Chapter 1
Chapter 1
”Come to me, Mia”. Mom stands in the clearing smiling at me. A lovely day it is. She’s wearing her favorite blue floral dress and beckoning me. I
giggled and ran to her. I ran and ran but the distance wasn’t shortened. This is strange. I’m running at full speed but I can’t get closer to her.
“Mom!” I screamed, starting to panic, and became terrified as I saw a red hooded man appear behind her back, blood dripping dagger in his hand. I need to save her.
“Give it up, Mia.” Dad’s ghostly voice wafts beside Mom. He is strapped to a giant tree.
“Run for your life. There’s nothing you can do.” He said disappointedly, “You were never qualified as an Alpha’s daughter.”
No no no, I frantically shook my head. I can do this. I must do this.
“You are a disappointment, Mia.” Mom looked at me, her eyes were indifferent. No mom, please don’t do this to me. Suddenly her face started to melt into formless blood, soaking in the fabric and forming a small puddle on the ground.
‘Aahhhhh…’ shrill screams escaping mom’s lips started to echo throughout the forest.
Nooooo! I screamed, and woke up.
“Shut the fuck up! Everyone else is sleeping!”
“I’m sorry.” I whispered. She didn’t bother to answer me back.
It is a dream, a dream that has been haunting me ever since my parents died. Thanks to the scolding, I was now fully back to reality.
After my parents died, Alpha Wyatt took over the pack. I am no longer the Alpha’s daughter but degraded as an Omega. The old room, gone. All the love and care, gone. I I now live in the omega
dungeon, sharing a big room with nineteen other omegas.
I sat up with difficulty. The wounds on my back hadn’t healed yet. When Alpha got angry, or he suffered some inconvenience or he just got bored, he would come down here and… well, basically used me as his punching bag. Sometimes to make sure his hands don’t get dirty, he would tell me to pick up a knife dipped in wolfsbane and cut up my arms, legs, and ribs until the blood would pour out. Wolfsbane injuries heal slower. They hurt more.
Yesterday he slipped on the wet ground when I had been mopping, and his ankle twisted. Since it was obviously my fault in his eyes, I had to count down to twenty till he finished whipping me.
I took out a piece of red silky fabric from my secret pocket that I sewed on my clothes. The cloth is old but the color is still vibrant as new. I held it tight and memorize my own thoughts. Today is the day that I’m going to make my parents proud.
“Just wait and see.” I whispered, staring up at the ceiling, hoping they could hear me.
Closing my eyes for a brief moment, I shook my head, and stood up on my feet to start the pack chores.
As I was preparing the food, an old maid, Diana, who had been working as an omega in our pack for years and had always been the kind one to me, inched closer, sneaking an orange to me, “Happy eighteenth birthday, Mia.” she whispered with a small smile.
I took it gratefully, sliding it into the pocket of my apron, “Thank you.”
First birthday blessing. First gift.
We continued to pretend to work closely as she whispered again attentively, “You are of age now. Are you looking forward to finding out who your mate is?”
‘You will know what completion feels like when you find your mate,’ mama had said, ‘He’ll ignite an eternal fire in your heart that shall not be put out by anything or anyone.’
My heart sank when I thought about Mama.
I resemble her very much in appearance. When I was little, whoever saw me would always say how I was the mini version of Miranda. They would see her shining brown eyes, curly hair, and small five feet five inches frame in me. She always held adorable little mischiefs and strong determination in those small eyes of hers. Despite being a luna of our pack, she was the person that brought soul and laughter to the whole packhouse.
I looked like her. But I missed the look that she used to have in her eyes. Mine were filled with grief, covered in dark circles, and there was a cut on my right eyebrow where the hair didn’t grow anymore since the day alpha Wyatt had inflicted an injury on that spot.
“Mate.” I savoured the word again as a quiet whisper. It is a privilege that I can not afford. But if there is anyone who might turn out be my mate then he would be…
There was a knock at the kitchen door. Someone opened the door and immediately bowed, “Beta Liam.”
Talk about the Devil! My fingers tightened in fists, my heart thrumming harder than ever. It’ll be convenient if we are mates. It’ll be good for the plan. Mia, you can do it.
I took a deep breath.
‘Be calm, be cool,’ I thought to myself, ‘Don’t reveal anything.’
And then I turned round to face him.
Nothing.
Liam was tall and strong with gorgeous caramel white skin and dark hair. He had a black, roaring wolf tattoo on his chest. Except for the battle wounds on his body, his whole personality was like a bad boy version of the boy next door. Charming, attentive, and gentle, but sometimes out of control and possessive.
He was respected everywhere and logically, would be a fitting person to be my mate. ‘But the heart cannot be deceived,’ I thought gloomily.
As he came closer to me, I bowed, “Beta Liam.”
“Alpha has called you.” He said blankly, avoiding eye contact. The hurt that flashed across his eyes could not be missed.
My heart stopped for a moment. It was never a good thing when Alpha called. Fear had already engulfed me. I can’t afford anything to go wrong today..
I took a deep breath, hid my trembling hands behind the apron, and stared into Liam’s eyes.
“I have made the dessert for alpha. The one he eats daily with one extra spoon of sugar, like had he asked.” I muttered softly.
Liam knew what I was talking about. He extended his hand, “Give it to me. I will present it.”
I did as he asked. My hand touched his briefly, our eyes connecting with each other. A hint of a spiral of emotions was in both our eyes.
He started walking ahead of me, taking me out of the packhouse and bringing me to the large execution ground.
That’s a terrible sign.
My breathing stopped when I saw a big stage in the middle, five werewolves were lined up there, strapped to a column.
Alpha Wyatt stood in front of them like a proud executioner. A smirk played on his thin lips. His bald head shined under the sun, his emotionless eyes slid to me as soon as I appeared,
“Here is the princess!” he announced loudly as I got closer to the stage with a frightened expression, “want to see your birthday present?”
I stared at the faces of the people who had been lined up on the execution stage. I then recognized the faces. All five of them were people who had briefly shown me a bit of kindness in the past.
The cleaner, who had slipped in a healing cream tube to me when he noticed that my wounds kept on bleeding from all the wolfbane whips. The other one, was a pack member who hadn’t hit me when everyone else in the hall had two days ago when I had spilled some tea on the ground. The others had done the same, taking mercy on me in the briefest moments. Lucky Diana. She doesn’t know that she dodged a bullet.
“I have said so many fucking times, but you didn’t listen to me, did you?” Alpha Wyatt smirked at the people lined up, “this slut is pack property. Why do you show any sign of mercy to her when I say you are not allowed?”
He leaned in closer to the cleaner’s face, spitting, “You think you are bigger than your alpha?”
The poor old cleaner was shaking like a dry leaf, unable to make any sound. Pleased with the sight of fear, Alpha Wyatt straightened and turned around to face me. His eyes were cold, and his face was filled with disgust for me, “Now you- you will fulfill alpha’s order. Come up here.” he picked up a thin, large knife, extending it towards me, “skin these traitors alive!”
I was trembling from head to toe, wondering how in the world things had turned out like this! Why? I could not even say a word as I stood there, dumbfounded and speechless.
“This slut seduces everyone!” Olivia giggled and came closer to the alpha, clinging to his arm and kissing the side of his face with wet kisses, “pretty sure she fucked all of them and then pretended to be a damsel in distress to gain their sympathy. Habits don’t die so easily, alpha.”
Olivia had been my best friend five years ago when my parents had still been alive, ruling the pack as alpha and luna. When a sudden attack happened, killing my mom and dad both, Alpha Wyatt snatched the alpha position.
Olivia had changed colors fast. As soon as my position was gone, she treated me like she never even knew me. And then, instead of being my savior, she became one of my biggest bullies. Now standing next to the thirty years old alpha Wyatt as his girlfriend, she found seeing me miserable entertaining.
“Alpha, can I take her as my maid?” she pouted and shook alpha’s arm to get his attention, “I want to see something fun. Let her be my personal maid from now on, huh?”
Alpha Wyatt remained indifferent, staring at me intently. When I did not climb up on the stage to take the knife from his hand, he threw the knife right at my face. It flew past me, leaving a small cut on my cheek as it landed on the ground. It would have pierced my face if it had been just one inch to the left.
“Get started!” his thundering voice shook the ground,
My knees had turned weak as I tried to fight off the overwhelming fear. I fell to my knees, my whole body shivering in fear, “Please… a- alpha. I can’t do that. I can’t skin them alive!”
I had endured so much in these past five years. Humiliation, pain, physical wounds and more but this was not something that I could do to others.
“Please forgive them. I- I will make sure that nothing like this happens ever again! I am begging you.” Tears streamed down my face, making everything blurry. His green eyes still stared down at me with disgusted expressions.
“You are no fun…” he groaned and snatched Olivia closer to his body, groping her ass openly as he continued, “I should give you to Alpha Alessio maybe. Then you will know how merciful I am to my pack members.” a dirty smirk appeared on his face as he muttered, “Alessio has a way with women. I wonder what he will do to you once I give you to him.”
He let go of Olivia and walked toward me. “Don’t be afraid, princess,” he grabbed my hand and forced me to hold the dagger tight, and then pulled my hand near the cleaner’s neck.
Alpha Wyatt was shaking in excitement, “Come on, one slit on his throat, it’ll be over.” The blade shined a dangerous silver light on his skin. One push, and he’ll be finished.
“NO!!” I broke down, snatching my hand out of his grasp, taking back control and throwing the dagger away.
Alpha Wyatt was caught unguarded. His rage rised, his body trembling. Olivia hurriedly came down and slapped me hard across my face, “How dare you!”
Grabbing my hand, she tried to force me to do it again. I spat out blood, even my tooth was shaking. Whatever happens now, at least I will die protecting my pack. This belongs © NôvelDra/ma.Org.
Suddenly Alpha Wyatt broke out in a fit of hysterical laughter, tears streaming from his eyes. He grabbed my face and squeezing hard, “I take back those words. You are fun!”
Mischievously evil look played in his eyes. And before anyone could do anything, he took the dagger from me and slit the cleaner’s throat with one swipe. He dragged me beside the corpse. The blood was gushing out of the cleaner’s veins pouring over me.
“Soak every drip of blood in, Princess” He whispered, “that’s the least you can do since he died for your sake.”
Letting my body slump down under the Cleaner’s dead body, Alpha Wyatt walked to the edge of the stage, his eyes never leaving my sight, “Alright, how about since it’s your special day, I show you some mercy?” he said in a low voice. I was not holding much hope.
“If you walk over here, crawl on your knees to me and then bark like a dog, I might consider forgiving your behavior.”
My gaze briefly slid to Liam whose hands were clenched in tight fists. His face was set in a rock-hard, cold expression while he stayed rooted to his spot.
But my choice was clear. Four people were still strapped to the colums. The price of their lives- my humiluation.
Tears continued to flow down my cheeks as I obeyed and crawled to him on my hands and knees, holding back the sobs in my chest.
“Woof Woof.”
“Good dog,” he roared with laughter, patting my head.
Someone came running from behind and rushed to Alpha Wyatt, “Alpha, Alpha Alessio is…” his voice got lower as he whispered something.
Alpha Wyatt immediately turned around and walked off. Olivia shot me a disgusted glance with a smirk before following alpha quickly. Liam climbed up on the stage, I sat back on my heels, sobbing with my head down.
Displeasure was clear on his face as he bent down and whispered in my ear, “The dessert you made is perfect for our alpha, Mia. Only he deserves it.”
He pulled back. I looked up into his eyes and gave him a small smile. Now we just need to wait.
By the time the day ended, everyone had fallen asleep while I had finished washing the very last dirty dish in the sink. I returned to the dungeon, the stench entering my nose as I climbed down the stairs. I took off the bloodied t-shirt and trousers, changing into my other, and only pair of clothing that covered me from neck down to arms to the tip of my heel.
I went to sit in a corner, huddling my knees close to my chest… waiting.
As a light ding echoed in the silence, I quickly pulled out the burner phone that Liam had given to me. The weather in the dungeon was always so cold that I did not even remember when I had felt the warmth last time.
My eyes fell down to stare at the screen on the burner phone,
Liam: It’s time.
My fingers tightened around the plastic of the phone as my heart thrummed faster than ever. I felt like I was going to throw up from anxiety and tension.
Standing up from the ground on shaking legs, I closed my eyes, forcing myself to remember each miserable second that I had to endure in the past five years to gather my senses and strength.
A few moments later when I opened my eyes, I was not shaking anymore.
Opening the door of the dungeon, I climbed up the stairs to enter the packhouse. My steps were quick and fast but I was not running. When I reached in front of Alpha’s study, I grabbed the handle, inhaled a deep breath, and pushed it open.
The first thing I saw was a strong body shivering on the ground with ragged breaths escaping his mouth. Alpha Wyatt.
Liam was lying right next to him on his back. The empty bowl of dessert lay on the ground. Liam must have taken a bite out of the dessert to convince the alpha it’s not poisonous.
Alpha Wyatt’s green eyes shot to me, his mouth opened, trying to say something but nothing came out except a struggling moan, as if he wanted my help. But then his eyes gradually became clearer, recovering from the muddy craziness. He knows.
I slowly walked toward him, my heart beating fast and loud in my ears. I could not tear my eyes away from the scared look in Alpha Wyatt’s eyes.
As I got closer, Alpha Wyatt gathered enough strength to speak, “I am going to- ki- kill you both. I will burn you alive!”
Liam had started to gather his motions again. The paralyzer in the dessert was wearing off of him quickly since he hadn’t eaten much. He pulled out a dagger from his pocket, offering it to me,
“Let’s end it all today. Together.” he stated quietly.
“D- don’t.” Alpha Wyatt’s eyes had widened dramatically. His whole body was paralyzed but he could not hide the fear in his eyes anymore, “I will- I will make you the luna! Don’t kill me. I will-”
“And you think I want that?” Somehow I was amused by his offer, my hand gripping the hilt of the dagger tightly.
He choked on his own voice, trying to be coherent.
“Kill him instead.” Alpha Wyatt spluttered out, “Kill him. I will give you everything! Don’t kill me! I will never harm you again. I will help you become powerful.”
I stared into those lively green eyes for the last time. This time, it was Alpha Wyatt who was begging for mercy.
The wounds on my body were hurting a little less for some reason now. The pain suddenly disappeared and getting replaced with an overwhelming feeling I could not recognize.
I came near him. That unfamiliar feeling grasped me, controlling my body. I was not alone here. It was as if my mom and dad were present, looking at me with pride in their eyes for standing up for myself and defeating my enemy. Mom was wearing that same floral dress, smiling.
“Hi, mom.” I whispered.
Alpha Wyatt looked at me like I had lost my mind.
I dropped my gaze back on the pathetic body of Wyatt. smirking, “Now you’re barking like a good dog.”
Without any hesitation, I lifted up the dagger and brought it down at once, piercing through his heart directly. The blood splattered on the ground and all around us, running down his chest, but he did not move. I could see his pupils were beginning to dilate. He desperately shivered for a couple of seconds and then stopped.
His body finally became still like a rock.