Chapter 1

AURORA

On Friday evening, I returned from the restaurant where I served as a waitress and walked into my room on the ground floor of this luxurious white mansion.

Just then, I heard my older sister, Quincy Stanley, shout my name: "Aurora!"

"Yes, sister," I replied and rushed out of my room to meet her. My sister stood there, dressed in a dazzling green gown and black shoes. As she towered above me—I, short and slender, with an ample bosom and curvy hips, wasn't up to her shoulder—I felt like the rejected daughter in my family.

My two siblings were Beta Wolves, and I was born as an Omega. Because of this, my entire family looked down on me.

"Where are the jade earrings I kept in my locker in my room? Did you steal them?" Quincy asked, her eyes glaring daggers at me.

Quincy was more favored by our parents. They believed she would become Alpha Xander's mate. After all, she was 20 years old, and I was 17.

"Quincy, I didn't take your jade earrings. What could I possibly use them for?" I asked her, subtly annoyed because she always blamed me first.

"We have two maids in this house. Why not ask them first?" I replied to Quincy bluntly, but she smacked me so hard across my left cheek that I felt my head spin as I almost collapsed on the ground.

I staggered backward, looking at her in shock.

"Quincy, you slapped me?" I asked her, holding my left cheek as tears brimmed in my eyes.

"I will slap you again if you do not tell me where you kept my jade earrings! You know how much I love those earrings because Alpha Xander gave them to me last year on my 19th birthday. Did you steal them to wear to Alpha Xander's birthday party tonight?" she asked me, her tone sharp, and anger boiling in her veins.

The rest of our family came downstairs into the living room. They obviously treasured Quincy, whom they believed was going to become the future Luna and bring so many blessings to them, while I was the unwanted child.

"Quincy, what's going on?" Our mother, Sarah Stanley, asked as she walked into the corridor first to meet us, while my father and my older brother trailed behind her.

"Mom," Quincy broke into tears like I had slapped her. "Mom, Aurora stole my jade earrings," she cried in our mother's arms.

Our mother was an Omega by birth, but she looked down on Omegas after she got married to my father, the Beta of this pack.

"Is that true, Aurora?" Mom asked me, her eyes shooting daggers at me. "Hand over your sister's earring!" She stretched her right palm open for me to provide the earring that I hadn't seen nor taken.

"Mom, I didn't take Quincy's earring. You all are accusing me wrongly. I just came back from work, and now Quincy called me out for her earring. When could I have possibly stolen her earrings?" I asked my mother, who scowled.

"Shut up, you thief!" Mom smacked me across my right cheek, and I staggered backward again, tears falling down from my eyes like pearls.

"Do you think that I do not see how you admire those jade earrings on Quincy's ears? Like you want to steal them because you know that Alpha Xander gave them to Quincy on her birthday? Are you trying to steal Alpha Xander's attention by taking what belongs to your sister?" Mom demanded, her words slicing my heart and cutting deeply.

I looked at her face, speechless, and my older brother, Kaleb, a tall, 25-year-old man, walked up to meet me, his eyes shooting daggers at me, too.

"Where are the jade earrings, Aurora! An Omega like you shouldn't wear anything pricey. You are to work as a servant. That's what lowborns like you are born to be!" he said furiously.

Dad stepped forward, too, and looked down on me. "Aurora, not only do you not have a wolf, you are also useless to this family. How dare you steal your sister's earrings! Guards!" My father summoned his warriors, and two guards came in.

"Search Aurora's room. Find those beautiful jade earrings," Dad stated, and the two guards swung into action as they went to search my room.

I was not allowed to use the rooms on the top floor. I was to live as a servant in my own father's house.

I stood in the passage and watched the scene before me. The guards swung into action, searching my room and scattering all my things around my room.

"Dad, we will be late for Alpha Xander's 27th birthday. This is all Aurora's doing—to make us late," Quincy said, crying as my mother hugged her closely.

"Don't worry, Quincy. We will find those jade earrings before we leave here," Mom said, her tone soft whenever she spoke with my sister.

"Found them!" the guards announced, and I felt dread wash down my spine as the two guards walked out of my room, and one of them handed the jade earrings to my father.

"How dare you do this, Aurora?" Kaleb yelled, rushing to smack me to the ground.

"Kaleb, it's enough. You shouldn't raise your hand against Aurora. Do not forget that she is still your sister," my father said, despite his anger.

"Dad, I reject Aurora as my sister! I cannot have a thief for a sister. Why would she steal from Quincy when she knew how special these gifts are for Quincy?" Kaleb said, his voice filled with anger, and our father tried to calm him down.

"Kaleb, as a man, it's not proper to raise your hand to a woman. Leave me to handle this." Dad dismissed my brother, before he looked at me with disappointment.

"Tell me, Aurora. Why did you steal the jade earrings from Quincy's room?" Dad asked me, as I stood looking at my family with tears in my eyes.

"Dad, why would I steal from Quincy? I do not know how these jade earrings got into my room. This house has surveillance cameras. Let's see who stole them and tried to frame me," I replied, and my father frowned, like he had almost forgotten that the house had CCTV.

"That's right, Dad. Let's see the recording. That will be enough evidence to send Aurora to jail. She keeps on bringing disgrace to us," Kaleb spat, and Dad frowned, because he didn't want me to go to jail.

"I didn't steal these jade earrings. I deserve to see the footage," I retorted, and Quincy panicked.

"Dad, we are going to be late for Alpha Xander's 27th birthday party. Let's go, and when we are back, we will deal with Aurora accordingly," Quincy spoke in her sweet, soft voice, and I looked at her face.

*Wasn't she my older sister? Why was it a crime if I truly touched any of her things?*

However, I knew that I didn't take the jade earrings. Quincy was only trying to frame me for it. But why?

I sobbed, watching them agree like a happy family.

"You're right, Quincy. Let's go," Mom agreed as they were all dressed up and heading out. The time was 8:00 p.m., and the birthday celebration would have started, since Alpha Xander wanted a late-night birthday celebration.

I wasn't invited, and it wasn't like I wanted to be around them or to attend Alpha Xander's birthday.

Before my mother could walk out of the corridor, she glanced back at me and said, "Let me warn you, Aurora. You shouldn't dare to leave this house or to show yourself at the Alpha's mansion. Got it?"

"Yes, Mom," I replied despite my brokenness, and they left the house.

The sound of their cars starting echoed from the compound while I went to my bed to sit on it and cry my heart out to the Moon Goddess.

"Why, Moon Goddess? Why did you give me to a family that didn't want me?" I cried aloud, howling in pain until a gentle voice startled me.

"It's okay, Aurora. I am here now," the lovely voice replied, and I panicked as I saw a white spirit wolf appear beside my window.