Chapter 1

Ava's POV

"Mom, please don't go" I begged as tears ran down my face. I sniffled a little trembling in fear as I pleaded with her with my eyes.

"I have to go sweetie. You have to stay in here and don't come out until I come get you" she said, placing a kiss on my forehead as she pulled back with a reassuring smile on her face.

She walked out the door and closed it softly behind her. I sat on the floor in the secret passage and rocked myself back and forth. I was terrified and not having anyone else in here to keep me company only made me even more anxious.

I heard screams outside the door and panicked. 

What if something happened to her? 

I could just stay in here and do nothing, but at the same time what could a six year old do. I didn't think about it as I ran out into the hallway to see my mom being surrounded by four wolves. She was still in her human form as she sized them up.

She looked in my direction and begged me to go back in hiding, but I only stood there frozen in place as my eyes widened in fear. 

Then it happened. In a second a wolf attacked her from behind and sunk its teeth into her neck. A scream of terror left my lips as I stood still, too afraid to move. I could hear the cracking of bones from where I stood as the wolf snapped her neck. The wolf let her go and retreated. 

Her body fell to the ground with a thud as her lifeless eyes stared back at me. I rushed over to her unmoving body and hugged her. 

I was covered in her blood, but I didn't care. Tears were streaming down my face as I cried my eyes out, my face buried in her chest.

"No!" I screamed as I shook her body, with even more tears flowing down my face.

"Please come back to me" I begged, shaking her body.

"Mom, please" I begged, crying even harder.

"You, this is all your fault" my father boomed and rushed over to his unmoving mate. He held her body close to his as he cried.

"This is all your fault!" he exclaimed.

"No. I-I-I didn't. I didn't do anything" I stuttered.

"This is all your fault" he roared, baring his teeth at me.

I scrambled away terrified as he walked over to me. He raised his hand and I covered my face with my small hands.

"I didn't do anything" I cried, waiting for the impact.

"I didn't do anything" I screamed as I sat up in bed, my body covered in sweat. A shiver ran down my spine as I shuddered in fear.

It was just a nightmare. I have been having these nightmares ever since the day it happened. Every time it was different, but it always ended with my mother dying and everyone blaming me for her death.

I checked the time to see that it was 3 in the morning. I knew I wasn't going to get any sleep after that horrifying nightmare, so I lay awake.

When it finally hit 5, I shut my alarm off and got out of bed to do my morning routine. I got dressed and went downstairs to start breakfast.

Everyone will be waking up soon to either go to school or work, everyone except me. I wasn't allowed to go to school. I had to learn on my own. I would swing by the library whenever I had the chance and read books to educate myself. 

In case you're wondering, I also had to teach myself to read. It was hard living among people who looked at you with hate and disgust, but I managed.

My room was in the attic away from everyone else. It wasn't much, but it was all mine. As for clothes, I would scurry through everyone's trash and take out the clothes that they threw away. 

Yeah. My life was great.

I made bacon, eggs and toast for everyone. I normally ate whatever was left and sometimes it wasn't much, but I never complained. 

"Clean it up!" Brittany, one of the teenagers who stayed at the pack house demanded.

She had spilt some juice on the floor, on purpose. I grabbed a mop and cleaned up the mess. She then proceeded to spill somewhere else. Still not complaining, I cleaned it up.

If you haven't guessed it already, she was very popular and mean. She always got what she wanted. I wasn't the only one that she walked all over; she was like that to everyone. She thought that because she was dating the alpha's son it gave her these privileges.

"Pathetic" she said, throwing the juice in my face. 

Can you guess what I did next?

Of course I cleaned up the mess with no complaints. My clothes were now sticking to me, but I didn't want to change until I cleaned up the kitchen.

After everyone finished their breakfast, I cleaned up and went to 'my room'. I took a quick shower and changed into some old baggy jeans and shirt, with a worn out converse. I put my dark brown hair that reached my waist up in a messy bun and made my way to the library.

I sat down at the back of the library away from all the scrutinizing eyes. I grabbed a book and began reading. 

This was how my day went, sometimes. I sat silently away from everyone, until I heard a chair scraping the floor in front of me. I looked up and immediately cast my eyes down and back to the book that I was reading.

In front of me was my brother's best friend, Josh. I've had a crush on him for as long as I could remember. He had sandy blonde hair, silver eyes, a straight nose and a sharp jawline. He was hot and girls always threw themselves at him.

I pretended to read as I tried to contain the blush fighting to make an appearance. 

"What yah reading?" he asked.

I looked up and looked around to see who he was talking to. He chuckled at that as he showed me that smile that could make any girl fall for him. It didn't help that his dimples were more prominent when he smiled.

"Yeah, I'm talking to you" he chuckled again.

"Shakespeare" I murmured.

"Cool"

"So I hear that tomorrow is your birthday," he said, resting his hands on the table and leaning forward.

"Y-yeah" I stuttered a bit flustered from the closeness and the fact that he was actually talking to me.

"So... What are you doing tomorrow?" 

"No-nothing"

"How about I take you out... on a date" he suggested.

"I don't know" I blushed, pushing back a few stray strands of hair behind my ear.

"Come on. Go out with me" he smiled that panty-dropping smile.

"Sure" I said unsure.

At that I heard laughter beside me. I turned my attention to the source and saw someone holding up a phone and a few of his friends looking at the phone laughing.

I looked back to Josh to see him trying to hold in his laughter. 

This was a joke. I was a joke.

"You should have seen your face. Like I would ever go out with a loser like you" he said with a smirk, mocking me.

 I grabbed my stuff with a few stray tears escaping my eyes, rushing out of the library, their laughter getting louder as I ran out of there.