CHAPTER 3

Homelessness

Samantha

Relieved that I'm home and not facing half the pack, nor crying alone in the heart of the woods, I pull out my key and open the front door of our house. As usual, I walk in, kick off my shoes and send my jacket flying onto the couch. But I quickly see that this is far from usual. The atmosphere inside my house seems strange, but then again this whole day has been a nightmare for me.

I start walking towards my room when I notice my parents sitting solemnly in eerie silence, in the kitchen. As soon as they see me, they look at me, so I guess they were waiting for their daughter to come home. I cancel my plan to run off to my room and cry myself to sleep, so I turn on my heels to go to the kitchen.

Shame radiates from me in waves, because I know how much I let them down with the rank I got. I need their support right now, so I join them in hopes of hearing those kind words I desperately need to keep me sane. I need my mom and dad to tell me that everything is going to be okay, that I'm going to be okay.

I lower my head and enter the kitchen. I take a seat on one of the stools, not having enough courage to look my parents in the eye.

"Samantha, you have to go." I freeze.

"We can't have an Omega daughter. I'm so sorry, we love you, we really do, but you have to understand that we have a reputation, we are commanders." My father's speech breaks me. My brain can barely grasp the words that came out of his mouth.

What do you say to that? Nothing, you don't say anything, you just DO. You do what you're told.

Part of me still believed that they would take me in their arms and tell me that it's all a big misunderstanding, that they'll talk to the Alpha and the Council, that this whole mess will be sorted out, basically that they're here for me. Isn't that what parents are supposed to do? Hell, they should be kicking and screaming at the injustice. I know full well that my scores were much better than just to get Omega rank, so why do my own parents just accept this without question?

I have disappointed them enough to last a lifetime. I might as well do this last thing they want from me.

"I understand, Dad, and I just want to say that I'm really sorry for putting you through this. I'll be leaving in the morning."

When they don't question my words as I desperately wanted them to, I understand that this is it.

Standing up, I give them both a pained look, one more chance for them to be loving parents and not throw me away as if I am a stranger who cannot be trusted. They say nothing more, their silence only emphasizing their earlier words.

Well, this sucks.

I grab a gym bag and fill it with 3 pairs of jeans, some shirts and a hoodie. I almost forgot underwear and socks. I always do that, pack for vacation and forget about underwear. Tears begin to roll down my face as I slowly and painfully realize that I won't be going on vacation. In fact, I stupidly realize that I have nowhere to go. And I'm too proud and embarrassed to call Jennifer or Marie, and I'd hate the uncomfortable looks and questions that would come from their families. Or maybe their families would just toss me aside like trash, just like my own parents.

I stand in the doorway and take one last look at what used to be my bedroom. I took everything for granted, and that's on me. As silly as it sounds, I wish I had enjoyed my fluffy cream carpet more, I wish I had enjoyed the zen corner in my bathroom more, and I wish I had enjoyed having a fucking roof over my head, having a family, friends, and being able to go to school.

I guess I lost that, but besides freaking out about suddenly being homeless, I'm also worried about school and continuing to get an education. I'm not even 18 yet, what in Goddess' name am I supposed to do?

"First things first, let's get out of here!" Ming cuts in. She is right. I know Mom and Dad haven't moved from the kitchen, and I'm smart enough to read between the lines. They want me gone, and they want me gone now. It doesn't matter that it's almost dawn or that I literally have nowhere to go.

I slowly walk down the stairs, unsure if I should say goodbye to my parents or not. I had decided to just leave when my dad called me.

"Samantha, there's something else you need to know." My heart sank into the pit of my stomach. Oh Goddess, I beg you, no more!

I leave the bag at the door and walk to the kitchen to face my parents again, this time without sitting down.

"Your mother and I are not true mates, and due to an injury sustained in battle I was unable to conceive."

Wait? I'm slowly putting two and two together when my dad sighs, a little annoyed I might add, but I dismiss it. He starts talking again.

"We were given the opportunity to have you and we gladly agreed to take care of you as if you were our own." As my dad speaks, I am frozen, my brain stops working. I had no idea they weren't my biological parents. I mean, sure, they weren't all loving like other couples, and they had their limits on how much they coddled me, but they're damn commanders, they had to be tough.

"Wow, this is the definition of 'kicking someone when they're down.' I guess this all makes a lot more sense now." I smile a pained, sarcastic smile as I gesture around us, referring to them not giving a shit about how my life fell apart. I consider the fact that I managed to keep another wave of tears from falling, a small victory. The truth is, I'm out of tears, that's how broken I am.

I make a plan to pull myself together as best I can and request a meeting with our Alpha, and perhaps Mr. Biggins, to see why I got that rank. I may not have taken those tests and form too seriously, but I tried hard enough to show what I'm capable of, and I'm pretty sure I should have been ranked Beta.

"Not from Beta parents, remember?" Ming's voice in my head is like another bucket of ice water being thrown at me, but he's right, my parents are not Betas, and because they refuse to tell me who my biological parents are, I might as well assume they were Omegas and were probably killed during some kind of rebel attack or inter-pack fight. That would make sense why two commanders took me in.

Feeling satisfied with the story I made up about my birth parents, and knowing that's enough to keep me sane for the time being, I look behind me once more and take a deep breath. I'm leaving the only house I called home, I'm leaving the only people I knew as my parents, I'm basically leaving behind my life as I knew it.

I can't help but feel embarrassed about everything, and I keep stressing about how I can make this all work so that no one at school realizes that I'm actually homeless. I'm sure eventually everyone will find out that I don't live with my parents anymore, but I don't want them to know that I'm now living on the streets like a rat.

I may have watched too many teen movies or TV shows, or I may not, because I have an idea, and even though I know it's just plain stupid, it's the best I've got.

I'll sneak into school and sleep on one of the couches in the teacher's lounge or something. I can probably store most of my belongings in the two lockers I have at school. I'm so happy to have my locker in the second floor hallway and I also have my locker in the girls' locker room.

Not everyone has a permanent locker just for themselves in the locker room, but since I was best friends with Marie, she got me and Jen lockers there. Not to mention that I could also shower, wash my face and brush my teeth there.

It might be because it's almost 5 am, but this sounds like a great plan in my sleep-deprived, depressed mind.