Chapter 1

• I was the pack slave. Or, technically, his slave.
• The sound that resounded in my ear could not measure up to the sting I felt on my cheek as I fell to the ground, the thunderous slap I just received, a major catalyst.
• "Didn't I just fucking tell you not to wash this?" He barked at me and I looked at him with teary eyes and shook my head.
• "You fucking bitch!" He yelled, his voice echoing in the room.
• I said nothing, well not that I could defend myself even if I wanted to. I just lowered my eyes to the ground, obeying what Tara, my inner wolf had told me. She has been more like a mother to me since my own family deserted me.
• I yelped inaudibly, pain striking through me as I felt like my hair was about to be ripped from my head.
• He continued pulling at my hair, not caring if I was in pain or if my head was gonna explode with a headache.
• Tears flowed down my cheeks in torrents as he bent down, bringing his mouth to my ear.
• "Being a murderer wasn't enough for you and now you've decided to become a rogue too? Well not on my watch, as long as you live in this pack, you must abide by my rules and take whatever comes to you quietly. Is that understood?"
• He yelled, making my eardrums burn but I still tried to nod with what little chance his forceful grip on my hair allowed.
• He let go of my hair so suddenly that I fell flat on my face.
• "If you ever make such a mistake again, I won't be so lenient with you next time. Cursed evil bitch."
• He cursed and left me on the floor in tears, bruised, battered, and broken.
• “Yes, I am indeed cursed.” Lying on the floor like a ragdoll, I miserably thought to myself.
• “Why it has to be me who is born mute? Why it has to be me who has never shifted when 14? Why it has to be me who gets sentenced when the late Alpha is found dead? Why? Why do you curse me?! Dear moon goddess!”
• Exhausted after his abuse today, I drifted into a deep nightmare of that horrible afternoon.
• “They can’t find us here . . .” I thought to myself as though any wolf would hear me. No one replied. I never had a wolf, unlike anyone who got blessed with one when they were fourteen.
• I was sixteen now, two years overdue. I was as cursed as they branded me.
• I rushed out of the packhouse when my so-called peers turned their backs on me once again. Or, in other words, it was their daily routine of pouring down dirty mop water while I was eating.
• “Well, at least I won’t be wetter when I drown here,” I thought to myself as I dipped my hand down the quiet lake.
• Dusk was starting to envelop the sky. Its orange hue was a reminder of another day spent being different from anyone else—the worst kind.
• This lake was my sanctuary I could spent my hours in when life in the pack become… suffocating, to say the least.
• The water here couldn’t harm me, for I had been drowning all my life.
• “You don’t deserve to be here.”
• “You’re a rotten, cursed child.”
• “Even your wolf refused to come out. It doesn’t want you.”
• I stared at my reflection in the glassy waves. They were right, I shouldn’t be—
• My thoughts were cut off when the sound of rustling leaves from the forest caught my attention. Shivers rushed up my spine.
• “H-have I gone too far from the border?” I whispered to myself, hoping for the contrary. I couldn’t have run such a distance . . . right?
• “Grr . . .” The sound of wolves — yep, wolves. I’d pray to the Goddess for one, but there were clearly a ton of them.
• Shit, shit, shit. What have I gotten myself into?
• Beads of sweat formed on my forehead despite the cold wind blowing on my face. I glare—and I glare hard into the cramped woods.
• My heart dropped to my stomach, and I stood frozen on the lake’s dock when a pair of blood-red eyes met mine… four of them.
• “Grr . . .” They stepped out of the comfort of the trees—the only thing that gave me courage was not seeing them.
• However, blood drained from my face when gigantic wolves bared their canines, saliva dripping down their mouths.
• “Rogues…” I thought to myself.
• Before I knew it, a loud scream enveloped the forest as I rolled towards the ground. I felt my head hitting a tree root and dizziness slowly rushed through my system.
• “What do we have here?” One of the rogues muttered, baring their canines at me.
• Murmurs of unrecognizable plea slipped out of my mouth, tears collecting in the corner of my eyes. I didn’t wanna die!
• All of a sudden, I heard a familiar voice: “Step back!” I turned to see who it was and my eyes widened in shock.
• “Evelyn, get off from there, now!”
• The familiar brown wolf. The pride of our pack.
• It’s Alpha Davis.
• My eyes widened as I witnessed the Alpha of my pack rip one of the rogue’s skin by its neck, baring the flesh of their dead comrade to the other three behind him.
• “Attack her and this is how you’ll end up,” he growled.
• The rogues took a step back in fear and Alpha Davis took that as a chance to glance at me and nod to run.
• But I didn’t move. I couldn’t move even if I forced my limbs to.
• I wanted to scream for help but fear rendered me motionless.
• “Fuck, get him!” The three yelled and Alpha Davis was caught off guard as the rogues dived right at him, slamming their body onto him. The rogues sent him flying towards a tree, hard and fast..
• No, no, no!
• “Alpha!” I yelled in my own mind, tears now streaming down my face.
• “Get out now, Evelyn!” he growled as he slowly stood up.
• The other two attacked him once again.
• I couldn’t move.
• My heart was racing wildly in my chest and I could feel a tingle on the back of my mind—something strange as it fended off of my despair.
• “Run Evelyn!” he yelled, ripping the rogue’s stomach with his sharp canines and throwing him afar.
• I should leave. I should run. But something was pulling me back.
• There were only two of them now. The one was in front of Alpha Davis. Alpha Jack brutally clawed at his throat before aiming for his leg, crushing him under his weight.
• The other one fled away as soon as he saw the death of his last companion.
• “Evelyn! Are you alright?” He happily called the fight now over. A small, wolfy grin slips past Alpha Davis’s face.
• However, as fleeting as light, it was instantly taken off of him when the last rogue who ran away lunged at his throat.
• It only took three seconds.
• Three, the rogue ripped his flesh off swiftly.
• Two, the Alpha’s eyes which were still staring toward my own slowly lost their life.
• One, the rogue ran off into the woods and out of sight with a wicked grin.
• “N-no . . . this-this can’t be.” I thought to myself. My tears fell down his brown fur as it lay there shaking.
• With my bare hands, I tried to stop the bleeding in his throat, although it was certainly of no use.
• I wipe the tears with blood-stained hands. The clawing on the back of my mind was increasing, so much that it felt like my consciousness was hurting, but I paid it no mind. Alpha Davis was dying!
• “Evelyn…” the Alpha looked up at me, his eyes growing dimmer with each passing moment. He lay limp under the willow tree.
• “Y-you have to live… Always be strong… D-don't let anyone break you… You're much… stronger than you kno…” he murmured one last time before the pulse finally stopped beating.
• His breaths grew shallower until finally, they ceased altogether.
• “Ahhh!” A horrible sob swallowed the woods as I embraced him with my small figure. The warmth of his body began to fade, replaced by an eerie stillness.
• Everything felt surreal as if I was trapped in a nightmare I couldn’t wake up from.
• Until…
• “Evelyn!” a girl’s voice called before the clawing on the back of my mind intensified and a horrifying scream slipped out of my mouth.
• What was it now?
• Unbearable heat coursed through my body, and I felt my bones slowly break, one at a time.
• “Ahhhhh!” I screamed and tried to catch my breath, a crushing pressure pressed down my chest as I felt my limbs being realigned.
• I yelled before it all stopped. Silence was as deafening as it was accompanied by my painful breaths.
• “Evelyn!” I looked around for the voice.
• “I’m Tara, your wolf.”
• What?!