Chapter 03

"Shamia, come back here!" her mother Shirley shouted as Shamia suddenly ran away.

Shamia headed to Rui's house to hide. "Good thing Grandpa isn't here yet. Come on, hide at the back, you'll be safe there."

When night fell, Shamia's father, Rexor, arrived.

"Shamia isn't here," Rui replied without blinking, sounding like she was telling the truth. She swallowed hard as Rexor gazed at her intensely.

"I can smell her scent here, so I know she's been here and you're just hiding her. Bring her out if you don't want to get involved." There was a threat in his tone.

Just then, Rui's grandfather arrived home from work at the quarry. "What's going on here?" he asked with a furrowed brows. He had known Rexor for a long time, but he didn't like him.

"I'm just here to take my daughter, then I'll leave," Rexor replied coldly.

Rui's grandfather turned to her. "Just hand over the person he's looking for, or I'll be the one to deal with you."

Rui hesitated, she bit her lip. What was she going to do? She told herself that whatever happens, she wouldn't give up Shamia. Not even if her entire family came looking for her.

As Rui showed hesitation to move, her grandfather went straight into the house. Rui was frantic and wanted to stop him, but it was too late. Moments later, his grandfather emerged holding Shamia's arm. He tossed her to Rexor. "Here's your daughter."

After slamming the door shut, he turned to Rui, his eyes narrowing as he raked his gaze over the young girl's body. "I told you to stop befriending that scoundrel's daughter but you didn't listen. Looks like I need to punish you again."

Rui clenched her fists, knowing that whatever "punishment" her grandfather had in mind, only the two of them would know about it.

"Dad, I don't want to go home yet. Can you please let me stay?" Shamia pleaded with her father, who was gripping her arm tightly.

"Do you really want to anger me? The abortionist is already at home and has been waiting for you for a while now. Why did you run away?"

Shamia struggled when she heard that the abortionist was still at their house. "D-dad, I don't want to abort the baby. Please, let me keep him."

"You're not the one who call the shots here! In your whole life, all you have to do is just to serve and suffer for us. You don't deserve to bear a child. This is the price you'll pay for what you did - you know that because of you, our lives were ruined!"

Shamia's tears fell. "But dad, I've already regretted what happened back then and you've already punished me... Haven't working hard and sacrificing for our family for years been enough? Even if you enslave me for the rest of my life, I'll accept it, just let my child live." She wrapped her arms around her belly.

"Why do you insist on keeping that child alive when it's fatherless? It's only a bastard! Whether you like it or not, you'll abort it tonight!"

Shamia was helpless as her father dragged her back home. She couldn't think straight, panicked by the thought of losing her child. If she let this continue, she'd lose her baby completely. Without hesitation, she acted. She bent down to grab sand and threw it directly at her father's eyes.

Rexor didn't expect Shamia to do that; he let go of her, and the latter took advantage of the moment to run away. "Shamia, come back here!" he hollered angrily, clutching his eyes.

Shamia was running quickly towards the mountains, confident she could hide there since she had a secret hideout. However, her plans were foiled when a large, gray wolf suddenly appeared in front of her.

She was about to change direction when another wolf, with a lighter gray coat, jumped into her path.

"Brother, please, let me go. Just this once, please grant me this favor," she pleaded with the second wolf.

The wolf growled and swiped its claw at Shamia, sending her flying and crashing at her father's feet.

Meanwhile:

An unknown group of men suddenly arrived at the rogues community where Shamia was part of.

"Stop!" one of the guards at the entrance blocked their way. "Who are you?"

A man got out of the vehicle and approached. Since their destination was in the mountains, they used an off-road jeep. With a mocking gaze, he cast a disdainful look at the dirty man in front of him. "We're from the Ridgewood pack, and we're here because we're looking for someone. We've learned that one of your people took her. So, before blood is spilled here, it would be better if you handed her over."

The guard's face darkened. "I've been watching over this place all day, and I haven't seen anyone being kidnapped or brought back here. Although we're outcasts, we live peacefully here and never cause trouble for others. You're probably just looking for an excuse to stir up trouble, aren't you?"

"Hump! Aren't you the one who cause trouble here? How do we know you're not just covering up for each other?" The outsider turned to his companions. "Let's ignore him, let's go!"

The guard's face turned even darker, he positioned himself as if he's preparing to shift. "You try!"

"Hector, wait!" A man wearing a windbreaker got off their jeep and approached the two. "Please excuse my companion's roughness; we're not here to fight. We're really looking for someone," he said to the guard.

The guard studied the man up and down for a moment, sensing that he was telling the truth and didn't seem to pose a threat to their rogues' safety. "Alright, it's better if I bring you to our leader, so he can tell you himself that the one you're looking for isn't here. But promise me you won't do anything that would put us in harm's way."

The man raised his right hand. "I promise." At his signal, his companions followed the guard into the community.

As the guard saw the man's gesture, he asked, "You're the Alpha?"

"Um. I'm Andrick Matthews, by the way."

.

.

"What is that? Is that really needed?" Shamia's mother, Shirley, asked as the abortionist brought out a syringe of anesthesia.

"Of course! Do you know how painful the procedure I'm about to perform is? Any werewolf going through this abortion procedure would need this."

"Are you going to charge us a lot because of that?" Shirley called out to her other daughter, who was watching from the door, to take over her position by restraining Shamia. She then took out a brown pouch.

When Shamia saw it, she recognized it as the gift she had given her mother for her birthday, which she had worked overtime for on the night she got pregnant by an unknown man. Tears fell from her eyes as she realized that the money she had worked so hard for would be used to hurt her child in her womb.

When Shirley showed her payment and when they agreed on the price, the abortionist began the procedure. But Shamia's foot slipped free and kicked her hand. The syringe fell and shattered on the hard floor.

The old woman froze. "What now? Should we still proceed? That's the only anesthesia I brought."

"Continue..." Shirley replied. "Hmph! Who told her to resist?" She seemed unconcerned, even knowing how much pain the abortion would cause her daughter.

Shamia continued to plead, but the abortionist was unmoved and proceeded with the painful abortion process. Shamia screamed in pain, and with no other recourse, she prayed to the Moon Goddess for help.

Right at that moment, they suddenly heard a commotion outside the room. They almost jumped in shock when someone kicked the door open. As they looked at the cause, they froze, seeing a group of unknown men.