Chapter 1

Ava's POV

My name is Ava Dark, the only daughter of the Alpha, Sean Dark.

Ohh sorry..

I am wrong to call myself his daughter. I am not. I stopped being his daughter right from the day I was born. My dad had rejected and disowned me right from birth.

Why?

He believed I killed his mate.

But, is that true?

No, but they all believed I was a wicked monster because my mom died while giving birth to me.

Not only did she die, but my twin brother, who should be the next heir, couldn't make it out either, because the cramp and severe bleeding after I was born took away my mother's life, and she went limp after crying so bitterly and struggling with her last breath. My mother died with my twin brother halfway out.

That was what I was told.

My birth brought sadness and pain. It spread cries of agony across all the corners of the pack, turning everyone gloomy and heartbroken. I was the right definition of a curse to everyone, as my mother, the Luna, was loved by everyone for her unique strength and prowess.

I was born through the most painful and torturous labor ever recorded in the history of our pack.

I was told of how my dad slumped beside my mother, crying and shaking her, pleading that she open her eyes and talk to him. They told me he mourned her for a year and barely ate anything. For all those years, he grieved and couldn't even get any other mate till now.

He loved my mother so much, and the sight of me was like an irritation and thorn in his flesh. His hatred for me grew throughout the years of my life, and now he sees me as a murderer and curse. My endless pain from torture was his form of relief. The way he retaliated for my mother's death was by torturing me.

It hurts so much to be blamed for something you know nothing about. My life has always been hell. It sucks so badly now that I hoped only for death. Losing my life can only be the end of it all.

The story of my mother's labor had spread like wildfire and lingered in everyone's mind. Little children were told the story like moonlight tales, causing them to all hate and stay away from me. I was used as an example and reference to what a cursed child appears to be like. Now I badly wish I had died along with my mother, or maybe my twin brother should have come out alive while I became the dead one, but those are all mere stupid wishes that can never happen.

I struggled out of bed, cramps hitting my legs harder with a painful headache reeking my skull, while my eyes were stinging with hot tears that blurred my vision. Everywhere seemed to be spinning around me as I stood on my shivering legs, supporting myself with a grip on the chair beside me.

After the dizziness reduced a bit, I shuffled to the corner of the room and bent to pick up the broom and dustpan, but then, a sharp pain hit my forehead, just as if my skull had burst open, forcing a sharp screech to slip out of my lips. The urge to fall and lie on the floor was great, but I succeeded in resisting.

I clutched the broom and dustpan before hurrying out of the room, making sure I avoided a single glance at the mirror hanging on the wall. I never want to see my miserable self again. I don't want to see how malnourished and ugly I appear. My brunette straight hair was now disheveled and scattered around with no single direction, just like that of a mad woman. It was so unkempt and dirty.

My clothes themselves, although washed, were very old, torn at some parts, and looked nothing different from a rag. It hurts me anytime I look at my reflection, so I always try hard to stay away from the mirror. Nothing seemed good about my face except my sapphire blue eyes, which appeared so beautiful and charming.

My father and many others had always told me how much I didn't deserve such eyes, how much it was a mistake that I was endowed with such rare and attractive eyes that every female wolf wished for. Many people despised me because of my eyes.

Absolutely nothing about my life was worth being happy for.

I scurried through the silent passage till I got to the spiral staircase, where I slowed down so I wouldn't fall. It is already a routine to sweep the living room first, the kitchen second, and the dining room last before going to cook. All this was to wait for the Alpha to wake up so I could sweep his room.

Without waiting any longer, I began to clean. My mind was really drowsy with sleep fighting to steal me off while I struggled with my eyes to stay open. Even my belly had started grumbling endlessly for food, reminding me that the last time I ate was yesterday morning. It had been 24 hours of starvation.

The Royal Packhouse is a big mansion with up to five rooms; three are empty. The other two were occupied by the few omegas living as maids in the house and also a chef. All this was before. Now the Omegas and chef do nothing.

I do the cleaning and cooking while they join in line to bully me. Nobody is talking about my royalty. I have the alpha bloodline, but no one can remember that anymore.

As I swept the dining room, I didn't know when I began to cry. I was shedding tears because nothing was right in my life. I was raised by an old grumpy woman when I was a child after my father abandoned me. He didn't want to set his eyes on me.

I grew up to the age of 17 and was brought back to my father's house, where I became a slave instead of a princess. It has been a year since I came here, and I'd prefer living with the grumpy old woman than staying here to be faced with torture and hatred from my biological father. If not for the striking resemblance between me and the Alpha, I wouldn't ever believe he was my father.

I had seen other wolves of my age start school, make friends, and play around the woods and river joyfully, but none of that was part of my life. No one was talking about taking me to school. Even when I stayed with the old grumpy woman who refused to tell me her name, no one in her neighborhood approached or act friendly around me. No one wanted to talk to me, no one wanted to be my friend; instead, they mocked me whenever I passed.

I was confused and curious then, but not until the old woman finally told me everything about my birth and what it caused.

Many years had passed, yet no one, not even my father could forgive me, even I knew it wasn't my crime. I knew nothing as a baby. Why will I kill my mother?

A muffled cry escaped my lips as I felt more waves of weakness and hunger strike hard at me. I didn't have a single ounce of strength to keep going, and my legs were in excruciating pain, but I knew I had no choice.

After almost an hour, I was done and hurried to the kitchen to prepare the Alpha's sandwich: pizza and coffee, which he takes every morning. The sun was rising and everywhere was brightening up, and the faint voice of my father coming from upstairs could be heard, which meant he was up from sleep already.

I swallowed hard and took heavy breaths, fear engulfing me as I thought of what my ill fate would cause me today.

"Where is my royal bracelet?"

The growl of my father suddenly reverberated through the entire building and into my ears from the top staircase, causing me to cringe as I arched my brows in shock and confusion.

"Royal bracelet?" I repeated to myself, wondering how he would be looking for something special like that. The worst part was that the question seemed to be directed at the kitchen where I was and I was already hearing his footsteps stomping toward me.