Their traded family

6. Danger and secrets

Hope's P.O.V

I luckily had the smart thought to set an alarm before falling asleep yesterday. I didn't feel quite as lucky once said alarm rang at six in the morning.

Groaning, a sharp pain shot through my arms and shoulders as I attempted to stretch. Sore was an understatement to how bad and weak my body felt.

There was no time to lay in bed, though, not when Mom would use every opportunity to convince my uncle not to take me with him back to his pack. If I wanted to have any chance of getting there safely, because I would get there even if I had to run on my own, I needed to pack and load my things in the car before she could.

Uncle Zane may be an Alpha, but he was soft when it came to family, and I wasn't sure which side he would take, but I was willing to bet it would be my mom's if she played her cards right.

Which she would, she was a Gamma, after all.

It felt weird thinking of my mom's position as a disadvantage rather than with pride. Usually, when I remembered what position she held in a pack as large as ours, the largest one out there, I couldn't help the wide grin that spread on my face. She was a damn good Gamma, always there for my aunt with anything she may need help with. Now, however, having to stand against her rather than with her for a time, I was very aware of the fact that I couldn't win against her. I didn't want to, either. If I was being honest, I would love nothing more than for her to come in here right now, to tell me she was sorry, and let me know of any other information she had. I wanted nothing more than for her to hug me as she told me how to deal with the soreness of my muscles quickly.

Honestly, if she did, I would be content with staying. With knowing only as much as my aunt and parents knew so I didn't have to reopen decades-old wounds.

As the clock continued to tick, however, I knew that wouldn't be the case, so I winced one last time, bit my lip, and dragging it between my teeth made quick work of packing a suitcase with my school books, clothes, and necessities.

I was about to start rolling the suitcase down the stairs when my father knocked on the door before slipping his head through the crack.

"Still don't want to talk to me?" He asked with a small smile.

"Come in, Dad." I sighed. My father walked inside, passing me a glass of water and a small white pill as I looked up at him questioningly.

"For the soreness; I can assume it's quite painful with how much you ran last night." I nodded before taking the pill and popping it into my mouth.

"Are you sure you want to leave? Your mom is devastated, pumpkin." Dad sat on my bed once I'd finished swallowing. I nodded.

"She shouldn't have kept secrets from me, Dad. I thought we were honest with each other, and yet it seems like it was one-sided." He shook his head.

"I tried to tell her. I've tried for a while now, but you know how stubborn your mom is. She had good intentions, though. She said we'll tell you when you're old enough to know."

"She lied." Dad sighed but said nothing.

Getting up off the floor and dusting the jeans I'd slipped on, I made sure my suitcase was properly zipped before I turned to my father again. I knew it was, I just needed the few moments turning away from him would allow me to have.

"Hope?" I hummed in response. "There's more you need to know, pumpkin. I don't want there to be more secrets. Thisis about you, and I believe you're old enough to know, as you obviously want to."

"I do," I whispered as I sat next to him, fiddling with my top on my lap.

"It's not pretty," dad warned.

"Not a lot of life is," I reminded him.

Dad sighed heavily and looked out the window. My room wasn't small, a fact that he used to his advantage as he seemed to commit every piece of furniture, every speck of dust, to memory. My bed was large, covered with over five pillows and fluffy blankets. Above it hung multiple photographs of me with my family and friends. When I returned, I wanted to add one of Hadley, I thought as I stared at all of them.

On the wall, my bed was pressed up against hung thin wires of fairy lights to make the otherwise white and boring wall more fun. There was a window next to my bed that I'd always loved, too. Being able to stare outside as I sat in bed, tohave natural light when I wanted to read, it was one of my favorite parts of my bedroom.

Looking around, my gaze settled on the other part of the room, if only to avoid looking at Dad. His usually emotionless face had thousands of emotions on it today, and none of them were happy. Not even one.

The window was large enough that it extended through almost the entire wall. Bellow it was my desk, a simple white I paired with a black chair, another fluffy blanket hanging from it. The desk was connected to a short bookshelf, decorated with more framed photos and posters, books, obviously, my laptop, and small items I'd collected over the years like pretty rocks from the lake. Next to it was a rack of some of my most favorite outfits, though I mostly used it to keep my clothes from getting wrinkled when I decided what I wanted to wear the next day.

In the corner opposite that and next to the door was a large comfortable swing-like chair and a floor-length mirror, both of which were covered in more lights. My aunt Dali had passed on her love for fairy lights to me, and since she didn't want to cover her and uncle's bedroom with them (even though I'm sure he'd let her if she asked) we'd covered mine in them instead. Of course, I had multiple pillows and cushions on the chair as well, and a plant.

"I'll miss my room while I'm gone," I sighed with a small smile, silently letting Dad know that I'll be coming back and that I'm ready for him to speak. He ran a hand down my arm before looking away again.

"Your birth mother was in the trafficking ring with your aunt," he began, though that was information I already knew, surprisingly, "but you don't know what happened to her, do you?" I shook my head.

"Her and your Aunt Dali got separated, so I'm assuming someone took her." To my horror, Dad nodded. I'd always hoped that wasn't the case, not just because she was the female who gave me life, but because she was a female in general and no one deserved to be sold off like some item.

"It's not pretty," Dad reminded me when I closed my eyes and inhaled sharply. I nodded. I was starting to understand it more and more.

"She was sold, pumpkin, when she was still young."

"Is that monster my biological father? The one who bought her?" I could already feel the kernel of hate brewing within me. If he was the one who bought her, then it would be so easy to find him. And this time, asking him questions wasn't what I intended to do.

I intended to get justice.

"No," Dad shook his head, "your uncle Zane found the male and questioned him. He denied participating in such acts, of course, but with the right... motivation, he spoke."

"Torture, you mean?" I c****d an eyebrow at dad, unamused. Not because he'd hurt the bastard, no, he deserved it and more. I was unamused that as a sixteen-year-old werewolf, a Gamma couple's daughter, they still believed I was innocent enough to not know what happened to the worst ones out there below the pack house.

"Yes. Torture." He confirmed.

"Well deserved," I spat, "I hope you killed him afterward." Dad looked at me as if seeing me for the very first time, the violence inside me I'd never felt before, making me look away.

"We did," he murmured after a while. "He didn't know much, but he was only too happy to speak ill of Alana. To degrade and spit the names he'd called her by, even though she'd been dead for a while."

Good, I thought, he deserved to die. Though I wouldn't say it out loud, not when I was freaking out my father already.

"But if he isn't the one who, you know, made me," I cringed, "then who?" Calling that monster a father, even if only a birth one, felt so wrong. I had a dad, and he was nothing like that bastard, he never would be. He didn't deserve to be compared to such a creature.

"We don't know, pumpkin." I raised an eyebrow, finally daring to look back up.

"You don't know? You didn't pry anymore? You didn't try to find out?" I found that particular statement hard to believe.

"Oh, believe me, we tried. Your uncles and I dug around a lot, but there was nothing. No trace of that male. It was as if he'd vanished."

Great. Just perfect. So knowing more about my heritage, about where I came from, was going to be impossible then?How do I find out if there were others he'd hurt? How do I help them? It wasn't my responsibility, not really, but I felt a sense of it whenever I thought of other victims like Alana. I wanted to help not because I had to, but because I was blessed enough to be adopted into a safe and loving family, and I wanted to be there for those who weren't as lucky.

It very well, very easily, could've been me.

"She was killed by the male who'd bought her. He killed her after he found out she'd given birth, and because she wouldn't tell him where the pup, you, were."

"So he never figured out I wasn't his?" I cringed again, Dad shaking his head. "But why would she protect that monster? I highly doubt she wanted a pup with how young she was." He shrugged sadly.

"She didn't, not if how you were found was any indication, but maybe she wasn't protecting him, maybe she was too scared to say anything." My heart clenched at the thought and I yet again looked up, as if I was looking at the sky and not the ceiling, and apologized to my birth mother.

If she was watching over me, I hope she heard my apologies. I hope she knew she was going to get justice, even if it was a decade and a half too late.

I nodded, seeing as my dad was still awaiting me to do something, to say something, anything really. Instead, I got up and grabbed my suitcase.

The time that Uncle Zane and his family would leave was coming and I didn't want to miss it.

Not with the sense of duty I felt.

I'd always known I was going to be a Gamma. That I was going to find my mate and eventually have a pup of my own. That was my life's duty, laid out for me the second I was adopted, but for the first time, I had one of my own.

Hadley had been quiet, wolves even more emotional and protective of their families than humans, but she stirred now, letting me know she was with me. That we'd bring Alana and every other victim justice together.

Just like Uncle Knox and his wolf did for Aunt.

"Hope?" Dad called.

"I'm going, Dad, it's final!" I declared, thinking he would try to stop me like Mom had. Instead, he surprised me by grabbing my suitcase and heading for the door, intending to carry it downstairs for me.

"I know, pumpkin. I also know you're not going to clear your head. I see the challenge in your eyes, Hope, and I respect it. What you're doing is honorable, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to lock you in your room so you'd be safe. The wolves you'll be digging around for, they're bad, pumpkin, and they'll stop at nothing to keep their pasts and secrets hidden. Be careful!" I smirked.

"Let them try."

No stone will be left unturned, and no secret hidden by the time I'm done. That was my life's duty.

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! Stubborn Hope has a goal in mind, but is achieving it as simple as she thinks?