Third Chance Mate

Chapter One

"What are you looking at, runt?!" Emberlynne dodged a glass that came flying towards her head, as her father walked towards her in the kitchen. He growled, as he towered over her tiny frame. Emberlynne pulled her hands up to cover her face, awaiting the strike that would inevitably come. Smack! Her back came in contact with the wall with a sharp impact as he shoved her and picked up a beer from the fridge. He laughed coldly as tears began to well up at her green eyes. "There it is. Now I'm the bad guy right? I have to be nice to this little runt pup because she's crying. Well fine, i'll be the bad guy. I wish your mama would have lost you. We're the shame of the pack because of you! Now the Alpha doesn't even want us to particpate in the new moon rituals. Scared to death that we'll be treated unfairly by the other pack members. Your poor mama hasn't really left the house in months! This is your fault... I should have done what is expected of a man with a runt pup. I should have thrown you out.. Pretend like you didn't exist. Stop looking at me like that! God you piss me off!" Emberlynne let out a startled scream, when the sharp pain in her chest sucked her breath away. Roderick chuckled as he pulled back to kick her again.

"Hey cut it out! Leave her be. Mom can you please say something?!" Karla looked back at Jackson and sighed wearily. "He's not wrong. Your sister has brought us shame. We might have to move. Your father is at risk of losing his job, nobody wants to be seen around us. The Alpha doesn't even want us running with them anymore. She's small, a f*****g runt, and doesn't even have a wolf. I fear what the scraggily looking thing will even look like. Probably sickly. Your father isn't respected at his job, I'm losing clients at the salon. I don't know what to do anymore. Your father is just angry. If Ember apologizes for the plight she's brought to us, i'm sure he'll settle down. So, Ember... Apologize." Karla said as she poured her third glass of wine for that night.

"Yeah boy, don't try to intervene when your sister is being punished. Know your place, pup." Jackson was pissed, but he feared if he did something drastic, Ember's punishments would only become more severe. There was already a new bruise swelling up on Ember's right shoulder from where their asshole of a father kicked her. Sure, they were shifters and she would heal up in a matter of minutes or hours, but that didn't mean it was justified. She still didn't have her wolf, and she wasn't strong enough to withstand very many beatings. His parents made him sick. Between his father the abuser, and their mother the enabler. He couldn't really tell which was the real monster in this room. How could you stand by while your child was suffering? It didn't make any sense to him. He has never treated Ember like this, and he was pissed that they could not only do it, but suffer no consequences from it.

"You two are a real piece of f*****g work, you know that?" He snapped and helped his sister up to her feet. "You're not so special yourself!" Karla called after them. He opened the bedroom door for his sister as she flopped down onto her bed. He sighed and sat down next to her. "I don't understand what I did to make them hate me so much." Ember sobbed into her hands, and Jackson's heart broke watching her. He didn't know what he could do for her in that situation. What could he do? He sighed and pulled her in to his arms and tried to soothe her pain. "You'll be getting your wolf soon. You could leave if you wanted, maybe get into another pack where nobody knows your name. I'll even go with you. You're the other half of me. We have shared everything, even a birthday. Even if no one else understands you. I always will." She laughed and lightly punched his shoulder as she pulled back. "You're so stupid." She said with a laugh. He chuckled and messed up her auburn hair. "We'll figure it out. Tonight is our birthday we'll see if eighteen is your lucky number. We'll go out and see." Jackson said with a smile and left the room. Ember sat there for a few minutes with a blank look on her face as she tried to process everything that had happened that night.

Ember stood up and walked to the mirror on her closet door and got a good look at herself. She was short, with shoulder length auburn hair. It was brown, with natural blonde lowlights. Her eyes were an earthy green. She was slender, with natural curves in the appropriate places. By human standards she would be above average, but compared to the tall, strong shifters that she grew up around.. She was weak, pathetic. She had skin, light and free of blemishes, and yet she was the weakest link of her pack. A pathetic, tiny runt. A weakling that brought shame to the Silvermoon pack. A plague upon everything they held sacred. She sighed, at least she had her brother on her side. It was the only thing that had helped her endure the treatment she received from her parents that were far too negligent and abusive than kind. Daughters were supposed to have close relationships with their mother, but the only relationship she had with her mother was one of resentment and distrust. It was close to midnight, her eighteenth birthday. She sighed, and went to her bathroom to hop into the shower. She got cleaned up, and changed into a pair of form fitting black leggings and a simple white tanktop. She laced up her black converse sneakers when Jackson knocked on the door. He let himself in and looked her over. "You look a little better than earlier. You ready to sneak out and hit the woods?"

Ember gave a nervous nod. "If you really think I'll get my wolf tonight, i'll be glad to go. Beats being here with them."