CHAPTER 2
~GABRIELLA’S POV~My eyes widened as I heard those words, my heart rate increased, and my breaths became more frequent as I stared at the alpha and all the beta wolves that sat around him.My fist subconsciously tightened until my claws pierced through my skin. As blood dripped from my hand, I raised my palm up to my face and thought to myself. "Why was I born an unfortunate child? All I wanted was some peace of mind while I lived out the rest of my days in the bondage of the dark-hound pack alpha. Why this?” I asked in my head, letting out a sigh.“The alpha of the Dark Moon Pack will send his warrior wolves to come collect you in a few days. In the mean time, we will be celebrating the long-term relationship we will have after the deal is made,” her voice sounded from a corner of the room. I raised my head and turned to her, Luna. She carried a look of disgust on her face as she stared at me. Somehow, I could hear her thoughts about how much she wanted me out of the pack. I could feel her hatred boring its way into my chest like a hand drill.“You may leave; I have said all I want to say,” the alpha said as he placed a kiss on his wife’s cheek. I turned around quietly, wondering why they hated me so much and why they loathed my presence in their home. Was this how parents treated their children everywhere, or was I just forsaken by the moon goddess?“Gabriella,” she called. I stopped, let out another sigh, and turned around with my head facing the ground.‘Yes, Luna,” I answered softly.“You’re going to be the one to prepare the celebration hall that will be used. The warrior wolves will be here in a few days, and we want that place to be as neat as a pin. Get to work,” she ordered."Yes, Luna,” I replied, staring through the black strands of my hair that hung in front of my face.I walked out of the room, picked up my bucket at the door where I left it, and made my way toward the dining hall. As I walked sluggishly through the passages, a teardrop rolled down my cheek from my right eye. I stopped walking and used my right index finger to clean the tears off my cheek.I paused for a moment to get myself together, then continued my walk down the passageway.Finally, I got to the dining hall with all the materials I would use to get the place clean. The size of the hall was very intimidating, and I couldn’t get my head around how possible it would be for me to clean up the place before the day ended.As I picked up my broom, I heard two distinct footsteps walk into the hall and stop beside me. I raised my head and turned to my right. Two of my friends stood silently with smiles on their faces as they stared at the distance in the large hall.“Marian, Lily, what brings you here?” I asked as a staggered look grew on my face. They both turned to me, their smiles undyingly spreading positive energy to every corner of the room.“We’re here to help, madam; you’ve already been through enough; we want to try our best to loosen things up for you a bit,” Marian said, turning to me.I gawked at both of them for a moment, then turned back to the hall, saying, “No, I can handle this myself. You girls probably have your own jobs to do. If you’re caught helping me, you could get into serious trouble.""But we don’t care, my lady. It’s our duty to serve the alpha and his family, even you,” Lily said with a concerned expression on her face.I let out a sigh, then said, “Listen, I understand you really want to help me, but I have no other choice but to refuse. I would be putting mine and your lives in danger by accepting your offer, so please, let me be."Both girls went silent. They stared at me for a moment, their smiles slowly waning as their hearts filled with disappointment. As I waited for them to turn around and leave in silence, I slowly started to feel bad for turning them down the way I did. They only wanted to help.Suddenly, both their lips curled up into smiles wider than before. “See, we don’t need your permission to do cleaning here. Pick a side of the hall to clean, and we’ll pick ours; if not, we're going to get really angry and report you to the warrior wolves.” Marian said.As I heard this, I realized they had thought the whole thing out and were determined to help me no matter what I said. It was like they knew I would turn them down, and this was their contingency plan.“Alright, fine. You win. Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” I said, letting out a groan, and they both squealed in excitement.Marian and Lily were the only two people in the entire pack who really cared about me. They were the only two people I dreamed to spare the day I would burn down the pack with unchecked rage. The day my demons would finally cut looseThey were the only two reasons why I kept my feet on the ground and kept pushing forward even though everything tried to hold me down.The thought of leaving them alone in this place was nothing short of terrifying. Although they were probably going to be fine since they weren’t me,As we cleaned the place up, I wondered what my life would become in the new world I was being sold off to. Would it grow better or worse, or would nothing change at all? I hated the idea of getting married off into a strange land, never experiencing the joy of finding my mate, but somehow, leaving this retched place made me a little happy.As I lay silently on my bed after a long day of hard labor, all the aches and pains that came from all the work I had done came after me all at once. I groaned agonizingly, clenching my teeth and my fist together as I curled up into a ball.The good thing about being a werewolf was that all the pain and aches I felt would habitually heal themselves by morning.It was finally evening. The alpha and his family gathered at the dinner table to have their last meal for the day. Although I was the alpha’s daughter, I was never allowed to sit at the same table with them; instead, I would be among the maids serving food and eating the scraps that were left over.I carried a large tray stacked with raw ox meat. It was the family's favorite. The alpha loved to go hunting from time to time, and each time he went, he wouldn’t return until he brought back a large ox. I gently lowered the tray to the center of the table, trying my best not to cause a mess.Before the tray could meet the table, he attacked. My little brother, a brat who was pampered all his life by our parents because he was their only son and the next alpha, He wasn’t as strong and didn’t have the ability to hunt like the other warrior wolves, but he was far stronger than me, that was for sure. To be honest, my life was blissful until he was born. He took everything from me.He slammed his right elbow into the side of my stomach, and I slipped. The entire tray turned over on the table, and the large chunk of meat fell flat on the dry wood.Luna turned to me with a scornful look. Looking at her, I knew immediately that I was about to be on the receiving end of something terrible.“Can’t you do something right for once in your life?” She started with her acidic tongue. “You clumsy little brat. You’re a useless and good-for-nothing piece of trash,” she continued, melting into a puddle the little self-esteem I had left.“YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A PIECE OF RAG WE PICKED UP FROM..." She was about to continue when the alpha suddenly hit the table, shutting her up.“Gabriella, clean up this mess and head back to your quarters,” he said softly.“Yes, my lord,” I replied, quickly packing up the mess I had made on the table.As I walked away from the dining area, I wondered what my stepmother was talking about. I was very interested in knowing what the rest of her sentence was going to be. Although I wasn’t too determined to find out, digging into the dark depths of this family's matter would mean my death.CHAPTER 3~GABRIELLA’S POV~It was early in the morning again, and all the high-ranking wolves in the pack slowly filled up the hall. I and the other maids ran about, serving the guests with as much hospitality and efficiency as we could muster. Today, my mother, Luna, was caught up with greeting all the guests that had arrived, meaning that for the entire day, or at least until the party was over, I was free from verbal assaults.I moved from table to table with a forced smile, serving food and drinks to the beta wolves present for the ceremony. From exasperating old men and women to the most disrespectful little brats, I was drained to the bone even before the day began. I walked back to the kitchen to get some more food, dragging my feet on the ground as I groaned in pain.As I opened the door to the kitchen, I felt a strange presence in the area. It was that of an omega, someone I couldn’t recognize. I thought for a moment if it was someone from the pack who sneaked in, but I real
CHAPTER 4~GABRIELLA'S POV~The party lasted the whole day, and by the evening, my entire being was now nothing but an empty shell.Although the fact that I had met my mate today was something that kept a smile on my face throughout, I was sure my mother noticed it—my first genuine smile in years.I sat quietly on one of the chairs in the hall after a long evening of cleaning up the mess the guests had made. Her footsteps sounded behind me.I quickly got up from the seat and turned around to face her."Mothe, I mean, Luna,” I said, slightly inclining my torso in a bow. She walked toward me, saying without a moment to spare, “You should start preparing to depart; the warrior wolves from the Darkmoon pack will be coming to pick you up in two days,” she said.“Yes, Luna,” I replied as the joy I had in my heart completely drained out. What exactly was the point of finding my mate now that I was going to get married to someone else? The glow in my eyes faded away again, and I could see my
CHAPTER 5~GABRIELLA’S POV~As I stared at him, my heart beating even more rapidly than it ever did whenever I stood before my mother, tears gathered in my eyes. I tried my best to hold back the sadness, but my efforts were futile. Staring at him filled me with mixed emotions of happiness, anger, and grief. Until this moment, I thought my life was over. I thought my mate would be here waiting for me.I rushed toward him, asking with excitement, as I grabbed his hand, “Where have you been? I thought you would return to my father’s mansion, but you never came. Is this your pack?"Steven stared at me with a piercing gaze, his eyes suddenly filling with contempt. I could feel a dark aura surrounding him, one I never noticed the first time we met. Something about him was different—something I couldn’t put a finger on. The omega aura I sensed around him at the peacekeeping ceremony was completely gone, and something a lot more powerful and ominous filled the air.“Unhand me, woman!” he said
CHAPTER 6~GABRIELLA'S POV~In the blink of an eye, it was morning again—my first morning at the Mortimer’s mansion, at the dark-moon pack. The sounds of birds chirping all the way from the forest that surrounded the mansion were even more disturbing than my alarm back at Montgomery's mansion. I forced my eyes open and got off my bed, not a single second later than I usually did. To my surprise, the other maids were still asleep.“Huh?” I asked as my eyes moved from one maid to the other. I walked around the room for a few seconds, wondering what the time was, as there was no way of telling from this part of the mansion. I rushed to the bathroom to take my shower, and after, I got dressed in a maid uniform that was handed to me by Gregory the day before. I walked out of the room and down the hall, where all the maid rooms were lined up. The entire place was completely empty and quiet; it seemed no one had awakened.I decided to use the opportunity to explore the mansion myself. I went
CHAPTER 7~STEVEN’S POV~I sat silently in one of the many living rooms in the mansion, my legs crossed and my arms folded against my chest. I had a blank expression on my face, moving my eyes to the side frequently to check the time on the ticking pendulum clock that rested on a wall a little distance from my right. The room I was in had a dark brown ambiance and dark brown curtains with golden rose patterns hung over the windows and doors that led outside the living room. Today was a very important day. Today a meeting would be held between me and the council members on the matters of uniting all the packs and reigning over them as the only alpha. This was my goal ever since I was born. While all the other kids made friends and had dreams of being united with their mate, I spent days and nights plotting, looking for a way to merge the packs. After a few minutes of waiting, I heard clicking sounds coming toward one of the entrances. Soon after, the door opened and Gregory stepped i
CHAPTER 8~STEVEN’S POV~“The Dark-Hound Pack has already signed the agreement and is already under my control. I’ll have them help spread the message to all the other packs,” I said, scribbling my signature onto a letter I was going to send to Montgomery's mansion."But why don’t we spread the message ourselves?” Gregory asked, looking a little troubled.“The message will be from an unknown sender, proposing the deal to the alphas and asking those who agree to meet at an undisclosed location. The alphas who refuse to comply might get violent and want to attack the only pack they think the message is coming from. If they lay siege on the dark-fang pack, I can use the opportunity to assess them and know exactly what I’m up against,” I replied with a cold stare.“But… sire. Innocent lives will be lost; the dark-hound pack will be destroyed if they are attacked by more than one opposing pack at the same time,” Gregory argued.I let out a sigh, got up from where I sat, and walked toward a
CHAPTER 9~GABRIELLA'S POV~As my eyes met with Steven's for the second time since I came to the mansion, I felt nothing but admiration and love for the man that stood before me. He had the same expression as the day I arrived; he seemed nothing like Steven from Montgomery's mansion, but for some reason, I felt like they were the same person. But why didn't he recognize me?I had lost all focus on my surroundings and even on my own body as I fell deeper and deeper into his intense gaze.His brows suddenly furrowed, and that sudden movement snapped me out of my reverie. I immediately bowed and greeted him politely, but he completely ignored me, walking past me without uttering a single word.I turned to stare at him as he walked away, wondering where he was heading. I stealthily followed behind him, moving from rose bush to rose bush, trying to avoid his eyes. After a few minutes, he arrived at the gates of the mansion. He stood in front of the gate for a few minutes, and I could see hi
CHAPTER 10~GABRIELLA'S POV~The silence in the air was unbearable. I could hear my own breathing, and with every step, I took crushed dried leaves under my paws, making sounds that echoed through the forest as if informing the other wolves of my location.I moved steadily, my eyes focused on the prey before me—a large, dark brown deer. As I got in close range, I leaped toward it, but before I could reach it, it jumped out of the way and took off. I landed head-first on a rock and yelled in pain.“Hunting is so hard; how am I supposed to survive this?" I thought to myself, using my paw to gently rub my head.“The other girls are gone; there's no way of finding them now, and the bell is going to ring anytime soon. What to do, what to do..."I said this as I sat there with a worried look. It had already been the first hour; I had never gone hunting before in my life, and my wolf wasn't fast or strong enough to run from other wolves.I let out a sigh,got up from where I sat, and walked th