Chapter 1

Lena Novak pov

Standing there in the hall outside of my stepsister's bedroom, holding the tray for her breakfast, I called out to her to allow me to enter.

This was my life now, a lowly life of servitude, being a servant for my spoiled younger brat of a sister.

Rosalie giggled loudly and shouted for me to enter.

As I opened the door, my eyes widened at my boyfriend of three years lying in her bed.

“Gareth?! What in the hell are you doing in Rosalie's bed?!”

Rosalie covered the big grin on her face and pointed at the table in her room.

“Put our breakfast there, servant, and stop being so rude!”

Dropping the tray onto the floor, I side-eyed her in disbelief.

“You're screwing Gareth? You whore,” I snapped, then jumped toward her, ready to strike with tears blurring my vision.

Unfortunately, in her attempt to dodge, she slipped on the oatmeal-covered tiles and slid to her ass, scraping her arm along the metal of the bedframe.

Shrieking, she woke the bastard in bed, who quickly rushed to her side.

The commotion drew everyone on the upper floor, including my stepmother, who saw that her precious daughter had been in bed with my boyfriend.

“You will wed her, and as for you, Lena, this is the last time you will cause injury to my Dear Rose.”

*****************************

The bone whip cracked across my exposed back, causing me to bite down harder on my lip.

Blood dripped down my chin because I refused to cry out.

“This is your punishment, Lena Novak, for injuring your younger sister, the rightful future heir of this pack. You are not to use your jealousy to cause injury to her!”

I hissed at the sting and glared at Rosalie Vale, standing with my former boyfriend, Gareth Drake.

She dabbed at her eyes delicately while showing him the scrape on her arm from the fall on the metal that I supposedly shoved her down on.

My stepsister was the daughter of my father's mistress, whom he moved in immediately after the pack healer announced my mother's death. There wasn't even a funeral held for my mother.

It hadn't been more than a couple of months since her death, and Rosalie and her mother were trying desperately to get me removed from my father's pack as well.

I have been the outcast while Rosalie got away with murder, literally, since several of her personal servants have disappeared.

The bitch had taken everything from me, even the man I was going to wed. Instead, she seduced him into her bed. He wasn't my mate, but we planned to marry until Rosalie Vale entered the picture and became the sweet, helpless female that always needed saving and now a whore for him too.

It irritated me immensely, but if I spoke my mind, I'd be labeled jealous and unkind to my sister.

What a damn joke it all was.

“Ten more lashes, then send her to the healer. She doesn't carry a wolf and will need to be tended to so her father doesn't think I'm being too heartless and she can continue being a household servant,” Stella Vale, my stepmother, said curtly. I noticed a slow smile creep across her face through my damp, blurry vision.

Clapping, she announced that brunch was ready and that Gareth should join them.

“We can discuss your future wedding plans and mating ceremony with my daughter,” she stated firmly while grinning at me.

Dumb bitch didn't realize that I no longer gave a fuck about Gareth Drake, her, or my supposed sister. The only family that mattered to me was my mother, and she was gone.

I was still around only because I was waiting for my Father to give me her grimoire so I could break the seal my mom had put on me to unleash the power I supposedly held.

Sweat dripped into my eyes, making them sting as the guards completed my punishment.

They took me to Jacob, the elder healer of the Crimson Moon pack, and he frowned at the injuries on my back.

“Alpha is unjust in allowing that wicked woman to punish you as such. If your mother were still alive, things would be so much better,” he grunted as he applied the salve to my back.

“I know, Jacob, but I must endure it until I get what my mother left me. After I get her spellbook, I will leave and find refuge in one of the other four packs that circle our ruthless high king. For now, I will be a servant until that time," I sighed.