1

Gabriella

"Phew," I sigh as I keep my bucket aside and wipe the sweat from my brows. "It's been a very long day."

In the silence of the Redwood Pack backyard, I plop down on the pavement with great difficulty. My entire body is on fire. I've been crouched on all fours all morning, scrubbing, washing, cleaning, cooking and dusting.

Omegas in the Redwood Pack are the lowest ranked. It has always been like that since time immemorial, and it will remain so. My parents were once esteemed Pack members before they were among the wolves accused of treason and put to death by the previous mad Alpha, Dickson. Alpha Dickson was a sick tyrant and was responsible for a considerable number of deaths before we got troops from the Northern Pack who intervened, killed him, and elected a new Pack Alpha.

And the new Alpha just happens to be none other than my cruel uncle.

Alpha Storm.

He's my father's only brother, and the only family I have left. Before my father's death, they had never been on good terms. In fact, their paths never crossed at all, and my father made sure of that. I'd prodded my mother severely to tell me why, but she always brushed the question off, only supplying that he's a bad man. Eventually, I stopped asking. When my parents died, and Storm became the new Alpha, I became one of the Pack maids. He makes sure that I work harder than everyone else, perhaps as a result of the vendetta he held against my father.

Today, he's had me scrub and clean the entire pack compound, in preparation for an important meeting which is scheduled to hold tonight. As early as five in the morning, he's woken me up, and handed me a bucket and a mop stick. Then he relegates his beta, Beta Jackson to keep a close eye on me and ensure I don't stop working for any reason whatsoever. It isn't the first time he is giving me such strenuous work, so I've gotten used to it.

If I disobey him, I'll go without dinner.

And that is the one thing I am looking forward to tonight.

As I nurse my sore joints, I begin drifting off to sleep. A few minutes later, a sudden movement down the corridor that leads to the backyard startles me, causing me to jump up in alarm.

My best friend, Raya comes into view. Her eyes glaze over me in pity. "Alpha Storm sends for you. Are you done with the day's work?"

I nod with a sigh. "What does he want this time?""

"The Elders are all gathered in the pack hall. I think the meeting started way earlier, so he may need you to attend to them," she pauses, then adds. "I'm so sorry. He wants you to be the only one to attend to them."

Of course, he does. Of course.

With a resigned sigh, I wash my hands in the kitchen area and hurried over to the pack hall. The Alphas who guard the doors spares no second in ushering me in. The hall is large, with a long, rectangular table situated in the middle, a huge glossy chair reserved for the alpha at the head, and twelve less distinguished chairs for the twelve Pack Elders.

The Elders are conversing in hushed tones when I enter, with a crate of beer at one side of the hall. Alpha Storm isn't in yet, but he soon comes in after me, and gestures towards the alcohol wordlessly, before taking his place at the head of the long table. I get to work immediately, pouring the alcohol into small glasses and serving them.

"Greetings, Alpha."

"Greetings," Alpha Storm says, the wastes no time in diving into the business of the evening. "As you all know," he begins. "I'd visited the Northern Pack a week ago. It was quite a delight, and I bring exciting news."

The Elders all lean forward, eagerly.

"The Northern Alpha is planning to host a very important ball this winter, to pick a mate. It'll be hosted in the North, not here. And he requests that every female omega who is above the age of nineteen be present at the ceremony. We might just be lucky if he finds one that he desires from our pack. This information is not exclusive to the Redwood Pack, but other neighboring packs who will be sending their females as well."

He stops to let his words sink in, and the Elders all turn to one another with broad smiles, each and every one wishing that their daughters would be the lucky one. Being the Luna of the Northern Pack is the greatest honor a pack could have. The previous Luna had been from the Shadow Moon Pack. Redwood has never produced a Luna for the north, and I know without a doubt that Alpha Storm would love to be the first Alpha under whose rule a Luna is selected from the Redwood Pack.

"The ball is in two weeks," Alpha Storm continues, his eyes rising up to find mine now as I refill Elder Gabriel's cup. "So, we have a lot to prepare for. I'll be summoning every eligible female in our esteemed Pack in a few minutes to let them know this. I just wanted my Elders to be aware, first. As you all know, this is a grand opportunity for us all. If Redwood produces a Luna, it guarantees a solid partnership with the North. The largest Pack in the country. We can't — "

The glass cup I'm refilling slipped from my hand, and shatters on the floor, cutting him short. The Elders all turn to look at me, and in shame, I crouch, trying to assemble the broken glass.

In one instant, Alpha Storm is up, breathing downy neck.

"I'm so sorry," I mutter, as a shard digs into my finger, drawing blood.

He towers above me for a minute or two, then raise me up. Blood trickles down the wound on my finger. He looks it over, as though it is the most fascinating thing he's ever seen.

"Not deep enough," he grits out.

Without warning, he strikes my face, hard, sending me falling on the cold floor. Tears blur my vision, but nothing hurts more than the stinging pain on my cheek, and my finger.

"Clean this mess up, now!" He thunders. "And assemble all the eligible females in the Pack here in five minutes. Five minutes! Do you understand?"

When I don't answer, he growls.

"Gabriella, I said do you understand?"

Weakly, I mutter, eyes still glued to the floor. "Y-Y-Yes, Alpha Storm."