Rejected by Blood and Pack Novel – On my eighteenth birthday, I clutched the fifty dollars I had earned after months of washing dishes in the back kitchen. I had planned to treat my Alpha parents and my brother to tacos at Taco Bell. In the end, they did not show up. They went to Disney with my adopted sister instead. The fireworks she posted on her Instagram story stabbed straight into my eyes. I could not help myself.
I called them, ready to demand an answer. Compared to Marissa, was I not the real family here? But before I could say a single word, Marissa’s laughter came through the phone. “June does not seriously think we would actually go celebrate her birthday, right?” “Does she really not know she was picked up from a trash can outside the pack hospital?” “Otherwise, why would Mom and Dad treat her worse than me, an adopted daughter?” In that moment, everything became painfully clear.
So I was not their child after all. No wonder they had dumped me at Grandma’s place when I was little. No wonder they had never liked me. Then there was no need for me to keep begging for that pitiful thing called family. I opened the Common App, added Harvard University to my “My Colleges” list, then bought myself a plane ticket. I did not plan on coming back.
After closing the application page, I finally had the time to look down at the tacos on the table. This meal was not cheap. To afford it, I had spent more than half a year washing dishes in the back of a diner. I had ordered my mom her favorite Nachos BellGrande. I had ordered my dad the Chicken Quesadilla he loved. I had ordered Sam a Large Nacho Fries, the one he never got tired of.
I had even ordered Marissa her usual Crunchwrap Supreme. The table was filled with everything they liked. When I finally picked up my fork, I realized that while ordering, I had not thought about myself even once. But that was fine. Now that I had stopped begging for their shallow affection, I would learn how to love myself. Just like now. I realized that eating tacos alone was not a problem at all.
Even without anyone wishing me a happy birthday, the cake was still sweet. Besides, the Taco Bell staff even sang me the birthday song. I was not lonely at all. When I returned to the pack house, they were back from Disney as well. When my mother saw me, her expression stiffened for a brief moment. Then she placed a Winnie the Pooh plush into my hands. “June, this is your birthday present.” “I am sorry. We were going to celebrate with you, but Marissa got an A on her exam. We promised her that if she did well, we would take her to Disney.
So we changed plans halfway.” “You have always been understanding. You can see it from our side, right?” Her voice was as gentle as ever. I looked up at the she-wolf who, when I was very small, used to hold me in her arms, call me her honey bear, and say she could not bear to part with me. Back then, I adored her. I loved her so much it was almost desperate. All I wanted was to return to her side.
But after I left the Atchafalaya Swamp and returned to the pack, I found that there was already a new girl in our home. She was the only one my mother called honey bear now. Her arms were meant for her alone. In the past, I had felt jealous and heartbroken. Now, all I felt was relief. It turned out that just like Marissa, I had also been picked up. That was why they did not love me.
That made sense. I nodded slightly and said flatly, “It is fine. I am not mad.” After that, I did not take the plush. I turned and walked straight toward my room. I had already seen Marissa’s Instagram post. She had thrown that same toy onto the ground, stomping on it viciously until it was filthy. Behind me, my mother’s dissatisfied voice rang out. “We even bought her a gift, and she is still like this. She never knows how to be affectionate.
No wonder I do not like her.” Marissa spoke next, her voice trembling as if she were about to cry. “This is all my fault. I insisted on going to Disney. June must be mad at me. If I had known, I would never have mentioned a reward…” I was suddenly stopped by a force coming from the side. Sam shoved me to the ground like he had lost his mind. My forehead slammed into the corner of the wall, pain exploding sharply through my head.
He shouted angrily, “June, apologize to Marissa right now. So what if we did not celebrate your birthday today? Do you really have to make everyone in the family miserable?” Sam sneered at me, his words slow and cruel. “You are just a trash-can orphan, a discarded bastard. What makes you worth our time and effort for a birthday at all?”