Chapter 1

(Olivia’s POV)

I was born on a moonless night. According to my adopted parents, my real parents didn’t want me and dumped me in a basket. Still, I was lucky to be adopted by them.

“Who would want a wolfless girl like you?” my adopted mother, Nancy George, would say as she bullied me alongside her daughter.

I lived with them from childhood until I finished high school. Now, I was setting off to apply for a form at the pack’s university.

~~~

It was a bright Saturday morning. I woke up in my room on the first floor of the white mansion and decided to inform my adopted mother, Nancy, that I wanted to further my education at the pack’s university.

As a 17-year-old girl, I had seen many of our pack members fall sick, and that sparked a desire in me to study medicine and help them.

I got out of bed wearing a white nightdress. I put on my black slippers, and breathed out heavily. I knew I had to try my luck with my adopted mother. She was cruel to me, but she pampered her own daughter, Emily. I had to try. It was my only hope of gaining admission into the pack’s university, which was expensive.

Nancy worked as a nurse in the pack hospital, and her husband, Wren, was a lawyer for the Alpha’s family. Even though they were delta wolves, they were rich from their work, and they took care of their two children, Mark and Emily, whom they spoiled.

Mark was a 24-year-old man and was hardly ever home. Recently, he had returned because he was a basketball star and had his own money. He was spoiled and had several girlfriends, whom he often brought home. His mother would never reprimand him for it. Instead, she encouraged him not to take any of those girls seriously and to wait for his fated mate.

I couldn’t blame Mark; he was rich, just like his parents. The young ladies in our pack, the Starfield Pack, loved him.

When I walked down the corridor, I made my way to the living room. It was after 8 a.m., and I had to try my luck because I had no wolf. They treated me poorly since I couldn’t shift like them.

As I unlocked the living room door, I heard Emily’s excited voice.

“Mom, I still cannot believe that Daniel Ryan, the Beta’s son, is asking me to be his girlfriend.”

My heart clenched when I heard Emily say that. Daniel had previously asked me to be his girlfriend, but I had told him no. He didn’t give me a chance to explain myself. Instead, he spat in my face and pushed me to the ground.

“Who would want to date a wolfless girl like you? I was only doing you a favor,” he spat in front of many of my high school friends.

I was so embarrassed, and Emily came rushing over to Daniel. She held his hand and told him, “Daniel, you can be my boyfriend and don’t waste your time on this bîtch.”

My heart ached, but I pushed the hurt aside. They were good for each other, I thought, but Daniel had glared at me angrily. As the Beta’s son, he had taken my rejection badly. Still, I tried to avoid him. After all, he wasn't in my year. He had only come to the school for his younger sister’s graduation certificate.

Shutting my eyes against the painful memories, I clenched my fists and walked into the living room. The air thickened at the sight of me, and the family at the dining table stopped eating when they sensed my presence.

“Good morning,” I greeted them with a forced smile.

“Morning, Olivia. What do you want here?” Nancy asked as she picked up a glass of water and drank. She sat beside her husband, while her son and daughter sat across from her.

Seeing their eyes on me, I swallowed hard but decided to go straight to the point.

“Um, Aunt, I want to further my education at the pack's university.”

“Hahaha!” Nancy laughed as she looked at me calmly. She wore a blue nightdress, and she was fair and beautiful for her age.

“Why should you further your education? You’re wolfless, and you don’t have to think about going to the university. You should serve as our maid as repayment for all the money we spend feeding you up to this size. Isn’t that right, honey?” She shifted her gaze to her husband, who nodded.

“Yes. My mate is right,” declared Mr. George.

“Olivia, you are to quit your ambition of going to the pack's university and serve as a cleaner here,” he said.

“No! It’s been my dream to create medicine to help our pack members get better. Please.” I knelt before my foster parents, grateful they had adopted and fed me, but I had to further my education.

Emily rose from her dining chair, wearing a white nightdress, and rushed over to me.

“You bìtch! Didn’t you hear Mom and Dad stated that you are not going to the university? You’re going to become a servant here in our home and clean the house. Got that?”

She smacked me across my left cheek and sent me to the ground.

“That’s enough, Emily!” Mark yelled, his icy voice made his sister jump as she turned to look at him.

“Mark, are you taking this bîtch’s side over me, your sister? Mom, Dad, Mark is favoring Olivia!” Emily cried and pointed at me. The atmosphere in the dining room became tense as my foster parents looked at Mark suspiciously.

“What has come over you, Mark? How can you defend that worthless girl? We only adopted Olivia to give Emily a younger sister, and since Emily doesn’t want Olivia anymore, you are not to favor Olivia or see her as your sister. Now, apologize to Emily!” declared Mr. George.

Mark looked at his parents. His jaw clenched as he rose to his feet.

“Mom, Dad, you are both being unjust. I cannot sit here and watch you bully Olivia just because she doesn’t have a wolf. If you don’t want her here anymore, take her back to the orphanage. I’m out of here.”

Mark walked out of the dining room without sparing me a glance, and my jaw dropped at his blunt words to his parents.

“Mark! Mark! Come back here!” his parents called after him, but he had already left the house. The sound of his car starting in the garage filled the air as he drove off.

“You slut! What did you do to possess my only son?” Nancy yelled as she rushed toward me and attacked me in the living room.

Her fists connected with my face as she struck me repeatedly until I fainted.