Chapter One

It hurt.

My body felt weak; pain overwhelmed me. I couldn't cry out or make any sound for help. What was the point?

Nobody would care.

Why?

I was just a plain old worthless omega—only suitable for preparing the food for the whole pack and cleaning up. I barely got a chance to eat myself. Maybe that's why I was so weak and my wolf hadn't come to me.

Most of us get our wolfs when we hit eighteen, but here I am, 19 years old, and still not gotten my wolf or shifted.

Of course, the pack found another reason to treat me like trash, beating and bullying me.

Today was the worst one of all. Eliza had only stopped when her brother, the future alpha, came in and ordered her to stop. Of course, nobody would disobey the orders of an alpha.

He didn't care about me.

None of them did.

I couldn't blame them; my parents were traitors to them, after all.

I was just the child of traitors and now an orphan who nobody wanted.

You see, my name is Victoria. I am nineteen years old and live here at the Red River Pack. My mother was banished from the pack when I was five. Rumors had spread that my mother was having an affair with someone from an enemy pack, and my father abandoned me not long afterward.

The mate bond was too much for him; he missed his mate and couldn't stand around me because I was a constant reminder of what he had lost.

We are one of the largest and strongest packs in the world. The Alpha Evan and Luna Michelle lead us. We have a high-security level, so it took a lot of work for anyone to get in and attack us. Our warriors were trained thoroughly daily from a young age.

As an omega, we prepared top-of-the-chart healthy meals to ensure our pack was always healthy and that anyone rarely got unwell. Their wolf side would heal so quickly. Without my wolf and being unable to attend the pack hospital, it was more complicated, and I took longer to recover from any bruising and beating I received.

If I left, I would stand little chance out as a rogue. I hoped I would find my mate one day and everything would be different.

I missed my mother so much and wished that everything were different. I often wondered what life would be like if I were still surrounded by the family that once loved and adored me. I may have only been five, but I still remember my mother's beautiful smile and twinkling eyes. I saw her every night in my dreams.

It would be better if I never woke up; I could feel happy and be with my mother again in spirit.

None of this would have happened to me if she were still here to love, care and protect me.