Chapter 2

Although the bad treatment hurt me very much the first time, I quickly got used to it. It wasn't like I could do anything about it, I couldn't even give the people who mocked me a befitting reply so what was the use of worrying my head over it?

I bore everything quietly and learned to take life as it came but a particular incident changed my whole life forever, it was what brought me to the situation I currently find myself in. 

It happened almost two years ago when I was 16. I had returned home from school and found that Moira seemed upset with me for some reason and I tried to find out the reason why.

 I wrote down what I wanted to say to her on a sheet of paper and passed it to her. She read it and laughed cynically before crumpling up the paper and throwing it right at my face. 

"Don't act so naïve with me, bitch. Do you want to know what's wrong? What's wrong is you, you're honestly the only problem I have in my life and I so desperately wish to be rid of you. Not only are you a disgrace to this family, but you're also a slut too. How dare you try to steal my boyfriend, you whore?" Mora screamed at me and I could hardly believe my ears. 

During those past two years, Moira had been very mean and disrespectful towards me, even though I'm two years older than her. She had turned 14 some weeks ago at the time and had transitioned like any normal wolf and since then, she had been rubbing the fact in my face I had ignored her taunts but at that particular time, I decided I couldn't take it anymore. If she dared say any other bad word against me, I would react. 

I threw her a puzzled look, not quite understanding what she was talking about. "Don't act dumb with me. Do you think I didn't see the way you were acting so flirty with Liam despite knowing that he's my boyfriend?" She accused me and I had been genuinely shocked.

Liam was the only friend that had stayed with me at that time, not minding that I was the acclaimed cursed she-wolf who happened to be mute and still couldn't transform.

I admit that I had a small crush on him then, but I wasn't the flirtatious type, I was certainly more reserved and introverted due to my condition. 

Liam was always around me and I just guessed that he liked me too but I had no idea that he had started dating Moira and he certainly didn't tell me. If he had, I would have created some more distance between both of us because I was more of a peace-loving person and I didn't want a clash with Moira. 

I grabbed a piece of paper so I could try to explain it to her in writing but she snatched it from me and tore it up. I glared at her viciously. 

"Don't look at me like that you whore, you're just a cursed lonely bitch and you'll stay lonely forever. Liam is mine and he'd never look at someone like you, he only hangs out with you because he pities you." Moira raved and I couldn't take it anymore, I slapped her hard across the face. 

She screamed and my mother came running in. "What's wrong Moira?" She asked my little sister. 

"Mum, Evelyn slapped me and pulled at my hair because I told her that Liam is my boyfriend." She lied right in front of me and mum believed her. "Evelyn, how could you do such to your sister?" She raved and slapped me hard, the force almost dazing me. 

Tears immediately flowed down my cheeks at her action, lately, she had been very harsh with me for reasons I couldn't pinpoint. Maybe she had started believing what other people had been saying about me.

"You have only brought this family nothing but shame, everyone believes you're cursed and I'm starting to see some truth in their words. You're mute, you have no wolf and you're completely of no use to us so it's high time you know your place in this house. You are beneath your sister in everything so you have no right to raise your hand to her for any reason whatsoever unless you want to face my wrath. Now leave, I don't want to see your face for the next two hours." The woman who was supposed to be my mother said and I couldn't believe it.

I just stood there, glued to the spot with hot tears flowing down my cheeks and a stinging sensation.

"Didn't you hear what mum just said? Beat it!" Moira seconded and I ran out of the house. I ran with everything I had, the tears blurring my vision but I didn't need to see properly to know where I was going.

I stopped by a lake after I had run for about twenty minutes. I sat heavily on my usual spot, a small log of wood just a few meters from the lake. The lake is called the Crystal lake because of its clearness and the serenity it gives to the environment. The crystal lake is just a few miles from the pack and it is my escape from the world and my sorrowful life.

 It was where I usually went when I was sad or angry or both. I would cry my eyes out there and after that, I would feel better and today was no exception. I wept relentlessly, wondering why my life had become like this. I looked up to the sky and called out to the Moon goddess with all of my heart, asking her to have mercy on me and release my spirit wolf so I could shut the mouths of my mockers. 

I heard sounds behind me but I didn't bother to turn to see who it was, knowing that it would probably be one of the members of the Pack and I wasn't ready to face anyone at that moment. 

All of a sudden, I heard someone scream my name. "Evelyn get off from there, now!" I turned to see who it was and my eyes widened in shock. 

There were four wolves behind me and they were growling viciously at me, my eyes also caught sight of the Alpha running towards me, he was taking off his clothes as he approached where I sat, petrified. I knew he was probably undressing because he needed to transform so he could save me from those rogues. 

During that time, there had been little fights between our pack and a rival pack. The rival pack had been trying to subdue our pack but our Alpha had made sure they were unsuccessful and so they had resorted to sending rogues to kidnap and kill young wolves that were either alone or in groups. I had deduced that the motive behind the offense, was so our Alpha would take the bait and declare a full-on war but our Alpha was not stupid, declaring war at that period would have been very unfavorable because our pack had recently won a war against the Rexino pack and the victory had caused us to lose some of our strongest and most fearless warriors so we were limited in numbers. And if our Alpha declared war, it would have taken the new rival a minimal effort to defeat us so after putting this fact into consideration, Alpha Davis had made a royal decree. 

Wolves below 18 were not allowed to come out an hour before sunset until the next day, this was to protect us from attacks by the rogues that usually roamed about after sundown. Though the scouts guarded the packhouse and protected us from danger, they couldn't protect our whole territory and that was why the law was put in place.

In my agony, I had forgotten it was almost sundown and had run to the lake without the scouts noticing me, I guess the Alpha must have seen and followed me. Arriving just in time before the rogues could devour me. 

I was practically defenseless at the time because I couldn't transform and I also couldn't call out for help.

Alpha Davis quickly transformed and swooped in to save me, attacking the wolves that had gathered around me. Their attention was instantly drawn from me and they fought back, surrounding him. 

Alpha Davis fought bravely and tirelessly but they were too much for him to handle alone, and at that moment, I desperately wished I could transform into a wolf too so I could help him but I couldn't, all I could do was stand and watch as he battled four ruthless rogues alone. 

The fight lasted for minutes and I really couldn't tell what happened but all I saw were claws and teeth and finally……….. blood. The fright quickly set in when I saw blood, I tried to convince myself that the Alpha must have injured one of them but alas, it was far from the truth.

 The four wolves stopped attacking and moved away and only then did I see the Alpha was injured and bleeding on the floor. I ran to him in tears and managed to place his huge bleeding body on my thighs while I patted his soft fur, silently pleading with him to get up. He opened his eyes, his gray ones meeting mine. 

I smiled through my tears at seeing he was awake but his words, which turned out to be the last he would ever say, plunged me into worry. 

"Always be strong Evelyn, don't let them break you. You're much more than you know." Those were his last words to me before he left for the great beyond. He died with both eyes open and I closed them and wept. The rogues, seeing the turnout of things, ran away, leaving me to mourn the death of the Alpha.