My Parents Spoiled Adopted Daughter While Neglected Me, I Sneaked To Hometown Pack Chapter 10
Then Mrs. Vane snapped out of her daze, grabbedÂ
a broom, and smacked Amy with it until sheÂ
climbed down from the balcony.Â
Mom, Dad, and Lawrence grabbed Amy and ranÂ
out the door.Â
Before he left, Lawrence tried one last time.Â
“I’m asking you one final time. Are you comingÂ
back with us or not?”Â
I slammed the door in his face.Â
I thought they were gone.Â
But the day before I was supposed to report toÂ
The Shadow Unit, Evelyn and Eric took me to theÂ
beach.Â
And that’s where we found them drowning.Â
The waves were huge that day. The tide came inÂ
fast.Â
Lawrence and Amy were bobbing in the water, barely keeping their heads above the surface.Â
Mom and Dad were on their knees begging packÂ
members to save them. But no one dared go intoÂ
that water.Â
Going in meant not coming back out.Â
Then they saw me. Like I was their miracle.Â
They ran over, grabbed me, and started draggingÂ
me toward the ocean.Â
“Hannah, you grew up on Frostveil Island, youÂ
know how to swim, go save your brother andÂ
sister!”Â
They’d gotten me a few steps before I dug myÂ
heels in and tore my arms out of their grip.Â
“I can’t save them.”Â
Mom let out a shriek when I didn’t move.Â
“They’re your brother and your sister! How can youÂ
stand there and watch them die?”Â
Even my Alpha father, always so proud, dropped toÂ
his knees in front of me, begging.Â
But I still didn’t move.Â
Not because I was cold. Because I couldn’t saveÂ
them.Â
“There are warning signs right there. They ignoredÂ
them. You want them to drown themselves andÂ
take someone else down with them?”Â
“If I go in there to save them, I’ll die too. Or don’t IÂ
count as your child either?”Â
Slap.Â
Her palm cracked across my face so hard myÂ
mouth filled with blood.Â
My mother glared at me with so much hatred itÂ
was like she wanted me dead.Â
“Why weren’t you the one in that water?! If I had to lose a child, I wish it had been you!!!”Â
Her voice carried on the wind, sharp as blades, cutting through my eardrums.Â
It hurt.Â
Evelyn and Eric came running over.Â
When Eric saw what was happening, he tore offÂ
his shirt and started for the water.Â
I grabbed him.Â
“Eric, you can’t. You won’t save them.”Â
He looked at me and asked something I’ve neverÂ
forgotten..Â
“Hannah. I’m a Frostveil Island pack guard.Â
Protecting werewolves in danger is my duty. If itÂ
were strangers out there instead of them… wouldÂ
you still stop me?”Â
I admit it. I was selfish.Â
I admit it. I was full of hate.Â
I let go.Â
And I watched Eric dive into the raging sea.Â
Later, I asked Evelyn why she didn’t say anything.Â
She said she knew Eric. And there was noÂ
stopping him.Â
Eric died doing the job he’d sworn to do.Â
Amy died in the ocean, too.Â
Lawrence was pulled out alive, but the brain.Â
damage from oxygen deprivation was so severeÂ
that he’d spend the rest of his life in bed. WastingÂ
away. Until he finally died.Â
For years, I woke up from nightmares imagining allÂ
the “what ifs.”Â
What if I’d just gone to Silvermoon Fen like theyÂ
wanted? What if I’d reported to The Shadow Unit aÂ
day earlier? What if we hadn’t gone to the beach.Â
that day?Â
Maybe none of it would have happened.Â
I asked Evelyn if she blamed me.Â
She said no. She couldn’t bear to lose either of us,Â
Eric or me.Â
Sometimes I’d see Mrs. Vane and her family cryingÂ
over Eric’s photo. And I’d fall to my knees besideÂ
them, choking on guilt.Â
“Don’t, kid. This isn’t your fault.”Â
“He grew up wanting to protect his pack. If itÂ
wasn’t him, it would’ve been someone else’s son.”Â
I couldn’t stop crying.Â
Later, they came looking for me again.Â
I refused to see them.Â
They didn’t come because they loved me. TheyÂ
came because I was the only choice they had left.Â
It took years, years, for the scars to finally fade.Â
But eventually, I learned to let go. To forgive. NotÂ
them. Just myself.Â
Life is a long road of goodbyes and newÂ
beginnings. Every step leaves a mark. EveryÂ
memory stays with you.Â
And for the rest of my life, I’ll stay here. With myÂ
sister. With the two kind elders who took us in.Â
Growing old. Slowly. Quietly. At peace.

