Chapter 1

 Ten Years Later

“Ava!” Shirley’s frail voice called out, tapping Ava aggressively as she mumbled incoherently and turned her face towards the other side of the room.

 “Ava, Mrs. Beverly is on her way here!”

“Oh, shit,” Ava cursed, jumping up almost immediately from her bed. The uncomfortable bed had become a source of comfort for her over the years. The sleep disappeared from her face instantly.

“One cannot have a proper night rest I see.” She exclaimed as the loud voice of the large woman approached. It was her duty to ensure that every slave was awake and fully dressed for the tasks ahead. But here she was, still in her frail nightdress.

“What am I to do with you, Ava?” Shirley lamented staring daggers at her friend.

“You should have woken up when I asked you to, but you were extremely busy battling unknown forces in your dreams again,” Shirley explained, worry evident on her face.

“Shirley please” Ava shrank, her expression unfazed as the large woman, big as life and extremely mean, stepped foot inside the room. Everyone was properly dressed and ready, except for the blue-eyed girl with curly white hair.

“You again?” The thick voice of the woman screeched out, pointing accusing fingers at Ava. “You're one hell of a lazy weakling!”

“I'm sorry, Mrs. Beverly, I am so unwell I woke up late.” Ava said, her hands clasped together and her face held Mrs Beverly's.

“I don't know why you haven't been transferred to the grinding quarters yet. You're extremely lazy staying here!” the woman snorted, angry at how much ego she has.

“well.., ouch!” She yelped as Shirley stylishly hit her to prevent her from annoying the Woman further.

“You know I would want nothing more than to see you down there,” Mrs. Beverly sneered, staring disgustedly at her. “But I bet being pretty has its advantages.”

Whatever that meant, Ava was grateful she could avoid the grinding quarters. It was the most dreaded place for a slave in Ballowood Park.

  “I'm glad I'm pretty then.” Ava jokes, causing a slight laughter from Shirley.

“Take all your time dressing up like the princess you're meant to be. As usual, you all get to eat before working... Everyone knows that wasn't how it was done until she…” Mrs. Beverly pointed at Ava with yet another disdainful look, “was brought here a decade ago.”

By heart, she knew those words. Mrs. Beverly always said those words from the very moment she could recall being a slave at the pack.

“Whatever your offence is, Ava!” Shirley whispered recovery from the laughter while watching Mrs. Beverly assign tasks to each girl in the room. “You get lucky as much as you are hated, yet you do your duties with the finest smile ever. I guess that's why Mrs. Larger-than-the-world hates you.”

Ava shrugged, pouting in admiration.

“Shirley Windsor will tend to the queen's quarters.” Mrs Beverly assigned, but Shirley was too busy sneering at her to hear her name being called. The woman turned towards them in anger.

“You don't give her the satisfaction…” Shirley continued, oblivious of the numerous eyes on them.

“Mrs. Shirley Windsor?” Mrs. Beverly called her again, watching Shirley engrossed in her conversation with the hated slave of the pack, hated yet favoured.

“…of seeing you cry, and I bet…”

“Shirley!” Mrs. Beverly called, anger exuding her being as her eyes once again landed on Ava, cutting the smiles away from both girls.

Both stared, realising they had not been listening to her orders.

“Whatever that is, I'll overlook it. You're to be at Luna's quarters while her…” Mrs. Beverly transfixed her glare at Ava, who knew she was in trouble. “You will be attending to Gregor at the hearth.”

Goodness!

 She sighed. She couldn't possibly complain as she had a long day ahead dealing with Gregor’s harassment.

A few minutes later, she was done dressing, and being late, unable to meet breakfast, she made her way towards the hearth.

The sun dipped below the horizon, casting a warm, amber glow over the dense forest that enveloped the pack’s territory.

 The amber glow only reminded her of the night, the very night her fate was sealed and her saviour, whoever he was, had saved her and mysteriously disappeared with no trace.

She sighed, her steps light and quick as she carried a basket of firewood towards the communal hearth.

Ava's hands were calloused from years of hard labour, her back bent from the weight of her burdens. As a slave in the pack, her days were an unending cycle of chores and silent endurance. She was a shadow among the pack members, seen but rarely acknowledged. Yet, despite her outward subservience, there was a fierce light in her eyes, a silent defiance that had not been extinguished by years of oppression.

As she approached the hearth, a harsh voice cut through the morning air. Gregor's of course!

"Hey, slave! You're late again!"

“Not this lousy ugly fellow again!” She blurted as the pack's enforcer, Gregor, walked towards her, his expression twisted with disdain. He reached out, yanking the basket from her hands and spilling the wood across the ground.

  “What was that for?” Ava hissed, anger visibly exhuming her. She hated this man as much as he hated her and there's no way she's hiding it.

"Useless as always," he sneered.

 “You will never learn unless I teach you some critical real lessons.”

She scoffed, a dry laugh that was practically meant to be heard by him.

  “Beg your pardon old man, the only useless one here is you who do nothing but order people around.”

This was not the first time she was being treated like this by him, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. But then, she won't give him the satisfaction of seeing her in pain.

His brow clenched in anger and he sneered. “How dare you talk to me like that you dirty Slave?”

  “Dirty?” Ava laughed again. From the very first day she got here, she knew being weak isn't a way at all to endure slavery. She was taught and birthed by worries so letting him is ridiculing the lessons from her parents. “You should get a mirror.”

 “You little Rab…” a deep, authoritative voice halted Gregor in his tracks.

"That's enough, Gregor."

Ava looked up, her breath catching as she saw Logan, the pack’s leader, standing a few steps away. His presence was commanding, his gaze cold and unyielding. Gregor stepped back immediately, muttering an apology under his breath.

This was not the first time she had seen him, nor was it the first time he had interfered, obstructing whatever pain was about to be unleashed on her.

 Ava at first thought he was the amber-eyed saviour of hers decades ago, because she believes only her saviour will interfere with whatever punishment is being unleashed on her. But a close glance at the man before her showed he was nothing close to him.

 Maybe the physique was similar, but the eyes gave him away. He didn't have glowing amber eyes, but extremely intoxicating brown eyes.

Logan’s eyes met Ava's for a brief moment, and she saw something flicker there—was it concern? Before she could decipher it, he turned away, addressing the rest of the pack. "We don't mistreat people under our care..."

“People?” Her heart fluttered at the word. “He sees us as people to be cared for...” her smile broadened as she watched him talk. She couldn't help her growing affection for him.

He turned to Gregor, not sparing the daydreaming Ava a second glance. “Ensure it doesn't happen again.”

“Yes, sir!” Gregor and the guards chorused.

 Logan turned slightly, his eyes meeting Ava's but quickly averting them. Ava's heart raced, and somehow she felt her wolf sneer inside her.

 She couldn't place her hands on it, but she felt he was hiding something from her.

“My Lord…” she called before she could stop herself. He turned again, staring at her intently, and her breath hitched.