Chapter 1

Camilla’s POV

The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, casting a harsh glow on the sterile white walls of the room. My body ached with every breath, and a dull pain throbbed on the side of my head. I tried to move, but a wave of dizziness washed over me, forcing me to lie back down.

"Camilla," a deep voice broke through the fog of my mind. I turned my head slowly, wincing as the movement sent another jolt of pain through my body. Seth, the new Beta of the Green Hill Pack, was sitting beside my bed, his eyes filled with concern.

"Beta?" My voice came out as a hoarse whisper, and I struggled to make sense of my surroundings. The last thing I remembered was cleaning the Alpha’s and Luna's house and getting attacked by a man in a hooded mask. I had been wounded, and then everything went black.

"You're safe now," Seth said, reaching out to gently take my hand. But then, he quickly dropped it like he was burnt, and my breath hitched. His touch was warm, and I felt a strange sense of comfort wash over me. "You've been here for a few hours."

I still couldn’t wrap my head around what was happening. I shook my head, licked my dry lips, and clenched my fingers around my dress. I couldn’t help but sneak a peek at him again, and my lips parted in a gasp as I finally realized what was happening.

“You’re—” Seth abruptly got up, cleared his throat, and turned his tense back to me. “You should rest,” he said, cutting off my words, and my heart sank.

He was going to reject me. My mate was going to reject me.

My hands shook, and I took in a deep breath and nodded. “Luna… Is she okay?” I questioned, and he looked at me over his shoulder and closed his eyes for a brief second.

His voice grew hard. “No. That is all I can tell you for now since this is a confidential matter.” And with those words said, he was gone.

———

When I woke again, the room was dim, and the pain had lessened to a dull ache. I was surprised to see Seth seated in the same spot I had seen him when I woke up the first time.

“Beta?” I called, and his eyes snapped to mine. His brown eyes raked over my figure before moving back to my face. 

“How are you feeling?” he asked, and I nodded.

“I’m fine now… Are we going to ignore it?” I finally asked, and his body tensed up.

“We are mates,” he said, and a small smile spread on my lips.

“And you’re going to reject me,” I answered, and his brows furrowed together. He ran his palm over his face and sighed.

“No. I don’t plan on rejecting you, Camilla.”

My body tingled when he said my name, but I pushed it down to focus on what was happening. “You don’t want me,” I stated, and he groaned and took my hand in his.

We both gasped at the contact, but instead of pulling away this time, he tightened his hold on my arm and swiped his tongue across his lips. “I want you, Camilla. It’s—It’s just very complicated. I—” He sighed and ran his hand over his face. “I’m not rejecting you, but I just can’t do this now.”

Seth quickly scrambled out of the chair, and I jumped off the bed, my heart beating rapidly against my chest as I followed behind him.

“Ma’am! You can’t leave now!” a nurse said, her hand reaching for mine. I hissed at her and brushed her arm off. When I finally looked forward, I could no longer find my mate. He was gone.

—

When I got to the pack house, it seemed no one bothered to check on me. I scoffed at my own thought and dragged my heavy legs to the Omegas' hall. I was the invisible girl, the orphan that no one cared about or even bothered to.

I thought back to when I was eight, found abandoned at the pack's territory. My memory before that time was a blur, a void I could never fill. All I knew was that Ma’am Katherine, the kind woman who raised me in the pack house, took me in. She cared for me until I was sixteen. When she died, I tried my best to hide in the shadows, hoping to go unnoticed, to be the invisible girl.

“Hey! Camillaaa.” My body tensed at that voice. Scratch what I just said—I was no longer invisible. No, now I was Zoe’s friends' personal punching bag. Everything changed when I reported that a girl was being abused in the pack and had gone missing. The investigation traced the abuse to Zoe and her friend. Zoe tried escaping punishment but was killed by rogues. Ever since her death, the pack's hatred turned to me, as they believed it was my fault she was dead.

I slowly turned around to meet Mia, Jane, and Laura. Mia draped her arms around my shoulder, and they all began to lead me towards our rooms. I swallowed harshly as the door clicked shut and I was pushed forward.

“We didn’t see you this morning, and we were beginning to wonder what if you were eaten by the wild wolves,” Mia said, circling me and humming to herself.

“Or finally killed yourself,” Laura injected, and they all laughed. My head was tilted downwards and my fingers pressing into the skin of my palm.

“I was at the hospital,” I said, hoping they would leave me alone, but of course, all the things I wanted in this world never came true.

“No one cares, Camilla,” Mia said, stopping in front of me and tilting her head down to look into my eyes. She smirked when I turned my eyes to the other side.

“Such a good little puppy,” she mocked in a tiny voice, and Jane ruffled my hair harshly, and I winced at the pain that shot through my skull.

Now, I was beginning to regret not staying at the hospital.

“What? Does it hurt, Camilla?” Jane asked with fake concern in her voice and pressed even harder on the sore spot on my head. I pressed my fingers deeper into my skin to stop myself from showing any pain, or it would just get worse.

“What do you think we should do to her today, girls?” Mia asked, and a grin spread on their faces.

Laura twisted my hair between her fingers and then looked at each of her friends. “How about we shave off her hair today?”

My eyes snapped up, and without thinking, I dashed for the locked door, and my hands fumbled with the lock. A handful of my hair was yanked, and I turned to face them. Pain shot through my cheek as somebody smacked me, and without thinking—again, I balled my fingers into fists and punched.

I didn’t bother to look at who it was and finally pulled the door open. “You will pay for that! I swear it, Camilla! You will fucking pay.” A deep shudder ran through my body at the voice. It was Mia’s, and I knew she would follow through with her words.