CHAPTER 1

AVA'S POV

“Disgusting stripper…” I heard one of the students bark as what seemed to be a rotten, large tomato splattered across my face. Laughter erupted around me, fingers pointing and mocking. Tears filled my eyes almost instantly; every step I took toward this humiliation felt more painful than the last.

The abuse didn’t stop there. More strange objects hit me as I stood frozen in place, the sound of their laughter echoing in the room. My suffering was clearly entertainment for them. I felt filthy—not just from the disgusting object they had thrown, but deep inside, I felt filthy too.

“Why are you suddenly crying? Isn’t this your job? Shouldn’t you be proud of it?” Vanessa sneered in my ear, forcing me to walk down the hallway while holding up a sign that read: The Packs’ Renowned Stripper Ava.

I bit down on my lower lip, struggling to hold back more tears. It was harder than I had thought. I couldn’t stand up to Vanessa; I knew that would only bring me trouble, especially since she was the alpha’s only daughter and I was practically a nobody. I had to endure whatever she threw at me without question.

“I am honestly so bored right now. This is no longer entertaining. With all that crying, I feel like I’m being too mean…” she said, a mischievous smirk on her face as her eyes raked over me. “Fine, I’ll let you go today, but later we’ll continue our fun, won’t we?” 

I couldn’t respond. I just stared back at her, biting my lip to suppress my anger. She closed the distance between us, stepping on my toes with her shoes while looking at me with an intimidating expression. “I said, won’t we?” 

She punctuated her question by stepping down harder on my toes. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I nodded frantically, saying, “Yes, yes we will…”

She shot me a smile that sent shivers down my spine, patting me gently on the head as she said, “Good girl…” With that, she walked away with her friends, and I fought to keep myself from breaking down into a full-blown sob.

I ran out of school immediately, not willing to endure any more of their taunts or their painful, excruciating words.

Vanessa accusing me of being a stripper wasn’t exactly a lie; the truth was that it was my job. It was something I always did in secret, but somehow the information had leaked to Vanessa, my biggest bully in school. Now she had found a new way to torment me, and I knew she wouldn’t let it go this time.

As soon as I got home, I dashed up the stairs and into my room, thankful that nobody was home at that moment. I buried my head in the pillow and cried until I lost track of time. My birthday was the next day, and once again, I resigned myself to spending another birthday in pure sadness. When would this suffering end?

I cried so much that I drifted off to sleep without realizing it. A loud, angry knock on my door startled me awake. I flew off the bed and hurried to the door. The sight that greeted me terrified me: my stepmother Melissa and her horrible daughter Sarah stood at the door, frowns etched on their faces as they glared at me.

I felt small under their scrutiny and took a step back, rubbing the remnants of sleep from my eyes. “I told you she was sleeping, Mother. How useless…” Sarah said while Melissa continued to stare at me down.

I gulped and opened my mouth to defend myself, but I couldn’t get a word out before Melissa said, “I don’t have much to say to you today. Get dressed; work starts in an hour.” My eyes flicked to the watch on my wrist. It was already 11:05 PM, and I had to be at work by midnight.

“Do you mind if I take a break today?” I asked, but Melissa had already turned her back to leave. She stopped in her tracks, turning her head to face me as if daring me to repeat what I had just said.

“What?” she asked, ensuring she hadn’t misheard me. I gulped, taking a step back as I repeated, “Do you mind if I…” The look on her face silenced me; if looks could kill, I would be dead by now.

“Just because I can’t put scars on your body—since you have to sell it so my daughter and I can make a living—don’t think for a second that I don’t have other creative ways to make sure you’re punished,” she threatened. I gulped, too scared to say another word.

“Like I said, get dressed. You have a VIP section to host tonight, and they offered to pay a lot of money. You have twenty minutes.” With that, she slammed the door hard as she left.

I sank onto my bed, struggling to hold back my tears. I’d cried so much that it felt almost impossible to summon another drop. Ever since my father—a pack warrior—died a year ago, my stepmother had taken control of everything he owned, using it as leverage to make my life even more miserable.

She had made my life difficult even when my father was alive, but at least back then, she had hidden it better. Once he died, she threw me into a life I didn’t want, forcing me to do the most degrading things for money. I had tried so hard to keep this life a secret, but somehow, the truth had leaked. I suspected my horrible step sister Sarah had something to do with that.

Later that night, I stepped into the club, my face hidden under layers of heavy makeup. I wore a big coat, but beneath it was the skimpiest outfit—more like a lingerie set than anything I would call clothing. Melissa had made sure I owned more of those than regular clothes.

“What are you doing standing there?” Paul, the club owner, barked as he approached, closing the distance between us quickly. “Important clients are here tonight in the VIP room, and they have paid a lot for a private show. They have been waiting, so get in there and entertain them.”

I nodded and headed toward the VIP room, glancing at my watch. It was just ten minutes until my birthday. Normally, someone would be excited at the thought of finally getting their wolf, but joy felt like a distant dream to me.

I pushed open the VIP door, forcing a smile onto my face, as I had been told to always look seductive. But the smile vanished instantly when I saw who was waiting inside.

“Look, guys! I told you this is where she works. She’s finally here!” Vanessa announced, rising to her feet and clapping her hands, her eyes locked on me. I froze in shock, horrified to see her here, of all places.

My gaze swept the room. She wasn’t alone—her two best friends, Tracy and Evelyn, were there too, each holding a glass of wine and cozying up with their boyfriends, Andrew and Taiga. But what made my heart sink was seeing the last person seated comfortably on the sofa: Zach, the pack beta’s son and practically everyone’s dream man. He was also the guy I’d secretly had a crush on, though I’d never dared approach him, especially since Vanessa had clearly set her sights on him, even if he always claimed they were “just friends.”

“You didn’t tell me you were such a VIP here, Ava. We had to pay a lot of money just to get you to perform for us,” Tracy mocked, and laughter filled the room—everyone except Zach, who just watched me with a blank expression laughed.

“When has money ever been a problem, Tracy? As long as we’re having fun, it’s worth it,” Vanessa added, and the others nodded in agreement.

Then Vanessa turned to me, a smirk on her face. “Didn’t I say we would have fun later? Well, now is later, so let’s have some fun... strip for us,” she ordered, raising an eyebrow.

I bit my lip, trying to hold back tears. The humiliation was unbearable. I scanned their faces, each one filled with mocking amusement. Was my pain really entertainment to them?

“Come on, stripper,” Vanessa sneered, giving me a shove. I stumbled forward but managed to steady myself before I fell. “Grab the pole and entertain us.”

“We’re getting so bored, Ava. Entertain us!” Taiga added with a smirk, prompting Evelyn to nudge him, frowning as she muttered, “Why are you so excited to see her naked?”

“Not naked—just humiliated,” Taiga replied with a grin. “It’s fun to prey on people like that.” They all laughed, and I felt my heart splinter as fresh tears slid down my cheeks. 

Slowly, I reached for the pole. Vanessa settled back onto the sofa, a glass of wine in hand, watching me with a cold, satisfied gaze.

I began to dance, moving slowly and seductively, holding back my tears. I avoided looking at Zach as best I could—I didn’t want him to see me like this, not in such a pathetic state.

“Get to stripping already!” Vanessa snapped, and I stopped dancing. I reached for my coat, slowly pulling down the zipper, silently wishing the Moon Goddess would just take me away right then. I pulled the zipper halfway, and I don’t know why, but in that moment, I looked up at Zach—and froze.

For some reason, I couldn’t move a muscle as he stared back at me. It felt as if the universe had paused, and we were the only two in existence. Then, for the first time in my life, I felt something strange, yet familiar, like it had always been part of me, just waiting. 

I realized I’d come of age—I could feel my wolf awakening, a faint whisper growing stronger with each second. I caught a fleeting expression on Zach’s face that I couldn’t read—was it shock, or maybe anger? I couldn’t tell.

Then, in that quiet, powerful moment, I heard the whisper of my wolf for the first time. One word left me frozen to the core:

“Mate…”