Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

As the morning sun gently streamed into my cabin I stirred from sleep. I Stretched, noticing the stiffness, in my muscles from the mattress. The unforgiving mattress hadn't been kind to me. It was all I had. As I sat up I could see the bruises on my arms and legs from yesterday.

I'm Aurora Nightshade, the omega of the Clearwater Pack. At fifteen years old most would expect me to be excited about shifting for the time and finding my mate. Instead, each day is a struggle for survival in a pack that views me as nothing but a target for their abuse and a servant.

I quickly dressed in my hand-me-down clothes – castoffs from pack members who couldn't be bothered to offer anything better. Time was of the essence; being late to prepare breakfast was not an option I wanted to entertain.

Stealthily leaving my cabin I scanned the surroundings for any risers. The last thing I needed was a run-in with one of those who made my life difficult. Thankfully, the path to the pack house was clear. I slipped into the kitchen.

The kitchen was my domain, not out of respect, but because no one else wanted the responsibility of feeding the entire pack. I moved silently, gathering ingredients and heating the stoves. I got lost in my thoughts for a while reminiscing about the days when my mom showed me how to cook.

Suddenly, a pan slipped from my hands. Made a clanging noise as it hit the floor. I stood still feeling my heart racing in my chest.

“You clumsy useless bitch!” The shout came from behind me. Without looking, I could tell it was Beta Marcus. His strong hand grabbed my shoulder, turning me around and pushing me against the counter. “Can't you ever get it right?”

I held back a cry by biting my lip tasting the tang of blood. It won't happen again.

“See that it doesn't,” he growled his face inches from mine. “Or you'll be sorry.”

As he stormed out, I took a shaky breath and returned to my tasks. My hands trembled slightly as I plated the food, but I forced them steady. Showing weakness would only invite more abuse.

Pack members began filing in for breakfast, a procession of indifference and cruelty. Most ignored me entirely as if I were a piece of furniture. Others made it a game to make my life miserable.

“Oops,” sneered Kara, a she-wolf my age, as she deliberately knocked her orange juice onto the floor. “Clean it up, omega.”

I gritted my teeth and grabbed a cloth, wiping up the spill as Kara and her friends giggled above me. As I stood, Luna Sarah approached, her nose wrinkled in disgust.

“This food is atrocious,” she declared, though I'd seen her eat the same meal with gusto just yesterday. Unexpectedly, she dumped her entire plate on the floor. “Clean this mess and make me something edible. Now!”

As I cleaned up the second spill in as many minutes, I overheard excited chatter from a nearby table.

“The full moon is in two weeks,” a young wolf named Ethan was saying. “Do you think you'll find your mate at the ceremony?”

My heart raced with excitement. The mating ceremony will be on my birthday. It had slipped my mind until now. A glimmer of hope ignited within me. Perhaps this event could change everything if I found my mate. Holding on to that flicker of hope I completed my morning tasks in the kitchen.

After breakfast, I was assigned to do the laundry. The laundry baskets felt heavier than usual. Maybe I was just feeling weaker each day. Struggling under their weight my arms and back ached as I carried them outside to hang the clothes on the line.

As I pinned up the sheet everything around me suddenly blurred into a scene. The bright daylight faded into the night. Images of fur and sharp teeth flashed before me mixed with the sounds of rogue wolves snarling and pack mates screaming in fear. Then I saw them – my parents, shifting into their wolf forms, standing between me and a massive, scarred rogue.

“Run, Aurora!” my mother's voice echoed in my head. “Don't look back!”

I stood there feeling powerless witnessing my parents fight the rogue. The scene was filled with a mix of teeth and claws followed by cries of pain until everything fell silent.

“Hey, omega! Daydreaming on the job?”

Gamma Tyler's mocking voice snapped me back to reality. I blinked, disoriented, only to see him knock over my basket of clean laundry. He laughed as he walked away, leaving me to rewash everything.

I bit back the tears that threatened to fall. Crying wouldn't change anything. It wouldn't bring my parents back or make the pack treat me better. Instead, I gathered the soiled clothes and started over, whispering a quiet prayer to the Moon Goddess for strength.

When it was time for lunch I quietly made my way to a spot in the forest. It wasn't anything special, it was just a little clearing enclosed by thick trees – but it felt like my own little haven. I could imagine myself as brave and resilient.

I moved through the basic fighting stances I'd observed during pack training sessions. My movements were awkward. Unskilled, I kept going. I told myself that one day I would have the strength to protect myself.

A branch cracked behind me. I spun around, my heart racing. Asher, the leader, was at the edge of the clearing observing me with a look. I braced myself for reprimand, expecting him to take me back to the pack house and report my defiance.

To my surprise, he didn't. He simply stood there, his penetrating gaze making me uneasy. After what seemed like an eternity, he walked away silently, leaving me puzzled and cautiously optimistic. Why hadn't he punished me?

As the sun started to go, I rushed back to the kitchen to get dinner. While quickly cutting vegetables, the knife. Cut into my palm. I held back a yelp of pain, swiftly wrapping a cloth around the cut. I couldn't afford for anyone to notice my injury – they'd only use it as an excuse to punish me for incompetence.

Dinner time was always a challenge. Tonight, a group of young wolves decided it would be fun to use me for target practice, flicking bits of food at me whenever the adults weren't looking. I saw Alpha Dominic notice their game, but he did nothing to stop it. Why would he? I was just the omega.

After I completed tidying up my entire body ached with exhaustion. I wearily made my way back to my cabin. Collapsed onto the bed feeling the fatigue seep into every fiber of my being. I pulled out my most treasured possession from, under my pillow I gazed at a faded photograph of my parents.,

I traced their smiling faces with a finger. “I miss you,” I murmured, a tear slipping away despite attempts to hold it back. “I'm trying to be strong, like you taught me. But it's so hard.”

As exhaustion pulled me towards sleep, I offered one last prayer to the Moon Goddess. “Please,” I murmured, “let me find my mate soon. Let something in my life change for the better.”

With that final plea, I drifted off, dreaming of a future where I was more than just the pack omega. Where I was strong, respected… loved.

But morning would come all too soon, bringing with it another day of struggle and survival in the Clearwater Pack. Yet deep inside, that tiny spark of hope refused to die. Someday, somehow, things will change. They had to.