Sophia
My face turns towards the right while the skin of my cheek stings with the impact of the slap.
My eyes burn with tears, which I refuse to release as my gaze is trained on the floor.
"Apologize to Cynthia right now!" My father bellows causing me to flinch. "How dare you disrespect my wife and your Luna by questioning her actions?!"
My mother died soon after giving birth to me, and my father blamed me for her death. When I turned three, councilmen asked my father to take a second chance mate because his wolf was going crazy without his mate. Even though he didn't want to, he had to find another mate because, slowly, his wolf was going insane.
Since my mother was his true mate, he never wanted to give her place to anyone else, so instead of taking Cynthia as his second chance mate, he married her.
Cynthia is what you can call a true definition of an evil stepmother. She hated me from the moment she married my father and made it clear to me that I was unwanted in her house.
But since she couldn't kick me out, she made sure to make my life miserable at every chance she got.
"She punished Emily for no reason." I speak in a low but firm voice, "She is a small child who just took an apple from the fruit basket."
"She stole the apple." Cynthia glares at me, then turns her gaze to my father and places her hand on his arm, "Emily is a child. That's why it is important for her to learn if she needs something, then she should ask instead of stealing. I was disciplining her by ordering her to fetch five buckets of water from the well, not punishing her."
"I even asked Janet to accompany her and help her with completing her task." She sighs and shakes her head, "I am mother of this pack; I am not cruel as Sophia thinks of me."
"You don't have to justify yourself; I know you." Father wraps an arm around her as she softly cries, "This girl is nothing but a nuisance. It seems like killing my Selena wasn't enough for her, so each day she does something that only hurts others." He glares at me with such hatred that the tears that I was holding back spill from my eyes.
"No food for you for five days, and you will work with the omegas for the preparation of a full moon ball." He puts every bit of his Alpha command behind his words while glaring at me.
"Yes, Alpha." Bowing my head, I show my neck in submission to him.
Strangely, Alpha commands never work on me, but I haven't told anyone about this, especially my father. If I told him then he would find one more reason to hate me thinking I am challenging his authority.
I turn and leave the room, my head held low. As I walk through the halls of the pack house, I feel the weight of everyone's stares. Whispers follow me, but I am used to it. I've been an outcast my whole life. I pass Emily in the kitchen, her eyes red from crying. She looks up at me with a mixture of guilt and gratitude, and I manage a small smile for her.
"I am sorry, Sophia." She wipes her eyes with the back of her hand, "I was hungry."
"It's okay, Emily," I say softly and reassuringly.
Emily is one of the orphans of the pack. Her parents died in a car accident two years back; since she doesn't have any family who could take her in, she lives in the orphanage.
I head out to my room in the packhouse where I live since I am not allowed to live in the Alpha house, ready to start my punishment.
Physical labor is nothing new to me; it's a way to keep my mind off the pain and loneliness that have become my constant companions. As I work, I think about my mother, the only person who might have loved me if she had lived.
And sometimes my thoughts shift to the person whom Moon Goddess has chosen for me... my mate.
My heart clings to the hope that one day, I'll find him, and he'll take me away from this misery.
Something in me tells me that soon, my wait is about to come to an end.
AuroraI slip my favorite book into my bag, the one with the worn corners and the coffee stain that never quite faded. A few sticks of gum and Anastasia’s phone follow, before I slide the zipper closed. My sandals tap softly against the marble as I walk toward the door, my reflection flickering across the glass cabinets on the way out.For a few moments of the day, I can pretend to be free. In these stolen breaths of time, I can be myself, no pretenses, no perfection to maintain. But lately, even that is changing... changing in a good way, not in a burdening and suffocating way. Ever since Lucas came into my life, the thought of disappointing him has begun to crawl beneath my skin. I used to think I didn’t care what anyone thought. Now, his approval feels like the one thing that matters most in the world.The moment I step into the corridor, I hear it, the familiar rhythm of heavy footsteps trailing just behind mine. The guard. Always there. Always watching.I do not look back. I have
AuroraThe medicine makes everything feel slow, soft, and heavy. Like the world is moving through water. The ceiling light blurs into a halo as I blink, my eyelids too heavy to keep open for long. I remember doctor already waiting for me in the room when I was brought back, James must had called him. My arm stings under the dressing, but it’s dulled, distant.I should feel uneasy. Someone is here.I can sense it, the faint shuffle of movement, the sound of air shifting near the window. My instincts should flare, but they don’t. Instead, warmth seeps through the haze, an invisible cocoon wrapping around me. It’s strange, this calm. Strange, but not unfamiliar.Because I’ve felt this before, this safety that doesn’t need to be seen to be real.My mind drifts in and out of sleep, tangled between what’s real and what’s not. I think I hear a whisper, a breath close enough to stir the air beside my face. A touch... not real, maybe imagined, brushes against my hair like someone is brushing
AuroraExactly as the clock strikes eight, everyone is seated at the breakfast table. Punctuality here is not a virtue, it is a law. The faint chime of the grandfather clock echoes through the garden, signaling the beginning of another perfectly orchestrated performance.The table stretches long and gleaming beneath the sunlight, surrounded by manicured hedges and faces polished to perfection. Here, even the seating arrangement speaks of power. Nothing is random; every chair represents rank, lineage, and influence. The largest table, of course, belongs to the Blakes and a few others who are considered significant enough to share this privilege.Many people would kill to sit here, to be part of this carefully guarded circle.But I would give anything not to be.Unfortunately, my place is secured by blood. The one thing you can’t escape. The one thing that binds tighter than chains. I hold a position many envy, even within the family. Especially within the family.Dad sits at the head
AuroraI wake up earlier than usual, the faint light of dawn barely cutting through the curtains. My room is quiet, too quiet, but inside my mind, thoughts are already racing. Today isn’t just another morning. It’s one of those mornings. The kind where perfection isn’t just expected... it’s required.My feet touch the cold marble floor, and I take a slow breath before moving toward the vanity. Every movement feels deliberate, measured. Because here, one small mistake isn’t just noticed... it’s counted, recorded, remembered.This house doesn’t forgive flaws.Our rules are simple, and brutal. Breakfast is at eight. If you’re one minute late, you don’t eat. If you miss it without reason, you face silence, the kind that feels heavier than any punishment. It’s the same for lunch. The same for dinner.But the worst part isn’t the rules. It’s sitting with them three times a day. My family.I start getting read
AuroraEven though I could talk to him forever, we both begrudgingly hang up. The second the call ends, the silence feels too loud , like it’s mocking me. The room is the same, but it isn’t. The air still hums with him, the echo of his laugh, the way his voice dipped when he said my name.And just like that, I start missing him. Instantly.It’s ridiculous. I just heard him. I can still hear him. The memory of his tone hasn’t even faded yet, and still... it’s not enough. It’s never enough.I sit on the edge of my bed, staring at the phone like it’s a forbidden relic. Because it is.That’s when the trance starts to break, the Lucas haze that somehow makes the rest of the world blur out. And when reality seeps back in, it brings the weight I’d pushed aside.There’s a problem.A huge one.The kind that doesn’t just vanish if I ignore it long enough. The kind that could ruin everything.The kind that looks exactly like the phone in my hand.This little, innocent-looking thing... black,
LucasThe phone feels heavier than it should, like it’s holding more than plastic and circuits. Like it’s holding a possibility, the possibility of hearing the voice that silences all the chaos in my head.I sit at the edge of my bed, elbows on my knees, the weight of anticipation brewing in my chest like an unfamiliar ache. I’m not used to this feeling. I am Lucas. I don’t anticipate... I decide the outcome. But this… this is different. Because no matter how many outcomes I decide, this one depends on her.The first ring starts. A sharp inhale escapes me. The walls of my room feel too close, the silence too thick. The sound of the ring cuts through it, relentless, each chime hitting something raw and alive inside me.Come on.Second ring.I drag a hand through my hair, my grip tightening around the phone. Every muscle is tense, alert, strung tight like a bow ready to snap. I’m listening for something that isn’t even there yet... her voice.Third ring. She won’t answer. The thought