Sylvanna stared down at the tiny lu'pine pup lying soundly asleep in his plastic newborn hospital bed, swaddled up in his blanket. How in the world had this happened?
Four hours ago Sylvanna had been at home mulling over the paperwork she needed to send to her lawyer for her divorce proceeding. While exhausted and taking a small break to feed Ariella, she'd gotten a phone call from none other than her ex-husband. The house phone rang for a few minutes before going to voicemail. Sitting on the couch, with her daughter held close to her chest, she quietly listened to the answering machine beep and Zack's voice came over the speaker. She tried to ignore him, she really did. That was until he asked her to meet at the nearby hospital for something important. What a roundabout way of wanting to talk about the divorce. So, she drove two hours to the nearest hospital with Ariella sleeping in her car chair. When she arrived - Ariella in her arms - Zach was nowhere to be found. Instead, a government worker was waiting for her. Of course he'd ditch her like this.
The worker had been nice and explained the situation bluntly; a baby had been dropped off at the hospital; nom didn't want him; dad didn't either; he had no other immediate family who wanted him... No. No, no, no, no, no. No he wouldn't. He didn't.
He did. The baby boy sleeping amongst the other newborns looked exactly like him. He looked exactly like her daughter - his half sister. Their bastard father had left Sylvanna with custody over a son he didn't want. A child he'd sired out of wedlock some months before Ariella's birth. Supposedly his mistress had come back to him and claimed him as the father, and Zack - ever the slimy rat he was - slipped out of responsibility again. At least he'd had the courtesy to file for divorce before telling Sylvanna he'd cheated and had a child with another woman. Sylvanna couldn't blame the baby boy she gazed down at from the other side of the glass while the government agent quietly droned on in the background. It wasn't his fault his parents didn't want him. Without any other family to take him, Sylvanna agreed to adopt him. Ein she named him. It meant "delight" or "brave." Sylvanna hoped he'd live up to that meaning.
Sylvanna now had two lu'pine pups to look after, and as a human she was completely out of her depth. Ariella was a little bit easier being half human. She presented more human in terms of appearance, but that never stopped her from joining her brother and his antics. Chewing up shoes, ripping apart the legs of all Sylvanna's furniture, and digging up her tulips in the garden were all activities Sylvanna became very used to as her pups got older.
Elementary school had been brutal for her children. Living in a majority human city, Ariella and Ein faced constant bullying for being fully or part lu'pine. Ariella's unique birthmarks all over her body also didn't help with the bullying. Zack continuing to draw out their divorce for as long as humanly possible also didn't help matters. Sylvanna pulled Ein and Ariella out of public school in the 4th grade and homeschooled them until 12th grade. At least this way she could protect them. But as they grew Ariella became more... difficult. She became interested in makeup, fashion, the latest movies and celebrities, and of course: boys. Sylvanna remembered distinctly the first boy Ariella ever liked. He was a nice young man who lived down the street; blond hair, blue eyes, gap tooth smile. He was a doctor's son. Ariella- who had just entered the sixth grade - was positively smitten with him. Sylvanna pulled her daughter away towards the bus stop. Over her dead body would Sylvanna let some boy hurt her baby girl! She kept Ariella and Ein homeschooled all through high school too. But that didn't stop their fights. Sylvanna almost had a heart attack when one night she was woken up by the sound of banging on her door only to find a pair of police officers standing at the front door with Ariella in between them covered in garish and amateurish makeup and glitter. She'd been invited by the blond boy to a dance and gotten caught by the principal when she got into a fight with another girl who'd started picking on her.
Ariella got into the worst fight with her mom ever that night. It was the first time she ever said she hated her mom to her face. She didn't mean it. Maybe a little, but she didn't completely mean it. Ein at least brought her some dinner. Enchiladas - her favorite. She cried into her mom's shoulder and apologized the next morning. But even still, Sylvanna wouldn't let up on her constrictive rules.
That was until Ariella went off to college. It was a small nearby community college but it was something at least. It was so full of people and thousands of new experiences Ariella had never seen before. Ein also went to the same community college with her. Ariella had her own dorm, roommates, and a pretty good coffee shop to go to before classes. Her first taste of freedom had been electrifying.
Slowly, she stopped talking to her mom less and less. Fewer phone calls, fewer weekend visits home. Those sorts of things. She knew her mom loved her, and she loved her too. But Sylvanna had a bad habit of trying to insert herself into Ariella's love life. She could barely even suggest the idea she met a cute guy at her favorite coffee shop without her mother so much as running out of the house to chase down said boy and his ancestors.
So she stopped bringing it up, always lying and saying she was still single and of course focusing on her grades and the internships she applied for. And soon college was over, she graduated - Ein dropped out in favor of a blue collar job he'd been able to secure through a friend - and all seemed right with the world. Her life continued on as normal for a while.
That was of course until the economy crashed and she was out of a job. And everyone else in the city. She couldn't afford her beautiful apartment anymore. But over her dead body would Ariella move back in with her hyper strict mother. For four days and nights she'd poured over every newspaper clipping and every business phone book she could find. She'd even gone to her local library to look on the internet. And finally finally Ariella found a job. A secretary position in a small town way out in the country. She'd always dreamed of moving to the country side - with all the beautiful horses, quaint farms, and rugged woodcutters a girl could dream of.
She took the job immediately. With the help of her brother and her good friend Vylad - whom she'd met at the age of eight while she and Ein explored a small creek close to their neighborhood - Ariella successfully moved out of her apartment and made it for the country. She had two roommates now - a nice and go with the flow elf who worked at the local hospital's maternity ward, and a less than polite human girl who had a concerning collection of strange and obscure manga even Ari had never seen before.
Oh well, she had another chance at freedom. And she was farther away from her mom than she'd ever been before! After three days to settle in, Ariella made her way to the town hall where she'd begin her very first day as a mayoral secretary! Opening the doors, she was greeted to the sights of- a very drab and plain looking office that hadn't been updated in at least twenty years... Ok! This was fine! Ariella could work with this! She knew her way around an old phone as good as anyone else. And just as she was about to make her first step into the building, a portly man with a big beard and an even bigger grin suddenly thrust a lot of paperwork into her arms. A few security guards had scurried into the room after him.
"Ah good morning!" the man greeted the very frazzled Ariella, "You must be the new hire! Well congratulations you've just been promoted to mayor of Phoenix Drop! Hope you have a wonderful time! I've got a flight to catch for the start of my retirement!"
The building door closed with a thud. And Ariella was left standing in the middle of the room, stunned as could be. What had she just gotten herself into?