June's POV

"We've arrived ma'am" The driver said in a deep voice, snapping me out of my thoughts and back to reality. I looked around to see he was parked right in front of the big gates that guarded my parents mansion. It was already night time and the whole place looked as calm as ever.

"Okay, thanks" I mumbled in a low voice as I got out of the sleek black car. The driver nodded and drove off without a word. I stood outside, wondering what I was doing to do now. I looked at the black card that he had placed in my hand.

I stepped into the hallway and set my keys down slowly, trying not to breathe too loud, like that would set everything off.

Kael Alistair

That name continued to ring in my head. Who would have thought that of all the people in the world, the Lycan King would turn out to be my mate? And what a time to find my mate! It almost made me scoff, he didn't even want me. Not like I wanted him either. I was done with anything that had to do with mates.

“June?” My mom’s voice rang out the moment I pushed the front door open.

I swallowed the dryness in my throat and forced myself to walk through the archway. There they were, Mom, Dad, and Korra, all sitting at the large kitchen island. My sister was beaming. A glass of white wine dangled from her hand, her eyes glittering like she owned the world. Then I saw it. The ring. It sparkled so brightly I thought I might be sick.

“Where the hell have you been?” Mom snapped, standing up halfway from her stool. She had that usual angry and irritated look on her face.

Dad didn’t look at me. He just reached for his glass and swirled the ice around like that mattered more than my presence. I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. My feet felt like they were glued to the tile. My heart was already trying to crawl up my throat.

Korra lifted her hand, as if I hadn’t seen the ring already. “Did you notice?” she said, her voice slurpy. “Seth proposed last night. Isn't that amazing?” She asked with that innocent look like she was fluanting the fact that she had just gotten engaged to my long termed boyfriend and promised mate. Like she had broken and humiliated me at our own birthday party.

I stared at her hand. At the ring that should’ve never been hers.

Mom scoffed. “Well? Aren’t you going to say anything? ‘Congratulations,’ maybe? Or is that too much to ask?” She snapped at me, getting more irritated by my silence. But what could I do or say? Had their memories been wiped? Did they not understand what had happened? Were they ignoring the fact that all these years my feelings had just been toyed with? My lips parted, but the words weren’t there. I was still trying to figure out if this was a nightmare I could wake up from.

“June.” Mom stepped closer, her arms crossed, like I was a misbehaving child. “Your sister just got engaged. Can’t you stop sulking for five minutes and celebrate? Honestly, the least you could do is help us plan the engagement party.”

That was it. My chest cracked open. The room spun, and everything I’d been holding inside for weeks—the silence, the hurt, the betrayal—burst.

“You want me to celebrate?” My voice came out high, disbelieving. I turned to her, tears blurring the edges of my vision. “Are you actually serious right now?”

Korra’s smile faltered.

“You want me to help throw a party for the two of them?” I choked, gesturing wildly at her and that goddamn ring. “Korra stole my boyfriend of four years. And you’re asking me to celebrate?”

“June,” Dad finally said, his tone flat, like he couldn’t be bothered. “There’s no use in shouting.”

“No use in—? Are you even hearing me?” I couldn’t stop the tears now. They came hot and fast, streaking down my cheeks. “She stole him from me. And none of you care.”

“It’s not that simple,” Mom said tightly. “Relationships don’t always last. People grow apart.”

I laughed, but it came out broken. “We didn’t grow apart. He cheated on me—with her. Proposed to her in public at my birthday party. And you’re defending it? Have you no heart at all?" My voice cracked at the last sentence as I looked around and tried to figure if these people were really my family.

“June—” Korra started, but I cut her off.

“Don’t.” My voice cracked. “Don’t you dare say anything to me.”

“I didn’t mean—”

“No. You don’t get to ‘didn’t mean’ your way out of this. You meant every second of it. You flirted with him. You went behind my back. You lied. And now you get a ring and a party and everyone pretending like this is fine?” I screamed at her, I couldn't hide how hurt I was. I loved him, I truly did. I thought he was, I escaped from this hell home. If my family made life a living hell for me, Seth made it bearable for me. I thought now that I had come of age, I was finally going to get mated and live happily ever after. But that dream had been shattered. All because of her, my sister who was determined to wipe out every source of happiness out of my life. Who desperately wanted everything that was mins to be hers.

Korra lips pressed together in that fake, pouty way she does when she wants sympathy. I turned to Dad again, desperate. “You knew, didn’t you?” I threw at him. I couldn't believe he was on this too. Although he had never defended or shielded me from mom and korra's attacks but I thought he would be decent enough not to hurt me. He looked away. That was all I needed.

I stepped back like I’d been slapped. “I hate all of you.” I whispered in a broken tone. I hated them so much.

“June,” Mom said, but I was already moving. I shoved past them, past the island and up the stairs two at a time. My hands shook as I threw open my bedroom door and slammed it behind me. I couldn’t breathe.

My chest heaved, my sobs loud in the quiet room, the same room I’d grown up in, the same walls that had watched me fall in love with Seth. The same ceiling I used to stare at while dreaming of our future. That future didn’t exist anymore.

I reached into my pocket, fingers fumbling until I found the small, black card I’d hidden. The one Kael had given me. The one with the name written in sharp, block letters and a number underneath.

My hands trembled as I dialed the numbers written there.

He picked up before the second ring. “Yes?” he answered, almost sounding irritated.

"I.. it's June" I said in a small shaky voice, trying to hide the fact that I was in tears.

“Have you made your decision?” he asked in a cold voice. I nodded, even though he couldn’t see.

“Yeah,” I said, voice ragged. “I... I'll be coming with you” I swallowed, realising the gravity of my words. I was agreeing to leave a competent stranger I had just met. To leave everything and everyone I had ever known behind.

"Good" he simply said without asking any other questions and the line went dead. He hung up. I stared at the phone, my heart racing.

In a few seconds, I was given an address and a time to meet him. It was at an airport before daybreak, I was really doing this.

No more trying to fit into a family that never really made space for me. No more pretending Korra hadn’t been the favorite since we were kids. No more watching my parents turn a blind eye to everything she did, while holding me to every impossible standard. No more being the quiet one, the obedient one, the forgotten one.

I was done.

I pulled out a suitcase from the closet and started shoving clothes into it. I didn’t care what I grabbed. Jeans, t-shirts, whatever. Essentials. Toothbrush, charger, passport. The card again, safely tucked into the front pocket of my backpack. I could hear the muffled sounds of my parents still talking downstairs. Korra’s voice floated up the stairs—high, whining, just like always. I blocked it out. I wasn’t going to be here long enough to care.