PROLOGUE

“What are you doing?” I said breathlessly as I pulled my shirt down, which Thomas had pulled up.

“Olivia, wait. I am doing what is supposed to be done months ago. Since we started dating, you have not allowed me to touch your body, I don't even know what you look like!” Thomas raised his voice, pinning me with a deadly glare.

Wow, it's his nerves for me.

It's been just a month since I accepted to be his girlfriend, and the truth is I don't love Thomas. Albeit he comes from a purebred family, with his rich yellow eyes, rounded jaw and black hair that was combed back. He has a dreamy inaccessible look, but Thomas is not my type.

And I think this relationship is one-sided, wherein our family has their prior gains. Thomas's family has vast properties and contributes to community development every season, they are the utmost pioneers of the oceans heart pack, and I see why my father is hellbent on having us together.

I heaved a sigh of tiredness.

“See, Tommy. We just started dating, you should give me time to prepare myself for you.”

“Give you time?” he scoffed, “I have no time to give Liv, and if I don't have my way with you this instant, you will watch me fuck another lady.”

Bile rushed up my throat and I wrinkled my nose in disgust. This is why Thomas will never cross my list, he is something else, a total bummer.

Since I have no interest in this relationship, I should probably end it right here.

“Fuck another lady and watch me gone.”

“You will hear of how I pleased half the ladies in this pack soon, you will watch them bloom, and become prettier than you,”

My face scrunched in anger before I pulled out of his embrace. He reclined on the oak tree, smirking at me, knowing well he had pushed my crazy button.

“You know what? Let's break up, I am tired of this relationship and truth be told, you know I have no atom of love for you!”

“You will never leave me, Olivia!”

“What are you? The finest man in this pack or something, my father's warriors are twice as handsome as you,” I know that was the dumbest thing to say, to pull his own button too.

Whatever, Thomas is rude and has no respect for ladies. If he thinks he can come into my life and control me like a pet, he is daydreaming.

Before I knew it, Thomas gripped my silver hair and slammed me on the trunk of the oak tree. The sharp trunk pierced my flesh and I winced. He gripped tighter, making me strain my neck upward, and I shot him a warning glare.

“Release me now!”

“Look at little pooh-pooh Olivia growing wings, did you forget who saved you from mountain tigers when we were kids? And did you also forget who saved you from market children that laughed at your broken teeth? Huh?” he tugged my hair.

My face wrinkled in anger as I stared at him with heated eyes for remembering the humiliations I went through as a kid, I breathed heavily.

He went on to add, “If you leave me, I will tell the whole pack of how I caught you having sex with the forbidden pirates,”

My heart slammed ponderously.

And that was when I started dating this mistake of nature. Last season, I was so drunk and lost my manners. I also lost my chastity at the hands of a foreign pirate, whom I remembered saying he sailed to our pack to deliver mermaid scales to the merchants.

Not even that I slept with a pirate, he was a fucking human pirate, a lowly creature. Thomas caught me in the act, and imposed that we become a couple, this way my secrets will remain hidden.

But fuck Thomas, I am tired of dancing to his tone, it's about time I establish my protocol.

I intentionally hugged him and ran my hands down the muscles of his back, and I started to summon my energy.

He probably thinks that I have softened up and retreated my words.

He slowly warmed up to my comforting hold and released his death grip on my neck.

I felt his tongue on my neck and I almost vomited on his body, bile coupled with my contempt for him churned in my stomach as he licked the column of my neck up to my ear.

“We can be the best couple ever in oceans heart, Olivia. Our children will have your pretty features and possess your grand powers, you mean so much to me.”

Disgust, I hate hearing my name come out of his mouth, let alone imagining myself having a child with this mistake. He was a mistake, and since I have learned from it, it won't repeat again, Thomas will never repeat.

I pray that this magic works fast so that I will turn this werewolf into a bush rat. Suddenly, the distinct tower bell rang continuously, making my heart beat loudly. It echoed across the forest and into the village.

It's the bell for an urgent message. My father, the alpha king, sends his guards to ring it whenever he wants to address us.

Not just an ordinary message, but typically it signifies danger, and death.

Fuck! This magic should work fast.

“Liv, I think we need to attend this call,” Thomas giggled, his desires for me taking over his thinking faculty.

Fuck you and my name in your mouth, until I am done turning you to a bush rat.

A spiral blue spell appeared on my palms as I controlled the force of it. Not wasting time, I closed my eyes and said the last prayer for Thomas while casting the spell on him.

He turned confused, “What are you doi-” too late for him, he disappeared from my body and I lowered my face to see a little bush rat looking up at me with cute eyes, cute face.

I made him cute so that other mighty bush rats will consider taking him in as a family.

Thomas squealed, releasing a sharp shrill cry.

I gave him a gentle smile before waving my hand. At the moment, I felt my wolf stirring inside of me, like someone wanted to mind link with me.

And I heard Jake's voice, “Olivia, hurry to the pack, something is about to happen.”

Not sparing the rat another glance, I sprinted out and into the village, my wavy silver hair fluttering behind as the harsh winter breeze swayed it.

“On my way!” I shouted at Jake's wolf.

******

*****

“Jake! Cooper!” I called to my friends as I entered the royal hallway that leads to the courtyard.

Betas, omegas, and other minor werewolves were gathering in the courtyard, the throng was much like an eventful day.

“Fuck, Liv. You look like you just got laid by a hefty man,” Jake said as he ruffled my messy and unkempt hair.

Jake is a total a**.

I rolled my eyes and shrugged his hand away, “No man will leave my room after sex without keeping my hair brushed and styled the way he saw it,” I stated because that is a fact.

Cooper and Jake are my only friends in this pack, while Cooper has a black hair, Jake features a sandy brown hair. They are both purebred betas, strong and witty, but not more than I am. I am the strongest of my kind, albeit a lady, I possess a very rare power that happens once in every century. My silver hair betokens my strength and ability, I could cast spells and defeat any creature.

But, only one thing can seize my powers, black magic from witches.

I could hear Cooper cackle at my other side as he joined us.

“You might overlook the state of your hair when high in ecstasy, though,” he said.

And cooper? A total mister know-it-all jerk.

Jake leaned down to my ear and whispered in a dangerous tone, “You might even lose your morals, more orals no morals.”

Like they always tease, I decided to play their games this time. Both were not aware of my encounter with the pirate. However, they know I have a bugging boyfriend.

I faked a yawn and tapped my mouth. I looked at Jake, “Does it really happen to people who have sex? Then to Cooper, “do they forget themselves and get lost in the moment?” I asked like a kid who was learning.

Cooper smirked and ruffled my hair, “It's alright Liv, I understand that you are naive about these things, as your friends, it's only right that we educate you when you come of age, right brother?”

“Yes.” Jake added a smirk, idiot.

“We also know that your boyfriend has a limp dick not enough to take you to see the stars.”

My jaw flexed, and I crushed my teeth together. At the remembrance of Thomas, I wonder what he will be doing now, probably wandering the forest to find his new home.

Poor Tommy.

But before I had a chance to reply, footsteps echoed in the hallway, my father, and his bodyguards appeared. I made a mental note to get back at them later.

My father cleared his throat, the whole courtyard dropped to dead silence. You could hear the bees buzzing on flowers, he stood on the ground floor balcony and the elite families were beside him. His face was void of any expression, you can never read him, and that's one of the things that scares people away from him, aside from the Alpha title, but I wasn't prepared for….

“Starting today, we will no longer have the freedom we always had, the right to eat what we want, dress how we like, and move around freely,” my gaze faltered, and my heart speeds up. “Starting today, we are no longer Oceans heart pack, we do not exist. All the packs in the West region and the oceans heart will henceforth be known as slaves.”

My breathing came out faster, I pinched my brow to get a hold of myself.

Okay.

What is my father saying? What the hell is he saying? In fact, is this even my father addressing us or an intruder who has shifted to look like my father?

The people's gasp followed it, my breath ragged as I tried to break down everything. If this is some joke, it's too expensive, but…for the first time ever, for the first time since my mother's death, I saw something crossed and appeared in his face, a weak and tired expression like he just gave up on himself and us. And like the way it appeared, it was quick to disappear, his signature blank expression back on his face again.

He went on, “The Northern leader of the blood moon pack have bought us, we now belong to the north and as slaves we must serve them until our deaths. Oceans heart cease to exist-” he was not even done talking when murmurs and cries of the people broke out. They got on their knees and started pleading for their lives, some even broke out fighting themselves.

He opens his mouth to continue, but nothing comes out.

Anger pools in the pit of my stomach, replacing the dizziness I felt moments ago. Everyone is confused as I am, they whispered among themselves and I heard Cooper's teeth grit together.

“What the hell is your ol' man gabbling, Liv,” Jake asked, I could feel the burn of his glare at my father.

“Do I look like I know any of this!” I thundered at Jake for asking me what I perceived as a silly question.

I tightened my fist.

Without sparing any of them a glance, I sauntered towards my father who was gripping the rails, his knuckles turning white. He is feeling the weight of his words as the members of oceans heart pleaded and cried out in front of him.

“Father!” the world stopped.

“Are you selling us out? Can you give a better explanation to what you just said?” I yelled at the top of my voice.

Everyone turned towards my father, awaiting his answers. He didn't talk, rather kept his face lowered. If someone tells me that my father has been hypnotized, really and truly, I would believe it without a second thought. Because what kind of alpha says such gibberish to his pack members? My father is not a weakling and there's an explanation to this, which I will poke out of him.

I surged on, “Your people want an explanation, we are waiting for you” he ignored yet again and I almost let a tear drop. My throat swelled.

“Father” I swallowed the lump in my throat. My father is a strong man, a man of his words. He fears no one, and that is why he leads all packs in the western region. Whatever he just said is undoubtedly the truth and questionable, this is not above my father.

“Liv,” he finally said, in a low and disembodied tone. He turned and locked eyes with me.

I saw the emptiness in his eyes, the heavy urge to hug him tightly and remind him that we are here for him, and we will solve this together, but I had not even made a step when he started coughing.

Coughing out a thick red substance. Blood.

He staggered, and I rushed to hold him before he dropped to the floor, “Father! What is happening?” Other elite families joined me, Cooper and Jake squatted beside me, all of us panicking in fear.

I could hear the betas, omegas, and other minor members cry out.

Bile rushed up my throat seeing my father limp, weak and almost lifeless on my hand. My hands trembled as I held him close to my thighs, The tears I have been trying to swallow flow down my face freely.

“The physician!” Jake and Cooper yelled together.

“We have to bring him inside a room,” the physician demanded as he arrived. Cooper scooped up my father before any of us, he carried him to a nearby room and laid him on the mattress as we surrounded the bed frame, my bed.

The physician wiped the blood from my father's mouth with his bare fingers, he brought it up to his nose and smelled, he did not say anything, but he scrunched his nose and brows. He started immediately, digging in his satchel and finding every tool he needs.

“He will-” my head banged as I tried to steady my feet.

I felt a hand around my shoulders, by the scent I knew it was Jake. I sniffled and turned to look at him, my view blurry because of the heavy tears that clouded my eyes.

“Will he be okay?” He is not a magician or something, but I just need words of upliftment, something to uplift my heart.

He didn't talk, but he replied by draping my head to rest on his shoulder as more sobs echoed in the room. I felt another hand on the small of my back, Cooper rubbing me and chanting something under his breath as though he was praying for moon goodness to intervene.

****

Minutes later.

The physician looked over his shoulder, staring at nothing, and that was the moment my whole world changed. That was the moment that put an end to Oceans heart pack, and the entire pack in the western region. If I could turn back the clock, I would choose to spend more time with my father just to avoid seeing the day the physician announced,

“He is dead, The Alpha is gone.” more cries and wails followed it.

And that day marks the beginning of our slavery.