Birthdays

Ever since clover began to care for herself in the clan, to survive the hardships without fail and to grow just like she promised her late mother on the deathbed, she had never thought about her soul bond.

Not a single thought.

Her life plans only consisted of her just to survive and grow up. When she started education in the mortal world and had a great understanding of the human life style, she decided to shift her plan a little.

Since her place was not in the clan, why doesn’t she move to the mortal world and settled in the mortal world?

Her family, specifically her father, and the clan would feel happier if she was not around them. Rather than hurting herself for the rest of her life by being around people who hated her existence, it was better for her to move to a place where those people could never be found.

That moment in her pre-teen ages was when another life goal was born within clover. Eighteen years was the perfect age a human could be considered an adult in the human world. Eighteen years was also the age that she would finish her high school.

If she gets good scholarships from respected universities, and also graduates with a first class degree, she could get a good paying job and also live a high-quality life among the humans in the mortal world. She didn’t need to be bowing her head to people who hated her existence. She also did not need to endure every ill-treatment thrown in her way.

This was the kind of life clover had imagined for herself at a young age, and that life was almost a reality. Because of her amazing and outstanding results, her teachers had recommended herself to good universities. The principal had also tried his best to get in touch in some good universities.

All this happened to her because of the efforts she put in her results from her first year as a senior high school student till now.

Clover had planned to apply to some universities by herself. Medical schools were also included in her plans since she had always aspired to become a world-renowned medical doctor. All what she needed was scholarships to support her education.

If she could become a medical doctor, then she could investigate how her mother painfully died on that rainy night. Those screams of pains from her late mother were not normal, and clover intended to find out the reason for them.

If they were truly because of her cursed fate or something physical had happened to her late mother without her knowing.

______

‘’Ha….’’ Clover sighed, releasing a faint breath at the sight of a familiar house. Her sigh was like a moment of preparing for what was about to come in that same house.

She hoped her step-mother was not around and probably doing her duties and work in her office of the clan house. Her father, on the other hand, would definitely not be around since he always leaves the house early and returns late in the night.

Tightening her fingers around the two straps of her bag pack, Clover braced herself, steeling her anxious mind, and resuming her walk ahead to the door. Her feet dragging on the trimmed grasses, a sign of her reluctance in closing the distance between herself and the house.

As a powerful clan of the werewolf society, her father, an Alpha, man leading the Ravenhowl clan was a wealthy man. Other than the clan’s money coming from the Head council of the werewolf society, her father was also a prominent business man in the mortal world.

And how did she know this despite not being welcomed in the clan?

Well…her step-mother loved to brag about her younger half-sister being the successor to the clan, and also an heiress to the corporation. She always loved to point out how she an alpha’s first daughter from the first and deceased wife was not favored as much as an alpha’s second daughter from second and current wife.

Upon standing in front of the door, Clover took a deep breath before twisting the knob to open the door. Lifting her foot off the ground, clover took little steps, so heavy and pressuring for her to do so, just for her to enter and shut the door.

Just as she was about to make a beeline to her room, a voice, so familiar yet sickening to her ear came from the staircase.

‘’Clover?’’

The same staircase where she always met her father every morning.

‘’Y-Yes…Luna.’’ Her voice unconsciously shook, her breath also coming ragged and hazy. All were out from terror, just from this woman called her step-mother.

It seemed her wish did not come true.

The same as she did in the morning, her eyes met the ground, and the nape of neck fully displayed as a sign of respect towards the woman taking her sweet time down the set of stairs.

‘’Ah...so it is you.’’ The voice of her step-mother was nearing towards every second. Before clover knew it, her step-mother’s usual house slippers appeared right in her gaze. The scent of her feminine perfume surrounded her being, almost like she was trapped in a cage unable to escape forever.

‘’You are just in time, my dear. I have somethings to discuss with you about my husband and our daughter.’’

My husband and our daughter.

With the way her step-mother referred to her father and her younger half-sister, clover’s expression didn’t change since she was used to it. Her step-mother had always treated like she wasn’t part of the family.

Well…she couldn’t blame the woman when she was a daughter of the first wife, and also a threat to her half-sister’s position in the clan.

Though she wasn’t much of a threat, but her step-mother still seemed to see her as one.

‘’What does the Luna have to discuss with this lowly one?’’ Clover asked, her voice almost resembling like that of a robot. Her body had also returned normal….or rather, she forced herself to be this way, knowing how much this woman loved for her to breakdown.

‘’..Raise your head.’’

‘’…?’’

Did she do something wrong?

Clover noticed the short pause before her step-mother’s command. All of a sudden, she had a bad feeling…a déjà vu that she something was about to happen.

And….it did.

Pah!

The second Clover rose her head, a hand suddenly shot out, hitting her cheek very hard. The slap and the sound, so swift and loud rang continuously in her ears. Clover’s head tilted to the side due to the impact, and probably due to the force her step-mother used, she could feel the area of her cheeks stinging in pain.

At the same time, she was grateful that she had removed her glasses after her tearful moment in the forest. If it wasn’t safe in her bag pack, then she might have get another and her budget at the moment didn’t have a space for that.

‘’You are not in any position to question me, the Luna of the Ravenhowl clan, you filthy runt! When I speak, you speak, when I breathe, you breathe, when I tell you what you to do, you do without hesitation! In whatever I and my daughter does, you will always come after. Never forget your place in this family of mine!’’ The words of her step-mother dripped with venom, seeming as the accumulated resentment she had for her existence probably in the family she created with her father. More than anyone else, Clover knew how just how much her step-mother hated her just for existing as her father’s first daughter.

‘’…….’’ Forcing the welling tears not to leak a single drop, clover’s head still remained slanted to the side. Her eyes still fixed on the ground, the curtains of her long black hair blocking her view which she was very grateful for. She did not want her step-mother to see that she was affected, knowing just how this woman rejoiced in her every misfortune.

‘’Now that’s a little better. My husband and our daughter’s birthday is coming up soon. I don’t think I need to remind you of the dates, my dear. From next week, you will have to be meet up with the head-omega for the events’ plans. Be grateful that I am telling you this in advance. Now off you go, and make sure the dinner will not be late. My words should be clear for you to understand, you illiterate runt.’’

Illiterate runt.

Another set of insult that many referred to her since she never attended the academy. She might be a literate in the mortal world, but as a werewolf, she was an illiterate since she had never received any werewolf education.

No….she did...but that was a long time ago, when her family was complete and happy without a step-mother and a half-sister.

‘’As you wish, Luna.’’ Clover bowed her head in response. Her position remained until her ears twitched at the sound of her step-mother’s slippers thumping the tiled floor.

‘’Ah yes….’’ The thumping of the slippers paused, meaning her step mother halted her steps. ‘’My beautiful jasmine will be returning soon from the academy. Do ensure to clean her room, and if by chance she bears any complaints, I don’t need to speak of your punishment, my dear. Perhaps, the time spent in your favorite shed will be longer than before.’’

‘’.….’’

‘’Am I clear, clover?’’ Her step-mother asked, sharply.

‘’Y-Yes…L-Luna.’’ Clover replied, the tremor of her voice betraying her blank expression. Perhaps her step-mother noticed the little reaction, as she released a faint chuckle while moving on her way back up the stairs.

‘’……’’ Once Clover was sure that she was not out of harm’s way, she began to move to her room, her blank eyes still lowered to the ground. Though her steps to her room were quick.

*click!*

Clover closed the door of her room after stepping inside. Her bag thrown carelessly to a random side of the room, and her back sliding down the door with her knees bend and her butt touching the ground, not caring if she was comfortable or not.

*sobs*

*sobs*

With her elbows on her kneecaps, and her fingers above her head, an inch closer to her forehead, clover cried only to herself and no one. Her tears could finally drop where no one was watching apart from the god responsible for this tragic fate of hers.

In the end, she couldn’t tell her mother of the good news in a good mood.