CHAPTER 1

LIORA BROOKS

“STAY STILL AND it will all be over soon,”

“It” was my uncle trying to have his way with me. I pushed him away with all my might as he pressed himself closer to me, groping my breasts and pinning me on the table.

“Uncle Sylvester, please,” I begged, kicking at him. The kick connected firmly with his shin and he cursed under his breath.

“You stupid bitch!” his breath was heavy with alcohol. It would take a lot of bottles to get a werewolf drunk, so he must have been intentional about getting drunk tonight. “You think I don’t see you? Flashing those succulent tits at me and now you are trying to form innocent!” he growled.

Even in his drunken state, he was still stronger than me, and that was not a surprise because I was light and malnourished.

“I can see that you don’t want this the easy way!” he snarled, slapping me across my cheek. My face stung but I ignored the pain, determined not to let him succeed even though my efforts were proving more futile and I was starting to tire out.

A big grin appeared on his face. “You are 18 now,” he laughed as he undid his belt with one hand while holding me still with the other.

My savior came in the form of a knock on the door.

He growled under his breath, covering my mouth with one of his hands.

“Dad?” my cousin, Natalie, called from the sitting room. “Some men are here looking for you. Are you done punishing Liora?”

His eyes flashed angrily as he let me go, but there was a glint in them that made me know that this was not over yet. He cleared his throat and said in a raised voice, “For now, yes.”

Natalie came in. Her face was flushed with excitement from the thought that I had been whipped and punished for her wrongdoings. She clapped and jumped happily at my disheveled look while her father rubbed her cheek fondly and said, “I will punish her more tonight, my darling.”

“Thank you, papa,” Natalie giggled. She looked at me and the smile died away immediately. “I told you my Dad was going to have you punished! Have you learned your lesson now?”

“Eat shit, Natalie!” I growled as I hugged my knees, wrapping my torn dress around my legs.

“I will tell Papa what you said to me,” she whined. “And your punishment will be even worse.” She danced out.

I crept towards the door and peeped out at the men whose timely intervention saved me today. They were members of the alpha guards and I could slightly hear what they were saying.

“The alpha needs you to do it today, Beta.” One of the men said to my uncle.

Yes. You heard right. My uncle, the monster who almost forced himself on me a few minutes ago is the Beta of the Blackspire pack – one of the biggest and strongest packs in this country. And he was well loved. The perfect beta to everyone outside, but no one really knew how monstrous he was behind closed doors except me. But nobody would believe me, after all, I am nothing but a servant orphaned omega, but my kind uncle with his loving heart had decided to take me in after the death of my parents. I would even be scolded for saying bad things about my uncle – the Beta Sylvester.

I saw Natalie as she walked up to him and whispered something inaudible into his ear. He turned towards the door and gave me a piercing glare. I had no doubt that she had told him immense lies about what happened.

“Beta, the alpha is waiting,” one of the guards said.

“Oh, sure,” he said, “Give me a moment.”

From where I hid, I could see him clearly as he went to his study. He rinsed with mouthwash to hide the smell of alcohol, then he reached for his drawer and brought out a small bag of white powder which he sniffed in sharply.

It was some sort of drug to make him seem sharp and not drunk as he had been a few minutes ago. He patted his cheeks and took in a deep breath before we went out and left with the guards.

I was alone in the house again. I relished the feeling of peace as I stood up on shaky legs. He would be back tonight, and I knew there was nothing that would stop him. He was going to have his way, but I was never going to let it come to that. I am an adult now and I planned to run away when the rest of the pack was on the moon howl. It is a full moon tonight.

My name is Liora Brooks. Only child of Delta Brooks, who died in the last war 16 years ago, just two years after my mother died while giving birth to me. I had a few vague memories of him.

Sometimes when I looked in the mirror and smiled, I remember a distant memory of his smile too. All I have of him and my mother is a faded picture. A month after his death, his brother – the beta – had offered to take me in and raise me alongside his own daughter – Natalie who was my agemate too.

Little did I know about what my life was going to be like living with them. In public, he was the perfect guardian to me, but indoors… he and his overly spoilt brat of a daughter were monsters to me.

I always imagined that I would find my mate who would save me and take me away from here, but the moon goddess had more sick plans for me. She did not give me a wolf spirit like everyone else, so that meant no mate in shining armor for me either.

I sighed and packed the little belongings I had.

For all the bad things I had gone through in this goddess-forsaken house, I went to my uncle’s study. I let out the anger I had kept bottled up for almost 2 decades, tearing down his curtains and kicking apart everything. When I was done, I was exhausted and sat down numbly at the window, waiting for the welcoming darkness of dusk.