ONE

Nora's POV

"NORA!" I heard a familiar deep voice yell my name and I felt all the hair on my body stand in fear. My heart started to race. I stood there, frozen in fear as I prayed to my maker that the voice didn't belong to whom I feared it would.

"You bitch!" I heard him snarl my heart fell to my stomach. I slowly turned to meet dark angry eyes staring at me. It felt like my feet were planted on the ground and I couldn't move as I watched him approach me.

It was none other than my stepfather. He stared at me like a devil from hell. The closer he walked towards me, the harder the smell of alcohol from him hit me, telling me one thing. This man was drunk.

My stepfather staggered forward, eyes bloodshot and furious. “You sneaky little bitch.” He growled.

“Please—” I tried to speak but before I could finish, his hand slammed across my face so hard my vision blurred.

“You think you can run around embarrassing me?” he shouted with another hit.

I stumbled backward onto the gravel with a cry. A few people walking toward the event slowed down nearby. However, nobody stepped in. Nobody ever did.

“You wanna act like some whore sneaking out at night?” he barked, grabbing a fistful of my hair. “Then I’ll treat you like one.”

Pain exploded across my scalp as he yanked me upright. “Stop—please—” I cried but he didn’t. His fist drove into my stomach and I felt all the air vanish from my lungs.

I collapsed to my knees coughing while humiliation burned hotter than the pain itself. The passersby stared like this was some kind of TV entertainment. One couple whispered to each other.

Another man looked away uncomfortably before continuing toward the hall. Cowards. All of them.

“You ungrateful brat,” my stepfather spat. “After everything I do for you.”

Everything you do to me.

I bit the inside of my cheek hard enough to taste blood. If I spoke, he’d hit me harder. He always did. He grabbed my chin roughly, forcing me to look at him.

“You know you’re not supposed to be here, you should be at the selection so that you can finally be useful in a way you useless wench.” He snapped with another hit and I screamed.

The selection… He was right, today was the Luna Selection. Every unmated girl in the pack had been practically ordered to attend in case the prince showed interest in them, but honestly, I couldn’t care less about any stupid royal selection. It was not like I could ever be chosen as the Luna; I almost laughed at the thought. I wasn’t even permitted to move freely and I knew the Luna selection wasn’t a place for people like me.

However, my boyfriend Ethan was the reason I snuck out. Two years together and somehow he still made my heart flutter every time I thought about seeing him. My fingers brushed the necklace hidden under my sweater, it was a cheap silver moon pendant he’d given me last winter.

He had managed to convince me to come watch the selection, so we could hang out together. I wanted to be with him and the last thing I needed was my strict stepfather catching me.

I stared up at his angry drunk eyes in pain as tears clouded mine. “I just wanted one night—” The kick to my side stopped the sentence. I gasped as pain ripped through my ribs.

“You don’t get any nights,” he snarled. Tears blurred my vision, but I refused to cry in front of him. That would only make him happy. He stepped back finally, swaying slightly from the alcohol.

“Find your own damn way home.” He spat at me like I was some irritating thing. Then he climbed back into the truck and peeled away down the road, leaving me curled beside the gravel.

For a few seconds, I couldn’t move. I lay there on the floor half broken. I laughed weakly under my breath. I was stupid to think someone would come to my rescue.

I slowly pushed myself upright, wincing as pain shot through my body. My lip throbbed and my cheek burned. My side felt like cracked glass every time I breathed.

I pulled my phone from my pocket with shaking fingers and called Ethan. He answered on the third ring.

“What?” The sound of his annoyed voice made me

blink in surprise.

“E…. Ethan…” My voice cracked embarrassingly. “Can you come pick me up?”

There was loud music playing in the background, along with muffled laughter. “I’m busy.” I heard him say, leaving me stunned.

“I—I need a ride home,” I whispered, breathing heavily.

“Nora, seriously?” He hissed and my chest tightened.

“My stepfather caught me and—”

“You’re always dealing with some drama.” He caught me off.

“What?” I blurted out.

“You heard me.” His tone lowered impatiently. “I just got inside. I’m not leaving because you can’t handle your own problems for one night.”

I stared blankly at the dark road ahead of me. This didn’t sound like him. This couldn’t be Ethan.

“Ethan…” I whispered.

“Get someone else to drive you.” He said and then he hung up. I slowly lowered the phone from my ear. The world suddenly felt very quiet.

A sharp ache rose in my throat. I looked down at myself. Dirt covered my jeans and blood stained the sleeve of my sweater where my lip had split. I looked pathetic. Maybe that was the problem. Maybe he was embarrassed by me. The thought made something ugly twist in my chest.

I wiped my face angrily. No. I wasn’t going home crying. If Ethan had a problem with me, he could say it to my face.

I pushed myself to my feet again despite the pain screaming through my body and headed toward the pack hall where the royal selection was taking place.

By the time I reached the entrance, I’d fixed my hair as best as I could and cleaned the blood from my mouth with the edge of my sleeve.

The guards barely glanced at me before letting me through. The hall was massive, glowing with chandeliers and gold decorations for the Luna Selection. Wolves from all over the pack crowded the room dressed in expensive clothes and fake smiles.

I suddenly became very aware of how cheap my sweater looked and how swollen my face probably was, but I ignored it.

My eyes searched the crowded hall immediately for Ethan and I spotted him near the center of the room. For one stupid second, relief flooded through me.

He was here.

I took a step forward, ready to call his name, but then I froze. Selene Voss stood pressed against his side. Her manicured fingers rested possessively against his chest while Ethan’s arm wrapped comfortably around her waist.

My breath caught painfully in my throat.

Selene tilted her head up with a laugh and Ethan leaned down, whispering something into her ear. Something that made her blush before she stretched onto her toes and kissed him.

The entire world around me seemed to go silent. I stared at them, unable to breathe. My stomach twisted violently.

This couldn’t be happening.

This was Ethan.

The same boy who used to hold ice against my bruises after my stepfather’s beatings. The same boy who promised he’d take me away from this pack someday. The same boy who looked me in the eyes and swore I was the prettiest girl in the world.

And now he was touching her as if I had never existed.

Maybe he sensed me staring because suddenly his eyes lifted. Our gazes locked across the crowded hall. Surprise flashed across his face, then guilt to annoyance.

Like I was the problem, the inconvenience of catching him.

Selene followed his line of sight before a cruel smile spread across her lips the moment she noticed me standing there. She leaned even closer into Ethan deliberately. As if to make my humiliation any worse than it already was.

I suddenly became aware of everything at once. My swollen face, my split lip, my cheap clothes, and the dried blood on my sleeve.

I looked pathetic.

I couldn’t stand there another second watching the only person who had ever made this miserable life bearable look at me like I was nothing.

Before Ethan could start walking toward me, I turned and shoved my way back through the crowd, ignoring the sharp pain shooting through my ribs as I ran blindly toward the exit.