One

The soft chiming of an alarm pulled Charlotte awake, rolling over onto her side, she quickly grabbed the clock and dismissed the alarm before it had a chance to wake anyone else in the house. It was still early, the world pitch black and still in these hours before daylight, but Charlotte could not be still, there were too many things that needed to be done if today was to go as planned. Bringing her feet to the floor she stood up and turned on the only light in the room, an old lamp without a shade perched on the edge of her faded oak dresser. She stretched her tired body and gazed bleary eyed at her reflection in the mirror, somewhat disappointed, she found the same face staring back at her that she had always had.  A smile broke across her face suddenly, lighting up her face and making her bright green eyes sparkle because it hit her that today WAS different. Today was the day she’d been waiting on for years. After today she wouldn’t have to stay in this house, this town or even this state another day.... she just had to get away first.

-Charlotte POV-

This house...This house has been my home for all of my life. Somewhere between a castle and a mansion, the pack house was as much a fortified defensive structure as it was a luxurious home. Designed for housing the current Alpha, Beta and their families,as well as all their designated guards and even some of the other pack members as needed, the mansion was also the center of our pack operations and had rooms for all the administrative offices and even a large ballroom that was used for celebrations. Up until I was three years old this place had been my refuge, I had lived a charmed life surrounded by warm loving people who only ever made me feel safe and adored. As the only child of a well loved and respected Alpha and Luna, I remember carefree days of playing in the gardens with my mother and sneaking into the kitchens for treats from the cooks. We may not have kings in our world, but that didn’t stop our pack from treating me like their little princess. 

That all changed the day a massive rogue attack hit us without warning. My father died that day defending our home and pack mates from the attack, by charging in to save a young boy who’d gotten cornered by a rogue warrior knowing he’d have to sacrifice himself in the process to save a life. As my mother felt the life leave her mate, she let out a soul shattering wail and ran grief stricken out into the battle, blinded by her grief, she was killed before she could even reach his body. How do i know all of this? because I had watched it all from a window of an upper story of the pack house. The images of my dying parents were etched into memory so deeply that I can replay every last second of their lives in perfect detail even after all these years. 

In the end our warriors were able to beat the rogues back, but from that day on my life would change. My uncle Eric had been away visiting another pack the day of the attack because as my father’s only brother, and his beta, he often made diplomatic visits in his stead on behalf of the pack. It took several days for my uncle to get back to us, upon returning he found us broken and grieving our heavy losses, while desperately trying to save our wounded and secure our defenses in case the rogues returned. In those first days and the following weeks he played on the pack members' fear, insisting that if only he’d been there to protect the pack, my father would still be alive, that all their loved ones would still be alive. I knew better, my father had been a strong alpha, much stronger than my uncle could ever hope to be, but as a child I had no voice and the pack voted to elect my uncle as their new alpha. My Uncle made me his ward shortly after, not for love of his brother, or any other noble reason you might think of. No, he had kept me and raised me, using me as a servant and forcing me to be his daughter’s personal maid. By flaunting my miserable existence, he used me as an example for others of what could happen without his protection. Over time he made many changes to pack law, giving himself and those loyal to him more control. My uncle used that control to systematically replace all of my fathers loyal men with his own cronies, who like him relished instilling fear in people and used constant threats of violence to maintain control over the pack.

After changing into my clothes for the day and straightening my bedroom, I looked around me carefully. I had to make sure everything seemed as normal as any other day for my plan to slip away to work. I made a mental inventory of all the small trinkets I was forced to leave behind, reminding myself they were sacrifices necessary to making my plan work, stepping back. I said my goodbye to my small space, it was barely more than a closet, but it was still my home. Knowing my aunt and cousins would be checking in on me and would surely be alerted if anything seemed out of place, or if they found any chore undone on my list of daily demands. I headed out to start the day’s work. They were always looking for any excuse to get me in trouble with my uncle, they relished watching him dole out punishments to me, it was their favorite form of entertainment.. I knew if my Uncle thought for a moment that I intended to leave he would place me under heavy guard because lock me away. While he could never dispose of me without causing alarm, he’d never allow me the freedom to live happily either. He’d been clear on that point, he needed me to be miserable, and he’d succeeded. I’d been a lonely outcast my whole life, lost to the people who could have brought me comfort and joy all because they were too afraid to displease my uncle.

Today wasn’t just a special day for me however, today was the day the new Alpha from the snow moon pack was due to arrive.The whole pack had been preparing for his arrival for weeks now, and with all of them focused on his visit i don’t think anyone even notices me moving about. Tradition dictates that unless an Alpha finds his goddess given mate before his 23rd birthday they are to choose a mate from the daughters of an alpha of a foreign pack,a pact designed to ensure peace between the ruling families and to keep the bloodlines strong. A wolf finding their mate had become so rare that most didn’t even believe in the bond anymore, and many alphas barely waited before choosing a luna. This Alpha from the north, the infamous Cole Hale- was rumored to be stunningly beautiful as well as the most powerful wolf to have been born in a thousand years, but he was also said to be as cold and unforgiving as the ice that surrounds their lands. Not yet 23, like so many others he had already begun meeting with the daughters of ruling alphas, making it clear he would waste no time in choosing his luna. My Uncle couldn’t be more thrilled at the possibility of an alliance, of course he didn’t think about what kind of a life he’d be throwing one of his daughters into, no - all he cared about was forging ties to the most powerful alpha alive, so he could exploit the man's status and gain more power for himself.

I couldn’t care less about the visiting alpha, it was my cousins that he was coming to see. The worst of my cousins, and older than me by a couple months, Mara had been talking of nothing else for weeks now, planning how she would seduce him with her beauty and convince him to take her as his bride. I could only hope for his sake the poor man was smart enough not to fall into that trap. Whether or not she succeeded in snatching the man, I didn't plan on being around long enough to find out. With everyone focused on the visiting ruler it was the perfect time for me to make a run for it, I just had to get through one more day, and tonight while they were distracted I would set myself free from this place.