I gazed into the cracked mirror, pursing my lips. It didn't matter that it was cracked right down the middle. There wasn't much to look at anyway. I wasn't ugly just plain. Plain, unnoticed and unwanted.
"Runt," the Luna's piercing shriek split the crisp morning air. "Runt," she screeched louder.
Runt. I wasn't worthy of a name.
I yanked my limp, mousy hair into a messy top knot and dragged my aching body from the floor.
The future Alpha turns 18 in three days. The celebration started two days ago and I was the one who had to do all the cooking and cleaning and decorating. I attended to the pack's every need. It's how I earned my keep. I guess I should be grateful. Some rogue and lost wolves are abused or killed by the pack who finds them. I'm ignored when I'm not needed. Unless they want something I don't exist.
"RUNT," the Luna barked.
"Coming, Mistress," I squeaked rushing across the hall towards the shrill shrieks of the pack's Luna.
My toe caught on the door frame as I rushed into her room sending me crashing to the floor. I landed hard on my knees. Luna Lucy growled her displeasure at my clumsiness.
"Yes, Mistress?" I said pulling myself to my feet. Blood seeped through my worn jeans. I ignored the nagging stinging in my poor knees, keeping my gaze lowered. Only Betas and Gammas are allowed to look the Luna and Alpha in the eye. I'm not even an Omega. I'm nothing. Unworthy of a place in the pack.
"I will take my breakfast in bed this morning."
"Yes, Mistress."
"The Alpha and my son are out hunting You will leave their breakfast in the dining room ready for their return."
"Yes, Mistress."
"The other packs arrive today. Once you've seen to your usual duties you will assist the Omegas in preparing tonight's feast."
"Yes, Mistress."
"The Omegas will be let off their duties tonight. You will be serving drinks at the feast and making sure everyone has a good time. The Alpha and I think it's only fair the Omegas celebrate the coming of age of their future Alpha."
"Yes, Mistress."
"And Runt?"
"Yes, Mistress?"
"Find something clean to wear."
The words came as a snarl. I would bet my last dollar, if I had a dollar, if I peeked up her cute little button nose would be curled in disgust.
"Yes, Mistress."
"Leave."
I shuffled backwards, waving my hands behind me so I didn't hit the door frame again. You don't turn your back on your superior. Don't look at their face, don't turn your back and always show respect. Anything else is considered a challenge and the punishment for challenging an Alpha or a Luna is death.
I used to dream about challenging them. About ending the dull monotony of my life. If it was a quick painless death I would have followed through but it wasn't. A challenger is taken to the woods and hunted by the challenged. When they're caught a bloody fight to the death ensues. The challenger is shredded alive. Claws tear at their skin, ripping it off in ribbons. Fangs sink deep into their flesh.
If the challenger wins they take the place of Alpha or Luna. But that's never happened. Luna Lucy told me as a pup when I growled at Aaron the future Alpha while we were playing. No challenger has ever succeeded. They all died a gruesome and bloody death and then their pups were slaughtered and their wife demoted to Omega, if she was lucky. I was put to work that day. I don't know how old I was but I remember I couldn't reach the kitchen counters without a stool.
My chores were the same day after day, week after week, month after month. Every morning I prepared breakfast for the Alpha and his family, checked the bathrooms were fully stocked, opened the blinds and windows, made the beds and swept the floors.
Every other day I did laundry. Once a week I changed the bedding and tended to the garden and once a month I deep cleaned the kitchen and bathrooms.
Today was an easy day. Normally I liked these days. My chores were always done by lunchtime. The Alpha and the Luna were usually out so I got to go the woods. I'd sit at the top of the cliff overlooking the clearing our pack lived in.
The rest of the pack refused to stray that far into the woods. Rumours of a rouge Alpha slaying entire packs had plagued the forest packs for years. Most people believed the rouge lived wild and free in the forest killing anything and anyone who crossed his path. They blamed the rogue for the slaying of the White Wolf pack, the last direct descendants of the moon goddess herself.
I didn't believe the rumours. If the rogue Alpha really did slay the White Wolves he had to be ancient by now. Those wolves were wiped out 18 years ago. Besides, White Wolves were the most powerful of all the wolves. No lone rouge was capable of wiping out the entire pack. All except one. Princess Serena, the great, great, great, great-granddaughter of the moon goddess herself. Destined to become Queen of the Wolves, Luna to all, the most powerful wolf living, they never found her body. Some believe the rogue kidnapped her, forcing her to live as his Luna, others think he ate her in a vain attempt to consume her powers and take them as his own. Whatever he did, he didn't do it alone that's for sure and if he did exist, I'd never seen him in the forest.
I sighed, placing the broom back into the utility room, which also served as my bedroom. No peace for me today. I have a feast to prepare.
I placed the last pot back into the cupboard, wiped my wet hands on the back of my ripped jeans and leaned against the stainless steel counter. The Omegas had all left to get ready for the feast an hour ago leaving me with a mountain of pots to wash. My back ached, the soles of my feet burned and my hands were cracked and weeping. I straightened myself up, arching my neck to stretch out the stiff muscles. Lower in the pack than even the Omegas my head was permanently bowed. A piercing trill shattered the blissful silence. I heaved myself towards the stove and slammed my hand against the timer. In less than an hour, all the local packs would start arriving for the feast and I was supposed to be waiting to serve them. The walk from the packhouse to the Alpha's cabin was less than a minute on foot but every step was an effort. My bones ached. My joints screamed for mercy. Since the celebrations
Maddox's POV Shadow, my wolf, spotted her first. A tiny, scrawny girl with no curves or femine features, racing towards the Cedar Wood pack house. Her stringy, pale brown hair in a messy pile on top of her head. It was only because of her hair you could tell she was female. She wore mens clothes, at least three sizes too big for her skeletal frame and she had no figure to speak of. She may as well be a teenage boy with a body like that. "Mine," Shadow growled, racing in circles inside my head. His panting grew louder the closer we got to her. "Mine, my mate," he snarled. "Uh uh, buddy," I told him shaking my head. "Not her. No way. You're wrong." She struggled to open the heavy security door as she reached it. Too shy to even look us in the face she stepped aside, pushing the door open with her back. Shadow inhaled, savouring her scent. She smelled of crisp fresh linen on a warm summers night. She sme
Kayla's POV My mind raced. My hands shook and my arms ached under the weight of the heavy brass drinks tray. Scanning the crowd for people without a drink was impossible with my eyes glued to the floor. I tilted my head slightly, not so much that I would make eye contact with anyone but enough so I could see their hands. Immediately I was drawn to tattooed forearms. They belonged to a well-developed torso barely contained in a black cotton shirt. My gaze drifted downwards to a pair of bulging thighs and muscular calves and a large pair of feet encased in soft leather biker boots. Alpha Maddox. The Alpha Regal. Basically, royalty, as Alpha of the largest pack in our region he was in control of all the smaller packs and outranked all other Alphas including Alpha Patrick. My stomach flipped. A soft purr echoed in my mind. My wolf. She either wasn't strong enough to speak to me yet or I was too weak for her to want to
"RUNT!" The words echoed around the room, faint and distant as if they came from miles away. I tried to open my eyes. The mat I lay on felt wet and sticky. "RUNT!" My body shook violently. "RUNT!" My hands scrambled on cold, sticky tile. I urged my feet to move, straining my legs until I was breathless and laced with a cold layer of sweat. No matter how hard I tried my body refused to move. Every inch of my body ached and burned. The pain grew with each tiny movement as if a thousand needles were driving deep into my limbs. "RUNT! UP NOW!" Alpha Patrick. His snarl sounded closer. His hot breath crept over my clammy cheeks. Still, my feet refused to budge. My palms gripped at the floor, my arms ached as I tried to pull myself from the mat. Eyelids closed tight I sighed, sinking back to the mat in exhaustion. "You dare to cha
Maddox's POV My head sank into the pillow. A cinder block probably weighed less than my sleep-deprived brain. I reluctantly inched an eye open. A burnt orange glow seeped through the crisp white blinds. I bolted upright, my eyes darting around the room and my heart pounding hard. "We're at Cedar Wood," Shadow snapped. "And our mate is missing." I pressed my hand over my eyes blocking out the bright spring sunrise and yawned. Shadow kept me up most of the night, demanding something terrible had happened to his mate, pleading with me to find her. I relented at 3 am, delirious with exhaustion and scoured the packhouse. Her scent lingered in the kitchen and dining room and along an ominous narrow hallway but there wasn't a single trace of her in the sleeping quarters. "You don't find that strange." Shadow snapped in my sleep-addled head as I went over my foggy memories from
Kayla's POV I was gripped in a pair of massive arms. My heart pounded hard against my ribs. Trembles shook through my limbs. The harder I shook the tighter he gripped me. His racing heart echoed in my ears as he pulled me close to his expansive chest. The rogue was real. He tore through the forest taking me far from my pack. Far from everything I knew. Ever giant step he leaped sent waves of agony cascading through my broken body. It was all too much. The terror of what he would do to me, the pain, all of it. I passed out, falling into a nightmare filled sleep. The rogue was real and I was his prisoner. *** I sighed. A blissful warmth enveloped me. Small, soft hands stroked my tattered skin. My frail body rested on soft ground. A fire crackled beside. I struggled to
Alpha Maddox's POVLena stood guard outside the ramshackle packhouse, guarding the entry, preventing anyone but Blake from entering. I've interrogated enough suspects during my military career to know I wanted the Gamma and Beta males nowhere near the rest of the pack. Something about them didn't sit right with me. Shadow didn't trust them. They refused to meet my gaze. Their shoulders hunched when they spoke to me. Alpha Patrick's repulsive flamboyance was toned down tenfold. They knew something and the Hell was I going to let them coach the rest of the pack to fill me with the same lies they were telling me."Warrior Carl," Blake announced as he shoved a sweaty, underweight adult male into Patrick's office.&nb
Many lower-ranking packs think the buck stops with me. I am the ultimate power and if they challenge me it's only my pack they need to face. They're wrong. Just as humans have their governments we have the Elders, a group of well-loved, well respected retired Alphas. They've watched over us since the dawn of time, protected us, loved us and ensured we acted fairly to those who wrong us. Even the White Wolves could have been overruled by the Elders."Thank you," I sighed. A tiny slither of tension flowed from my body. I slipped my cell phone back into my pocket and massaged my temples."The Elders will be here within the hour," I told Blake and Lena, eager to pass off responsibility for this hot mess to someone older and wiser than myself.I blinked, a desperate effort to relieve the migraine threatening to send me crashing to my knees at any moment, and stepped back surveying the dismal scene behind me. Cedar Wood pack huddled on the dusty mess hall floor. Lucil