CHAPTER ONE:
NIMA’S POV.
“Nima!” I flinched at the sharp voice.
The sky outside was still dark. Dawn had not yet arrived, but I had already been awake for hours.
I quickly lowered my head and continued scrubbing the floor of the packhouse kitchen.
“Are you scrubbing or sleeping?” one of the older servants snapped. “Do you think these floors will clean themselves?”
“Sorry,” I murmured.
My arms ached from work. I had spent most of yesterday cleaning rooms, washing clothes, and carrying stuff to the packhouse store. I had barely slept before being dragged out of bed again.
Still, nobody cared if I was tired.
I was Nima.
The servant everyone hated.
As I scrubbed the floor, I heard whispers coming from the corner of the room.
The whispers stopped whenever I looked up.
Then they started again.
“Look at her.”
“I heard she cried all night again, like that would erase what she’s done.”
“Maybe she’s worried Lochlan is coming back.”
A few servants laughed.
Another woman snorted.
“She should be worried. If I were him, I would throw her out of the pack.
It’s obvious the girl is bad luck.”
I lowered my eyes and continued working. Pretending not to hear had become a skill.
If I reacted to every cruel word, I would spend all day crying.
The truth was that most of the pack disliked me.
Some hated me.
Others simply wished I would disappear.
I had lived in Night Cresent Pack my entire life, but I had never truly belonged here.
I never even knew my mother.
The story of how I came here was one I had heard many times growing up.
Years ago, a pregnant woman stumbled across the pack border.
She was wounded, frightened, and barely alive.
The pack guards wanted to turn her away, but Alpha Frank refused.
He brought her into the pack himself.
Nobody knew exactly where she had come from.
All they knew was that her pack had been destroyed.
She gave birth to a baby girl.
Me.
Then she died only days later.
Since I was not born into Night Crescent Pack, many people believed I should have been sent away, maybe given up for adoption, or abandoned.
But Alpha Frank allowed me to stay.
As a servant.
At the time, I had been too young to understand how much trouble that decision would cause.
Growing up, Alpha Frank was the only person who consistently showed me kindness.
Whenever others mocked me, he defended me.
Whenever I got sick, he made sure I was treated.
Whenever someone tried to make my life harder than it already was, he stepped in.
That was enough to start rumors.
Ugly rumors.
Some people claimed Alpha Frank had been the one who got my mother pregnant.
Others insisted I was secretly his daughter.
I didn’t believe it.
But that didn’t stop people from talking.
Or hating me.
The kitchen door suddenly swung open.
Everyone straightened immediately, the Omegas bowing their heads low.
I didn’t need to look up to know who had entered.
Violet.
The beta’s daughter.
Lochlan’s betrothed, and the person who hated me most.
Her expensive heels clicked against the floor as she walked inside.
“Nima.”
My hand froze. I slowly got to my feet.
“Yes, Violet?”
Her eyes narrowed immediately.
“What did you call me?”
I swallowed.
“Luna Violet.”
A satisfied smile appeared on her face.
“Better.”
The room became silent.
Nobody wanted to get involved whenever Violet focused her attention on me.
That was asking for trouble.
She walked around me slowly.
Her eyes scanned my simple maid uniform.
“You look awful.”
I said nothing.
“You always look awful.”
More silence.
Then she leaned closer.
“Do you know what day it is?”
I nodded slowly.
Violet smiled brightly.
“Lochlan is returning home today.”
The servants immediately started murmuring excitedly.
I felt my stomach sink.
Lochlan.
The only son of Alpha Frank.
The future Alpha.
I had never met him before.
After his mother died years ago, he left Night Crescent Pack and went to live with his aunt in another pack.
He had rarely returned.
But now Alpha Frank was dead.
Which meant Lochlan was coming home to take his place.
Violet looked almost giddy.
“I can’t wait to see him. My mate.”
Of course she couldn’t.
She had been promised to him since birth.
Everyone expected them to marry.
Everyone expected her to become Luna.
Then her smile faded as she looked at me.
“You should stay out of his sight. As a matter of fact, you should probably leave Night Crescent while you can.”
I frowned slightly.
“Why?”
The slap came so fast that I barely saw it.
Pain exploded across my cheek.
“Don’t question me.”
I lowered my head immediately.
“I’m sorry.”
“Good.”
She grabbed my chin.
“Because if Lochlan as much as sets his eyes on you, he’ll only remember one thing.”
My chest tightened.
“The reason for his father’s death.”
My heart squeezed painfully.
Violet released me with a shove, and I stumbled.
The servants looked away.
Nobody defended me.
Nobody ever did.
Because they all believed the same thing.
That Alpha Frank died because of me, and they weren’t wrong.
I still remembered that night.
The memory haunted me.
It had happened only two weeks ago.
I had gone into the forest alone.
I often did.
The woods were the only place where nobody looked at me with disgust.
I had been sitting near a stream when I smelled them.
Rogues.
By the time I realized they were there, it was already too late.
Three of them surrounded me.
I tried to run, but they chased me.
I tried to call my wolf.
But my wolf was weak.
Pathetically weak.
At eighteen, everyone had expected me to shift into something powerful.
Instead, my wolf had been small and fragile.
The healers were horrified.
They spent days examining me.
In the end, they gave only warnings.
“Do not shift often.”
“Your wolf is too weak.”
“If you push her too far, she could die.”
“Maybe even take you with her.”
After that, people looked down on me even more.
A useless servant. A weak wolf. A burden.
Years after that, and still at twenty-one, nothing had changed.
That night in the forest, my weak wolf couldn’t help me.
The rogues attacked.
I thought I was going to die.
Then Alpha Frank appeared.
I could still hear his roar, still see him tearing through the rogues, still remember the blood.
He killed them all.
He saved me.
But he was badly injured during the fight.
At first, everyone thought he would recover.
Then his condition worsened.
Days later, he died.
And then everything changed.
The kindness I once received disappeared.
The whispers became louder.
The hatred became open.
People called me cursed.
People said Night Crescent Pack would still have its Alpha if I had died instead.
Sometimes I wondered if they were right.
A loud noise suddenly echoed through the packhouse.
The front doors burst open, and a guard rushed inside.
Everyone immediately turned toward him.
His face was flushed from running.
“I have news!”
The room became completely silent.
The guard looked around before speaking loudly.
“Future Alpha Lochlan has crossed the border!”
Excited gasps filled the room.
Several servants smiled. Others immediately started talking.
“He’s here!”
“Finally!”
“Night Crescent Pack has an Alpha again!”
Violet looked delighted. A huge smile spread across her face.
But while everyone else celebrated, fear settled heavily in my chest.
Lochlan was here.
The son of the man who died saving me.
The future Alpha of Night Crescent Pack.
And even though we had never met…
I knew he already hated me.
What readers are saying 0
Share your thoughts with everyone reading this chapter.