3. Mine

Chapter 3: Mine

Hannah

I almost lost my grip on the weapon, afraid someone might have caught me snooping around.

"Nothing, uhmm..." I quickly responded, fumbling for words, and placed the revolver back in its original position, sliding the box back into the drawer. I tried to act like nothing had happened, even though I knew I had been caught.

"If it's nothing, then what the hell are you doing in here?" The voice that startled me belonged to none other than Heather King.

"Sir Bryan ordered me to start the cleanup for a party later this evening," I replied, my voice barely audible, but I knew my message had reached her sharp hearing.

"Then why are you just standing there?" She asked, walking through the room with no concern for me, as if I didn’t even exist. It seemed like she was searching for something.

I quickly resumed my work. I was almost finished with the office anyway, and I walked towards the doors with my cart.

"Finally," Heather exclaimed, pulling out her phone from the sofa.

She glanced at me, a wicked grin spreading across her face, smacking her phone lightly on her palms.

"You know you can't have something like that," she said, advancing closer to me, the smile still present on her lips.

"Oh, don’t act shy now," she continued, her grin widening. "I saw the way you looked at him earlier when… you know… he and I were getting it on."

She wasn’t wrong. I had secretly crushed on Bryan for as long as I could remember. I’d always checked him out from afar, wishing I could talk to him. I even prayed to the moon goddess, hoping we'd be soulmates.

"Oh, look at your little red face," Heather cooed mockingly, now standing right in front of me. The smile on her face disappeared as she tucked a strand of my silver locks behind my ear and grabbed my neck harshly.

I let out a soft whimper.

"You are so pitiful. Let me just break it down for you. Bryan would never, in his entire life, want someone as miserable and horrible-looking as you. It’s really disgusting to even think about it," she sneered, her hands moving from my neck to grasp my jaw. At least it was a little relief, since I thought she might try to hurt me further, but her grip tightened around my jaw.

I yelped as I felt a sharp pain—she must have extended her claws and dug into my skin.

"The only way you could ever have someone like Bryan is in your wildest dreams," she whispered, letting go of my chin.

I dropped to the floor as my legs felt like jelly from fear, not able to hold me up.

"You can get back to work, Hannah," she laughed cruelly as she exited the office.

I wiped the few tears that had formed and stood up, getting back to work.

What was I thinking, anyway? He was the future alpha, and I was just the crappy, weak, lazy, ugly old Hannah. Everyone would laugh if they knew I had a crush on him.

I would only be the humiliation of the century.

At least I still had hope. My birthday was in a week’s time. Maybe the moon goddess could shine a little bit of light upon my dull life. Someone who could take me away from this hell of a pack.

That person was my last hope. I would’ve left the pack already if I wasn’t so weak. The rogues would have killed me without breaking a sweat, and I had nowhere else to go.

~

It took me a while to clean up the pack house for the party, and by the time I was done, it was already time for the event. I knew Bryan wouldn't want me here, nor would anyone else.

I returned my cart to the kitchen, where I stumbled upon Mia and Amy, Heather's two minions. They had pitiful smiles on their faces when they saw me enter the kitchen. Heather must have told them about my little encounter.

Ignoring them was my plan, but it seemed they had other plans. They immediately turned me into their topic of discussion, not bothering to lower their voices, clearly wanting me to hear their taunts.

"It’s quite pitiful, isn’t it, Amy? Bryan would probably throw up if he knew about this," Mia said as they both laughed, clearly making a joke at my expense. I was the joke.

"I wonder how someone could ever want that," Amy said, stretching out her well-manicured fingers, referring to me.

I knew I wasn’t perfect. They helped me with that knowledge every single day, so I didn’t let it bother me too much.

I didn’t stick around to listen to more of their taunts. I quickly made my way out of the pack house and ended up bumping into someone.

It was dark out, so I couldn’t see very well.

"I’m sorry, sir, I wasn’t looking where I was going," I mumbled. Even if I had been looking, I probably still would’ve bumped into him, since my head was always bent low.

Bryan was dressed casually for the party, wearing a button-up shirt with two buttons undone and jeans. He looked good, as usual.

"Hope you're all done?" he asked, his eyes filled with disgust as he wiped himself off after our collision.

"Yes, sir, I'm fine with everything." My answer was short, as I didn’t want to give a full account of what I had done, nor did I think he wanted to hear any of it. He sidestepped me toward the house, but not before saying, "Good job, now get lost." Without even glancing back at me, he made his way further into the house.

That was just his way of telling me he didn’t want to see me around the party. Not that I would’ve wanted to be there if I had been invited. I’ve never liked their parties. The one time I attended, I became the center of attention as they mocked everything about me, with my brothers leading the charge.

I managed to walk home in the dark, having left my phone behind. The streetlights offered a bit of illumination, though.

When I entered my home, the scent of food hit me hard. My stomach grumbled as I realized I hadn’t eaten anything since morning.

"Hannah, is that you? I’m in the kitchen!" My mother called out.

"I was hoping you’d show up by this time," she added, knowing I wouldn’t be invited to the party, just like Kyle and Kaleb were.

"Perfect timing," she beamed as she set the last dish on the table. It was dinner for two, since I knew my stepbrothers wouldn’t be coming back today. I was relieved about that—they were at the party, part of Bryan's circle of friends.

My stomach growled louder as I peeked into the kitchen. My mother chuckled and ushered me in. "Come sit down, let’s eat."

I walked in and took a seat, and she kept smiling at me as she started a conversation. "I know you’ve been working all morning, so I thought I’d make dinner when you got back—just the two of us."

"Look, I know you’ve been having a rough time here in the pack," she continued. "As your mother, I should be there for you, and I’m sorry I’m not always." She started apologizing, which made me tear up. I quickly stopped her, using the excuse that the food would get cold.

She chuckled before we began eating. My stomach finally got what it wanted, and I let out a soft noise of contentment.

After I finished my plate, my mother commented, "You must have been really hungry. Here, have some more." She filled my plate, which I appreciated.

Once we finished eating, I offered to do the dishes to show my appreciation, but she wouldn’t let me.

"You’ve been working all morning; you need rest, okay?" she said, taking the plates from my hand. "Why don’t you go upstairs? I’ll handle these."

I hugged her from behind. "Thanks, mom." She relaxed into me and sighed. I was grateful for all she had done for me but didn't know how to express it before heading to my room.

I lay in bed for a while before grabbing my phone, which I rarely used since I never had the time. I had no friends, so there were no text messages or calls. My mind wandered to the life I was living.

My mother was the only one I had, and I was thankful she was there. My father had died when I was little, but he had been good to me too. My brothers hadn’t always been this cruel—there was a time when they played pranks, but now it seemed like they were after my life.

The only reason they hadn’t killed me yet was because the pack didn’t condone the killing of its own members. Perpetrators are bound to either be demoted or banished from the pack.

I sat up and walked to the window, gazing at the sky. The stars taunted me, brightening the sky while I felt like I had none of my own.

My birthday was something I both wanted and dreaded. At least I’d be able to find my soulmate—my other half, the one who would brighten my dull, black sky. Or at least that’s how my mother explained it. I was also scared that whoever it was would see me and want nothing to do with me, just like the rest of this pack.

At that moment, I didn’t know if I wanted to keep living or not.

There was a knock at my door, which interrupted my train of thought. "Hey, you okay?" My mother asked from the other side before pushing it open and peeking her head through the small crack.

"I’m okay," I reassured her.

"Okay, then. Goodnight, I’ll see you tomorrow." With that, she left to go to bed.

I smiled at the fact that she still came to check on me. A sigh escaped my lips out of the window before later on moving to lay on my bed, but sleep evaded me. I felt restless, tossing and turning for a few hours, yet still couldn’t seem to fall asleep. I grabbed my phone and checked the time: 11:52, almost midnight.

I made my way downstairs to grab a glass of milk, hoping it would help me get a little bit of shut eye, when all of a sudden, an amazing scent hit me. The glass in my hand slipped from my grasp and made a crash, but it didn’t matter.

It smelled like the forest after a rainy day, with a hint of coffee.

I stepped outside the house and sniffed the air again, taking in this wonderful fragrance. It seemed to pull me towards a particular location.

A few minutes later, I found myself standing in front of the pack house. My mind was still clouded by the soft odor. The pack house was lit up, music blasting through the air. I wanted to return to the safety of my room, but then I’d miss an opportunity to find the source of this strong scent.

I entered the pack house, which was now packed with teenagers holding red cups, flashing lights, and booming music. Even with the smell of sweat and alcohol in the air, it didn’t overpower the fragrance that had led me there.

As I pushed my way towards the center of the house, something drew me closer. The crowd seemed to part for me until, finally, I came upon Bryan and Heather.

They were tangled up, swaying with the music, their bodies pressed tightly against each other.

Once I was at least ten feet away, the words left my mouth before I could stop myself.

And for the first time, I growled.

"Mine."