Chapter 02

NARRATIVE POV

When the Omega mistress, Bree, gave up the location of where she sold Tia, nothing was left. The rogues working in the warehouse where they kept the stolen pups were torn to bits, and no one knew what had happened. The walls were painted in the crimson of the criminal rogues; no one could make sense of what had happened. Who saved these stolen pups and teens?

When the recovered pups were questioned, all anyone could say was that they heard screams, but they saw nothing from the kennels where they were stored.

When Tia returned to her parents, she was different. She was no longer the bubbly, outgoing, happy little girl she had been. She was quiet and withdrawn, keeping everyone at bay and trusting no one. She began to throw fits if any of the house Omega's got too close to her.

Confused about handling the changes within Tia, the Alpha pair figured the simplest way to resolve the pain was to give Tia anything and everything she wanted.

Everything but affection. She had become a reminder to her mother that the world now knew of her husband's and mates' affairs, and a reminder to her father that the world now knew he was living off his Luna’s dime and family name.

That was when the marriage arrangement was decided.

When Tia turned thirteen, Alpha Benjamin Rollings approached Alpha Markus and Luna Ava about a pack alliance through marriage to his cousin, Allan Price. He was set to step into the role of Delta for the Raven Peak Pack just south of Cherry Ridge. Once Tia turned eighteen, she would marry and mate with Delta Allan, and the two packs would officially become allies. The Ravens' Peak pack offered warrior protection, as it was a strong and aggressive pack. In trade, Cherry Ridge would become their leading supplier of livestock and natural resources due to their lush territory, protected by the Royal Court's order. This arrangement greatly benefited both packs, and it was quickly agreed upon.

Five years later, Tia stood in the middle of the grand hall, yelling and snapping at the Omegas for not following her directions as instructed.

“I said I did not want silver incorporated with the colour scheme. Who approved this?” Tia snapped, looking around the room after tearing down a silver and white balloon cluster. It was supposed to be a white and baby blue theme, but Tia hated the sight of silver balloons. It always screamed pretentious; if this was her last birthday at the pack, she intended to have it her way.

“Miss Hilary had suggested that it would be better for visual appeal. She said baby blue would be too childlike, and wanted your eighteenth birthday to be viewed as more adult, Miss Tia.” One of the omegas stepped forward, her head down in submission.

“Is that so?” Tia sniped. “And who is the birthday girl?” she challenged.

“We apologize, Miss Tia. It won’t happen again.” the omega murmured.

“Everything is to be perfect. Don’t you understand that? My fiancé is coming, alongside several other packs. It is my eighteenth birthday, and what I say goes, got it!” Tia spat in frustration.

The room was silent; no one dared utter a response.

Tia threw down the decorations and told them to redo it, and stormed out of the hall space in anger.

She hated it when Hilary swooped in and undermined her. She wasn’t right in her changes; she just had the charisma to sound correct in her suggestions. Hilary wasn’t an intelligent female. Tia was at the top of her class and an honoured A+ student. She graduated a year earlier than her age class, and this past year, she focused entirely on her writing.

She loved writing fiction and fantasy. It provided her with an outlet to release her frustrations and the truths she was forced to hide from the world. She never told anyone what happened to her after she was kidnapped and sold, and she probably never would. It was for everyone's safety that she isolated herself and kept herself locked away for now.

No one was allowed to know what really happened that night nearly nine years ago. She’d spent half of her life pretending it never happened, and her family seemed eager to keep that narrative themselves. They didn’t want to know, so they never asked.