Chapter 1
Julia POV
The excitement in my home was almost palpable. Evangeline was finally coming home today after three long years away at college. My mother was beside herself with anxiety. Everything had to be exactly right. Evangeline was the golden child, after all.
‘Mom,’ I shouted up the stairs, ‘I am heading to work. I will see you later.’
But before I even reached for the door handle, I heard a strangled sort of cry, the thumping of feet hitting the floor and finally a crazed face looking at me over the upstairs banister.
‘You cannot go to work. Absolutely not. Your sister is coming home today. We will be having a special dinner. You must stay here and help me.’
I tilted my head so I could peer up at my mom. I felt the old frustration rise and had to take a moment to swallow down the resentment that always crawled from my stomach, up my throat. Stopping only when it reached my lips. I would not allow it to go any further.
‘Mom,’ I said. As patiently as was possible, ‘I must go to work. The hospital is short staffed, and I am needed.’ I explained as softly as I could.
I heard my mom scoff at my words. ‘They can do without the cleaner for one day, Julia Mason. I need you here. Everything must be perfect for your sister. Phone the place and tell them you are needed at home.’
Apparently, that was my mothers last word on the subject. As she trounced back into her bedroom and slammed the door. I sighed quietly to myself. I closed my eyes for a few seconds whilst I counted to ten.
Finally getting my voice back within its normal range, I shouted upstairs that I was leaving, then hurried through the already open door.
As I climbed onto my bike and pushed off, I could hear the upstairs window jerk open. Choosing to ignore the banshee shouting slurs at me, I carried on peddling and did not look back. It did not take me long to reach the hospital. I stored my bike in the rack. Then made haste to the ward where I worked. Not as a cleaner as my mom thought. But as a qualified nurse.
It still made me sad to think of my mom the way she was now.
Eight years ago, you would not have recgognised her as the woman you see today.
Eight years of grief over the death of my father.
Eight years of self pity.
Eight years of drinking heavily.
Eight years of mopping up after the only parent I had left. The parent who technically should have been looking after my sister and me.
Instead, eight years ago; at the age of fourteen, I had been forced, as the eldest, to step up and take responsibility for my mom and my sister. I had been forced to forget my studies, drop out of school, and find work. My mom took to her bed the day we heard that my father had died. She did not leave it for six months. My sister, who was eleven years old at the time, and me were ignored. We were left alone to fend for ourselves. When the food had dwindled to nothing and the electricity had been cut off, was when I realised, I needed a job. We needed money. And fast.
I went to the only other adult I trusted. My uncle Alec. He was a doctor at the local hospital. When I explained to him the circumstances in which I found myself he became furious with my mom. It had been the stricken look on my face that had stopped him in his tracks.
Doctor Alec was not really my uncle. He was more like a long-time friend of my fathers. My sister and me both called him Uncle Alec at his insistence. He was the type of family friend you would see over the weekends and a few times during the week. He was always over our house, having food, helping my father out with whatever contraption he had holed up in his shed. Plus, he always had a few ideas about the patrols around the pack lands. Always suggesting good naturedly that the hospital could do with more protection. As it sat close to the borderlands.
We would then listen to my father retort. It was all playful fun. Although, my father had a strict way about him. He was always fair. That is what made him a good warrior. He and his wolf, Orion. Headed up the security of the pack. My dad had an important job and was held in high esteem. It followed then that my mom was also held to the same standing within the pack.
My parents were often guests at the Alpha’s family functions. Something which my mom took extremely seriously. Mom revelled in the splendour of it all. Loving all the pomp and ceremony that always went hand in hand with the Alpha and his family. I think that is why my sister is such a princess. Do not get me wrong. I love my sister. I do.
Although, if I were being honest, I would have to take some of the responsibility for the way she turned out. I have helped the lifestyle that has made her who she is today.
After I asked Uncle Alec for a job. I became the main breadwinner of the family. My father was dead. My mother was useless. My sister was younger than I. Who else was there?
Mom was right in what she had said before I left for work. As far as she was aware I was still the cleaner that Uncle Alec had hired. What my mom did not know was that, seeing potential in me. And coming to realise I was quite a gifted student; Uncle Alec help me to enrol in a programme that the hospital ran for its pack members. There were a few programmes to choose from. Becoming pack doctor was one, another was specialising in medicinal herbs.
I chose to train as a nurse. I breezed through the course work, having a natural aptitude for anything academic. I remember Uncle Alec coming to see me a few weeks after I had started working as a cleaner. He had shown shock and surprise at the grades I was getting. He did not know that, at the age of fourteen I was already taking and passing college courses. He had pleaded with me that day. Saying that a straight A student should be in school. And not scrubbing the floors in the pack hospital.
I knew he was right, but what could I do? Leave my sister without food? Heat? No. I knew I had done the right thing. Uncle Alec knew it too.
So, I entered the training programme to appease him. And found my vocation. Being a nurse was the only thing in my life I could control. It was my job, one that I chose. One that had not been forced upon me by my father's death.
‘Earth to Julia, hello!’ I looked up from the nurse's station to see a very handsome man leaning against the wall. He was a tall and muscular man. With chestnut brown hair that flopped charmingly over his brows and eyes so blue you could easily lose your way in their depths if you were not careful. As usual, his glasses were propped on the edge of his nose as he looked over the rims at me. Wearing his trademark lopsided grin that showed off one of his dimples. He was certainly a heartthrob. His name was Dr William Porter. A junior Dr at the pack hospital. His easy-going nature and the love and loyalty he had for his pack and the people he loved made William the ideal man. He had she-wolves falling over themselves to gain his attention.
Not that Dr William Porter ever noticed. His focus was on becoming the best Dr he could be. He aspired to one day run the pack hospital. And knowing him; it would not take him that long to get there. He was a well respected and loved member of our pack. But to me? He was simply Billy. And Billy was my best friend in all the world.
‘You were a little late this morning Jules, is everything ok?’
I looked up at my best friend and smiled back at his frown of concern.
‘I am fine, Billy. Really. Evangeline is due home today and my mother tried to get me to phone the hospital and tell them I could not come in and ‘clean.’ I rode away with her loving voice echoing in my ears.’ I finished sarcastically.
I heard Billy snort, then watched as he pushed off from the wall and came to stand in front of me. He placed his hands on my upper arms and stared into my eyes. Any other she-wolf would be a puddle on the floor.
‘I hope that whatever her highness said to you, you ignored? I still have no understanding as to why your mother doesn’t treat you with the respect you deserve. After everything you have done for her. For your sister. The woman should be on bended knee, thanking you for all your sacrifices.’
I looked back at Billy and smiled up at him. As usual I was extremely touched by his concern for my well being. And of his scorn at my mother.
‘Billy. We both know that none of that matters to me. I know who my mother is, and its okay. Honestly.’
I added as I tried to look as earnest as I could.
‘You know you can talk to me about anything. Don’t you Jules?’ He replied. Still holding my upper arms.
I gently slipped out of his hold, not wanting to make the moment awkward.
‘Billy, of course I know that. Come on now, you know my most protected secret. You and Uncle Alec are the only ones I have trusted with it. Now. Come on. Let’s get these rounds done. I need all the notes entered into the system before I leave today.’
I hooked my arm through Billy’s, and we made our way onto the surgical ward. I could not think about the secret today. I would not allow myself to get distracted from my work. I was good at my job. In fact, I excelled at it. Both Billy and Uncle Alec said I should have become a doctor instead of a nurse. Both agreeing that I would have sailed through the course. And I do not doubt that I could. Maybe then I could have found out why I was such a freak within this pack.
My secret? I was a twenty-four-year-old she-wolf. Without a wolf. That’s right. At the age of sixteen, when all my peers were reuniting with their soul sharers, their wolves. I did not. I waited expectantly, On my birthday, For the connection to your soul sharer. To hear her voice for the first time. But no connection came for me. No voice. No wolf. I had gone to see Uncle Alec the day after my birthday. Told him what had, or in this case, had not happened. At first, I was told not to worry about it. I was told that some she-wolves get their wolves a few weeks after they turn sixteen. I felt reassured. Until weeks had turned into a month, and then a few months, until it had been a year since my sixteenth birthday, Uncle Alec admitted to me that I should have received my connection by then. And since I had not, it was his understanding that I didn’t have a wolf.