#1 Just Breathe Dee

Dee POV

Four sharp knocks. That’s the code. I rap my knuckles against the Luna’s office door like I’m not silently imagining slamming her fake face through it.

She responds with a sickly sweet, “Come in.”

I enter without hesitation, no hesitation, never hesitation. I move with purpose. Fast, quiet, always detached. The envelope of cash is in my hand, and I drop it on the polished obsidian desk like it's poisoned.

Luna Danika Bloodmark barely glances up. She’s lounging in her high backed chair like a queen on a plastic throne. Her hair’s that trashy bottle blonde with way too much volume, teased like it’s still 1997. Her lips are caked in clumpy blood red lipstick, and her nails are glitter tipped claws. She smells like desperation, powdery perfume, and the stench of a damn whorehouse.

I hold my breath so I don’t gag. She opens the envelope and hums while counting the bills, like she’s doing something delicate and divine. She stops abruptly and gives me that plastic smile. “Well done, Dee. Thanks for not fucking it up, you worthless girl.”

I chew my gum slowly and pop it once. Loud. My molars grind through the bitterness. “I know you turn eighteen tonight,” she says, her voice sticky with venom. “Don’t get any fancy ideas. You still have work to do here. You owe us.”

I scoff before I can stop myself. “I’ve paid off my debt and then some,” I snap. My hands ball into fists at my sides. My voice? Calm. But sharp as hell.

Her eyes narrow. She stands too fast, her chair slamming into the wall behind her. And then...Crack. Her hand collides with my face so hard my jaw clicks. I don’t stumble. I don’t cry. I just stand there, cheek burning, breath shallow. “You will not fucking speak to me that way, trash.”

I nod once, jaw tight. I bite the inside of my cheek until I taste blood. Keep it together. Don’t blow it now. I pop my gum again, just to feel like I’m still in control. Then I turn on my heel and walk out before she can spit something else vile into the air.

Fucking bitch.

I storm down the hallway, my boots thudding against the marble floors of the Alpha’s estate, my fists clenched so hard my nails dig crescents into my palms. I need air. I need trees. I need the fucking forest before I put someone through a damn wall.

I round the corner toward the back entrance, and run right into my personal nightmare in human form.

Kade Bloodhowl. Future Alpha. Grade A prick. Walking trauma. He’s dressed in black like always, all smug smirks and cruelty wrapped in privilege. His icy blue eyes land on me and light up like it’s his birthday. “Where do you think you’re going, mutt?” he sneers.

Before I can move, he shoves me. Hard. I fall to my knees.

Fuck. I know better. Fighting back only makes it worse. I keep my eyes low. Submission keeps me breathing.

“Look at that,” he says, circling like a shark. “She’s finally learning her place.”

I say nothing. Just chew my gum. My face throbs where the Luna hit me, and I already feel the bruise forming across my cheek. He moves faster than I expect. Fist in my hair. Yanks. “Say thank you,” he growls, bending down so close I can smell whatever cologne he thinks hides his rot.

I grit my teeth and stay silent. No way in hell I give him the satisfaction. He snarls and kicks me in the ribs.

I grunt. Hard. It knocks the breath from me, but I hold the scream in. I hold everything in. Not tonight. Don’t fuck this up tonight. “You’re not even fun to fuck with anymore, slave,” he spits, stepping back.

He stares at me for a second longer, but when I don’t react, don’t move, don’t whimper, he scoffs and walks off.

I wait until I hear the echo of his boots disappear down the hall before I push myself up. My ribs are on fire. My scalp aches. My cheek pulses. I limp back toward the basement, toward the place they call my “room.”

It’s not a room. It’s a hole in the wall. A damp, dungeon like corner with peeling cement and a cot that still smells like mildew no matter how many times I scrub it. There's a tiny attached bathroom with a broken sink and cracked mirror and dank toilet. But it’s mine. And right now, it’s the only place I can be alone.

I strip out of my hoodie and check the damage in my cracked mirror. Swollen cheek. Bruised ribs. A little blood on my lip. Nothing I haven’t survived before.

I reach under the mattress and pull out the first aid kit I stole last year. I dab at my face, and swallow the ache.

Just a few more hours. Then I’m gone. Gone from this pack. This house. These monsters. I’ll take the files I’ve gathered. The proof of their trafficking, their drug routes, their money laundering. I’ll take every secret they thought I was too stupid to understand.

And I’ll run. And if anyone tries to stop me? I’ll remind them exactly how dangerous it is to underestimate the girl they tried to break.

Kade Bloodhowl POV

The lounge reeks of cigar smoke and scotch, just how my father likes it. The fireplace crackles behind me as I shove open the heavy oak door, my boots stomping across the marble like I own this whole damn house. Because one day, I will.

My jaw’s tight. Still pissed from the hallway. Still annoyed at the fucking nothing girl who thinks chewing gum and avoiding eye contact makes her brave. She didn’t even flinch when I kicked her. Pathetic. Or maybe... dangerous.

My sister’s already sprawled across one of the black velvet sofas, legs tucked under her, a silver tablet in her lap. Her platinum blonde hair is twisted up in a messy bun and she's still in her post workout gear, all fake sweet and dead behind the eyes.

“What the hell’s got your boxers in a twist?” she asks, not looking up.

“Dee,” I growl, grabbing a glass from the bar and pouring myself a drink. I don’t even care what it is. I just need the burn.

She perks up at that, a wicked grin curling her lips. “Ugh. Her. You mean ‘the gum smacking sewer rat’?”

“The same.” I knock back the glass and slam it down hard enough to make the ice jump. “I tried to get a rise out of her. Nothing. No fear. No tears. Just... silence.”

“Maybe she’s finally given up. We should celebrate.”

“Or maybe she’s planning something,” I mutter, mostly to myself.

A growl rumbles in the back of my skull. Garian. My wolf. "You’re wasting your strength on cruelty," he snarls. "This isn’t how an alpha leads."

I roll my eyes. "You again," I bite back, "always whining about honor and legacy. Get over yourself."

"She has a wolf. I can feel her. And she is not what she seems. Tread carefully, Kade."

"She’s an omega," I snap. "Trash. A servant. She should be grateful she’s even alive in this house."

Garian falls silent, but I can feel his disapproval like a second heartbeat. A slow, pulsing reminder that I wasn’t born to inherit filth, but somehow I’m swimming in it. Getting deeper in my father’s “business.” Deliveries. Names. Secrets. I know too much now. And backing out isn't an option.

Still, every time I meet Dee’s eyes, something shifts. Something tightens in my chest, and I fucking hate it. Saria finally looks up from her tablet. “We need to put her back in her place. Just for fun.” She smirks. “You know, before her big, dramatic 'I’m an adult now' moment.”

“She turns eighteen tonight,” I say, my voice sharp. “Bet she’s dumb enough to think she’ll shift. Think she has a mate out there.”

Saria snorts. “Can you imagine? Some poor bastard actually mated to her?”

We both laugh, but mine’s hollow and forced. There's something... off about her lately. She doesn’t cower like she used to. She doesn’t limp when she walks after I hit her. She just absorbs it, like she’s storing every ounce of pain for something I can’t see coming.

"She will not stay weak," Garian murmurs. "And when she rises… you will regret how you treated her."

I shove the voice down. Drown it in scotch.

“Let’s humiliate her,” Saria says, stretching with a bored sigh. “Make her clean the kennels in front of the whole pack. Or strip her room bare and toss her shit in the hallway.”

“Better,” I murmur. “Make her serve drinks at the bonfire tonight. In rags. Everyone will be there.”

Saria grins like a predator. “She’ll wish she never survived that forest.”

And for a moment, I wish the same thing.