01

Orchid's POV

"No! Please! Please spare me!"

The flickering fire and screams in the distance poured frantically into my brain through the cracks in the closet, making my head almost crack. I curled up in the corner of the closet and covered my ears.

"You are demons! Devils!"

I did not want to hear the sounds, but my actions to block them out had little effect. Even though I did my best to cover my ears and block the sound from entering, I was still able to catch and identify the fear coming from the air.

"Run! I will hold them off!"

"Do not even think about running! This Pack has been completely blocked by our Pack! Not one of you can escape!"

"Fuck you all!"

"Dad!"

"Damn Grey Pack! I will kill you all!"

Countless tiny voices merged into my mind. I felt like my head was about to explode and my body was trembling.

Those people who were killed... They were all members of the Bright Pack, members of my Pack, people who lived with me every day!

I was so scared that I forced myself out of this state and squeezed my eyes shut.

"Get out of my house!"

The voice that suddenly came from inside the house made my body tremble violently. I could not control it and jerked my eyes open.

It was my father's voice!

I braced my helpless arms that were trembling and approached the gap in the closet little by little, through which I quietly observed the situation outside.

A splash of blood flashed in front of my eyes.

My eyes widened. Through the gap in the closet, I saw my father pounced on the floor by two black wolves! They were tearing at my father's body with their teeth, red flesh and blood, and white bone falling all around the room. My father's blood was pooling on the floor in a pool of scarlet liquid, flowing in my direction.

I wrenched my eyes open as wide as I could and watched as my father was torn apart by their mouthfuls.

"No! Let him go! Devils!"

At this moment, a woman burst into the room into my view, the charred pieces of wood on the floor clacking as she stepped on them.

It was my mother!

I almost made a sound, but the next moment I tightly covered my mouth. I was so scared that I did not dare to make a sound, and the words I wanted to tell my mother to run away were bottled up in my stomach.

No! Moon Goddess! Please do not treat me so cruelly!

I beg you!

I prayed loudly and helplessly in my heart. Both of my tired eyes were bloodshot, but I dared not close them.

However, the Moon Goddess did not seem to hear my prayer.

I saw it. Another strong black wolf suddenly burst out from behind the door and pounced my mother to the ground. Blood bloomed like a mandala flower before my eyes, and my mother's back was torn apart by him. She tried to resist, but her strength was as weak as a puppy when facing the strong black wolf.

No!

Tears gushed out uncontrollably.

I saw my mother collapse helplessly on the floor, and her eyes turned to meet mine through the gap in the closet.

My body trembled even more. I covered my mouth as hard as I could to swallow all my sobs.

My mother. The mother who loved me the most and always took care of me. She looked at me with tenderness and sadness, her eyes filled with all the hope she had for me.

Orchid, live.

She looked at me like that. She kept looking at me until her body was torn apart by the werewolves and the light of life in her eyes completely disappeared.

Mom!

My heart twitched as if it was being churned, and the pain that almost suffocated me spread to my mouth and nose.

Bang!

The closet door in front of me was opened by them!

"Ah!"

All the fear formed a scream inside my throat. My heart seemed to be stabbed hard by something as if I had fallen into an endless abyss. I kept falling and falling in the darkness.

My eyes snapped open.

Dream.

My consciousness regained.

It was this dream again.

I moved my stiff limbs as if they were frozen and slowly sat up from the bed. The fear from the nightmare still lingered in my mind like a dark fog that would not go away.

Eight years. It is been eight years since that day.

The night breeze slips through the cracks in this cramped little cupboard, and my thin top is no protection against the cold. I hugged myself and clutched the worn sheet in my hands with shaking hands. Tears lingered in the corners of my eyes.

Damn Grey Pack! I will have my revenge!

Stabbing pains twanged my nerves. I pulled at my sleeves to cover the conspicuous bruises, but there were too many of them. There was no way I could cover them all with my sleeves.

The scars came from the beatings that members of the Grey Pack had inflicted on me over the years.

After that day, I was taken here to be their slave so that someone could do the dirty and busywork. I escaped many times during this period, but each time I was caught and brought back. To punish me, they beat and kicked me with whips, wooden sticks, and even iron bars. I was tortured endlessly at Grey Pack!

"What time is it that you are not up yet, Orchid!!! Are you slacking off again?"

A middle-aged man walked in accompanied by his stern voice, berating me loudly, "You stupid lazy swine! We mercifully let you live and stay in the Grey Pack for you to atone for your Pack sins, not for you to sleep around!"

"Sir, I ......"

Without listening to my explanation, he pulled me by the hair and yanked me hard out the door. A sharp pain came from my head.

"Today we have invited many allies to our banquet. Get your ass to work! If I catch you slacking off again, you'll go to the lockup hungry today!"

With disgust on his face, he yelled at me as he yanked me outside.

I stopped trying to defend myself, frowned and endured the pain, and obediently followed him.

After all, I had heard these insults here countless times and had long since gotten used to them.

The time soon came in the afternoon. The grand banquet organized by Grey Pack was well underway in the hall. The guests who had come to the banquet were dressed in fancy clothes, gulping down their drinks and eating the sumptuous food on their plates. I carefully placed the food on the table slowly in order.

"It is that slave! She finally came out!"

"Get over there! Catch her!"

"Throw the rocks at her head!"

A group of children under ten years old ran toward me, and then they excitedly picked up branches and stones from the ground and threw them at me.

These children had seen me being beaten by the adults since they were children, so they followed the example of the adults and chased me.

Sticks and stones were thrown at me. My brow furrowed, but I did not resist, because my status now is just a lowly slave, and slaves are not qualified to resist the victor. If I showed the slightest dissatisfaction with the behavior of these children, I would have been beaten and treated even worse.

Although my heart was very humiliated, I still had to put up with them.

I carefully continued to place the dishes on the table without bothering about those children.

Bang!

A sudden sharp pain came from my left hand. A stone had hit my left hand! The bowl of boiling soup I was carrying tilted to one side uncontrollably!

No! Please!

My heart almost jumped out of my chest. I tried with all my might to control my balance, but the pain from my wound made it impossible to adjust quickly.

Damn it!

The bowl of soup spilled on one of the guests and he let out a scream. Fear almost made my heart rise to my throat, and I could sense a nightmare was about to befall me.

I quickly placed the rest of the plates on a side table, got down on my knees, and humbly apologized to that guest, "I am sorry! I did not mean to do that! I will take care of it for you right away!"

I anxiously took a towel and tried to wipe the stain from his body. However, before I could get close to the guest, a dark shadow quickly zoomed in front of my eyes.

A sharp pain took over half of my face, and the tremendous force coming from my face caused me to fall uncontrollably askew to the ground.

"Filthy slave! Look what you've done! What did your master teach you!" The man shouted angrily, and I covered my burning cheek stubbornly without making a sound.