Chapter One

Lisa Pov

This wasn’t the first time I’ll have a dream about my family. In fact, I dreamed about them every time I slept. As always, my mother’s voice was soft and teasing, and her melodious words brought happiness to my face. I had inherited her thick, curly hair, and soft blue eyes

“Lisa” she called, her voice filled with laughter, “stop running so hard. You’ll fall.”

I fell a lot. But that never stopped me from running. The rush of the wind against my round face urged me to run faster. The bright, radiant daffodil flowers danced in the wind, as though they were cheering for me. I was free. I was with my mother. I was loved. I was happy.

“Leave her,” Father’s bubbly laughter urged me to run faster, “she’s going to grow to become a strong and important wolf. She might as well start now.”

Don’t encourage her, Mother playfully slapped her husband’s arm, and they both crashed into a romantic brawl. The love they had for each other was just as intense as the love they had for me. I could nLisa have wished for a better family; and for a brief moment, I was the happiest kid on the planet.

But all that changed with the sound of his voice.

“How dare you sleep by this time of the day?” he thundered.

My eyes flew open and I was back in my small, dingy room. The cold glare on his face reminded me that I had been dreaming. I was an orphan, and I was definitely not happy. His palms were balled into tight fists and I feared he would hit me.

“Who’s going to prepare breakfast, snotty fool?”

Thankfully, he didn’t hit me, but the anger on his face was just as terrifying.

“How dare you sleep by this time of the day, lazy fool? Get off your lazy ass and get to work. Now!”

I watched Axel storm out of my dreary room before I pulled my frail, malnourished body out of the bed. Tears draped down my plump, bubbly cheeks as I remembered my dream and clung tightly to the happy memory. I desperately wished my parents were alive. It’s been seven years since a rogue attack claimed their life, but it felt as though it was yesterday. The pain and hurt were fresh, and I was thrust into mourning all over again.

“Mom! Dad!” I whispered, “I miss you. I miss you so much.”

“You better get your lazy ass off that bed before I pounce on you,” Axel’s fiery voice startled me, and I immediately jumped off my bed.

I cleaned off my tears and rapidly made my bed before I stepped out of the room. My entire body ached with each step I took but I dare not complain, or else I’ll be tortured to the brink of death. I was clearly overworked. My chores start very early in the morning at the first cock’s crow, and I manage to finish them late into the night before catching a few hours of sleep and repeating the entire routine the next day. It was a miserable life, but I had no choice. Oddly, despite the terror I went through in Axel’s household, I was grateful he had taken me in. Not many wolves would readily take in an omega.

I dashed to the kitchen, careful to avoid Axel and his family. I discovered early that staying out of sight helped me avoid the family’s wrath. Breakfast was eggs and bacon, garnished with dry steak. I made sure I cooked the meal to perfection, anything less would result in a ferocious beating that would leave me gasping for breath. The aroma of the food was scintillating, and I was quite certain it would taste just as good. Unfortunately, I would not share in the meal. I only got to eat once a day. Eva, Axel’s wife, said it was a waste of food to feed an omega three times a day, so I only get to eat dinner. I was malnourished and maltreated, resulting in a bony, frail body.

I hastily set the breakfast on the table before I retired back to the kitchen to begin my chores, starting with the dishes. I was in the middle of cleaning the dishes when luck shined on me. I found leftover bacon from last night and stuck it in my tunic to eat later.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Dante’s voice startled me, making me drop the half-eaten bacon on the tiled kitchen floor, “Dad’s going to kill you if he finds you stealing food.”

“Please don’t tell him” I stuttered, fear etched clearly on my face,

Dante laughed. It was a maniacal, villainous laughter that deepened my resentment for him.

“Well,” he chuckled and picked up the bacon I dropped, “I’m not a monster like my father, Lisa” he brushed my part, puckered lips with his thumb.

Dante was right. He was not a monster like Axel, he was worse, He was a demon. I could handle Axel’s anger and torture, but Dante’s lascivious attitude toward me was almost unbearable. He treated me like I was a sexual object he could play with any time he wished, and I hated him for it.

“It’s understandable that you would steal food since Mother only allows you to eat once a day,” his hand drifted down to the developing mounds on my chest, “how about you keep this bacon, and eat it later when you’re hungry.”

He stuck the bacon in my tunic and began to smooch my perky breast through my clothes.

Anger, fear, repulsion, and hatred all boiled within me at the same time, and I made to push him away.

“Don’t be a killjoy, Lisa” he brushed off my feeble attempts to escape his grip, “Let’s have some fun.”

I pushed harder, and he snapped at me, “You are a slave, Lisa my slave. Your life and body belong to me and I shall use them as I wish unless you want my father to know you’re stealing food.”

“Please,” I begged, “let me go.”