Chapter 1

Thalia Pov

Footsteps echoed from the distance.

My body trembled as I stumbled towards the middle of the room. I let out whimpers as my knees hit the rough floor, but I forced them down and began to struggle with the buttons of my shirt.

The footsteps came nearer and louder. Panic rushed through me.

He is coming.

Garrick, the director of the psychiatric home.

He had warned me countless times during the four years I had been locked inside this psychiatric home.

“Whenever I’m coming, be ready to serve me. Be clean, naked, and sexy for me.”

I had learned the hard way what happened when I disobeyed him. Starvation, chains, and… the painful wet belt. I didn’t want any of that again. Not today.

With shaking hands, I tore at my shirt. Two buttons flew across the floor, the fabric scratching my skin, but I couldn’t even bother. Because—

Click.

The door unlocked.

For a moment, I stopped breathing. I slowly raised my head towards the entrance, my chest pounding.

Garrick stepped inside. His eyes immediately traveled over my body before settling on my trembling hands. Instantly, a cruel smile spread across his face.

“Yooo… Isn’t this my useless wolfless slut?”

I lowered my eyes, my fingers curling around my buttons.

That name again… It was something I had heard for four years, but I still hated it so much. Garrick had called me that ever since he destroyed my wolf and left me powerless.

Just then, Garrick crouched in front of me and lifted my chin. I forced myself not to pull away.

“Too bad…” His finger brushed against my lower lip. “My favorite toy won’t be here to suck my dick anymore.”

Disgust crawled inside me. I almost spat on his face. Suddenly, I froze.

Wait—what does he mean?

Before I could ask, he shoved me aside and stood.

“Follow me.”

I stared at him, my insides shivering.

What punishment does he want to inflict on me this time?

Garrick snorted, then added, “Your brother has finally come to get you.”

I almost laughed, but too bad, I couldn’t even let out a fake one.

My brother was the reason I was here. And Garrick… he had used that lie too many times.

At first, I cried and begged him to take me to the gates. Garrick laughed excitedly, his ego satisfied.

No one had come.

After that, the details changed, but the ending never did.

My brows furrowed as Garrick grabbed my arms, then threw me towards the door. My shoulder struck the frame.

“Walk.”

I stumbled into the corridor, my feet moving without me telling them to.

It’s been four years. Four years since Jacob begged me to take the blame for attempting to kill Peter’s niece because Rose, their true sister, was too weak to handle the stress of the psychiatric home.

Three months. That was what he promised me. Because… that was what I owed her.

For those first three months, I counted every morning, afternoon, and night, waiting for Jacob to come back for me. Then the days blurred together.

Garrick shoved me through another doorway, but I didn’t bother looking up. I knew it… this was all lies. I just needed to wait, then I’d be taken back.

I stumbled forward as Garrick pushed me. Light burned my eyes, turning everything white.

“Alpha.” Garrick’s voice sounded.

I pulled to a stop, then blinked as a pair of black, polished shoes stood in front of me. Slowly, I looked up.

My eyes widened instantly.

He… Oh goodness!

It was really him.

Jacob had grown into the Alpha he always said he would become. He was taller, his shoulders broader, dressed in a dark coat with the MoonApex crest pinned on his chest. And in his hand… was a bunch of white lilies.

My eyes shook as I stared at the lilies.

Lilies had been my favorites.

Seeing them in Jacob’s hand pulled me straight into a memory I had almost forgotten.

I was ten years old again, sitting on the steps outside our house when Jacob returned from his training. He had been gone for several days, but the moment I saw him, I ran towards him. He had a small bunch of lilies hidden behind his back, and when he pulled them out, my eyes immediately lit up.

He smiled before patting my hair.

“Take it. Don’t worry, Thalia. When I become Alpha, I’ll surround the whole pack with your favorite flowers.”

I stared at him with a wide smile, carefully taking the flowers from his hands.

“What if the pack members complain?”

Jacob had scoffed, lifting his chin with that arrogant look he always had whenever he thought he was right.

“Who dares to complain about the Pack princess’s flowers?”

A smile slowly pulled at my lips.

For a moment, I almost forgot where I was.

Back then, life had been so sweet

My mother would sit behind me and gently comb my hair while I told her about my day. My father would bring me new training gear and spend hours reading war books with me. Even the pack members smiled whenever they saw me.

I had thought that was what family meant.

Then Rose returned.

Their real daughter.

Everything changed.

My seat became hers. The dresses in my room, the training gear my father had bought for me, even my favorite garden were slowly given to Rose.

Little by little, everything that had once felt like mine disappeared. And whenever I asked why, I always heard the same words.

“This is what you owe her, Thalia.”

My chest tightened.

I stared at the lilies in Jacob’s hand again.

Once, those flowers would have made me run into his arms. Now, they only reminded me of everything I had lost.

Jacob slowly pushed himself away from the car. He gave me a nervous smile before walking towards me, his arms opening as if he expected me to run into them.

“Thalia.”

My body went stiff.

Once, I had dreamed about this moment.

For four years, I had imagined Jacob coming back for me. I had imagined myself running towards him, crying in his arms while he told me that everything was finally over.

But now that he was standing in front of me, I felt nothing but an ache in my chest.

He stopped in front of me and smiled faintly.

“Come here.”

I stayed where I was, my face felt numb as I slowly lowered my head.

“Good day, Alpha.”

The smile disappeared from his face.

The whole place suddenly became silent.

Jacob stared at me as if he had heard something he couldn’t understand.

“Thalia?” he asked. “What do you mean?”

He took a step towards me, his arms moving again as if he wanted to pull me into a hug.

I stepped back again.

I didn’t want him touching me.

Whatever family we had been four years ago was gone.

His hands slowly fell to his sides, and I saw the hurt flash across his face.

“What’s going on, Thalia?” he asked. “I dropped my work to come pick you up myself, and this is how you greet me after four years of not seeing each other?”

I almost laughed.

Four years.

He was talking about it as if four years were nothing. How did he expect me to react?

Slowly, I raised my head and looked at him. My face remained calm, but my voice betrayed me.

“How did Alpha want me to react?” My voice cracked. “Four years…”

Jacob froze.

He swallowed and looked away, his eyes moving around the place instead of meeting mine.

“Well…” He sighed. “I know you’re unhappy about that. But so many things happened. Mother got sick, and Father had to take her out of the pack. Now I have to manage the pack myself. You understand your brother, right?”

His voice was gentle.

I said nothing.

My fingers curled around my clothes.

Four years of waiting. Four years of hoping.

How could I explain that to him? He would never understand.

Jacob let out an exhausted sigh and rubbed his face. He looked around before turning back to me.

“Don’t throw a tantrum, Thalia. I thought you would have grown more understanding after years in this place. B-But…” He swallowed, and the irritation in his voice became clearer. “Besides, I made sure you lived well here. This place isn’t any different from the pack. It’s just your movement that was restricted.”

My heart stopped.

For a moment, I thought I had heard him wrong.

This place… wasn’t different from home?

My eyes burned, but I refused to let the tears fall. My fingers slowly loosened from my clothes.

He had no idea.

No idea about the chains, the hunger, the nights Garrick rammed into my body as I screamed for someone to help me. And yet, he stood there and told me this place was no different from home.

Something inside my chest cracked.

But Jacob didn’t seem to notice. His patience was already running thin.

“We’ll settle this later, Thalia. We need to leave.” He pursed his lips. “The Alpha King is coming to the pack, and we need his connection to secure a mate for Rose. So, I need you to cooperate. Don’t create trouble for Rose or make the Alpha King unhappy. She has been missing you too.”

I stared at him.

So he wouldn’t have come to get me if the Alpha King wasn’t coming?

My chest felt strangely empty.

Jacob stared at me as if waiting for me to argue.

I was tired.

I had spent four years fighting just to survive. I didn’t want to fight anymore.

I swallowed and nodded. “Yes.”

Jacob frowned. His jaw tightened, and for a moment, he looked like he wanted to say something else but he swallowed whatever words were on his tongue then turned around and walked towards the car.

I followed quietly.

He opened the door for me, and I climbed inside without saying anything.

A few moments later, the car started moving.

I turned my head towards the window. The psychiatric home slowly disappeared behind us.

My eyes burned.

Finally… I had left this hell.

***

The car drove through the MoonApex pack, and I slowly looked around.

Everything looked familiar, yet somehow, it didn’t feel like mine anymore.

My eyes moved towards the garden.

My flowers were gone. White roses had taken their place.

I never liked white roses.

Then the car passed the training grounds.

My lips trembled.

I could almost see myself running across that field with my wolf, Manna, training beside the warriors.

For a moment, I could almost hear her voice again.

My eyes stung.

Manna… She was gone.

The car continued moving until Jacob’s voice pulled me from my thoughts.

“We’re home, Thalia.”

The car stopped.

Jacob sighed beside me before turning towards me.

“Thalia, I understand that you’re angry about me not visiting you, but I hope you can understand your brother too.” He paused. “You and Rose are my sisters, and Rose is waiting for you. Don’t take out your anger on her, okay?”

My lips curled slightly, but I kept my eyes fixed on the house.

The place where I had grown up. The place I had once called home. The place where everything had begun and suddenly, I was no longer sitting inside the car.

I was back there.

Back on that terrible day.

“Mother, Father… Please don’t do this to me.”

My younger voice echoed inside my head.

“Don’t… please… I really didn’t push little Lily. Please! Check the cameras!”

My breathing became uneven.

I remembered crying and begging them to check the cameras, but they refused.

My mother couldn’t even look into my eyes. My father simply declared me guilty, called me mentally unstable, and ordered that I be taken to a mental hospital.

And Jacob…

He had held Rose in his arms while the whole pack stood around me, calling me a monster.

They knew I hadn’t pushed Lily. Yet they still made me take the blame because she was their daughter.

“Thalia… this is what you owe Rose.” Jacob’s voice echoed in my head.

“Thalia… it’s just three months, right? Do this for us.”

Three months was all he had promised me.

I had believed him. I had believed my brother.

Then they tied me up like I was some dangerous, crazy person and dragged me out of the same home I had once loved.

Suddenly, my body began to shake. The memory became too real.

The helplessness. The fear. The pain— It all rushed back at once.

I couldn’t breathe.

“Thalia?”

I didn’t hear him.

“Thalia!”

His voice sounded far away.

I was trapped in that moment when I realized nobody was coming to save me.

Then I felt a sudden pain explode through my left shoulder.

I winced and instinctively pulled away.

The pain was so sharp that my vision blurred. Everything around me suddenly became silent.

I blinked rapidly, finally coming back to myself.

Jacob was standing in front of me, his hand was frozen in the air. He was staring at me with wide eyes, his face completely pale.

My brows furrowed as I slowly looked down.

My shoulder throbbed.

Then I saw it.

Blood had seeped through my clothes.

My breath caught.

I immediately covered the spot with my hand.

Jacob’s eyes followed the movement.

His face changed.

“Thalia!” His voice cracked. “What the hell happened to your shoulder?”