Moonlit deception

I fume in anger and clench my fist tight as I gaze at my dad and my mum. A huge scowl appears on my face and I rip the paper into shreds. Mum releases a loud gasp while Dad does not even move a single inch, he has always been the stronger one anyway.

"Lyla, you need to calm down darling. Your dad and I never planned on keeping such a huge secret from you. We were going to tell you sooner or later, we just needed to wait for the right time." Mum pleads rubbing her palms together and batting her lashes at me. I scoff and shake my head at her, right time?

"Mum, did I just hear you say the right time? Was the right time ever actually going to come or you and Dad planned to keep it as a secret forever?" I yell at Mum with tears rushing down my eyes. Mum releases a heavy sigh and tries to move an inch towards me but I stagger backwards and shake my head in disdain at her. Not another step close to me, looking at her alone brings an uncontrollable anger in me.

"Stay back!" I yell at her. A loud thud suddenly startles me, I watch Dad slam the desk in front of him for the second time. An impatient look appears on his face and he turns to shoot dagger glares at me. Dad never ceases the slightest opportunity to display authority in front of I and Mum because he knows fully well that we are the only ones afraid of him, well I am not entirely afraid of him. I just respect him quite well enough to not lose my cool around him. It would be pointless if you do so around Dad.

"Enough Lyla! That is enough!" Dad yells at me with a huge scowl on his face. He pauses to rise to his feet and his eyes remain fixated on me without blinking for a single second.

"That is no way to speak to your mother Lyla. Show her some respect." Dad snaps at me. I can not help but scoff and roll my eyes at him. Respect? Is that really what she deserves right now? None of them deserve respect at all, not after what they did. After all, there is a saying, that respect is reciprocal. I will only show respect in moments where I know they deserve it.

"How could you guys do this Dad? How could you owe the Alpha of the ShadowFang pack such a huge amount of money? Huh? What was the money ever even used for, to begin with?" I yell at them running a hand through my hair in frustration. While I was cleaning my parents' room earlier before preparing to leave for work. I found a piece of paper lying on the desk in their room. At first, I wanted to ignore it but I am glad I listened to my instincts and I did not ignore it. It is a paper that shows that Dad and Mum owe the Alpha of the ShadowFang pack a very huge debt and the worst part of it all is that this debt has been increasing over the years and they never for once bothered to tell me. When I dug deeper into their desk, I saw a lot of letters full of threats from the Alpha of the ShadowFang pack. He wants his money back and he wants a huge amount of interest added to it, the worst part of it all is that they only have till the end of the week to pay back the money, or else, he will kill them.

"Are you seriously yelling at us, Lyla? You have zero rights to! After all the money was spent on you. This is all your fault, only if you had just studied hard at school and graduated with good grades and maybe gotten a good job then I and your father would have never borrowed such a huge amount of money. We did it for you! We did it for all of us!" Mum suddenly yells slumping to the floor and breaking down in tears.

"Excuse me, mum? Did I just hear that from your mouth? Mum! I sent myself to school so I do not owe you or Dad any good grades! I worked hard at a supermarket, I did petty jobs just to make ends meet and I even sent you guys money so how dare you say such a thing mum?" I yell at my mum with my eyes wide open in shock at her. Where did she get the audacity to say such to me? I remember when I had sleepless nights, I worked hard at different places, restaurants, clubs, cafes, supermarkets, anywhere just to settle my college funds and even give my parents some money. I remember getting harassed several times just because I desperately needed money so how dare mum say such a thing to me?

"You ungrateful child! You had better sit down and listen to us very clearly. What would we gain in arguing over this when we can all just quietly sit down and talk things out?" Dad speaks up in the calmest yet deadliest tone ever.

I want to argue with him, I sincerely want to but instead, I just maintain my cool because I know he has a point, he does honestly. It is better to think of a solution rather than fighting and yelling at each other.

"Fine! Let us talk things out. What are your plans because we all know how dangerous it is to owe someone, an Alpha at that, and worse of it all, Alpha Damon of the ShadowFang pack." I say shaking my head in disgust as I utter his name.

Damon is a ruthless Alpha, he is not the greatest person to be indebted to. He is arrogant, nonchalant, proud, and will get whatever he wants at any cost. I and Damon go way back actually, he once asked me to be his mate and Luna to his pack but I boldly rejected him because I hate him, I hate his guts too. He is very selfish and that is the main reason why I am angry at Mum and Dad, of all the people they could be indebted to, it just had to be Damon.

Dad clears his throat and says "Actually we do have a plan." He mumbles. He casts a glance at Mum and she nods her head at him. Seems like they have already come up with a plan way before I even found out about the debt. I know their plan is up to no good because of the mischievous look on their faces, I can not afford to risk anything right now. So I would rather suggest my plan to them.

"That is great but I also have a plan, I think you guys should hear my plan first," I say. Mum glares at Dad waiting for him to agree since well all her life, all she has done is subject herself to every decision Dad makes, even the reckless ones which is why I feel like the debt may not entirely be her idea. It could have been Dad who convinced her to do so, he has the habit of forcing his decision on everyone in this house which is why I will not let whatever plan he has in mind be enforced on me. Not when I did not even have a hand in this debt to begin with.

"Fine, let us hear what you have to say Lyla but if we are not in support of it then you shall go ahead and follow your mother's plan," Dad says.

"At least hear what I have to say," I say with a small shrug. Dad nods his head and gestures to me to go ahead and start talking.

"Since Alpha Damon has already threatened you and Mum with a gazillion notes then it probably means he never wants to set his eyes on you and Dad or else he will murder you both according to his notes and letters...."

Mum does not let me complete my sentence, she interrupts me halfway with a small cough causing me to snap my head towards her direction and raise a brow at her.

"Yes, mum?"

"Are you suggesting that we run away I just want to let you know that it is impossible to hide from Alpha Damon, he is powerful and influential. He will find us no matter what." Mum says releasing a heavy sigh.

"Calm down and hear the rest of what I have to say before jumping to conclusions," I say to Mum eyeing her weirdly.

"Then what are you saying?" Dad fires at me.

"What I am trying to say is that I will try to talk things out with Alpha Damon, Allow me to negotiate with him." I deadpan