Free My Alien King (Paranormal Romance Aliens) by Ashley West

the way, I’m not, it would be because of you. It would be because I spent my whole life trying to live up to the impossible standards you set for me. Because I couldn’t set one foot out of line for fear of how it would make you look. Because I basically didn’t have a childhood because I was afraid of what was happening to me and afraid of disappointing you and just afraid that I was going to be the thing that ruined all our lives. And you just let me feel like that. Both of you did. Neither of you ever thought that maybe things were hard on me or that I needed someone to talk to. Even if I had been making things up all those years ago, any sane parents would have seen it as a cry for help. But no. Not you two. No, you two were more concerned with how it would make you look if it got out that your daughter had something wrong with her.”
    When she finished her rant, she was breathing heavily and running mostly on her anger. Her father’s face was slowly getting more and more red, and she’d never seen him look so angry. Her mother had a hand over her mouth, looking at her with a horrified expression, and Mia was just so done with the both of them.
    “How dare you?” Her father demanded. “As if we didn’t work hard to provide for you. To put you in the best schools and make sure you had everything you needed. Why on earth would you need to cry for help? There was nothing wrong with you then, and there’s nothing wrong with you now.”
    “I never asked for any of that!” Mia shouted. “To move schools because you’d found a better one. To have to look over my shoulder all the time and make sure I wasn’t doing anything that would embarrass you. You don’t listen to me, and you’ve never listened to me, and I am so tired of it. Only you know what the difference is now, Dad? Now I don’t have to take it. Get out of my house.”
    “Mia!” her mother said, sounding shocked. “You can’t-”
    “Yes, I can. This is my house that I pay for with my money, and I’m not going to have you here making me feel bad for something I didn’t do. Get. Out.”
    Her father took a step towards her, and Mia’s eyes widened. They’d never used spankings or anything like that as punishment, usually they just sent her to her room or lectured her until she wanted to cry, but her father looked like he actually wanted to hit her now.
    Before either of them could say anything, Asher was putting himself between them. “I think she would like it if you left,” he said in his quiet way, though there was nothing but firmness in his voice.
    Both of her parents looked taken aback at that, but it only seemed to fuel her father’s anger. “How dare you? Do you know who I am?”
    Asher blinked and then shook his head. “Not really. But I know you’re upsetting Mia. So you should leave.”
    The living room was quiet for what felt like an eternity but was probably only a few minutes. Mia’s mother was making a soft sound of shock and disbelief, and her father just gaped. Finally he turned on his heel and headed for the door, and, after a moment, his wife followed him.
    Mia didn’t move until the front door had closed behind them and then she could feel all the emotions hitting her at once. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she pressed her hand over her mouth and turned to flee into her bedroom.
    The sound of the door slamming reverberated through the house, and Mia could hear Asher moving around in the other room. She threw herself onto her bed, feeling like a child for sobbing into her pillow over something like this, but at the same time, she was so hurt.
    Cassie was supposed to be her best friend. She knew how her parents always reacted to things like that, so why would she tell them?
    Why would she do that and try to pretend like it was her being helpful or caring about her when the way to care about her and be helpful was to keep her mouth shut.
    Mia groped for her phone in her pocket, wiping her eyes and she navigated to her