chapter 2

I woke up with a start, tears streaming down my face. It was this same dream, or rather a nightmare, again, at least I didn’t scream this time. Groaning, I got up from my corner on the kitchen floor, trying to be quiet as I prepared for the day. That day was forever going to be a dark day for me and for this pack. It turned out that it was rogue wolves who decided to attack the pack using a divide and conquer method- attacking from the front and the back. My family paid the price for that. Alpha Richard handled all the funeral arrangements and took me in, I was grateful. Until he announced to the pack that it was my fault that my parents and brother were dead, he said one of the rogues they were able to capture claimed I served as a good distraction and it was only thanks to me they were able to kill them.

The announcement instantly turned the whole pack against me, and for a while, I believed it. Why didn’t I stay behind with Matt like Mom told me to? If I had, they would have fought off the rogues, and they’d still be alive. It has been eight years since then; I no longer have such thoughts. In fact, I don’t even have time to think anymore because all my time is occupied with being the pack slave. That’s right, the pack believed the most fitting punishment for the child who caused the death of their beta, wife, and son was to have her become their slave. They ignored the fact that the people who died were my family; they ignored the fact that I was just a kid.

“Time for me to face more bullshit.” I muttered to myself.

My day began at four in the morning. I had to make breakfast for the fifteen people that lived in the pack house, clean the house, top to bottom, and do the laundry that always appeared every single day, despite my always finishing it the day before, all these before Luna woke up. Luna Marienne always woke up first to inspect all my work; if it wasn’t satisfactory, I’d go without food for the day. I didn’t eat yesterday, so working today was taking a lot more energy than I had, but I pushed through, making sure everything was perfect- I needed to eat.

At 8am, Luna Marienne made her way down the stairs just as I was placing the dish bowls on the large dining table that took up most of the kitchen.

“Good. You’re done and this time everything looks good.” She said, her eyes scanning, looking for imperfections.

Bowing my head slightly I responded meekly, “Thank you Luna.”

“Yes. Well, you can have breakfast today. If the rest of the day goes well for you, you may have lunch and dinner too.”

“Thank you Luna.” I responded trying not to sound too relieved. She went back up probably to wake everyone else up.

The pack housed fifteen of the high-ranking pack members: Alpha Richard, his Luna, and their son, the Beta, his mate and their daughters, the Delta, her mate and son, the head healer, and her assistant. Every day, I cooked, cleaned, and tended to the needs of these people, and each time they always seemed to find something wrong with whatever it is I do.

They trooped down the steps, their footsteps thunderous in the large house, yawning and stretching, they sat at the round table ignoring my presence completely; they gobbled up the pancakes, waffles, eg,g,s and bacon set before them. I retreated from the kitchen, made my way up the stairs to clean up their rooms. Upstairs had seven bedrooms and three guestrooms for when other packs visited. I made quick work of the cleaning and went back downstairs to find the room in disarray; dishes were discarded on the table, the juice was left open on the counter, and someone felt it would be a good idea to leave the faucet running.

I sighed heavily, trying desperately not to cry. I was so tired and hungry, but I couldn’t take the risk of them finding the room as it was, so I began to clear the dishes, placing them in the sink. I put the juice back in the fridge and started washing the dishes.

The dishes were done now, and I could hear voices coming towards the kitchen. The sound of laughter filled the room as the Beta’s daughters entered; they were fraternal twins- Casey was a brown haired, grey-eyed girl while her sister, Beatrice, had blond hair.

They stopped laughing as they noticed me in the kitchen; my back was to them, as I did not want any sort of confrontation.

“Oh look.” Casey said, “It’s our very own freak.” Beatrice cackled loudly at that.

“Oh, Casey!” She said still cackling, “Don’t call her that.”

“But it’s true. How many wolves do you know that still can’t shift at their age?. She must feel so pitiful.”

They walked towards me, Casey on my right, Beatrice on my left.

“Say freak. How does it feel not to have a wolf?” Casey asked, tilting her head curiously, but not hiding the malice in her voice. I felt it was safer not to respond.

“She asked you a question. Are you deaf?” Beatrice asked. Still no response. She huffed in anger and turned to leave. I let out a small breath of relief before my mouth filled up with water. Casey had grabbed me and shoved my head into the kitchen sink filled with dishwater. The soap stung my eyes and I struggled against her grip, trying not to drown.

“I asked you a question freak. Next time I ask you a question you fucking answer me!” Casey screamed releasing her grip. I raised my head up gasping for air; I scuttled to my corner in the kitchen, keeping my head low.

“Look at her Bea.” Casey said grinning widely, “She can’t even fight back.”

“Yep not having a wolf would do that to you. I honestly don’t know why she’s still alive. I can’t imagine living without a wolf.” The two of them cackled and left the kitchen but not before they spilled some milk and juice on the floor for me to clean up.

My eyes were still stinging, so I rinsed them with water. After that, I cleaned up the mess.

As they said, I didn’t have a wolf anymore. Wolf shifters were born with a latent inner wolf that only starts to show from ten years old, although not causing a full or partial shift, children can feel and communicate with their wolves at that age, and fully shift into their wolf form by the age of sixteen. This was not the case for me, after the death of my family my wolf that had just begun to surface went back into latency and hadn’t shown itself since, due to this I didn’t shift on my sixteenth birthday, and I hadn’t shifted till now, hence the mocking of the Beta’s twins. My not shifting was yet another reason for the pack to hate me; they saw it as the punishment the Moon Goddess Selena gave me in retribution for the death of my family. How fucking stupid of them.