Chapter 1
{Edited}.
Hi, my name is Rose Bear! I'm a mom to a 3-year-old at 15. Let me tell you about how my life became shit overnight. So we were once a big happy family: mom, dad, my sister, brother & I until ten years ago when dad left in the middle of the night.
That morning, dad kissed my forehead & told me to stay strong no matter what happened. I was 5. So I didn't understand what he meant by that. It then went on like any typical day in the Bear household. May my sister & Mark my brother leave for school. I played dolls with my mom, made cookies & watched cartoons all day until it was time for my sister, brother & dad to come home. I helped mom make dinner that night. We finished setting the table just as May & Mark walked in after school.
Mark looked around and asked mom where dad was. Mom told us he would run late and go out and eat without him. We all sat down to eat our dinner, played outside, then bathed and went to bed. I don't know when the yelling started, but I was scared. I remember my dad saying I'm done for good. Then he came into my room, looked at me & said the words I'll never forget, sweetheart," I love you more than anyone in this world. Don't ever forget that!" Like always, he told me to stay firm no matter what. Dad kissed my forehead & gave me a big hug before he walked out of my room.
~~~Fast forward ten years
I'm now the family's punching bag & enslaved person. If I didn't have to go to school, I'm pretty sure I would never leave this place. My alarm went off at 4 am. I needed to get inside, sneak us a shower and start breakfast before everyone woke up. I don't want to get beat again today. I'm freezing because we sleep in the shed behind the house. We're only allowed in the house when I'm cooking, cleaning, or doing their wash, or if dad's family visits, then I get to sleep inside, also.
I grab my hoodie & black leggings my best friend Lily gave me for my birthday months ago & grab Dovey some sweatpants and a cute little hoodie. If it weren't for Lily and her family, I would still be wearing the holy clothes from May that don't fit & my beautiful baby Dovey wouldn't have anything.
We quickly shower in the basement, so no one knows we shower inside. Then I ran upstairs and started breakfast. I make ham and cheese omelets, American fries, and biscuits and gravy. Set out the places & silverware with 3 cups of OJ & fresh coffee. Pack ours in zip-lock bags & run out to my shed as I hear my birth giver get up and walk downstairs.
I'm not allowed to come back into the house until 7:00. Once they are done eating & leave the house for the day; I can go back in & wash the dishes, then run to Lily's to drop off Dovey, then run to school as fast as I can. Thankfully, it's only two blocks away, so I'm never late & Lily's mom babysits. As I walked up the steps into the school, I could feel RJs eyes on me. RJ and his friends all stay to themselves. They're all werewolves, but I don't know. I know this fact about them. I was walking in the woods two years ago after my brother beat the living hell out of me for not cleaning his bathroom fast enough.
When I approached a lake deep behind my house, I could hear people talking, so I stopped moving and looked out. It wasn't too dark, so I could still see everything. RJ looked at Jesse and said it's time we should head back. Then they all shifted into their wolves. It was the most beautiful thing I ever saw. I wasn't scared at all; to be honest, I wanted to walk up to them and pet them all. I felt safe; something about them makes me feel safe.
