Their traded family

2. Family chaos

Hope's P.O.V

"Happy birthday, ginger!" My cousin, Ruby, jumped on me from behind, nearly making us both fall to the ground. She was lucky I had great balance for my age, or else I would've made sure it was her back we fell on, not my face.

This face was looking for its mate tonight.

"I told you to stop calling me that!" I huffed as I shook my body until she let go, coming to my front where she pulled me into a bone-crushing hug.

"And I told you that I'll only stop once you stop calling me an animal!" She squeezed harder until I winced.

"And yet you won't stop acting like one," her twin sister, the sane one of the two, Alyvia, murmured in a bored tone, though there was the slightest tilt of her lips as she watched us. Ruby stuck her tongue out but released me.

I took a large gulp of air, making sure to dramatize it more than usual for my favorite - fine - my only cousins, as far as I knew, anyway.

Although I loved my family and would do anything for them, what happened and how I came into the world, my heritage, was something I yearned to know. I was curious why my father never came to look for me, why I was given up for adoption as a mere infant. I wondered if I had siblings out there somewhere, grandparents, and aunts and uncles, perhaps.

But the small wave of sadness always disappeared immediately after one glance at what and who I had today.

The mongrel, my cousin Ru, was fun and adventurous and I could always count on her to get us into trouble, and out of it. My cousin Liv, on the other hand, I could always count on for a deep conversation and support. She was quiet and preferred to read or draw than party, but her head was always in the game, always thinking, calculating. It never bothered me, not her quietness or her need for solitude, in fact, with a father like mine, and feelings of my own that I sometimes didn't understand, I was thankful I had someone to sit in silence with.

My father, despite quiet, was never reserved with me or mom. Their love was something I strived to have, both competitive and sweet. They were enemies on the sparring mats, always striving to be better, to win, but at home, they took care of each other's bruises and danced to music they put on the TV.

My mom was the opposite of my dad, which is why she always pushed for him to be better, to work harder. She was chatty, telling me stories of princes and princesses, of faes and vampires, of couples falling in love, and of mates rejecting each other for the greater good. She didn't have rank when she first joined the pack back when it was called Red Moon still. She was just a female with ambition and courage, and she fought tooth and nail to earn the Gamma position.

And my aunt, the only biological relative I had that I knew of, was the sweetest, most caring female. She never failed to include me in every single family dinner and gathering, never failed to shower me with love and attention. Aunt Dali, although the Luna of our pack, never once sent me back when I asked to speak with her. And while mom would've liked to keep me a pup for as long as possible, aunt always answered any questions I had and treated me like an adult.

And her mate, my uncle, taught me strategies, taught me how to recite information faster, taught me anything I wanted to know about packs, both ours and not, and took me out to get food sometimes with him and the girls, when we always ended up into some sort of trouble, him included. Like that one time when we begged to go to the mall and he took us there only for us three to bribe him into buying us our first coffee, which led to us not sleeping the entire night. As punishment, for him, not us, he was forced to watch us all night, and when he fell asleep in a chair, we did his makeup and hair, then painted his nails with permanent sharpie that refused to come off for weeks.

I smiled at the memory of his face when he awoke to find himself dolled up like one of our toys as Liv hugged me, then kissed my cheek.

"Happy birthday, Hope!" I smiled wider and took both her and her sister's hands in mine, leading them toward the party that my aunt and mom had organized for me.

As the next Gamma and the niece of our Luna, every single pack member who wanted to come was here, making the place crowded and loud. Ru smiled mischievously as she dropped my hand and grabbed the first pup she could see, spinning them in circles and singing along to the booming music until she had multiple little ones around her arms, spinning her in circles and giggling.

Liv and I shook our heads with knowing smiles before making our way to the food table, Oliver, our Betas' firstborn and future Beta, as well as good friend, holding out a red plastic cup for each of us.

"Smuggled this from the parents," he winked proudly, "only the best for our dear Hope!" I shoved his arm and sniffed the drink. Definitely alcohol. I grimaced and set the drink down, my expression morphing from disgusted to shocked within seconds as Liv downed the contents of it in one gulp, coughing violently as Oli laughed his ass off.

"What?" Liv wiped her chin like the elegant lady she was, narrowing her eyes at the two of us as we continued to watch her.

"You okay, Liv?" I asked.

"Mhm. Perfect, why?"

"Miss Perfect will be drunk in an hour," Oliver whistled, making her shake her head as she headed somewhere, probably to wash that drink away with some juice. Or get away from Oli, since the juice was on the table next to us.

Interesting.

Just then, my mom wrapped her arms tightly around my waist, placing her chin on my shoulder.

"Having fun, pumpkin?" I nodded, glaring at Oliver who was making faces at me, knowing damn well he had a soft spot for his mother too.

"It's a bit... loud, but yeah, it's great, thanks mom!" She kissed my cheek before releasing me, finally allowing me to turn around. My aunt stood next to her, wearing a beautiful blue dress that reached a little past her knees, my uncle with an arm around her waist as always.

Aunt released herself from his hold and came over to me, cupping my cheeks lovingly as she brushed her thumb over them.

"My beautiful girl, getting so big now," She murmured, "you'll be running with Delilah in only a couple of hours. It seems like yesterday that you were searching for your mom in the kitchen!" Tears glistened in her eyes as I pulled her to me, squeezing gently.

I'd been told the story of how I ran into my aunt more times than I cared to recall, but knowing it would make her happy, I took her hand and led her to a nearby bench.

"How about you tell me our favorite story again?"

***

"Where are your parents, hun, we need to cut the cake soon?" Aunt wondered.

"They're probably giving her a s-" Aunt Dali slapped Uncle Zane's arm as his mate, Aunt Sofia, shook her head.

"Please get him to behave!" Aunt Dali pleaded, Aunt Sofia shaking her head.

"He's a lost cause."

"He's standing right here!" My uncle pouted. I turned to Beyla, who was groaning at her parents.

"Are they always like this?" I whispered.

"Every. Damn. Day." I nodded slowly.

Welp, didn't envy her there.

Just then, Noah, her little brother, shoved a piece of some creamy pastry in her face, rubbing it in from behind as she screeched.

"Who's short now, buzzkill?" He grinned, winking at me as I scowled. It was only to keep the laughter in. Beyla would not take well to it if I sided with her brother, as she called it.

"I'm going to skin you alive!" She yelled, reaching for him but grasping at air only.

"I," I coughed to fight the bursting laughter threatening to escape. My family was chaotic, or maybe that was a light way to put it, maybe my family invented the word chaotic, but at moments like these, I was the most thankful to be a part of it. "I'll go find my parents." Aunt Dali nodded as Uncle Knox and Uncle Zane bickered about whose pups got along better, while Aunt Sofia helped clean her daughter's face while pulling her away from the idea of murdering her younger brother.

I scanned around the area of the large open yard space, finding no trace of either of my parents, and since my aunt was asking where they were, it meant their mind links were blocked as well.

If I shifted before having some cake, I wouldn't let them live it down.

I continued to walk around, eventually covering the entire party space and not finding them. Deciding they were probably in the house for something, I made my way inside.

"Mom? Dad?" I yelled. "Are you in here? It's time to go cut the cake!"

Nothing.

I made my way upstairs to check if they were in our suit, finding it unlocked.

Bingo.

Just before I could call out again, I heard voices coming from their bedroom.

"You can't keep this from her any longer! We can't keep this from her any longer!" I stopped in front of my parents' door upon hearing my father whisper-shout.

I inwardly cursed myself, hoping the Moon Goddess wouldn't be too disappointed in me as I pressed my ear against the door with the silence only my mother and father, the Gamma couple of the Blood Moon pack, could teach me.

"She's too young!" My mother. At least the secret wasn't about her, then. But that only left...

Me. They were keeping a secret from me.

"She's sixteen! She's getting her wolf in an hour, as much as you wish for her to stay a pup forever, she's a grown female now and she deserves the truth!" My father demanded. I heard the shuffle of footsteps, my mother's footsteps, as I'd been trained well enough to listen for those even without enhanced hearing.

"She is a pup still! She doesn't need to be plagued by history that only you, I, and the Luna know! It's pointless! She's happy, Shawn!" Mom's voice broke.

"And she will be again, but she needs to know the truth." Dad was relentless about telling me, and although I was still a little pissed at him for keeping secrets from me when I'd never kept one from him, from either of them, he was on my side now, which was more than I could say for the rest of my family.

"And what do you suppose I tell her, huh?" My mother's voice raised as her voice broke further. I could tell without seeing her that tears had begun to fall down her cheeks. "That her father raped her mother and she's the product of it? That her mother's only dead because she gave birth to her?"

I staggered backward, my heart wanting to burst out of my chest. What did she mean I was the product of rape? That my biological mother, my aunt's only sister, died because she gave birth to me?

Tears filled my eyes. This was worse than any past I could've imagined for myself. I carried the blood of some bastard, some low-life scum who hurt a young female... And my biological mother, not only was she forced into conceiving me but she had to die giving birth to me.

Did she hate me? Did she think of how much she wished it would've been me who died and not her?

My heart broke into tiny pieces, just like the small end table I'd knocked over and the vase atop it.

And through the pain, rage managed to seep through. Rage because even though, yes, I hated knowing what I did, I had the right to know! I had the right to know that I had killed my biological mother and that I shouldn't long for the family I could've had, although I rarely did. I hated that every time I asked to know something, anything, from my parents, they said they knew as much as I did, that they lied to my face for years. That I didn't know why my aunt fought tears every time I brought it up...

So many thoughts swirled through my head as I quickly put the table back up and ran just in time for my parents to stop arguing and open the door.

A/N

Hi, Treasures! Make sure you join my F-a-c-e-b-o-o-k group Teddy's Treasures for extra content and discussions! Sweet little introduction back into the family some years later before we dive into the chaos, hope you guys liked this chapter!