1. Hannah's Blood

Chapter 1: Hannah's Blood

Hannah

My head slammed into the wall, the tray of glassware clattering to the floor and shattering. The ringing in my ears drowned out everything else as my vision blurred. 

Who? My mind struggled to focus, but nothing made sense.

"Hello, mutt," he whispered into my ear as he grabbed me by the throat and smacked me against the wall. The air was knocked out of my lungs.

I knew from the voices who my attackers were this time: Kyle and Kaleb, my stepbrothers—or what they wouldn’t like me to call them, as they never saw me as family, let alone a sister.

I was losing air slowly before he finally let me go. I dropped to the floor, taking in a huge gulp of air, heaving breathlessly and not caring about my arms, pierced by the shattered glass earlier.

I tried to crawl my way out of the scene, even though from past encounters, it only got me into more trouble. But I couldn't always just stand and wait for death.

"Now, where do you think you are going, you little bitch?" Kaleb, who had been at the back for a while, came up this time. He grabbed a handful of my hair and pushed my head further into the ground, which was littered with broken glass.

Tiny pieces of shards found their way into my skin. I couldn't help but scream out as they continued to embed in my skin while they both laughed in delight at my misery.

I screamed, hoping the others would hear, but none of the pack seemed to care about me. I wondered why I bothered in the first place.

Kaleb let go of my hair and took a step back. I groaned and tried to hoist myself up, wincing with every movement I made, as tears streamed down my face.

I tried my best to prevent the muffled sounds from my throat from being heard but failed.

"You know what?" Kyle asked mischievously as he turned to his brother. "How about we take her for a little training, hmm?" He turned towards me and asked, "How does that sound? Since you're so free to wander around?"

Kaleb hummed in agreement. "You know, that's a great idea," he chuckled.

I knew I couldn't avoid anything this time, just like all the other times. I was already shaken to my bones at what torture they had in store as Kyle grabbed my hair once more and began to pull me toward the training grounds.

It felt as though my hairs were being pulled out of their scalp as I tried to soften it by trying to crawl and catch up with them.

I tried to plead and beg, even though I had done nothing wrong, but it all fell on deaf ears. The more I begged, the more he tugged at my hair, and I reined in as quietly as I could and followed until we were at the grounds.

He tossed me forward, and I fell to the ground. I scrambled to my knees, my head bent low, my body trembling with fear.

"What training can we give you today?" Kyle thought out loud. I scanned around, observing the faces with their gazes filled with mockery and ridicule but none of the pity—nor did I expect any from them.

They all witnessed something of the sort but never offered to help. At first, I asked why, but when I never got an answer and only got beaten up for asking, I resigned to my fate.

"How about a race with the dogs again? That should be fun," Kaleb suggested, a grin spreading across their faces.

"That's a wonderful idea, Kaleb," he praised his younger brother and ordered the dogs to be brought out and my heart stood still.

They were sons of one of the pack's most formidable warriors, who commanded authority even when the alpha was absent.

While one of the lesser warriors went over to bring out the dogs, I trembled in fear as I remembered what happened last time when they did something like this.

I was only eight when I was on my way home from the pack house; all of a sudden, I heard dogs coming my way. I ran all night. I had no idea how I got home before the dogs could catch me, but I did.

The next morning, I found out that they had released the dogs in the night. I had almost lost my life.

When I saw the dogs approaching, I tried to beg once more as I crawled to their feet, my body still aching from the pain from earlier. Tears began to run down my face once more.

Kaleb kicked at me with his legs. "Come on, Hannah, don't be like that. We are only trying to toughen you up," he said with a fake smile. "Now, before they reach here…" hee pointed towards the dogs already making their way over, "I'll give you a head start." With a cunning smile on both their faces.

I didn’t wait for him to finish his sentence as I picked myself up from the grass and sprinted as fast as my fatigued, bleeding body could carry me, which was not very fast, as I fell a few times before reaching the forest line.

Turning backward, I could see the chains holding the dogs down as they barked and jumped, itching for a chance to tear at me. I could also see the faces of others as they laughed at my predicament.

I was already far away when I heard the barks from behind me, screaming at the top of my lungs for anyone to help me as the tears flowed down profusely, the salty taste lingering on my lips.

Twists and turns through thick trees high above and bushes with thorns that raked through my skin as I pushed them aside.

My head whipped back countless times to check the distance between me and the dogs. Their snarls and barks could still be heard, but they were not in sight yet.

I made my way through the dense forest with no sense of direction until, finally, I stumbled upon a dead end. I was rattled as I held myself back from falling over the cliff that dropped sharply before me.

Spinning on my heels to find a different route out, I saw that the dogs had finally caught up with me, their speed couldn't be compared with a weak human like me, they were much faster.

I glanced back at the height of the cliff and knew jumping was not an option—I’d only be falling to my death. I looked back at the black dogs, which snarled as they slowly advanced toward me.

It was stupid, but I tried begging the dogs when they attacked. I screamed as I covered my face, bent over, waiting for my death when a roar sounded out and then, nothing.

I peeked through blurry eyes from behind my fingers after a few seconds and saw the dogs seated on their hind legs a few steps away, their ears flattened.

Slowly, I rose, taking a quick scan around, and finally understood what had happened.

"Alpha Bryan," I greeted and bowed, despite the pain and the shaky state of my body. Although he wasn't the alpha yet, I couldn’t offend him, or I’d only be courting death.

He acknowledged my greeting with a nod, a look of disgust etched on his face as he scrutinized my appearance from head to toe.

I was a mess; I knew it myself. From dried blood to torn clothes. My short hair, which only reached my neck, was probably scattered. I couldn't blame him for his expression.

"C'mon," he whistled for the dogs, who quickly obeyed, rushing toward him as they began to walk back toward the pack house.

"You too," he threw back, not even glancing in my direction.

I quickly wiped my tear-stained face and tiptoed behind him, keeping a safe distance from the dogs but also close enough not to lose Bryan.

My mind was foggy and fearful as we made our way back to the pack. "Why was he out in the woods all alone?" I thought to myself but then thanked the Moon Goddess that he was. If it weren’t for him, I would have died; this thought scared me.

We reached the pack after a long while. The guys were still on the training grounds, but it looked like they were taking a break or something.

When they sighted the Alpha, they all rushed to get back to training.

"Bryan, welcome back! How was your run?" Kaleb asked as he and Kyle jogged over, sparing a glance at me as they waited for Bryan’s response.

They could speak to him like this because they were all in a friend group. But that didn’t mean he had to respond politely.

"Get these dogs back in their cage," he ordered, ignoring their question. "You— get inside!" Turning halfway towards me, I could only view his side profile. He marched inside, ignoring everyone else.

I followed immediately, not wanting to see my stepbrothers' faces, knowing they’d be angry to see I wasn’t dead yet.

I stepped inside, and with all the pain in my body, hurried to clean the mess from earlier, knowing it would only cause more trouble if I left them undone.

After I was done, slowly and painfully, I made my way home, avoiding everyone. I was pretty sure they wouldn’t seek me anytime soon, either.

When I got home, distant chatter drifted from the kitchen. I knew Kyle and Kaleb weren’t home, so I presumed my mother was.

I increased my pace, trying to rush past the kitchen toward my room, hoping not to catch her attention, but I failed as she called me back.

"Hannah, sweetie? Is that you?" she asked as she came out to see who had entered. Sometimes I forget that I live with wolves, as I’m the only one my age who hasn't turned yet.

Most wolves turn at fifteen; I was almost eighteen—four years late. There was nothing I could do about it.

"Sweetie, what happened?" she asked, horrified as she looked over my appearance. I couldn’t stop the tears that began to fall as she pulled me in for a hug.

She was one of the only people who actually cared about me—her and my father, who died a few years back.

She pitied me and always took care of me, with food and clothing, although there was little she could do when the pack bullied me, as she was only a healer. After her husband died, no one took her seriously.

She loved me. I wondered why her sons didn’t, though I had a lingering idea why.

"Let's get you cleaned up," she suggested, leading me to her bathroom. She didn’t bother asking what happened, sparing me the ordeal of retelling it and I was grateful for that.

Taking out a first-aid kit—which isn’t usually needed, as most werewolves are fast healers, she used the special one she got for me, as I always ended up injured.

"Here, have a seat," she said, ushering me toward her bed. She took out cotton and some antiseptic, cleaning my wounds and removing the glass shards. It was a painful experience, one I’d been through countless times.

"Are you going to tell me what happened this time?" she asked as she packed up the first-aid kit, signaling she was done.

I stared straight ahead, not in the mood to talk about it, just like every other time.

"It’s okay, then," she sighed. "There’s some food in the kitchen. Freshen up, change out of these clothes, and then come have some, okay?"

I hummed in agreement, and then the doorbell rang. I sat for a while, as she looked at me with sad eyes. "I'll be back," she said, going to answer the door.

I moved towards my room when I heard her greet the visitor. "Luna, what a surprise."