Chapter 1

“Mum, I’m already twenty. I will soon be given a mate by the moon goddess. Why can’t you just wait till then? Why must I be given out in marriage to a man I barely know?” I cried angrily.

They hate me. I knew they do.

I know not everyone likes my family, but they didn’t have to give out their only daughter like that.

“What do you mean to a man you barely know? He is the Alpha. You don’t know the Alpha?” my dad scorned.

“We have never asked you to do anything for us before…nothing,” mum added, staring at me like I had committed the greatest crime ever known.

“No, I won’t do it,” I yelled, my voice cracking. “You can’t make me marry him!”

The small table shook as I slammed my hand on it. My body shook with fury. My mother frowned, and her eyes looked at me coldly. Father sat by the corner, not saying anything.

I breathed harshly. My mother stepped in front of me, her voice stern.

“We have sacrificed a lot for you. Do you think food and a place to sleep come for free? At least do something to help us for once.”

“You’re selling me. Don’t you call it marriage? Don’t you dare,” I hissed.

She flinched but composed just in time. “It is marriage. The Alpha has chosen you. Do you have any idea the kind of honour that is? Any girl in the pack would be grateful.”

“Honour?” I let out a laugh that didn’t quite reach my eyes. “So you want me to believe the Alpha would want someone like me. An Omega, nobody? This feels like a big lie.”

Her mind moved a bit as if she was going to slap me, but she didn’t. She just stared at me for a moment. I looked at father. He avoided my gaze.

Just then, heavy footsteps outside our door made me turn. A knock sounded on the door.

“No,” I said, shaking my head. I took a few steps back.

I saw sympathy flash across mother’s face for a brief moment before it disappeared. She looked away before walking to the door. “They are here.”

My blood ran cold as the door opened, revealing two big palace guards walking in black amor.

“Seraphine,” one of them called out, looking straight at me.

I stepped back, until my body pressed against the wall. “Please,” I pleaded, staring at my mother, hoping for some kind of rescue. “Don’t let them take me away. Don’t do this to me.”

She could not even look me in the eyes. “Go,” she said firmly. “This is what is best for you.”

For them! Not for me.

The guard walked toward me. I tried breaking free from them as they held me, but it proved fruitless. My cries echoed through the room, but it seemed no one cared. Father looked away and mother backed away from me.

“Mo...mother!!” I screamed. “Please...!!”

But she looked away. They dragged me out on my bare feet and I felt my legs scraping against the ground. I begged, twisted, but the guards didn’t even spare me even a glance.

This doesn't feel like the treatment given to someone who is getting married to an Alpha. I knew my parents had lied, but what exactly am I going to do at the palace?

We got to the palace, and I swallowed hard. The place loomed above me like a scary nightmare.

I had screamed throughout the way here, that my throat hurt. My arms where the guards dragged me were sore.

Inside it was colder. Everything told me I shouldn’t be here.

“This one,” one of the guards said, pushing me forward toward the tall woman standing by the side of the corridor. She wore a grey dress, her hair held in a tight ponytail. Looking at it gives me a headache. Her presence felt scary and intimidating.

“Head maid,” the guard said. “By order from the higher ups, she’s your responsibility,”

The words sent a shiver down my spine.

The woman’s face looked at me as she was examining me from head to toe. She sneered. “So this is her? So pitiful.” She shook her head disapprovingly. “We’ll fix her.”

“I’m not…” I began to speak. “I’m not supposed to be here! My mother said…”

The surprise slap came so fast, that it tilted my head sideways. I felt the sting sunk into my bones.

“Rule one,” the head maid said, frowning. “You speak only when spoken to. Do you understand?

“No!” I yelled, my anger turning to rage. “I can’t stay here, and you can’t make me…”

The two guards shoved me down hard to the ground, and she pulled out a long whip, and it landed straight on my back. I felt a hot sensation on my back which earned a loud scream. I curled and yelled with everything in me.

But no matter how much I yelled, the whip wouldn't stop coming.

By the time the whip stopped, my body was trembling, my face filled with snort and tears both rolled down disgustingly my cheeks in shame.

A few maids had gathered by the time she was done. Some giggled, their eyes full of delight. I bet they hadn’t seen such a spectacle in a long time.

“Take a look at her,” one whispered. “She thought she could be any different from us.” I could hear their mocking laughter.

But some weren’t laughing. They were terrified at the scene. One, no older than me, looked at me with a smile.

“It’s okay,” she faintly whispered.

Her eyes were filled with concern. But I felt abandoned, betrayed, anger and despair.

The head maid’s voice rang out among the crowd. “Take her to the quarters. She’ll sleep in bed with the others. Tomorrow, she’ll start her day.”

The younger maid helped me to my feet, as my knees shook from the impact of the whipping.

We passed through long corridors until we reached the maids’ quarters. An old plate was handed to me. A piece of stale bread and jam on it. I ate it with disgust.

Nighttime came, and I knew this place wasn’t for me. I must escape.