Azalea

Three months and ten days… The phrase echoed in my head as I moved through my chores in the pack house. In three months and ten days, I would graduate from high school. Graduation meant a full-time job and moving out of the pack house, closer to the human side of the territory. Moving away meant escaping the werewolves who made my life miserable.

I couldn’t blame them entirely. My parents had attempted to overthrow Alpha Robert. They were traitors, and I carried their blood. Alpha Robert only spared me after their execution because I was five and knew nothing of their plot.

Orphaned and branded with the taint of treason, no pack family would take me in. Alpha Robert and Luna Lyssa allowed me to stay in the pack house, provided I earned my keep. It began with simple chores, but the expectations increased as I grew older.

Now, at sixteen—almost seventeen—I just endured, counting down the days until my escape. Each morning, I rose before anyone else, slipping into the omega showers for a quick wash and change. I’d collected and mended enough clothes to have three outfits for chores and three for school. I usually reached the kitchen just in time to prepare breakfast for the pack house residents and wash the dishes before rushing to the attic to get ready for school. I slipped out well before breakfast ended, seeking the peace of a solitary walk to school.

After school, I raced back to tackle my daily chores. If I finished in time, I could study and get a decent night’s sleep. Usually, I didn’t. Thankfully, I had a good memory, making school easier despite the other teenagers in the pack house who delighted in making my life difficult.

The pack house housed several orphans like me, along with the Alpha, Beta, and Gamma families and some pack warriors. Naturally, the eldest children of the Alpha, Beta, and Gamma families were my age. This meant a large number of people—many of whom disliked me—were around the pack house when school was out.

My status as a "traitor's daughter" was a favorite pastime for them. They didn't care that I'd been uninvolved in my parents' plot; I was simply a traitor by blood. I endured their torment, their taunts, and their harassment, reminding myself that soon I could leave and live on the human side of the territory. There, I would be just another girl, able to earn a living and enjoy a simple, quiet life. My wolf hasn't spoken to me since two months after she emerged, so I might as well be human. I never even shifted.

One last chore. My cracked watch showed 9:30 PM. Perhaps I could sneak into the kitchen for leftovers before bed. My final task was folding the laundry I'd washed after school. I didn’t mind; I could prop up my literature textbook and study while I worked.

I went to the laundry room, book in hand. As I walked toward the folding table, flipping through my book to find my place, I bumped into a wall of muscle—a six-foot-two wall of lean muscle. As he turned, my stomach plummeted, and I involuntarily gulped.

Liam

I really needed to talk to Mom about the staff just entering my room and taking my clothes to wash. Seriously, I was almost seventeen, and as soon as I found my mate, I'd be Alpha! I should be able to manage my own laundry like everyone else. Or at least when I was down to one pair of boxers…

I stood in the laundry room, searching for my clean clothes. The baskets were unlabeled, making it impossible to know which belonged to whom. After five minutes of fruitless searching for my favorite sweatshirt, I was about to give up when someone crashed into me.

I turned, not immediately seeing anyone until I looked down. My anger flared as I saw the small “traitor girl” my father allowed to stay in the pack. Fear filled her eyes. I noticed her book beside her and, bending, picked it up. It was a literature textbook.

She quickly stood and bowed her head. In a soft, squeaky voice, she apologized, "I'm sorry, Alpha Liam. I wasn't paying attention. It won't happen again."

I grunted in acknowledgment.

"Is there anything I can do for you, Alpha Liam?" she whispered, her small frame trembling slightly under her worn clothes. Her fear was understandable; she was barely four-foot-ten, and some doubted she even possessed a wolf given her small size.

"Where are my clothes?" I replied, irritation in my voice. All I wanted was my sweatshirt. I was annoyed that Mother allowed the omegas to simply collect my clothes. She nodded and located my basket, placing it on the folding table. An idea struck me.

"So, they aren't folded yet? That won't do," I said, flipping through her book. "I think you'll fold them now. And I'll just… read this while I wait."

I began flipping pages more forcefully. Her eyes widened as the next page tore.

"Oops. Better work quickly," I sneered, dropping the ripped page as she began to frantically fold my clothes. I didn't have to be a jerk, but it was a habit.

Azalea

My heart sank. No, no, no. It had been a relatively good day—only one locker-pushing and one trip in the hallway. I was going to finish before 11 PM and get some sleep! And the last time a textbook was ruined, Luna Lyssa made me perform extra chores for four weeks to “repay” the cost.

I folded as quickly as possible. By the time I finished, he'd ripped about ten pages from my book, dropping them on the floor.

He located his sweatshirt, snatched it up, and dropped my book on the table.

"You can send the rest up, oh, and clean up this mess," he said, turning to leave.

Why him? Of all of them, why Liam? Gwen was always the cruelest, but Liam was the one I feared most. He and Damien were similarly sized, but Liam was an Alpha. He was stronger and faster than everyone else, and one day, he would be Alpha and could cast me out.

As he left, I began to gather the torn pages. I thought I heard his footsteps pause, but glancing over my shoulder, I only saw the swinging laundry room door.