Chapter 4

 **Chapter Four**

*Serena’s POV*

The room felt too small, too suffocating. I had packed everything I could possibly carry in the box, the last of my clothes folded neatly inside. I was leaving, and there was no turning back. No more hiding. No more pretending this place, this family, was my home. 

I had tried. For years, I had tried to belong. But in the end, I was just the weak Omega, the nobody, the invisible girl in the house that no one cared for. My stepmother’s sneers, my stepsisters' jabs, the countless rejections from four different mates… all of it had chipped away at me until there was nothing left but an empty shell.

And Damien... I could still feel the sting of that night , the way he had looked at me like I was just another one of his toys, ordered out of his presence without a second glance. His words were like daggers in my mind. “Get out. I don’t want you here. You’re nothing but a slut.” I imagined him saying that in his mind.

I was nothing. I knew that. No one would ever look at me and see anything more than a piece of flesh to use, a body for them to toss aside when they were done with it. 

But even so, I was leaving. I would find my own way. I didn’t need anyone anymore.

I walked over to my purse, fingers trembling, to grab my credit card. It was the last thing I needed before I left this place behind for good. But when I opened the zipper, I froze. My heart dropped to my stomach. 

It wasn’t there.  

I frantically tore through the purse, over and over, repeating, “No, no, no, no, no!”  

I checked every pocket. My coat, my pants, the desk drawer. But the card was gone.  

My vision blurred as tears welled up, but I refused to cry. Not now. Not when I had made it this far. But my hands were shaking, my breath coming in ragged gasps. Where was it? What the hell was happening?  

I ran downstairs in a panic, nearly tripping over my feet in my haste. And then I saw them.

Sloane and Elena were sitting on the couch, laughing, as they tried on brand-new clothes, dresses, heels, bags. The sight of it made my blood run cold.

I couldn’t stop myself. “Where did you get the money for those?” My voice cracked with fury. 

Vivian didn’t even look up. She sneered, her voice dripping with condescension. “What’s it to you, brat? Perhaps you’re too busy pretending to be poor to notice. Do us all a favor and keep your mouth shut.”  

I was done. I had taken their insults, their scorn for years. But this was too much. I was done being the quiet, obedient daughter. Done with their lies, their manipulation.  

I snapped. “You bitch! Where did you get the money from?” I spat, my anger boiling over.

Elena snorted, flicking her hair. “You’re so ungrateful, Serena. You have over $70,000 in your account and you act like you’re some kind of pauper.” 

My blood went cold. Over $70,000?

“Stop pretending like you care about money,” Elena chimed in, her voice sickeningly sweet. “We both know how you’ve made it. You’ve sold your body for it, haven’t you? Just like us or should I say for us.” 

Her words were like a slap in the face. I felt something break inside me, something I couldn’t put into words. I wasn’t like them. I wasn’t. 

But they didn’t stop. They laughed, giggling and making jokes about my pain, mocking the fact that I had worked so hard to save every penny I could just to escape this hell.  

My hands were shaking with rage, and without thinking, I lunged at the table in front of them, flipping it over with a crash. The force knocked everything off, the sound of glass shattering filling the air.  

“Shut the hell up!” I screamed, tears streaming down my face. “You don’t know anything about me! You don’t know anything about my life!”  

I slapped Elena across the face so hard that she stumbled back, shocked, holding her cheek. Sloane shrieked, rushing toward me to grab my arm, but I swung at her too, slapping her hard across the face.  

I was crying now, the tears mixing with the rage. My body shook with the release of years of pent-up anger, my heart breaking with each hit.  

“You think you can mock me? You think you can just destroy me?” I sobbed. “You don’t know what it’s like to be me!”  

Suddenly, Sloane rushed upstairs, her eyes wide with terror. “I’m telling Dad!” she yelled. “You’re crazy!”  

I didn’t care. I didn’t care about anything anymore.  

But I didn’t see my Father, approaching from behind until it was too late. His hand flew through the air, and his slap sent me crashing to the floor, my vision spinning.  

Pain exploded through my skull as I lay there, dazed. I gasped for breath, my entire body aching from the force of the blow.  

“You ungrateful little thing!” He bellowed, his face twisted in fury. “I should have gotten rid of you years ago!”  

Tears burned my eyes as I clutched my cheek, too dazed to move. I wanted to scream, to fight back, but everything was fading in and out.  

But just as I felt my consciousness slipping away, the door slammed open with a deafening crack.

The atmosphere in the room changed instantly, a cold chill sweeping over us as Alpha Damien entered. His presence was overwhelmingly powerful. Even Dad who had hit me, went to his knees, his face pale.  

I didn’t understand what was happening. What was happening? Why was Damien here?  

Damien’s piercing amber eyes swept over the room, taking in the chaos with icy indifference. I could feel his aura—strong, dominating. He was a predator. And we were prey.

“What is going on here?” he demanded, his voice low and terrifying.

Vivian, my step mother who had been standing, immediately dropped to her knees, tears streaming down her face as she crawled toward him. “Damien, please—please, help us. I need you…”  

But Damien didn’t even look at her. He pushed her aside, his gaze narrowing as he turned to me.  

The moment he looked at me, I felt something shift inside me. The bond. The mate bond.  

He raised my chin gently, his jaw twitching with anger and my heart stopped. But then he spoke.  

“Mate!” His wolf growled and echoed in my head that my body trembled. His Jaw twitched and his amber eyes glowed so brightly in rage before raising his head to meet my father. 

“How dare you fucking Touch her!” He bellowed hotly and I've never been so confused in my entire life