yes, maybe he’d finally ask me to be his girlfriend today, it’s been about two weeks since he confessed to liking me back. I’d expected Rashton to be pretty much the same. We’ve been here for nearly four months now. I have a friend– for the first time ever, an outcast like me, Tammy. Then there’s Jake Sunders, whom I liked from the moment I saw him. I drop my phone and shut my eyes, beyond tired from school but for the first time well and truly happy. Maybe this time… maybe this time I wouldn’t have to pack up and move again. Maybe this time, I’d finally have a normal life, a normal senior year, with friends, parties and perhaps for once, I’d be able to fall in love. “Zoe,” Dad called out. I sigh and call out. “I’m in the kitchen, dad.” I pause what I’m doing, letting the knife hover over the bread. He couldn’t… My father walks into the kitchen, dressed in sweatpants and a crisp white undershirt, looking extremely stressed out. I immediately bristle when I note his stiffness and the apologetic look in his eyes. “Is something wrong?” I ask and he winces, then seems to brace himself as he begins to speak. “Zoe, I just got a call from my boss and-“ he starts, but I stop him with a hiss, hunger now forgotten. No, he couldn’t do this to me again, not now. “I’m not going,” I say and fold my arms. “I’m not leaving this town. Not when I finally have a friend, not when I’m this close to getting a boyfriend, no… no f*****g way!” His lips purse at my use of curse words, while trying to speak calmly. “Look, I know you’re upset, I know you’re just starting to fit in here, but we don’t have a choice…” “Of course we have a choice. You’re loaded for f**k’s sake. You could quit this job, we could settle here permanently. Or if your job’s so damn important to you, you can move and I’ll stay in a hostel, I’m certainly old enough,” I say, hating that he was about to uproot my life again. “You can’t live in a hostel alone Zoe, you won’t be happy. I promise that I’ll find us some permanency, but for now I just need you to listen to me, we’re leaving tonight and…” “Tonight? You want me to pack up my entire life in a few hours??” Tears sting my eyes, tears of pure rage. I grip the kitchen counter tightly and set my jaw. “I’m not leaving, and you can’t make me.” He can’t take me away, not now when I finally have some stability, not now when I have Tammy and Jake… Anger flash in his eyes. “I know you’re angry Zoe, but I promise you…” “I don’t want any of your fake promises. I’m not leaving and that’s final!” His jaw ticked as he spoke. “I’ll give you time to pack up whatever you can, we’re leaving tonight so I’d advise you to start parking right now. If you’re not ready to leave by nighttime, I'll have to force you because it’s for your own good.” he says with an air of finality, turns on his heel and then walks out of the room. I feel sobs rising in my throat as the life I’m leaving behind flashes in my eyes. ~~~ Goodbye from Rashton, was what the sign read. In my many years of being moved around, this was the prettiest goodbye sign I’d ever seen. Such a shame, maybe it was a sign that my life was meant to be here. Unsurprisingly, he’d managed to pack up in a few hours. I’d managed to do the same, except it took a lot more time than usual, other than the fact that my eyes were blurry from frustrated tears, this was the first time I’d actually unpacked most of my stuff, it felt like someone was squeezing me in the chest as I texted Tammy to let her know I wouldn’t be seeing her again. Jake didn’t respond to my texts even though he’d read them. Maybe he was too hurt by the fact that I was leaving… It’d been my fault really, I’d let myself get too attached to people here, I’d forgotten that there was no such thing as permanency in my life. I wonder if things would have different if my mother was still alive, maybe is she and my twin sister hadn’t died when she was giving birth to us, things would have been different, maybe she’d have left dad to gallivant all over the country while she’s stay and take care of us, maybe he’d be reluctant to move even. So many what ifs that I would never know the answer to because of this damn man right here. “Look Zoe, I know you’re upset but,” he starts. I scoff and look through my bag for my headphones, all I could find were the chips and cinnamon rolls that I’d tossed in there for our trip. s**t. He sighs like he’s the one that should be frustrated. “Zoe, please listen to me. I’m doing this for you, so you can have a better life and…” “A better life? By dragging my all around the country every two weeks? By robbing me of my chances to make friends and have a stable life?” He clenched his jaw. “It’s for your future.” “Who gives a s**t about my future when my present is f****d up as it is, at this rate will I even be able to attend college?” “Of course you will, I just need to find some stability and assurance…” “Assurance that what? That your boss won’t send you to a whole other country every few weeks? Well let me tell you now that’s never going to f*****g happen!” “Trust me Zoe, soon…” I look away from him, brimming with irritation and anger. He didn’t have any excuses, this wasn’t the first time he’d promised me that eventually, this wasn’t the first time he’d told me that someday we’d stay in one spot. It’s been more than fifteen years and we were still moving. Fuck him. f**k his stupid job that clearly matter more than my own feelings. “f**k,” he mutters and I glance at him, Dad didn’t curse often, I can count on one hand the amount of times he used a swear word. Unlike me who was a potty mouth.. “Hold on, Zoe,” he says calmly, before suddenly accelerating to the point where I shot forward in my seat. I grip the dashboard tightly and yell out in surprise as he makes a daring right turn. “What the f**k dad?!” “Look I can’t explain right now, but we’re being followed and trust me when I say you don’t want them to catch us,” he rants, squeezing the steering and making another daring turn. “How did they even find us, I’m sure I…” the rest of his sentence turns into random mumbles and more curses from him. Some I didn’t even understand. I glance back to see what he’s talking about, but there’s… nothing there.