chapter 1

She was drunk with pain. Dizziness kicked in when she took another slap. 

“Pathetic!’’ He spat, Encircling his large muscular fingers around her tiny throat. She gasped for breath with desperation. But even that wasn't enough to discourage him from the torment or the torture.

"Useless!" he said again in that string of insults. It was not fair that he chose to hate a girl just because she was vulnerable and under his care.

“Father,  please…’’ 

“That's right,  all you can do is beg.’’  his words always sink inside her. Hurting her more than anything. They surpass the pain of his physical assault. The torture of feeling his boots crashing against her ribs. Gasping for air as he tried to steal life from her eyes. She had become accustomed to it. She had grown accustomed to the pain and the torture.

“You are a wolf, Yet you choose to act like a human.’’ He cursed, sending another hefty slap her way.  The palm of his hand collided with her delicate skin, sending her to the cold floor once again. She writhed in pain. She tried to push away from him, but his fingers gripped her hair tightly and brought her back with pressure. 

She tried to block another blow but it only made things worse for her. His fist collided with the side of her face, blinding her for a couple of seconds as she fell down once again. Tears cascaded down her cheeks as her fingers began to shake.  She was so weak and so tired that she was sure she would die if she took in another punch.

“These are our rituals. Do you think a respectable man will want to be mated to you if you cannot even kill one simple human?’’

The question has been asked a thousand times. Elena had convinced her father for the better part of it that she was ready to do whatever it took.  But now that the opportunity had been presented in front of her,  she had chickened out. 

This was one but many of the usual beatings that Elena was used to. Every day is a different reason. A different excuse for her father to beat her up brutally and leave her almost dead.

She was one of the weakest wolves in the pack. They expected her to meet certain duties to be seen as a citizen, not a pathetic omega. The era has changed. The rules have changed. the omegas are no longer considered pack members. They are considered slaves. And they are treated as such. Elena's father has managed to climb up the cradle of leadership. He is named the commander of the werewolf warriors in Black Knight Pack.

“Do you know how much of an embarrassment it is that people know you are my daughter? Do you know how disgusted I am to be associated with you?”

“ I tried. I really tried, father.  But those are my friends…”

“THEY ARE WEAK HUMANS.”  there is a netting echo in his voice. Elena didn't have it in herself to kill humans. her heart was fragile and clean.

“YOU ARE WEAK!’’  his fingers circle her throat once again. This time he presses much harder. With his fingers,  he finds himself lifting her body. Minimal effort is applied. He squeezes her throat with the intent of breaking it. It wouldn't be the first time he did that. She had healed much slower than any other normal wolf.

 Elena's father was disappointed. 

The ritual marks when an omega is finally accepted as a pack member. It involves killing a human they had befriended. It was known as the fun festival. Alphas of every pack would watch. They watched Omegas of every pack kill weak humans. The killings prove that their hearts are rock solid.

Yet, every other Omega had fulfilled their rights except one. And that person was Elena.

She had lost the will to rip out her best friends' hearts. She was to do it to prove she was enough of a werewolf to be in the pack. Was it right? 

"Right or wrong,  that doesn't matter. Because we must follow the rules."

“P..ple..please!’’  Elena begged for her life. The cosmic smile on her father's face did not disappear as he watched the light dimming from her eyes. Happiness spread in his heart like an ignited Fire. Finally, he could get rid of her. No one would even ask a question. She was after all the outcast. She would be treated like a slave by every pack citizen.

Suddenly,  authority fills the room. Philip Mahone sees the powerful alpha across the door. His fingers leave Elena's neck,  and he lets her fall on the floor as if she weighed nothing. 

Elena was desperate.

Scurrying away from her dad, she struggled to take deep breaths.  There was a numbing pain at the bottom of her stomach. Then the unbearable sensation inside her ribs. She was sure she was going to die. And she wasn't surprised that it was going to be by her father's hand. But the man at their doorstep right then was incredibly handsome. He is what caught her attention the most. His eyes were bloodshot. He carried much authority and dominion. She saw her own father dropping to his knees against his will.

Elena had never seen her own father so afraid of another wolf. Even an alpha. Being made commander over the warriors meant that Elena's father was well-respected. He was the best in combat and had killed a thousand wolves in battle. The alpha of black knight pack himself feared Philip.  

However, Philip was afraid of no one.  Afraid of nothing.  He was known to feel absolutely nothing. Inside the vacuum supposed to hold his heart was nothing but void.

Yet, there was only one emotion that Elena's father held for the last 45 years. It was hatred for his own daughter.

He hated Elena as much as he hated submission.