Alpha Klayton | ✔️

22 |

My mother greets me at the door.

She is smiling just like she should. She hugs me just like she should. She tells me she is so happy to see me, just like she should.

Yet, it is her athletic build and sharp features that give her away. They are so familiar, and not because she is my mother. I never noticed before —I never had anything to which I could compare them. I dig my head into her chest and inhale her calming scent before pushing away.

I don't know how to do this.

It feels like I've literally forgotten how to do everything. I can't move or talk, and a blank expression takes over my face. I've forgotten how to breathe but my mind races. I consider the possibility that everything the Moon Goddess told me is true. 
My first inhale is shaky but I need to get myself together.

My mom —this woman—drags me inside my childhood home. It feels cold now, I am unsure how to approach the situation.

What if they are dangerous? 

My dad is sitting where he always is, in the living room, perched on his lazy boy. A mug of coffee sits beside him and I watch as he smiles when he sees me. He pushes himself off the chair and walks over to hug me, then falls back down into the permanent dent that had been made over the years on his chair.

It seemed so normal.

My mom comes back from the kitchen holding two mugs. I grasp the one she gives me in my hand, and I don't even bother identifying the liquid inside—anything would make me sick right now. I hold it tightly to keep my hands from shaking, my anxiety over this situation getting the best of me. I casually sit down on the couch and my mom sits beside me, unbothered.

"I'm so glad you decided to come to visit Addy, but why are you home?"

I look at her strong features; that upturned nose and smooth jaw. Why had I never noticed that I didn't inherit any of them? I decide that now is not the time to discuss such matters. As long as they don't know that I know, I can't hurt any worse. I keep my head down as I respond to her slight questioning.

"I was just so overwhelmed with school, my teachers are so tough on me," the half-truth almost makes me giggle. My mind is too exhausted for anything that I feel like I'm becoming delusional.

My mom looks at me with pity but I avoid her gaze. I know my eyes would give everything away. My emotions can be read on my face so easily, and I can't have that happen right now. I expect my mom to respond but it is my dad who answers.

His next words shock me into a stunned silence, as I hadn't expect such an aggressive response to emit from him.

My sweet dad.

"I knew we should have never let her go to that school!" He shouts aloud, the anger almost coming off of him in waves. It makes me panic.

Can he read me as easily as I can read them? 

My head snaps to his and I meet his eyes; he knows something for sure, I'm just sure if it is the same thing I think he knows. My mom props herself on the edge of Dad's chair and touches his arm, seeking to calm him down. The action doesn't go unnoticed by me.

"Oh don't talk like that, it's a great opportunity for her to learn."

He instantly calms down and I recognize it instantaneously for what it is. It's the same reaction I have when I'm around Klayton.

Klayton.

I grab my phone and plug it in.

He is going to freak.