Chapter 1

Chapter One

Hazel’s POV

“Please let her be too drunk to notice I’m home tonight.” I whispered beneath my breath as I shoved the key into the lock, but the damn thing turned too easy which meant the door was unlocked again.

The smell hit me before I even pushed the door open, stale cigarettes mixed with that sour, cheap booze my mother loved. My stomach twisted. Another night of this shit.

I stepped inside the tiny studio that felt more like a cage than a home. Peeling paint on the walls, a sagging couch that smelled like a dead rat, and there she was my mother.

Her breasts bounced as she rode the old man grinding on some dirty looking haggard old man that looked like she could be her father.

Her dress rode up her thighs, and his hands were everywhere. She didn’t even notice me at first.

“What the fuck?” The words flew out before I could stop them. My voice cracked with anger. “The door wasn’t even locked, Mom. Anyone could’ve walked in. I could’ve been anybody.”

She whipped around, eyes glassy and mean. The old man kept his grip on her waist, smirking like this was entertainment. “Shut your mouth, Hazel,” she snapped, voice sharp as broken glass.

“Stop whining like you always do. I’m out here trying to put food on the table, and all you do is complain. Be useful for once. Use your damn body and bring some money home like a good daughter should or shut up when I’m busy with my guest.”

The old man’s eyes slid over to me, slow and hungry. He licked his lips. “Damn, I’d pay my whole week’s wages for a night with a girl like that. Fresh one, huh?”

My skin crawled. I felt dirty just standing there. My mother didn’t even flinch to protect me. Instead, her face twisted with something ugly, probably jealousy, like I was stealing her spotlight. She grabbed an empty liquor bottle from the table and hurled it at me unprovoked.

I ducked just in time. The bottle smashed against the wall behind me, glass spraying everywhere. My heart pounded so hard I could feel it in my throat. I didn’t yell back.

Didn’t give her the satisfaction. I just turned, pulled the door shut behind me with a quiet click, and pressed my back against it for a second. Eyes closed. Breathing in the hallway stinks of piss and takeout.

Breathe, Hazel. Just breathe.

I walked away without looking back. My legs felt heavy, but I kept moving.

The strip club was loud even from the back alley. Bass thumped through the walls like a second heartbeat. I pushed through the kitchen back door, shoulders tight, apron already tied on.

Nana was at the stove, stirring something that smelled like actual food instead of the grease and desperation out front.

“Good evening, Nana.”

She turned, wiping her hands on her apron. Nana wasn’t tall, but she took up space with her broad shoulders, sharp eyes that had seen too much. She’s a retired rogue wolf. Unofficially, she’d claimed me years ago as her daughter. She looked at me for a long beat, the kind of look that peeled back every layer I tried to hide.

“What’s wrong, baby girl?”

I opened my mouth to say nothing, like always. But the words stuck. My eyes burned. Next thing I knew, hot tears were spilling down my cheeks. I tried to swipe them away, but more came.

Nana pulled me into her arms without a word, her hug solid and warm like the only safe place left in this world.

I cried harder. The memories flooded in, not the full pictures I couldn’t go there but the weight of them. The heavy feeling in my chest that never really left.

Growing up with no dad, just this bitter woman called my mother , an omega who drank away every paycheck and brought home men who looked at me wrong. Things happened when I was young. Things no kid should carry. I lost pieces of myself I’d never get back.

The fear, the shame, the nights I curled up wishing I could disappear. My mother literally gave me to men without my consent and they rape me for little cash ,20 dollars was the highest I have seen given to her.

This continued till I got pregnant and my mom gave me something to abort the child. It made me bleed for 2 weeks straight with so much cramps. She kept saying it will make me not get pregnant again and should not be a whiny little bitch.

But after enduring that horrible bloody pain.I feared nothing anymore and I finally fought back with a knife that left me with a scar on my neck because I would not allow the fat old man she brought into the house to have his way with me.

And since that day ,I swore no one would touch me again ,Never.

But then my selfish mother had given me the deadly options to either bring in money or get out to the streets.

I was young, naive and didn’t want to be homeless So I decided to look for job but no place wanted to give me any job knowing my mother’s terrible history , but only the strip clubhouse did because they know my mom as a MILF stripper there.

The club was rough with drunk shifters grabbing asses, deals in the back rooms but Nana was always here for me and she will always sneak in warm meals for me to eat and take home for free without the manager knowing.

Nana is a rogue Wolf so taught me how to fight and defend myself especially from men and She was still a strong Rogue for her age.

“I hate my life Nana,” I choked out against her shoulder coming back to the presence and not wanting to think too much.

I kept crying silently, my voice all snot and broken. “For not running. Because… I still love my mother.She’s the only family I’ve got and I don’t ever want to leave her behind, I hope she changes one day” I stammered crying

Nana just held me tighter, rubbing my back in slow circles. She let me cry it all out, no rush, no judgment. When the sobs finally slowed, she tilted my chin up.

“You listen to me, Hazel. Be patient. Your mate is out there somewhere. When you find him or when he finds you everything’s gonna shift. The weight, the anger, the loneliness, you will have your own little family of yours and your mate will protect you .”

“I hope so,” I whispered

“Thank you Nana.”

She gave me one last squeeze. “Now get out there before those wolves tear up my kitchen looking for drinks. And eat something later. You’re skin and bones.”

I managed a weak smile and headed to the floor. The night blurred into orders and wandering hands I dodged, fake smiles, and the constant thump of music that matched my headache.

My feet ached like hell by the time I dragged myself back toward the apartment. The streets were quiet in that dangerous way, shadows stretching long under broken streetlights.

I kept my head down, keys between my fingers like claws and the small pocket knife I always hide in the pockets of my jeans or my booths sometimes .

You can imagine the shock on my face when I to saw my damn mother waiting for me at the junction, right under the flickering lamp.

She swayed on her feet, drunk as usual, but her face had this weird glow. Messy hair, smeared lipstick but her eyes were bright when she spoke.

“Guess what, Hazel?” she slurred, grabbing my arm too tight. “I’m getting married! I’m getting married to an alpha ,you’re finally gonna have a daddy!”