Chapter 36: Who Are You
Natalie~
I never thought happiness was something meant for me. Life had always been cruel—ripping away the people I loved, tossing me aside like I was nothing. But somehow, against all odds, I had found a home. A real home.
Zane and Alexander had changed my life in ways I never thought possible.
For months, I had woken up expecting it all to be ripped away from me. I was used to that—hope was a dangerous thing when you’d spent your whole life being crushed beneath someone else’s power. But nothing changed. Zane didn’t push me away. Alex still clung to me with endless affection, calling me "Mummy," like it was the most natural thing in the world.
And now, as if I wasn’t already lucky enough, Zane had made sure I got an education. I still didn’t believe it—not even now, three months after Jacob had become my tutor.
Jacob wasn’t what I expected.
When Zane first told me about hiring a private tutor, I braced myself for someone arrogant, someone who would look down on me for being uneducated, for being nothing. I’d spent too many years in Alpha Darius’s pack, where I was treated like dirt, where even my peers sneered at me like I was beneath them.
But Jacob wasn’t like that.
He was kind. Smart. Sassy in a way that made me laugh even when I didn’t want to. He had so many degrees that I started wondering when he even had time to sleep. And, most importantly, he treated me like I was worth something.
Jacob reminded me of Garrick, the only real friend I had. I wondered how he was doing, if I would ever get to see him again.
Jacob had this way of making me feel normal. He never let me doubt myself, and every time he showed up for tutoring, he brought something with him—a small gift, a box of pastries, sometimes flowers. It annoyed Zane to no end.