All Chapters of REBORN TO BREAK YOU: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

MarenI wake up before the sun does because that is the only time nobody is trying to make me disappear. It is cold at five in the morning, and the floor is harder than it was yesterday. My father hates me, but the water in the well doesn’t care who I am.The grass was wet against my ankles as I walked toward the outer well. I passed the barracks where the warriors stay. Three of them were passed out on the porch, snoring and smelling like old beer. They didn't have to get up yet. They have ranks. They have names that people like to say out loud. I just have the buckets.I dropped the rope and heard the splash."Still doing the heavy lifting, I see," a voice whispered from the shadows of the kitchen door.It was my mother, Sera. She was waiting for me. I hauled the bucket up, my arms stinging from the weight. "Someone has to do it, Mom. The kitchen won't run on its own.""Come here," she said. She pulled me inside the warm kitchen and took my hands. "Maren, your fingers are cold.""I'

MarenThe air changed before the gates even opened. It got heavy, making it hard to breathe. Everyone felt it. The warriors straightened their backs, and my father, Alpha Aldric, stepped to the very front of the courtyard like he was king of the world.I stood at the very back. That is where the Omegas go. We are the back row, the ones who don’t matter. I was wearing a tunic and pants that my mother had scraped together for me this morning. They weren't mine, and they didn't fit right, but they were clean."Maren, stop fidgeting," Sera whispered next to me."I’m not fidgeting," I lied. My skin felt too tight.My father didn't look back at us. He never did.Then, the gates opened.Caius didn't come in with a shout or a show. He didn't have to. He just walked in, and suddenly, the courtyard felt smaller. He was bigger than the stories said, but he wasn't loud. He moved like a man who never had to ask for permission to exist. He had his inner circle with him, all of them looking like the

MarenMy hands shook just a little. Not enough to mess up the stitch, but enough that I felt it. This was the last night here.Mama sat across from me, her head bent low over the white fabric. It was the dress for tomorrow. The ceremony dress. She’d been working on it for three days, quiet-like, not telling me anything, but I knew. Everyone knew. Now, she was fixing the hem, her fingers quick, putting in tiny stitches that no one would even see.“You know, Maren,” Mama said, her voice low. She didn't look up. “When you were a baby, you were the prettiest thing I ever saw.”I just kept sewing the silver thread. Small, shiny loops, just underneath the hem. We talked like this a lot. Not really talking, but saying things that hung in the air, things too heavy to say out loud when my father, Aldric, might be listening.“Your hands,” Mama went on, her own fingers still moving, steady. “You have your grandmother’s hands. Big, but gentle.”My grandmother. Mama’s mother. I never met her. Aldr

MarenThe silence didn’t just feel quiet. It felt like my heart had stopped beating and everyone in the room could hear the lack of sound. I stood very still in the middle of the Great Hall, my hands shaking inside the sleeves of a dress that was too expensive for a girl like me. Caius was still looking at my father."I will not take her," Caius said.His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried to every corner of the room."What did you say?" my father asked. His face went from a proud, fake smile to something white and tight."I said no," Caius repeated. He finally looked at me, but his eyes didn't see a person. They saw an object that didn't work right. "I do not accept the bond. I do not accept the girl.""We had an agreement!" Aldric barked. He stepped forward, his hands bunching into fists. "We spent months on this treaty. You traveled for three days to get here. You don't just walk into my hall and insult the Ashveil pack like this!"Caius tilted his head. He looked bored. "I am not i

MarenTwenty feet.That was all the space left between us and the gap in the north fence. I could see the jagged wire. Beyond it, the trees were dark and thick, promising a place where we could finally disappear.“Almost there,” I whispered, pulling on my mother’s hand. “Just a few more steps, Mom. Don’t look back. Just look at the fence.”“I’m trying, Maren,” she panted. Her breath was coming out short. “I’m trying.”We were so close. I could almost feel the cold air of the forest on my face. Then, three shadows stepped out from behind the equipment shed. They didn’t run. They didn’t shout. They just moved into our path, blocking the way to the gap. They were Caius’s warriors. I knew them by the grey marks on their leather jackets and the way they held themselves.“Where are you going, little birds?” the one in the middle asked. He was huge, with a scar that ran from his ear to his chin.“Out,” I said. I stepped in front of my mother. I felt small, but I didn’t move. “We’re leaving.”