01

LILY

“GET THE HELL UP, BITCH!” The loud voice thundering in my ears, making it ring incessantly and the agonizing stinging of cold water on my body caused me to wince as my eyes fluttered open.

My body ached and my head pounded so hard that it felt as though my brain was about to get blown into a million pieces.

It hurts and what hurts the most is the fact that not only was I wet now but I was smelling so horribly, the smell was so pungent that my stomach clenched tight.

“Wh—” I hadn’t finished saying what I wanted to say before I felt another whoosh at my face and followed by that was the feel of hard metal hitting me right on my forehead.

I looked down at the bucket and I didn’t need anyone else to tell me where the girls had gotten the water they’d just emptied on me.

It was sewage water, the smell was strong enough to make my throat close tight as I tried my hardest to fight back my vomit.

It wasn’t the first time they would do this to me and just yesterday, they’d set traps that had caused me to go to bed with bruises all over my face and body.

Tears welled within my eyes as I tried to force down the lump that had taken refuge in the back of my neck.

Fighting them off was also out of the question because compared to them, I was a rag that they could easily get rid of and trying to fight with them would mean I’m trying to dig more holes for myself.

Sighing, I blinked back tears while the sound of their laughter resounded time and time again in my head, reminding me of my agony and pain.

“What have I done this time?” I asked in a low, restrained voice even though I knew that I hadn’t done anything and they were only doing this for the fun of it.

Biting down hard on my lips, I could taste blood on the tip of my tongue and my fist clenched tight as I thought about ways that I could stand up for myself but that was all it remained.

Thoughts.

They laughed even louder, almost as if they couldn’t believe I’d just asked such a ridiculous question and the mockery on their faces was so evident that nothing could hide it.

“She wants to know what she has done,” one of the ladies spoke, her words stung, cutting so deep into me that I could feel it tearing my insides apart.

“You stink, BITCH! That’s what you’ve done!” She spat, her saliva hitting my face and I knew that I dared not try to clean it off or I was going to have to face even worse treatment.

“Take a good look around you, how can a person smell so horribly!” Another of the girls said and my stomach churned as my heart pounded.

“You belong in the sewage and not amidst honorable people like us.” Another one said but I kept my head down.

Doing everything I could to avoid eye contact, their words were all in resonance and it sounded like a painful jibe to my ears.

Their tone was venomous and their words were laced with so much malice that no amount of me pretending I couldn’t hear them could undo the damage their words were doing to me.

I felt the sting of their words and was severely wounded by their hurtful remarks and I was left feeling helpless while they rained hurtful comments down on me.

It wasn’t their fault, I have never blamed them for any of their actions because the reason for it was as clear as day, so clear that even a blind man would acknowledge it.

Not just the girls but almost everyone hated me because I was an outcast, my mother had died because of me, my father ran away from me.

And the most obvious reason for their hatred was the fact that I have ginger hair, which no one has ever had for years and if one does, then that person is considered to be a witch.

It’s no surprise I’m getting treated like one.

“Nasty witch!” They continued, “we’re going to make sure you die before sacrificing any of us in your stupid coven!” Another retorted and I only shook my head.

Their words crushed me but there was no way I could make them believe that I wasn’t a witch because of all the circumstances surrounding me.

Giving a response would get me knee deeper in trouble and so instead of responding, I got up on my feet. I could feel the nauseating sinking of despair as I ignored them even as they continued talking.

Making my way outside with the bucket they’d used in pouring sewage water on me, I decided to focus on completing my work in the pack house.

My palm was blistered and even my feet hurt so much that I felt as though I was going to collapse if I kept walking but I made up my mind to push through.

Working is the only way I could get their harsh treatment out of my mind, it’s the only time I could focus on myself because no one usually comes near me while I work and that’s because I did the dirtiest chore.

……. Or so I thought.

“It’s that dirty, stinking witch!” A voice jolted me out of my thoughts and I froze, my breathing getting caught in my throat as I turned to see a different set of maid.

“You think you can escape the wrath of the moon goddess?!” The biggest of them all said with a vile tone as she made her way towards me.

She didn’t forget to place a palm over her nose to block out my smell before kicking my bucket of water, giving me more work.

“This is the kind of treatment witches like you should get.” She continued and before I could bat an eyelash, her palm had landed on my cheek so hard that I staggered.

The sound of her slap resounded in my head and I saw tiny flickers of light flash before me and because of the slippery ground, I lost my footing and fell hard on the floor.

My back collided with the metal bucket and I winced as I stiffened a loud cry of pain. My back and butt hurt but they didn’t care.

“Oh! I can’t believe I touched the witch!” She snapped, her eyes blazing with anger as she came closer to me.

“Did you hypnotize me to do that?!” She yelled and I shuddered as I shook my head, trying to disagree with her because my vocal cords were proving to be useless.

“I— I didn’t.” I finally let out, my voice low and my fear evident in the way I spoke as I tried to crawl away with my butt but I was stopped when my back hit something.

Lifting my gaze up, I saw that there was another maid behind me and her lips had already curled into a demonic smile as she leaned into me.

“Trying to run away, are we?” She asked and I forced myself to swallow as I shook my head but her hand was quick to fist into my hair, pulling it so far up that my scalp throbbed.

When does it end? When will this pain and suffering come to an end?

My eyes stung really badly with the tears that were threatening to make me go blind, “pl— please, let me go, please.” I begged, hot tears trickling down my cheeks but they didn’t care.

“We’ll let you go if you can clean the floor with your tongue.” She sneered, her hand fisting even harder into my hair as she forced me to face down until my face was just an inch away from the ground.

“There, lick it off.” She hissed as she pressed me further down and I knew that even a tiny sticking out of my tongue would touch the ground.

“B—” I didn’t get to finish what I wanted to say before she slammed my face on the ground and pain rippled through me as I forced down my scream for help.

My throat was raw with unuttered shouts and protest as she hit my face against the hardwood floor even harder until I could feel blood running out of my forehead.

It hurts.

“WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!” A loud, familiar voice put a halt to the bullying even though it was for a minute.

I lifted my head to see the head maid who only hissed when she realized that I was the one on the receiving end of the bullying.

“Oh, it’s the witch.” She sneered and I braced myself for more insults as she didn’t waste any time in raining them down on me.

I knew she hated me more than anything else in the world because she had a thing with my father before he got my mother pregnant and ran away.

“Let her go,” the head maid said as she closed the gap between us while the other maids let go of me, “you’re to serve the twin Alpha sons during the moonlight festival.” She said, her voice cold and emotionless and I shuddered.

I’ve heard a lot about the twins, I’ve heard about how they’ve killed a lot of maids in their anger.

“Maybe they’ll kill you too and I’ll never have to see you again.” She finished before walking away with the rest of the maids.

Maybe I’ll really die and I can be free from this torture because death is better than all of this.

I’d already lost everyone in my life and even my mother had died because of me so death is a rather befitting punishment or an eighteenth birthday present.

Making it to the moonlight festival, I kept working as hard as I could until my legs stumbled against something and I was already spiraling to the ground before I knew it.

“What. The. Fuck!” The sound of their united voices caused chills to run down my spine and when I lifted my head, they were right before my eyes with their outfit completely ruined with the wine I’d been carrying.

Alpha Declan and Alpha Ryan.

Their eyes darkened and I felt my skin crawl as their lips parted and they growled in unison.

“Mate.”

No. It can’t be.