Chapter 1

THUD!

Amelia heard the sound of the doors meeting the walls. Everyone in the restaurant was curious about who had just made such a noisy entrance. As one of the waitresses, she stood at the counter, her curiosity piqued.

As she turned to see, her eyes met with Maxwell Hills'. It was him and his group of girls, making their usual dramatic entrance. They were undoubtedly the most annoying people in the entire pack.

Maxwell Hills was known for being obnoxious and egoistic, particularly when it came to Amelia. He seemed to take pleasure in belittling her and making her feel small, especially in the place she worked.

Seeing him come in, Amelia dreaded the nasty things he might do this time. She even considered closing her shift early and having someone else fill in for her while he was around. However, that didn't seem possible since there was no one willing to help her that way. Ever since she turned eighteen and hadn't wolfed out like the others, people began looking down on her. They avoided her and warned their children to stay away from her, as if she had some contagious condition preventing her from wolfing out.

The rumors she heard every day were ridiculous. Once, she overheard someone say she was cursed by the moon goddess for not believing in her. Amelia couldn't understand how people came up with such unfounded stories.

    Doesn't anyone care about my feelings? Or do I not matter to them at all? Amelia felt completely out of place. The hurtful rumors circulating about her hurt more than anyone could ever understand. Those rumors gave Maxwell, the school bully, enough reasons to target her, and nobody seemed to have a problem with it. Even when she mustered the courage to complain to the elders, they quickly dismissed her as if she wasn't worth their time.

"Hey!" Maxwell's harsh yell pierced the air, directed at Amelia. Trying to shield herself from his attention, she pretended not to hear and focused on anything else but him. With no one stepping in to intervene, she decided to take the next best approach, though unsure of how effective it would be.

"Hey! Bitch! I'm talking to you! Don't you dare ignore me!" His voice grew louder and more aggressive. Before she could react, he forcefully pushed her, treating her like some thug he wanted to fight.

Amelia felt the weight of everyone's eyes on her, yet nobody moved to help. The girls Maxwell had brought with him laughed, reveling in Amelia's embarrassment as they found seats nearby to watch her humiliation.

"Ahhh! Stop! Let go of my hair!" Amelia cried out in pain as Maxwell yanked her hair, pulling her head upwards towards the ceiling. Desperately, she tried to free herself from his grip, her hands struggling to pry his fingers away, but his strength overwhelmed her.

   Amelia knew he was much more taller than her and she observed him towering over her, his dark hair cascading down the back of his neck. As he tightened his grip on her hair, a sharp pain shot through her, causing tears to stream uncontrollably down her cheeks. She cried out, hoping that someone strong would intervene, but she felt powerless against his force.

"Please, let go of my hair," she pleaded, struggling to break free from his hold.

In response, Maxwell sneered at her, calling her names and accusing her of ignoring him. His grip tightened even more, causing Amelia to wince in pain. She tried to speak, to reason with him, but her voice came out as a whisper.

"Yes," she managed to say through her tears, acknowledging his demands.

Finally, he released his hold on her, and Amelia stumbled back. Looking down, she saw strands of her hair scattered on the ground. The pain in her scalp was unbearable, and she feared that some of her hair had been forcibly ripped out.

Trembling, she reached up to touch the tender area, praying it wasn't bleeding. But as her fingers met her scalp, she felt warm moisture. It was blood. The realization made her heart race, and she couldn't help but feel terrified of what he might do next.

   Maxwell laughed along with his cartel of girls. Some other customers in the restaurant laughed as well. Even the chef behind the counter, laughed. They all laughed at her pain. It hurt her more than when her hair was pulled out. Not only had they stood by, they had also enjoyed her misery.

Anger consumed Amelia. Without thinking, she charged at Maxwell screaming. But, with only a movement of his arms, he slapped her away. She fell on the ground in thorough pain, crying. She could hear people laughing. They must have found it really funny.

He had hit her so hard in the head that she couldn’t see clearly. Her eyesight was blurry at first. She had to wait there on the ground for some minutes.

“Did you really think…” Maxwell struggled to complete his question as he laughed. “Like hell!” Everyone laughed harder when he said that. “Did you really think you are a match for me?” He walked towards where he had thrown her to. He kicked her fragile body.

“You scum! What makes you think you are a match for me? What!” He kept on kicking her repeatedly. “Now, take your lazy ass off that expensive floor and get me my steak!” He yelled out his order with one final kick to her belly. It only made her curl. Her hands wrapped themselves around her belly in reflex. The pain there was more.

   The crazy thing about it all was that there was only one person bullying her. But, it felt like everyone in the entire restaurant was.

Though Amelia was a werewolf that hadn’t wolfed out, she healed faster than anyone in the pack. Ever since she was thirteen, she had always been a fast healer. That was why the injuries caused by Maxwell’s bullying healed after a few minutes. She stopped bleeding on her head, and the pain in her body disappeared.

Soon, she stood up like nothing happened. She went to the chef to collect his order and serve it to him and his cartel.

“Better.” Maxwell muttered before he noticed that there was no mark of his bullying on her. His eyes narrowed down at her. That was one of the things he hated about her.

She checked the time to see her shift was over. If Only it had ended before Maxwell came in. She quickly took off her apron and gloves. She was done for the day. She wasn't sure if she had the werewolves’ speed, but she was sure that she ran out of there quickly. So fast, they probably didn’t notice she had taken a box of snacks with her.

   While Amelia ran for the next few minutes, she expected them to catch up to her, punish her. But, there was none of them at her back. They must have not noticed the box missing out of the many boxes in the kitchen.

Her life had never been better. But, she never thought it might get any worse. But, it did. Things she never thought would happen, happened that evening.

She was on her way back home when it happened. She didn’t know what was going wrong until she reached the front of her home. Standing in front of it were many people, whispering and poking around.

People didn’t usually visit them. So, she wondered why there were a lot of them around. Cautiously, she walked towards them to find out what was going on. She didn’t get what was happening until she saw two carts being rolled out of the house. Before they covered the faces of the bodies in them, she saw that it was her parents.

"No." She breathed out.