Chapter 1: The Smell of Pine Trees

Adriana knew today would not be a good day even before she opened her eyes.

This was her third day of being locked up in the basement as punishment for allowing Rhonda to get drunk while her parents were away. Alpha Darien had come home to see his daughter trashed with her friends, and of course, had blamed it on Adriana for not taking care of her.

Rhonda's punishment: four days without Adriana to do her bidding. Adriana, in turn, got locked up in the basement with nothing but water and bread for the same amount of time. 

The truth was Adriana was almost enjoying it. The chilly dampness in the basement made her arm hurt in the place where Alpha Darien had twisted it, but it was slowly healing, and despite the mold and dust and the hard floor on which she slept, at least she was safe.

Normally, not a day went by without Rhonda slapping her, pinching her arm, or twisting one of her fingers. She looked down at the bluish spot near her thumb; it still hurt, but it was almost healed as well. 

"My room is a mess, the bathroom is dirty, and all my dresses are wrinkled. What's the use of keeping that stupid maid if she's not going to work?" Rhonda's voice traveled down the narrow wooden stairs leading to the ground floor of the mansion. "People will start arriving and I'm not going to be ready for tonight!" 

Adriana froze. Today was the Moon Goddess Ball, and Black Moon pack was hosting the event for the three allied packs in the area. That was all Rhonda had talked about for weeks since it was expected that she would find her fated match after turning 18 a few days ago.

That was when she had invited her clique home when her parents were out and raided his liquor cabinet. 

That night still sent shivers down Adriana's spine. It had all begun innocuously. Her two friends, Jenny and Lisa had brought over a cake and oeur d'oeuvres. Then one of them suggested they have a few drinks, since all of them were technically adults, and they wanted to see what it was like to have a few drinks before the official party. Rhonda had commandeered a thirty-year-old whiskey, mixing it with ice and some sodas. 

Adriana had been standing in the kitchen, serving the friends cake and going back and forth with glasses and plates. To the outside world, Adriana was their maid. The friends, however, knew that she was more like the mansion's slave. 

"Adriana!" Rhonda had cried, and Adriana hurried to the living room. "I told you to stand by the door. I bet you were sitting in the kitchen, eating again." By then, Rhonda was already slurring her words, and her breath stank of whiskey. 

"Yes, she does seem fatter," Jenny said, snickering. "Look at her breasts."

Linda cocked her head to one side and scrutinized Adriana as she took a gulp of the whiskey and scrunched up her lips as if she had swallowed a lemon. 

"I don't know, she's all skin and bones to me."

"Take off your clothes," Rhonda said, not even looking at Adriana.

"My clothes?"

"What, are you stupid and deaf now? That's what I said. Take it all off."

Adriana was used to name-calling, beatings, and other types of physical abuse, but she had never been asked to strip in front of anyone. Since it was common knowledge that she wasn't able to shift, she'd never been around anyone naked.

She slowly removed the shirt she was wearing, which was an already threadbare hand-me-down from Rhonda. 

"I SAID ALL OF IT!" Rhonda yelled, emptying the rest of the whiskey on Adriana's face. They all began to laugh violently, rocking back and forth in their seats. "You better hurry before that stains the wooden floor," she continued. 

The smell of the drink dripping from her wet face made Adriana nauseated, and she had been afraid of fainting, so she removed her shorts, too, trying to cover most of her body with her arms. The sooner she got done with this, the sooner Rhonda would leave her alone. 

"Look at her scars. She's disgusting."

"See, this is what I have to deal with," Rhonda had said, walking up to Adriana and pulling down her bra strap. "How many times will I have to tell you? Take. It. All. Off." 

While the other girls giggled, Adriana removed all of her underwear, the dread inside of her threatening to make her eyes gush. But she had made a resolution once, after a particularly nasty beating she got from Alpha Darien: she wouldn't give them the satisfaction of seeing her cry ever again. 

"She doesn't deserve those breasts. They're wasted on her," Linda said, looking at her up and down. 

"Or that hair. I think it's time she gets a haircut," Rhonda added, smiling wickedly at her friends. "But first we have to get it wet. It's going to be easier to cut." 

The three girls poured the whiskey over Adriana as she stood there, trying to separate her mind from her body. She thought of green pastures and an immense forest that stretched as far as the eye could see.

Someday she'd leave. Someday she'd escape this hellhole. 

"Get the scissors," Rhonda instructed her. "Wait, first you should clean that up." She pointed at the sticky puddle of whiskey that had formed beneath Adriana. "It would be fun to see what mother would do to you when she learns that you stained her floor, but the Moon Goddess Ball is coming up, and we can't have our guests see the house in disarray." 

Shaking from the shame and rage inside of her, Adriana began to mop the floor with her shirt. She picked up her underwear and began to dress as the girls talked about the party and the sons of the Alphas who would be coming to the Moon Goddess Ball. 

"Did I say you could get dressed?" Rhonda snapped at her. "Go get a mop, you useless b*tch." 

Just as Adriana had turned to head towards the kitchen, the door to the garage opened, revealing Alpha Darien. Behind him, Luna Mona stopped in her tracks too. 

"What the hell is going on?" Alpha Darien yelled, and the girls went silent. 

"Dad! Adriana drank all your whiskey. She's drunk and took off all her clothes. I just sent her away because she stinks and made a mess!" Rhonda stood and tripped on herself, landing on the other side of the couch, while her friends sat there horrified, watching the scene unfold in front of them.

Alpha Darien had grabbed Adriana's arm, pulling her so violently that she heard her elbow snap as he dragged her to the backyard and hosed her down. He then slapped her and sent her to the basement, where she had spent the first day without clothes or food.

It was just yesterday that Luna Mona left behind a t-shirt and some torn shorts for her to wear. If anything, Adriana was glad it was still summer. If it had been winter, she would have frozen to death. 

The door to the basement snapped open, light flooding the small space and bringing Adriana back to the present. 

"Come here, dog," Rhonda called down. "The guests will be arriving soon."

"Why doesn't she just stay there for the night?" Luna Mona said behind Rhonda. "You can ask any of the other servants to fix your things, darling."

"No. That is her job. There's no other reason to keep her here, and she's been down there for too long, freeloading." 

"But you'll have to lend her clothes. We can't have our guests seeing what a wretch she is. Or just make her stay upstairs where no one can see her." 

"Adriana! Come up!" Rhonda cried out again, and Adriana reluctantly began to climb the wooden steps. 

Rhonda was already dressed up with the gown she'd be using to receive people. She had been telling Adriana for weeks that she had four outfits prepared for the weekend, and that they had to be ironed and pressed and ready to go.

"You can wear the black witch costume that's somewhere in the closet. Go get dressed. And bring me my contact lenses, too."

Adriana scurried around the two women and headed upstairs, clean air filling her lungs for the first time in days. 

"Hurry up, you useless dog!" Rhonda yelled at her, and Adriana picked up the pace. 

It wasn't so much that Adriana was embarrassed to see the guests that would be arriving so much as what would happen later. She was usually treated like a normal maid around strangers. But if she messed up or stood in one place for too long, or dared to look at someone in the eye when they greeted her, she'd have hell to pay for later. 

She found the costume in one of the dozens of drawers in Rhonda's walking closet. It was a black tunic that Rhonda had worn over five years ago when she was thirteen years old. As she held it up, Adriana realized it would barely cover her thighs. But she had to make a quick decision.

She couldn't come down with the same clothes she was wearing, and she didn't want to put on anything else in Rhonda's closet. Either choice would merit some sort of physical punishment on behalf of Rhonda or Luna Mona. 

So she quickly changed into the black tunic, which fit her like a tight black dress. Her chest barely squeezed into the low neckline. At least the sleeves were long and wide, which covered the nasty bruises on her arms. 

After grabbing the contact lenses from Rhonda's bathroom, she headed downstairs. Someone had lit a candle or had some incense burning. The sweetest smell of pine trees and vanilla wafted up, filling her nose with sensory beauty. After being in the basement for so long, she cherished this brief moment of respite.

When she reached the landing, she realized one of the guests had already arrived. 

"Oh, and who is this?" said a middle-aged woman with kind eyes, looking up at Adriana.

She was frozen in place, not knowing whether it'd be better to run back upstairs or finish the trek down to the living room. 

"That's the maid, Luna Marie. Don't mind her," Luna Mona said, stepping in to block the woman's view of Adriana. 

"What is that smell?" said a male voice from afar, away from Adriana's line of sight. 

Luna Mona's head snapped in Adriana's direction, giving her a death stare. Adriana was so used to spending days without being allowed to bathe, that she just realized that perhaps she stank and couldn't even notice it. Images of her future punishment were already materializing in her head. 

"What smell?" Rhonda said in a high-pitched voice, sounding a little panicky. 

"Lavender? It's beautiful," the man replied.

"Oh, that's just how I smell," Rhonda said teasingly. "I'll be right back, Alpha Rowan." 

The woman they had called Luna Marie had a stern look on her face, glancing between Adriana and whoever stood out of Adriana's view. 

"Adriana! Dear heavens, the help can be so slow sometimes," Rhonda cried out, and Adriana snapped to attention, rushing down and skirting around Luna Mona.

When the room came into full view, she stumbled over the rug beneath the coffee table and dropped the contact lenses case, sending it flying towards the feet of the man. With dread, Adriana realized that there were no candles, oils, or incense burning.

That sweet smell was emanating from the man Rhonda had called Alpha Rowan.