Lilith's POV
I stood at the door, having just arrived home from the bar where I worked. The bar had been unusually busy, and I had to put in extra hours to attend to the influx of customers.
As I entered, I noticed my mother sitting on the couch, her face contorted with anger. Her glare sent shivers down my spine. She asked where I had been. I knew I had to explain everything, no matter how frightened I felt.
"I am coming back from work, mother," I replied softly, meeting her intense gaze.
"By this time of the night? You are coming back from work at this hour?" she asked, her voice dripping with irritation.
I glanced at the wall clock; it was just a few minutes past seven in the evening. I couldn't fathom why she was making such a fuss. Typically, I would be home by 5 or 6 pm. Was being an hour or two late really that significant?
Though infuriated by her reaction, I knew I had to remain composed if I wanted to continue living under her roof. I couldn't risk her throwing me out, especially now that I had no money of my own.
She had taken everything I had saved, including the funds I had planned to use for my escape. Taking a deep breath, I sighed heavily, acknowledging that I might face another beating today.
With a sense of resignation, I closed the door behind me. Staying outside would only further provoke her anger, potentially leading to her locking me out again, as she had done before, leaving me drenched in the rain.
The memory of that dreadful night haunted me. Being locked outside by the one person I expected to be understanding was one of the worst experiences of my life.
I had spent the entire night with my eyes wide open, fearing what lurked in the shadows, especially since I was a weak beta wolf and, to make matters worse, a female.
Suddenly, my mother's voice cut through my thoughts, demanding an answer to her question. I was startled and filled with fear, struggling to recall what she had said.
"I am sorry, mother," I pleaded. Apologizing usually worked with most people, but my mother was different. It seemed that apologizing only fueled her anger further.
I vividly remembered a time when my apology had caused her to lose control, and she scratched me with her claws, leaving me wounded and helpless.
It was a traumatic experience, and I cried for days, taking two whole weeks to fully heal. Despite my injuries and sickness, I was still compelled to go to work every day and carry out all the house chores.
"You are sorry?" she snapped as she stood up and advanced towards me.
"This is it, she is probably going to hit me with that thing she has in her hand, I just have to endure it until she is done," I thought.
She held me by my hair, "I have warned you severely not to come home late, yet you have decided to disobey yet again, and all you could come up with is you are sorry?" she growled.
"No mother…I…I came home late because I had to work extra time today," I stuttered. She kept on glaring at me, and I saw it as a cue to continue talking, hoping she might be willing to reason with me.
Perhaps she would finally understand that my coming home late was completely unavoidable. "We had a lot of customers today, and I had to work extra shifts so I could attend to all the customers."
"I see, so that was why you came home late?" she said, and I heaved a sigh of relief.
"Yes, mother."
"So, where is the money you were paid for working an extra shift?" she asked, stretching out her hand as a wicked smile etched her face. I was totally lost for words. I had not been given any money.
I only offered help out of my own free will. I couldn't leave my manager and co-workers and go home when my shift ended, as there were a lot of customers to be attended to.
Especially not when every other person stayed back to help. Leaving at the end of my shift would have caused me to be hated even more by my colleagues, who currently didn't like me much.
"I wasn't given any money, mother," I said before everything completely went dark. She had landed a hot slap on my face.
"You worked extra time and didn't bother to get paid for doing so?" she asked in anger as she hit me with the rolling pin in her hand.
"Answer me, you useless witch," she said as she continued hitting me. I placed my hand over my face, trying to protect it from the weapon. It didn't need any further scars; the ones it had were more than enough already. I didn't mind getting hit on my body.
I was in severe pain, but I stayed in place without moving or dodging any of the beatings. Over the years, I have learned to develop tough skin. Everything done to me during these past years has managed to shape me into a formidable girl.
"Come back late next time, and you will feel my wrath," she threatened as she left me and went straight to her room. "Oh, she was done already?" I thought.
I went straight to the chair and sat down. My body felt very sore and heavy. Despite being a wolf, my body doesn't have the ability to heal itself. I often wondered why it was so. The moon goddess had been very unkind to me, making me lack in so many areas as a wolf.
Blood was dripping out of the wound where the pin my mother used on me drew blood. I needed to clean myself up. I looked at the floor; there were drops of blood too—my blood.
"Oh great! Now I have to clean the floor too," I murmured. I rose from the chair and went straight to my room and into the bathroom.
I fetched a bucket of warm water and a towel and started cleaning myself gently, wincing in pain at intervals as the pain was unbearable.
When I was done, I went straight to the living room to wipe the blood stains off the floor too. If my mother saw them, it would subject me to another round of beating. Thankfully, she was not there, so I cleaned the floor very fast and left.
My stomach rumbled, and I remembered the last time I ate food was in the morning. Although I didn't have much appetite, I knew I needed to at least eat something to regain some strength. I went straight to the kitchen to check if there were any leftovers from the food I had cooked in the morning before leaving for work.
There were none. Only dirty pots and plates to wash. "Great! Just great," I thought. Luckily, I found a morsel of bread on the top counter. I took it and ate hungrily, drinking a glass of water as I choked on it. Finally relieved a bit, I started doing the dishes.
I ached all over my body, but I had no choice. I needed to do the dishes myself because leaving them there for later would attract beatings.
As soon as I was done, I went straight to bed.
*******
The next morning, I woke up all sore in every part of my body. I went in front of the mirror to take a good look at myself. I was mortified by the reflection I saw. I had red swollen marks on places where I had been hit. My eyes brimmed with tears.
"I won't go to work," I thought. "There is definitely no way I would do that, while looking like this." I resigned and lay back on the bed with my face staring into the ceiling. I wondered why life could be so cruel. Why everything was happening to me.
What if I had succeeded in my plans to escape? Would I be in a better place right now? Would I be accepted by the new pack and treated differently than the way I am done here, or would I meet an even worse fate over there?
There was only one way to find out. I believe no pack would have a wicked woman like my mother. No one would treat a child, even if they weren't theirs, with so much hatred and bitterness like she did to me. I was still pondering when the door to my room opened. I immediately sprang up to my feet.
"Good morning mother," I said with a low tone, my head bowed. She ignored me and came closer to take a good look at me and my wounds.
"Why haven't you cooked anything or gotten ready for work?" she asked. I wasn't surprised at what I heard. I have lived with her all my life, so I wasn't a stranger to all her narcissism. She cared about no one else but herself. She had inflicted these wounds on me last night, but here she is acting as if they are invisible.
"Why haven't I gotten ready for work? So easy for her to say when she is not the one covered in wounds."
"I don't want to go to work today," I replied calmly.
Lilith's POV"And why is that?" she asked angrily. I lifted up my face and looked at her for the very first time. A rush of anger swept through me, but I kept my cool."Maybe if I wasn't sore all over my body and covered in bruises, it wouldn't be so difficult to go to the bar and serve customers all day!" I wanted to say."Mother, I don't want to go to work looking like this. I would become a laughing stock all over again," I said, my eyes burning with unshed tears. Like I wasn't already a laughing stock? Like the scars on my face weren't already enough reason for people to laugh and scorn at me?"You, my dear, would have to go to work. Certainly, people would understand that there are consequences for some actions," she scorned as she glared down at me. "Next time, you will think twice before coming back home so late," she spat.I bowed my head down again, thoughts swimming through my mind. She turned around to leave, and just as she got to the door, she looked over her shoulder, "m
"The king?" I asked, utterly confused."Yes, the king. Let's lodge a complaint about your mother to the alpha king," he said, standing up and pacing around the room. "It is the king's duty to ensure his subjects are safe," he continued, approaching me, bending down to meet my gaze at eye level."If we tell him what your own mother has been doing to you, I am sure he would act in your favor," he said, rising to his feet and returning to his seat. I waited until he was seated before I spoke."We can't go to the king, we just can't," I said."And why is that?" he asked. I thought about it, recalling the time when my mum told me after beating me that getting pregnant with me ruined her chances with the king.He was the love of her life, the man she had given her heart to, but my arrival stopped everything that would have happened between them. Who knows, if I hadn't been born, she would probably be the king's third mate. I sighed."It is a long story, Joseph. I just don't think it would b
Alpha Joe's POVAs soon as I saw who had come in, I stepped back, letting go of my stepmother's hand."Father," I said as I moved farther away from her. He came right at me and delivered a thundering slap. My cheek burned, but I didn't rub it."What do you think you are doing?" he asked. I knew no explanation would suffice to justify the scene he had just witnessed. Regardless of what she had done, I should have never laid my hand on her, even if it was an act of self-defense.My stepmother immediately saw an opportunity and used it to her advantage. I wasn't surprised; she was an author of mischief."Thank goodness you are here, Leonard," she said, running towards him. "Your son just threatened to kill me," she sobbed. I looked at her in awe. I knew she was a good liar, but I didn't expect her to go this far with her lies. Kill her? Why would I want to kill her?"Father, you know I can never do such a thing," I said, waiting for him to say something to back me up, but he didn't. He w
Lilith's POVI walked into the room, gently closing the door behind me before greeting him."Good evening, Alpha Andrew," I replied. He was no longer a mere visitor in our home; in fact, he always made himself feel at home whenever he came over. He was one of my mother's flings, the longest one she had ever had.Most of them usually didn't last more than three months, but she has been seeing him for about two years now. He glanced at my body and saw the scars but didn't say anything.He already knew about the toxic relationship between my mother and me. He had even witnessed her beating me once, and yet he did nothing to intervene. That was one of the reasons I loathed him so much."It's a good thing you're back. I am famished, and I believe Andrew is too," my mother's voice rang out from the sofa in the sitting room. As we approached, she looked at Andrew and smiled before returning her gaze to me, "Get us something to eat," she said coldly.I muttered words of greeting to her, but s
Lilith's POVI returned his handshake, utterly confused. He mentioned he had heard so much about me, but I couldn't recall where I had seen him before."Sorry, are you a customer? And how did you hear so much about me?" I asked.He chuckled at my question and was about to answer when my manager, Joseph, came out from his office."I see you two have met," he said, walking close to us. That was when it clicked; they looked very much alike—blond hair, blue eyes, everything. The only difference was that one was younger than the other.He must be Joseph's son, I thought. Although, I hadn't seen any woman around claiming to be Joseph's mate. If he had a mate or a son, they would have been coming around to his bar, but nothing like that had happened in the twelve years I have worked here."You must be wondering who he is," Joseph said with a smile, cutting through my thoughts. I simply nodded my head, feeling a bit uneasy with two strikingly handsome men staring at me—one I was already comfo
Alpha Joe's POVI wondered what important thing we needed to discuss. Looking over at Jay, it was obvious he was also oblivious to the purpose of our summons."Now that we are all here, I would begin," he said, looking over at Jay and then myself. My stepmother looked like she already knew what was about to be discussed."The Queen reminded me that 5 days from today will mark the anniversary of the day we had our mating ceremony," he smiled and looked at her, placing his hand on her shoulder. He continued, "We have been together for 25 years, my love." She chuckled at his words.Where exactly is this heading to? I thought. Bravo, they have been together for 25 years, did he call us just to tell us that? I doubt that; my father isn't that kind of person. For him to summon my stepbrother and me, there must be more."Well, to mark the remembrance, we have decided to throw a party with all the members of the pack invited to celebrate with us," he said.Finally, so that was what it was abo
Lilith's POVI opened the door, and he walked in – the man who had captured my mother's heart. He had been visiting our house frequently these past few days, after staying away for about a month or two."Good evening, Alpha Andrew," I said coldly, not meaning to sound that way, especially after the way he had stood up for me the other day. But anyone associated with my mother deserved as much scorn from me as I could give."Evening, Lilith," he replied, disregarding my tone. "Is your mother at home?" he asked with a raised brow.Thankfully, I didn't need to reply, as she walked out of her room and headed in our direction."Just the man I wanted to see," she said, giving him a kiss and a long hug. I moved away from them to the kitchen to prepare dinner as usual.From the kitchen, I heard smooching sounds coming from the living room where they sat on the couch. The living room was very close to the kitchen, making it easy to hear everything going on there from the kitchen."Oh, get a ro
Lilith's POVWe arrived at the palace soon enough, though we were a bit late, as most members of the pack were already seated. Adrain led me to an empty seat on the second row, and we sat down.From where we sat, we could clearly see everything that was going on on the stage. Everywhere was beautifully decorated to mark the occasion.Alpha Joe stepped onto the stage to make an announcement. Upon seeing him, the whispering in the crowd stopped as everyone paid rapt attention to what he wanted to say."Greetings to you all, the wonderful people of Starfall Pack. We are extremely delighted to have you all here tonight to celebrate with the king and Queen as they mark their 25th mating ceremony anniversary," he said, looking across the crowd as he spoke.He stood with so much poise and elegance. He would indeed make a great king one day, I thought. I could feel my wolf recoiling with sadness inside me. She had been rejected by her mate, and I could understand her pain.I could still feel