Moon Desire

CHAPTER THREE ?

In her mind, there was a chance. Do they intend to paintball their home again?

Were they going to leave decaying carcasses on their doorstep?

Did they have the audacity to assault in wolf form?

Worse, was it a rogue? Was Sapphire going to have to go through the Change to safeguard her foster brother and the house of her foster family?

Sapphire could hear footsteps on her doorstep thanks to her increased senses. TWO SETTINGS She moved the bat behind her head, her other arm gently going for the knob.

The front door swung open. Sapphire couldn't help but scream softly. Despite her training, she clamped her eyes shut and swung. The bat came to an abrupt halt after making contact. Sapphire blinked open her eyes, taking in the two figures at her doorway.

"Is this how you welcome us home, Fire?" a deep, amused voice said.

Sapphire let out a relieved sigh as if a tremendous weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Her heart rate began to slow.

"You terrified me," she said, her voice trembling. "The next time you come home this late, you should give me a heads-up so I know it's you."

"But, Fire, where's the joy in that?" Carter replied as he let go of the bat and turned on the closest light.

Sapphire's adoptive parents came into focus, their hospital scrubs a little soiled from the journey home. Carter and Clara stood at their front door, looking at their daughter as if they'd never seen her before. Sapphire knew they'd never seen her like this before. She was stressed out and at her wits' end.

Clara took a step closer to Sapphire, grabbing her face in her hand. "Are you all right, honey? You had the bat clutched like you were about to wipe out an army."

"I'm OK, Clara."

Carter fixed his gaze on his daughter. "Are you certain, Fire? You're a little paler than normal. That never occurred to me as a possibility. You know, and I know you are not like that.”

Sapphire snorted an unpleasant snort. “Ha. Carter, you're hilarious. Of course I’m fine.”

"You know, I've been home for two minutes and I still haven't had a hug from my favorite gal." As he grinned down at Sapphire, his eyes furrowed at the corners.

Sapphire moved forward into Carter's embrace, letting his warmth flood into her. She threw her arms around his waist, clinging to him tightly. Carter held her, tucking her head beneath his chin. Sapphire's worries were calmed by his natural smell.

He constantly brought up memories of her childhood.

Sapphire unwillingly drew out from the embrace after a while.

"Please accept my apologies. All I did was-" Sapphire's voice trembled. She tried again, clearing her throat.

"I simply wanted to make sure they didn't try again."

Carter and Clara both recognized her reference to the event.

Her family had gone on a stroll in the forest as normal, but when they returned, they'd discovered their small damaged house.

Everything was in disarray.

Their inexpensive sofas had been ripped to tears, windows had been smashed, bed linens had been pulled, dishes had been broken, TVs and safes had been taken, and even the mirrors had been damaged.

They were still on the hook for all of the damages. Sapphire's last pay check had been used to purchase a new microwave. The pack treasurer, Adam, said that their cheque to pay the damage was still waiting. And they were on their own to figure out who was behind this.

Sapphire had spent three hours removing the spray painted phrases from the walls, none of which she would ever dare to repeat.

She did, however, know who was to blame. And why they'd done it in the first place.

Sapphire, on the other hand, lacked the courage to tell Carter and Clara that she was the reason everything had occurred in the first place. The guilt, on the other hand, was already doing havoc on her insides. And if they tried to assault her family like that again, Luna would die attempting to stop them.

Clara's gaze became faraway, most likely recalling the appalling condition of her kitchen thereafter. They have yet to save enough money to purchase a new kitchen table.

Carter gave Sapphire a mournful grin. "Well, Fire, thank you for holding down the fort. You performed an outstanding job."

Sapphire has seen that grin too many times to count. These were the closest thing she'd ever had to parents. They represented all she had ever known. She could read their facial expressions and deduce every emotion and thinking.

And Carter's sorrowful grin was constantly on display. He was probably irritated that Sapphire had to doubt her and Charlie's safety. At the same time, he was proud of her for taking rapid action and defending her family.

Sapphire exhaled a sigh.

“I didn't do as well as I could have." She positioned the bat so that it rested against the wall.

"But, before I get to the awful news, how was your day at work?"

Clara interlaced her fingers with Carter's. "It was hard labor. When you're washing hospital patients, not much occurs."

Carter laughed. "It's a good thing I didn't have to clean any catheters today."

Clara scowled at him. "You must speak for yourself."

She returned her attention to Sapphire. "It was hard labor. In any case, we're still just making the bare minimum."

Sapphire pity for Clara. She was well aware that Clara desired nothing more than to be a stay-at-home mother. Sapphire had desired it for as long as she could remember. Instead, she'd been compelled to work whatever job she could to support her family. That job simply happened to be on the local hospital's clean-up team. Not even the midday clean-up team.

The team who works all-awful-hours-for-minimum-wage at night.

A two-person party.

The only thing she liked about it was that she got to work alongside her spouse.

Clara looked at Sapphire, expecting for her to break the awful news. “Jackie resigned today."

The room became quiet, but for the crickets and rustle of trees outside, which she caught up on instinctively with her ears.

Clara's blue eyes glowed with rage, and Sapphire wished she could take the words back, if only to save her adoptive mother the pain she knew Jackie's departure would bring.

"Please accept my apologies." Sapphire could hardly understand what she was saying.

"I attempted to stop her, but she was so determined to keep going." And, although I realize this is a poor idea, I can ask my supervisor if I may begin bringing Charlie in. Maybe I'll simply put him in a booth or something."

"You shouldn't have to," Clara murmured so faintly that only Sapphire and Carter with stronger hearing could pick it up.

Carter began caressing his wife's back in delicate circles. “Don't worry, darling; we'll figure it out. Let's just take it one step at a time."

"It's not right!" Clara's eyes blazed with so many emotions that she erupted. She banged her fist at the wall next to her in a fit of fury. A sharp fracture grew from where she'd hit the wall, spreading up it like ivy.

"This should not be happening to us! We're a pack, dammit, and they treat us like trash while living like kings! I’m sick of it!"

Carter began muttering calming things into his wife's ear, anxiously attempting to calm her down. As his wife sobbed, he walked her out of the room carefully.

As he passed, he offered Sapphire an apologetic look and begged her to understand. Sapphire nodded in agreement. As Clara's sobbing reverberated down the corridor, she locked her gaze on the fissure in the wall.

Sapphire clinched her hands, ready to smash through the barricade. What was the reason for the pack's inability to see? Didn't they realize how dire their position was? Why wouldn't the pack do anything to aid them? They were always willing to assist their own. Always.

The majority of the seniors and grownups were not sickeningly lovely to them, but they were courteous. Was there not enough decency present to compel them to assist her family?

What had her family done to make them so despised?

The Omegas were prized by the majority of packs. Was it due to her?

Was she such an alien that they wanted to punish her family?

Sapphire fixed her gaze on the c***k. Was it her relatives that caused the schism in her pack? Were they a source of embarrassment for the pack?

She walked out to the garage and retrieved the plaster with a helpless groan. She didn't sleep till four o'clock in the morning.