One

CHAPTER ONE

POV: NAYA CROWLEY

"You're fucking useless. All you seem to do is irritate me with that stupid face of yours!" She screamed at me.

Milly, the Alpha's daughter, was in a terrible mood and I had been unlucky enough to walk past her while getting ready to clean the stables. Naturally, she had stopped me to pour out her frustration on me.

"I'm sorry ma'am," I responded.

I kept my head low making sure not to meet her eyes with mine. The last time that happened, she had given me a slap so heavy I had a migraine for weeks.

"Don't apologize for being good for nothing."

The full impact of her rage moved around me with potent energy strong enough to scorch me if I dared to step out of place. I stood still while my legs trembled slightly.

"What's your name again slave?" She asked with a level of curiosity in her voice.

"Naya," I said. "Naya Crowley."

She paused to think about what I had just said. I couldn't see her expression but I knew it was cold. I could almost feel the cold lips of her gaze giving me icy kisses around my ample flesh.

"Crowley? You're Alpha Arthur's daughter." She said without hiding the shock.

I was used to people reacting that way when they discovered who I was. I should have learned a long time ago to start using another identity by now but I was too darn proud of my name to let it go.

"Your good for nothing father got what he deserved. Your whore of a mother too!"

I turned to her staring at her eyes with rage in mine. Her eyes immediately lost their fire in the face of my hard stare. I saw fear creep into her eyes for a few seconds and it was gone.

"How dare you look at me." She said just as her slap hit my face.

I stood still unmoving. Her slap stung me badly but I stayed planted on the spot without breaking my gaze from hers.

Another slap hit me across the face then another. I stood still.

She gasped at me unable to believe what was happening. I could tell easily that she was afraid even though she was trying hard not to show it.

"You are nothing!" She yelled.

I let my head drop facing the cold floor. If I was to have any chance of survival, I needed to be careful and keep my head down. That was the only way I was going to keep my head safely on my neck- and I would very much like my head to stay where it was.

"Yes," I said in a low voice. "I am nothing."

"You may have the blood of an Alpha coursing through your veins but it is tainted by the sins of your father. If I was you, I'd kill myself." She mocked.

Milly looked like she had relinquished most of her fury just yelling at me and I could see she was exhausted.

She knocked me out of her way, walking to where she had been going before stopping to remind me that my life was hell.

I plopped on the floor drenched by the small puddle formed from the water I had put in the bucket for my cleaning. Now I would have to get a mop and refill the water.

It took an hour to get the hall cleaned up then I resumed my journey to the stables. I knew the horses would be happy to see me since I was going there to make their home clean.

Roger, the only stallion in the team, was mischievous enough to leave a big asf lump of shit for me to clean up. It was his way of pulling a massive joke on me.

Sure enough, when I got there, I discovered Roger was being nice for a change which I appreciated. I could without having to scrap away shit that was strong enough to break the shovel in half.

It took me three hours to get all the shit away then I moved to clean the toilet. I had to make a quick stop at the equipment room to grab the scrubs and brush I would need for the toilet.

I turned heading for the hallway leading to the toilet when I felt a sharp pain in my chest. I almost reeled over with the equipment in my hand. It took my entire strength to keep my feet from buckling.

Ahhhhhhh! Shit.

I staggered against the wall and leaned on it for support. It felt like my whole being was yanked away and thrown inside a big human-sized blender.

My wolf shrieked from the agony we were both going through and the sound of her screams was painful enough to drive anyone insane. It was good the sound of her tortured scream was limited to the boundaries of my mind.

I had felt this pain before a couple of times and each time it kept getting worse the more I tried to fight it. The last time I felt it, I had almost passed out in the market amongst the crowd of buyers.

There was a faint scent of lavender filling my nostrils and I associated the scent with the pain I was going through because in every scenario I had been experiencing the pain, the scent had come to me too.

I knew whose scent it was. The first time I got that particular scent was the day after my eighteenth birthday after hearing my wolf howl for the first time. The night of my eighteenth birthday was the awakening of my wolf. The scent had come to me the next day when I walked past Stormie- the son of the Alpha. That very moment, my wolf had told me that he was meant to be my mate.

I argued with my wolf that whole day. Stormie was the most arrogant obnoxious human to ever walk the earth. Even though I had to admit he was the most gorgeous man alive, there was no way I would willingly give myself to him. He fucked anything on skirt and didn't care what anyone thought about him. He was the textbook definition of a playboy.

I struggled to stay conscious through the pain but it only made it worse. Soon enough I could only breathe with the aid of my mouth as a substitute nostril. My wolf begged me to make it stop and I knew the only way to do that was to follow the scent which would undoubtedly lead me to Stormie.

"Let's go then," I said to my wolf in a faint soundless whisper.

I got to the passageway leading to his chambers. I had heard rumors about how he tortures or punishes anyone stupid enough to walk into his chambers unannounced. Yet, I pushed the door open and burst into the large room. Everything was done in an ancient Greek theatrical setting. This was the first time I was seeing the place and it was beautiful.

I was so marveled by the beauty that I failed to notice the pain in my chest had reduced to a dull stab. The color of the columns merged well with the background and boosted the general ambiance.

"You like that?"

I paused. The voice had come from the inner room. It was unmistakable the voice of a man but there was something about it that made me feel like walking toward the door.

"Oh yeah. I love it. Give it to me harder!" A voice squealed

I jerked in shock. Why was I approaching the door to the room where these strange voices were coming from rather than going back to my job cleaning the toilet? I knew it was asking for trouble being there and I was about to make it worse by letting myself get caught.

"Fuck!" The male voice yelled. "Bounce that ass on me."

The door stood open. I was a few steps from the doorway. My wolf urged me to go on even though we were both aware of the dangers. Oh well, I thought. Then stepped forward.