5. Lies They Tell

Divina

I woke up to the sound of a voice, a harsh and familiar one. Mother?

A boot came hitting my legs. I tried not to move as my body was already in pain. The next minute, the kicks came again with full force and couldn’t help but groan in pain..

I managed to open my heavy eyes, all I could see was darkness everywhere. Was this how the land of the dead looked like? Is this where father had come to? I asked myself multiple questions.

Then I felt something hitting my legs hard and immediately my vision cleared.

First, I saw a feminine boot not the hard leather boot that Bernard wore. The boot continued to hit me.

I groaned again. I managed to look up before coming into a realization that it was my mother, Victoria. I wished right there that I had never woken up just to be faced with another torture.

Mother had probably come to unleash her anger on me and I wasn’t ready to face her again. Death was still a better option.

“Divina, you know how much I hate entering your room and today I did enter and woke you up thinking you were already busy preparing breakfast but no, what did you do? You came here to hide so I wouldn’t catch you and by then breakfast would’ve already been prepared right? Why do you always find a way to get me angry, you bastard child! Not only did you skip breakfast, you hid yourself so well and now, it’s night.”

I knew my mother didn’t care about me but didn’t know she didn’t care this much. She didn’t even seem bothered of my appearance. How my clothes were torn to shreds, how blood slipped from my lips and hand.

“Who did you fuck with?”

Fuck with?

"At this early hours of the morning, you shamelessly came here to have sex with a werewolf. It must have been a good one for you to lay tired and worn out right? I knew you weren’t a saint, Divina, even though you always acted like one, you whore. Who is that stupid werewolf that committed the act of mating with you? Doesn’t he know his bringing shame to himself?”

Mother kept talking each word cutting deeply into my heart. She stopped talking as she watched me with disgust when I tried to stand, falling on the ground over and over again.

I heard her laughing, still watching, looking at me like I was some funny drama.

“You can’t even stand on your feet, Divina, your legs must’ve been so worn out. The werewolf who fucked you must’ve fucked you so hard that you lost your balance. Hahahaha”

I watched as mother insulted and mocked me to her heart’s content. She had never been like this towards me or maybe she had but I’ve never looked closely enough.

After that night of my eighteenth birthday, the night father died, the hatred for me increased not just in my family but the whole pack hated me as well. They all blamed me for my father’s death. The mockery and insults I’ve gotten since that night remained fresh in my memory and I will never forget it.

I looked at my mother and the disgust on her face caused me to cringe in pain. Tears stung my eyes.

“For causing you pain, mother, I am sorry.”

I said, praying and hoping she feels the pain and how sorry I am in my voice, but as expected mother lashed at me with her tongue.

“You were never my daughter, you whore. No mother would ever be proud of you as their daughter. A shame and disgrace!”

I felt the anger in mother’s voice. Those words stung me like bees in my heart.

“Go change into another one of your rags and get into that kitchen and start work. You have disgraced me enough!” she hissed, as she walked out of the room, closing the door with a loud bang.

I held the wall for support, as I tried standing up on my feet. The pain was unbearable, making me squeeze my eyes.

I walked to the door cautiously, creaking it open slowly. I peeped out making sure no one was at the other end of the hall. Not hearing any voices, I opened the door widely and quietly, seeping out like a mouse, hurrying quickly to get to my room. I entered my room and locked the door.

Going straight to my little bed feeling exhausted and tired. Carefully, I sat down so as not to feel more pain than I already felt. My eyes swept across the confined room, filled with different creaking sounds. Rats were my only companion in this world. They were the owners of this room, not me.

I smiled bitterly. There was only a small rectangular window whose purpose was to provide ventilation in the room.

My room was empty, no decorations just old paints pilling off from the walls! The wall was a home for bugs and ants which lived rent free.

The only possession I have in this room was a very old chair which was already infested with termites, a table, a broken mirror and a lampstand which I used in reading almost every night before sleeping. Father would always buy me books, novels, articles and magazines. I was a bookworm and he knows it.

He has always been proud of me when I brought back my grades. He always said with a proud smile etched on his, “Very excellent.”

He would turn to my siblings and say. “Always emulate Divina’s habit of reading and bringing back good grades”

I always smiled innocently, very happy that my father was proud and that’s where I failed to see the expressions of my siblings and mother. I thought they were all happy for me, if only I knew what I know now.

I swept my eyes once again in the room, sighing in dispair. Looking at the rats swinging from here to there. This room was once a store before mother made me turn it into my room.

My sister, Shea took over my room and all my clothes and accessories leaving me with only some worn out clothes. That’s my life.

A tear slipped out of my eyes and I wiped it with full force. “Today started off roughly. I wish it doesn’t end that way” I murmured to myself even though I knew in the back of my mind that it would.

Standing up from my bed, I walked towards the bathroom to take my bath. I felt so disgusted with myself as the events of the previous hours came crashing into my mind.

Dipping my head into the water, I was relieved off some pressure. After some minutes, I was done bathing. I changed into one of my rags as mother called them and stepped out of the bathroom.

I stood in front of my broken miserable-looking mirror and stared at myself. I couldn’t believe what I saw staring back at me.

I used to be attractive and a great beauty but who I saw now reflecting my image shocked me. I looked so miserable and ugly.

My lips were cracked, and they weren’t their usual color of pink. My hair was a mess. It reminded me of a bird’s nest. I found my brown comb where I usually keep it on top of the table.

I combed my hair, trying to make it look less tangled. I had a black, silk, curly hair. At least now it was combed. It looked more presentable. I had to do all this because today was the night the full moon surfaced.

Tonight was when wolves and lycans found their mates amongst each other and also amongst humans. I couldn’t go about serving them all looking shabby.

Mother would loathe me more. She was the pack’s best cook. She always cooked when there were important events like this full moon celebration, and I wasn’t ready for her shouts and her calling me a disgrace.

I was still combing my hair when a sharp voice pierced my senses almost knocking me off the ground. I had to cover my ears but that didn’t help matters at all.

“If you waste one more second in that damn room, I will not hesitate to tell my son to put you in the dungeon. You fucking know we have a damn full moon ahead of us to prepare for, damn girl!”

The voice belonged to my mother. She was angry and I know she wasn’t joking when she said those words. I threw the comb on the bed as I opened the door, running to the kitchen.

Each step I took made me scared to the brim. I know what awaited me, but I still hoped things will run smoothly for me.

Servants filled up the kitchen, they were very busy with the work. In this pack, a servant was much better than an omega, at least they had their wolves in them and they weren’t considered the lowest in the pack.

“Divina dear, your mother has been mad with rage. Where have you been, you poor child? You were supposed to have been in the kitchen since an hour ago, earlier than others. Walk faster and come over. Take these tomatoes and blend them.”

That was Mrs. Cartwright. She was an old woman and the assistant pack’s chef. The second in command chef after my mother. She was the one who had always treated me nicely after my father. She was like a family to me, who has always been here for me right from the time I knew my name.

“Yes, Mrs Cartwright. I will be back in a minute.”

I grabbed the bag of tomatoes, then quickly, turning around I went straight to where the blender was kept. I washed the tomatoes and started to blend them. It was still blending when it felt like I was being stared at intensely, being glared at. My whole body ran cold.

I turned off the blender and noticed how everywhere was quiet, too quiet. Slowly, I turned and I wasn’t shocked to see Bernard, a few metres behind me standing with two dangerous men.

I watched as he gave me a deadly smirk, his eyes turned dark for a second before it turned back to normal. I shivered as he strode towards me. I stepped back unconsciously until my back hit the counter.

It would have been a good thing if I could merge with the counter and we became one. Every one wondered what the soon-to-be beta was doing here in the pack’s kitchen.

Only I know what he was here for. He was here to finish what he had started or maybe do worse than that.

“Thought you were dead, sis. It would interest you to know that I’ve already prepared a casket for your funeral” I heard his voice in my head through the mindlink. It was attacking my senses.

I know he had come to give me more pain and make my life more miserable than it was already and no one could stop him, he was the next beta.

“You little disgusting omega rejected my offer and no one has ever done that. You had the audacity to slap me in the face, and make me loose my respect. I would make sure you regret this, little whore” I closed my eyes, clutching the bag of tomatoes tightly as his voice still rang in my head.

Mother and Shea's scents wafted through my nostrils as they entered into the kitchen. I opened my eyes only to see the smile on Bernard’s face. He was smiling at Shea and that’s when I knew they had planned this.

My eyes locked with that of Shea and I saw the mischievousness in her eyes and her smile.

Turning towards the people in the kitchen, Bernard smile was off his face.

“This wolfless omega this disgusting girl my father brought from no where to live here in our pack, did something so disgraceful this morning”

I was ready for the lies Bernard would spill out. But what I didn’t expect was how twisted they would be.