1. She's worse

Delilah's POV

My heart pounds in my chest as I scamper through the woods. My bare feet hardly make a sound as I run and stop in front of Silver Lake, panting heavily. 

Looking behind, my eyes roam frantically through the darkness, passing among the tall trees and lonely paths, then back to the lake. I have about three minutes before I'm caught.

I need answers. I need to know if my wolf is really dead as the oracle said six months ago. 

Taking two cautious steps, I dip my legs into the silver water which always harms wolves. It's a risky call, but I'm desperate and short of options. I wait for a reaction, a burn, a sting, even the slightest prick, but nothing happens. Damn it! I hiss, slapping the water. I almost hate myself for having my hopes high. 

I will always be the lowliest member of the Silver Crest pack. With no wolf, no rank, no mate, what is my hope?

"Delilah! You slut!" Lucinda shouts from behind and I flinch. Turning around sharply I meet her fiery gaze. 

"Get out of the water, what do you think you're doing?" She orders. 

I pull myself to shore and she immediately grabs me by my collar. 

"You've got the nerve to steal from the Alpha? You brat!" 

She raises her hand to slap me and I quickly catch it before it lands on my face. 

"I may have lost my wolf now but I was once a sentinel. A common Omega like you can't treat me like this."

She drags her hand out of my grip with a scoff. "You piece of trash. You don't seem to understand your situation, don't you? I have my wolf, I can grow up to a higher rank, and possibly become the Luna of this pack, but you? You have not even the slightest chance. Now get back to the pack house." She scolds and pushes me forward. 

Tears form in my eyes as I walk in front of Lucinda who doesn't miss a chance to push or insult me. As a lead sentinel, I used to train the omegas, including Lucinda. Then I got sick. 

Everyone thought I was going to die during those seven scary weeks I stayed sick in bed. Then the oracle came and healed me at the price of my wolf, Ashley. It was either I died or my wolf vanished forever. I wasn't the one who made that choice to sacrifice Ashley, Alpha Enzo did. And now he treats me like it's my fault. 

What's the use of saving me if they never wanted me around? After the news came I saw the true intentions of my pack members towards me. People I once called friends and family turned on me, treating me like an outcast, a slave. And what pains me the most is how powerless I am before them. I was once a Sentinel but now even a common omega pushes me around. 

On getting to the pack house, Lucinda drags me up the stairs to the banquet hall. The whole place is vibrating from the intense music and partying. Lucinda pushes me past the wide-open door of the banquet hall where the party is heated. 

My eyes land on Alpha Enzo. He is seated on a red couch with two women at his sides romancing him. His beta and other sentinels lounge around, drinking and laughing. The women play with his blonde hair and runs their fingers down his muscular arms as he continues to sip on his drink.

When I was nineteen, Alpha Enzo asked me to be his Luna. He did not care if I was his destined mate or not. He wanted me. But I wanted to be a sentinel according to my fate foretold by the oracle. 

He kept trying to seduce me, setting me up in tempting situations. He never relented until I fell sick and lost my wolf. Now there's no possibility of him fulfilling his desires with me. Hence, his frustration. 

Knowing how I longed to meet my mate, he torments me night and day with the constant reminder that I would never be able to. 

"Alpha Enzo, I've found Delilah," Lucinda says with a subtle purr in her voice. 

The Alpha turns and looks down at us. Everyone immediately pauses what they're doing at the sound of my name. In the past few months, the name, Delilah, has become synonymous with trouble. And now everyone watches expectantly, waiting for my humiliation. 

"Kneel before your Alpha, you idiot!" Lucinda says and pushes me to my knees. I fall and everyone laughs. A small smile plays on Alpha Enzo's lips.

"Be gentle with her, Lucinda, you know she's fragile," he says, causing more laughter from the crowd. "Delilah, dear," he calls in a voice that conceals the deep mischief in his heart. "Where were you all evening?" 

"In-in the woods," I reply.

"Liar!" Lucinda calls out, "I saw her dipping her filthy legs in Silver Lake." 

A gasp arises from the crowd and they start to murmur. It's a taboo to go near the silver lake. 

"Quiet!" Enzo says and the place immediately goes still. "The laws of the pack don't apply to Delilah. She's an exception. Even the laws of nature don't apply to her." 

Everyone bursts out laughing again and I bow my head in shame. Losing one's wolf is like losing a close family member. But these people are horrible, they ridicule me in my pain. 

"Where is my gold?" Alpha Enzo asks and my heart skips. "I won't repeat myself," he adds when I hesitate to reply. His voice has suddenly turned cold.

"Did you not hear him?" Lucinda scolds and hits me on my head. 

"Ahh!" I shout as the pain shoots through my skull. "I did not take it!"

"So you have a voice!" She sneers.

"Search her," Alpha Enzo commands and two Omegas, including Lucinda, roughly search me. Everyone watches in expectation as their hands run all over my red, worn-out, short-sleeved gown. A gold hairpin falls from the pocket of my undergarment. 

"No!" I shout as Lucinda quickly picks it up. I try to pry it out of her hands, but the other two Omegas pull me to the ground and I fall flat on my face. 

"Please, Alpha Enzo, that's the hairpin my mother wore on her dying bed. That's the last thing I have from her. Please, I beg you, don't take it away from me," I cry out loud. 

"You have the guts to speak to the Alpha after what you've done?" Beta Fidelis accuses me from his seat. "Take care of the thief," he orders the other sentinels. 

The people I once trained with, ate with and trusted with my heart, gathered around me. They rain blows and slaps and kicks on my body. 

"Please stop, you're hurting me. Yuri, Damien, I can't believe you're doing this. We were friends!" I cry, but they only increase their blows. 

Alpha Enzo remains expressionless as he watches me suffer. Someone kicks me in the rib and I choke. They don't mind my coughing as they continue treating me like a thief. 

Suddenly, a hunter runs into the banquet hall and shouts, "The war general is coming!"

Immediately Enzo springs up from his seat as a gasp arises from the crowd. His eyes grow wide in alarm. The sentinels stop beating me and look at Enzo. A sudden fright sweeps over the room. The war general is the dread of all wolves living and dead. Due to his ruthless acts, he was nicknamed the executioner. 

"How long before they get here?" Enzo asks, trying not to sound panicked. 

Before the hunter can reply, a group of men adorned in black attire and masks storm into the room. They are all above six feet tall and have weapons with them. 

I crawl to a corner and hide. My body trembles with fear. 

The armed men clear a path in their middle, and the war general emerges from their midst. At his appearance, the room becomes pin-drop silent. His jet black hair falls down his shoulders in loose strands. His well-toned muscles press against the material of his black clothes. 

"General Kane, we agreed you won't near Silver Crest territory. Why are you here?" Enzo confronts the general. 

Tension hangs in the air as the war general makes his way through the crowd, ignoring the Alpha. Everyone clears from his path as he walks and his men follow.

His green eyes hold a stern expression, like one searching for something. 

"There!" he says, pointing to a pack member standing at the back of the crowd.

Immediately, the man tries to run. Two of the armed men follow him up and quickly catch up with him. 

"Stop this at once! You can't come in here and harass my pack," Enzo defends as they bring the man in front of General Kane and pull up his sleeves. 

One of his arms is in wolf form. A murmur arises from the crowd. 

"A rogue, right under your nose," General Kane says with a hint of accusation in his tone.

"Sir, he's turning," one of the armed men points out. The rogue has started to shake vigorously. 

"Discard him."

This one order from General Kane scares the rogue and everyone who heard it. He begins to fight with all his might until he breaks free from their grip. He jumps at General Kane. 

In one swing of his hand, General Kane sends the rogue flying to the adjacent wall which cracks due to the impact. A shout escapes from the rogue and he goes limp on the floor. 

Enzo stares helplessly as the armed men take the rogue away. My heart beats skyrockets from watching the scene. I close my eyes and place my hand on my chest as I try to calm my heavy breathing. 

Steady footsteps approach me and I snap my eyes open to see General Kane standing right in front of me. No, no, no...

His green eyes pierce into my soul as he looks down at me. 

"Leave that one, she's not a rogue!" Alpha Enzo shouts from behind him. 

General Kane replies firmly. "She's worse. Take her away."

One of Kanes men roughly drag me up from the floor. My heart almost ceases with fear. Over the years people have found the bodies of Kane's victims discarded at the road side, at the bottom of a lake, hanging from a tree, and so many other horrific scenerio. I never imagined I would be one of them.