7. In the depths of her subconscious

AITHNE'S POV

A teary smile reflected on my face as I trailed a sentence in the novel I was holding with a finger, my eyes taking in every word in it. The novel was one of the series in Odin's favorite collection.

I was in the library -- my comfort haven in recent times -- in my father's castle, away from the gossipy eyes and hushed whispers of the servants and pack members as well.

For about a month, this had been my routine every morning. I was existing but not living.

I had nothing left, nothing at all... Varda took everything from me. Including the last hope I had left. She took away my dreams, my future and my happiness. She didn't spare me even the bliss of being an only child. She didn't let me be my father's daughter anymore.

Somehow, she had succeeded in ruining my life, no doubt. But it was all so maddeningly humiliating because there was nothing I could do to stop her... nothing at all.

I sighed, wiping tears from my eyes and closing the book the moment I