Called a slut

I shuffled into the pack dining room to gather up the last few dishes, rubbing my hands red and raw from scrubbing  against my clothes.

I'd been working nonstop since sunrise, my body dragging with exhaustion, but no one cared. No one even looked at me as they laughed and talked, their plates clattering and forks scraping against porcelain.

I kept my head down, my shoulders hunched, moving from table to table like a ghost

A half-eaten piece of toast slid off a plate and hit the floor at my feet. I bent down quickly to scoop it up before anyone could notice, but the sharp bark of a laugh cut through the room.

"Look at her. Scurrying around like a rat." One of the upper class werewolves spoke.

My cheeks flamed, but I kept my gaze down, clutching the dirty plate tighter. It wasn't worth it. It was never worth it. I was used to the humiliation.

However I didn’t even make it three steps out of the dining room before someone grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked hard. I stumbled back with a gasp, pain sparking across my scalp.

Laughter rang out behind me, cruel and sharp.

"Slut," a male's voice sneered right in my ear. "Bet that's why you’re always crawling around on the floor, huh? Practicing?"

Another yank, harder this time. Tears sprang to my eyes, more from fury than pain.

I clenched my jaw so tightly it ached. My hands curled into fists at my sides. I was supposed to take it. I always took it.

But today... today, something inside me snapped. I honestly didn’t like being called a slut. I was so innocent to be called one. 

Before I could think, before I could stop myself, I whirled around. I didn’t even see who it was, just a blur of a smirking face, a hand still tangled in my hair.

I grabbed his wrist and shoved hard.

He stumbled back with a yelp of surprise, crashing into one of the heavy wooden tables. Plates and cups rattled, a few falling and shattering against the stone floor.

The entire dining hall went dead silent. Dozens of eyes snapped to me. Shock. Outrage. A few, lingering amusement.

The male, Carter, I realized distantly, a cocky Gamma’s son who thought he ruled the younger ranks straightened up with a snarl.

"You little bitch," he hissed, lunging for me.

I didn’t retreat.

Something hot and wild was rising in my chest, pounding in my blood, no longer caring about the consequences.

For once, I didn't cower.

For once, I met him head on.

I sidestepped his grab, shoving him again, harder this time, sending him sprawling into a chair.

"My name," I said, my voice shaking but loud enough to carry across the hall, "isn't slut. Or bitch. Or mutt." A low, dangerous growl vibrated in my throat half-human, half-something else.

“She is going to fall in trouble,”

I heard one of the omegas whisper, fear threading her voice. I ignored her. The only thing I could feel was the burning heat inside me, clawing its way out.

Literally.

With a sharp, aching crack, claws pushed through the tips of my fingers, black and glinting under the harsh dining room lights. My hands trembled not with fear, but with rage barely kept in check.

A collective gasp echoed through the room. I could smell it now—

The sudden spike of fear. The sweat. The way their laughter dried up and their bravado cracked.

Carter’s eyes widened. He took a stumbling step back, bumping into another table. For once, he didn’t have a smart comment ready. For once, he realized I wasn’t helpless anymore.

"You freak," he spat, but his voice wobbled.

"Say that again," I said softly, my voice edged with something not entirely human anymore. My wolf was probably taking control.

The air in the dining hall grew thick and heavy, as if the very walls were holding their breath.

"You of course a slut", He spoke, loudly and l lost it all. A snarl ripped from my throat, a savage and broken sound. My body moved before my mind could catch up, my legs launching me forward.

I slammed into Carter with a force that knocked the breath from his lungs. He toppled backward onto the floor, gasping, scrambling away on his elbows like the coward he was.

But I wasn’t done.

I stalked after him, my claws gleaming, my wolf howling just beneath my skin, furious and wild and free for the first time. I could barely hear the gasps and shouts around me.

Could barely process the footsteps pounding toward us.

I could only see him, his stupid, sneering face. His stupid, cruel mouth. The one that had called me a slut. A mutt. Less than nothing.

"Get away from me!" Carter shrieked, scrambling backward until he slammed into a chair. But I was already there, grabbing the front of his shirt, hauling him up like he weighed nothing. His eyes were huge now, white all around the irises, filled with terror.

"Say it again," I hissed, my breath hot against his face. "I dare you."

He whimpered. Actually whimpered.

“Alpha Xavier will kill you if you kill me..” He coughed out.

“Do you think I give a shit about him?” Well, I did. But I didn’t want to show my weakness. I honestly feared him and he was the last person I wanted to see. 

“Who don’t you give a shit about?”, I i’mmediately froze when I heard that voice.

It was the Alpha himself. 

Shit! I was dead.

What was he even doing here?

I slowly turned, my heart pounding so loudly it drowned out the distant murmurs and gasps from the pack. But the moment my eyes met with his evergreen eyes, the world seemed to still. My heart stuttered in my chest,

and then...

Mate.

The word echoed through my mind, foreign yet somehow familiar, as if it had always been there, buried under the layers of my existence. My wolf, who had been so silent for so long, roared to life inside me. It was like a spark ignited in the deepest recesses of my soul, a deep connection that made my skin flush, my heart race.

I blinked rapidly, the realization hitting me

No. No, it couldn’t be true. Not him.

Alpha Xavier’s eyes narrowed, watching me carefully, the tension between us thickening with every passing second. I could feel my body trembling, my breath shallow and erratic as the bond tugged at me, desperate for connection.

His lips twisted into a cruel smirk, his gaze scanning me with a coldness that sent a chill down my spine.

"No." His voice was low, but the finality of it hit me like a slap. "You're not my mate."

The rejection was like a sharp blade to my chest, and for a moment, I couldn’t breathe. My wolf recoiled in pain, howling in agony at his words, the bond severing in an instant, leaving an ache I couldn’t describe.

Xavier’s eyes never left me as he gave a small, dismissive wave toward the pack warriors standing in the doorway.

"Take her to the cells," he ordered, his tone devoid of any compassion. “She needs to be locked up until I decide what to do with her.”