Chapter 2

The howls echoed in the distance, the chilling cry of wolves reverberating through the trees. I should have felt a sense of belonging, of safety, within the walls of Crescent Moon pack’s territory, but all I could feel was the cold. Not just the cold that seeped into my bones, but the coldness of being unwanted, of being nothing more than a shadow, invisible to the pack I was born into.

My feet scraped the dirt as I trudged through the pack’s training grounds. The sounds of sparring, the clashing of fists and the growls of my packmates, filled the air, a stark reminder of the strength that I would never have. It wasn’t just the lack of a wolf that made me weak-it was everything I had become in the eyes of the pack. The girl who had been born unlucky. The girl who had never deserved to belong.

I wasn’t just rejected by Derek. I was rejected by everyone.

The moment I stepped into the pack’s territory, I was nothing more than a servant. I wasn’t allowed to train with the others, wasn’t allowed to spar or learn how to fight. Instead, I was forced to do the tasks no one else wanted. Cleaning, cooking, fetching supplies. I was treated like a slave, a mere servant, not even worth the time of a passing glance.

And yet, the punishment never stopped. It wasn’t enough for the pack to leave me to my misery. Every day, there was something else. A mistake I made, no matter how small, would send me to the ground, bruised and battered, the weight of my failures pressing down on me. It was like being broken in pieces, each punishment a new crack, each mark a reminder of how small I was in the world.

This morning, it had been a simple mistake. I had been ordered to clean the stables, to sweep the dirt floors. It should have been easy enough, but the broom slipped from my hands, and the sound of it clattering to the ground had caught the attention of a few pack members.

“You’ve done it again, Clarissa,” one of them, Lucas, sneered, his voice dripping with contempt. “Always messing things up.”

I didn’t respond, didn’t dare to. I knew better than to speak unless spoken to. But that only seemed to make him angrier.

“Are you stupid or just blind?” Lucas spat, stepping closer, towering over me. “I told you to clean this place. You can’t even do that right.”

I felt his eyes on me, cold and unforgiving. There was nothing to say, no defense. I could only stand there and take it.

A punch to my stomach forced me to bend over, gasping for air. The pain was sharp, biting into me like a thousand needles. My body trembled, but I didn’t cry out. I never did. Crying made it worse. Weakness made it worse.

“Get up, Omega,” Lucas growled, kicking me in the side. “You’re nothing but a burden. If you didn’t have that cursed wolf, maybe you’d be worth something.”

His words echoed in my mind long after he left, long after I was left alone in the stables, clutching my side where the bruise would form.

I wished I could say it was the first time it had happened. I wished I could pretend that I was used to the abuse, that it didn’t sting as much anymore. But I wasn’t used to it. I couldn’t get used to it.

The shame still burned.

But it was more than just physical pain. It was the way they looked at me. The way my own packmates saw me as less than nothing. They whispered behind my back, laughed when I wasn’t looking, mocked me when they thought I couldn’t hear. I could feel their eyes on me, always. The constant reminder that I was different. That I didn’t belong.

I didn’t know what I had done to deserve this treatment. I didn’t know what had gone wrong. But I had never been given a chance. From the moment I had been born, I had been branded as bad luck, as the one who had ruined everything. I wasn’t worthy of a wolf. I wasn’t worthy of the pack. I wasn’t even worthy of kindness.

In the silence of the stables, the memories came flooding back, unbidden. My parents. Their faces, their smiles. Their love. I could still feel their arms around me, their warmth, their protection. I remembered the days when the world had felt safe, when nothing seemed wrong.

But that all shattered in one tragic moment.

It was years ago now, but I still remembered it all too clearly.

My parents had been traders, selling fashion accessories and clothing at the city’s largest market. They were hardworking, kind, and everyone loved them. They had been everything to me. But one night, as they drove back from a supply run, their car was hit by another vehicle. A head-on collision. It had been a miracle that I hadn’t been with them.

I was only eleven at the time. The pack had taken me in, though they treated me like I was nothing. I hadn’t been allowed to grieve properly. They told me it was my fault. That my parents’ deaths were somehow tied to me. That I was bad luck. That my very existence had cursed them.

It wasn’t long before the whispers started. The rumors. They spread like wildfire, and soon, everyone believed them. The pack turned their back on me. My own family-my pack-turned their back on me.

And so, I had lived in this shadow ever since, unable to escape the painful truth that I had never been wanted. My wolf remained silent, locked away, just like my hope. I was nothing.

The sound of footsteps broke me from my thoughts, and I forced myself to sit up, wiping the tears that had unknowingly fallen down my face. There was no time for weakness, not here.

As I stumbled out of the stables, I was greeted by more taunts. More laughter. More whispers. I knew better than to respond. I knew better than to show how deeply their words hurt.

But I couldn’t stop the ache in my chest. I couldn’t stop the feeling that maybe, just maybe, I wasn’t meant to be here. Maybe this life wasn’t meant for me.

I had nowhere else to go. No place where I belonged. No one cared.

And so, I walked forward, shoulders hunched, eyes cast downward, hoping that the shadows would hide me, even if just for a little while.