Chapter 6

Quietly sneaking up the side of the house, I stop at my sister’s bedroom window. Looking in, I see her asleep in her bed. I tap on the window before I see movement; she flicks her lamp on, squinting around the room before looking at the window. Waving at her, my sister’s mouth opens, and she becomes immediately alert before she rushes over. Ava throws her window open, and I pass her my bag, which she places on the floor before taking Valarian from me, so I can climb through the window. “Sis!” She cries, hugging me. I inhale her scent, tears flowing down my cheeks, before pulling back to look at her. She clutched her mouth before a sob escaped her.

“He’s beautiful,” she chokes out. I gently closed the window, and she hugged Valarian close, smelling his tiny head. I was soaked, my hair dripping from the rain. “Gosh, I have missed you. Dad wouldn’t let me look for you; he has me on a tight leash,” she says, tears streaking down her cheeks.

“Grab some dry clothes, take whatever you want,” she whispers while pointing at her dresser, and I rummage through her drawers. I find some warm clothes trying to be quiet, so I don’t wake my parents down the hall. Putting on some of her pajamas and had to roll the pants to hold them up. My sister watches me before she breaks down again.

“You’re so skinny,” she sobs, sitting on her bed and looking at my body. She was right. You could see most of my ribs, my hip bones jutting out, I had lost so much weight, and this is the smallest I have ever been.

“I’m fine, Ava. I’m okay,” I try to reassure her. But she shakes her head, looking at my son rocking him. Rummaging through my bag, I retrieve him a nappy. Thankfully my shirt kept him dry and the blanket that’s wrapped around him.

She moves over, leaning on the wall, and watches my son fall asleep in her arms. I sat next to her, laying my head down on her shoulder before breaking down. Ava tried to soothe me, and I could feel her crying silently beside me. How things had changed, Ava was my best friend, and I loved being her sister. You could never beat a sister bond, someone who knows your hardships, knows what it is like to grow up with the parents you have, someone who shares every milestone with you and every heartbreak.

I missed having someone to talk to. Mainly receiving judgmental glares or few words to show their disgust of me. Nobody asked anymore how I was, nobody cared, and I was stupid enough to believe Beta Marcus would be able to help, stupid enough to think my mate would accept me.