Five.

"Happy birthday to you Lupitaaa, Happy birthday to you. How old are you now? How old are you now? How old are you now, Lupitaaa? How old are you now?"

"I'm eight years old now, I'm eight years old now... "

"Hip! Hip! Hip!"

"Hurray!"

Little Lupita smiled as friends and family celebrate her eighth birthday. She beamed as her favorite section of her party had begun. It was time for Lupita to get presents.

"Aunt Diana and Uncle," Lupita shrieked as she saw a white-haired, beautiful young woman with sparkling purple eyes walk towards her. Her arms were interwoven with that of a brown-haired muscular man.

Lupita ran to them and hugged them. They smiled and they both patted her hair softly.

"Hope you liked the gift we got for you."

"I loved it," Lupita beamed. "But, what about my bestie?" She raised her head to look at their faces.

"He'll soon be here," her uncle said with a warm smile. Immediately after he finished talking, a young boy of her age whose face she couldn't see began to walk towards her. He was holding a necklace.

"Lupita!" He called out happily. "I got you a gift."

He got closer and she finally saw his face....

"ARGHHHHH!" A scream escaped from Lupita's mouth and her eyes snapped open. She looked around. She was at no party with expensive decorations and rich guests in a big hall but in a small, shabby room.

"Ouch," she winced as she remembered how hard her bed was. She left the bed and sat before her mirror. She was much older than the eight-year-old Lupita she had seen.

Ten years older.

She shut her eyes as she saw the image of the boy that had brought her a necklace as a gift.

"Lupita, I got you a gift."

She placed her hands over her ears as his words replayed in her head. She could not remember who the white-haired woman with sparkling purple eyes was nor could she remember who the brown-haired muscular man was but she remembered that boy.

He was the same boy that had brought her up this pack to suffer. But, why was he in her dream? Was it a dream or part of the memory she had lost?

The earliest of her memory is the young boy in her dream bringing her to this pack to make her suffer. Lupita remembered how sad everyone was when they saw that it was only an eight-year-old her and the thirteen-year-old lad that had returned. They were expecting another person or persons to be with them or the lad because she wasn't welcomed but Lupita had no idea who they had expected to return. That time, she remembered how the lad had told her how the day was her eighth birthday and how the day had brought doom to his life.

With the approval of the lad in her dream who had grown up to be Romulus, they tortured her from the very first day she had stepped her feet in the land that belonged to the pack.

It was her eighteenth birthday and like other birthdays, it did not seem much like a birthday. Her eighteenth birthday was even much worse. During her other birthdays, Maya will bring a cake for her. Maya did this secretly and was constantly on the watch but it was still much more fun. They'll sing and dance.

Tears sprang from her eyes as she remembered Maya's hurtful words. Maya was with Lilith now and she probably had always been. Maya said it herself anyways.

As more tears sprang, she snatched her coat from the bed and ran out of the room to the pack's forest. Perhaps, the cool air dancing on her skin will make her much better.

She burst into more tears when she got to the forest and her knees met the ground with a thud.

She stopped crying when suddenly, a strong scent clouded her nose.

"Lupita," a voice called out before she could look around to know where the smell came from. The voice was from behind so she spun around to see Conan standing.

He began to walk toward her, and the scent got stronger. What cologne was he wearing?

She began to feel like there was another life within her. Like she was...

Multiple?

Why would she feel that way? It was quiet and peaceful within her but she still felt a presence within her. Whatever it was, it seemed to not have planned to disturb her. It just wanted to stay peacefully within her.

Then, it dawned on her. Her eyes widened and her mouth hung agape.

"We just found our mate and you just found your mate." She heard a weak voice in her head.

What was going on? Lupita wondered.

"Sorry for the weak introduction." Lupita heard the faint voice again. "I'm Lycandra, your wolf, but I might not perform well now. For some reason, I'm just too weak. Shifting might not even be possible now."

"I'm sorry," Conan apologized sincerely. One look at his face and Lupita felt he was truly sorry. He stretched his hands for Lupita to reach to it so he could drag her up. Slowly, Lupita placed her hands on his, and immediately her palm landed on his, he gripped it tight and pulled her up.

Lupita's eyes widened and she took her hands away. As he held her hand, she felt a spark move from his hands to her body. His shocked facial expression suggested that he had felt the same thing too. What was going on? Could it be that Conan was her...

"Mate," Lupita said softly.

"What?" Conan blinked his eyes in disbelief as his wolf began to jump around in excitement to meet its mate. Lupita was cool but having her as a mate wasn't what he had bargained for. His rank was not high, but Lupita was literally treated as the pack's rag. He felt sorry for her but he was not ready to be treated as badly as she was treated.

"Mate," Lupita said again. And as she spoke, there was something in her eyes. Like she was pleading. Pleading for him to accept her?

Conan sighed.

"OMG! Is she your mate?" He heard a familiar voice scoff. "How pathetic."

Conan turned back to see Lilith, the Beta's daughter. He would surely be ridiculed by her and everyone if he affirmed what she said.

No! He had seen how bad they always treat her and he was not ready to be treated as bad.

He turned back to look at Lupita. Hurting another person was the last thing he would normally do.

"Mate my foot," Collins scoffed. "I'm not her mate. I don't know what she's talking about."

He had no choice but to make an exception.

His wolf growled, angry at the fact that he had denied its mate... their mate, but it was for the better.

Everyone present howled in laughter at Lupita and her knee plunged to the ground.

Conan watched as they all insulted Lupita. Lilith lunged at Lupita and struck her with her feet continuously and the rest of the werewolves joined her. Lupita fell to the ground and cried out in agony. And, instead of pity, Conan saw nothing but hatred on their faces. They went on to call her names and they said hurtful words to her.

His wolf was getting angrier by the moment, tugging at him to take control but he could not allow that. He also wanted to scream at them to stop but he dared not.

"Would you stand there and do nothing?" Lilith faced Conan and he gulped. "Kick her."

Conan turned pale as he heard her last two words. She wanted him to kick Lupita. He could deny Lupita to save himself from getting bullied, but could he kick Lupita?

He looked at Lupita and he regretted doing that. His eyes met hers and he could see pain. She did not take her eyes away. It was like she hoped he would not kick her. It would hurt her much more than the kicks of the rest.

"I can n..." His eyes were still on hers.

"You've developed a soft spot for the rag?" Lilith raised an eyebrow and Conan flinched, looking away from Lupita.

"Everyone," Lilith called out. "Someone among us has developed feelings for the outcast. The rag. How pathetic."

"I haven't," Conan lashed out. He was infuriated. How could he allow his emotions to cloud his thoughts? He would never allow that. Conan found it more necessary to save his face. "I hate her."

Everything in Lupita stopped as she heard the three-word sentence. Including her thoughts. She did not know what to think. She was shaken to the core.

Lupita felt a sharp pain in her waist. She looked up to see Conan looking down at her with a poker face.

Conan kicked her.

He kicked her waist and it reached her heart, smashing it into a thousand pieces.

Lilith smirked and cat-walked away. A she-wolf spat on Lupita's face and walked away too. One by one they left. Some spat on her too and soon, she and Conan were left alone.

Lupita looked at Conan.

"Friend?" She had a bitter smile on her face. Conan's face turned red. He no longer had his poker face on. He had guilt written all over his face.

Aside from the fact that bullying was out of his character, he felt bad for letting Lupita down.

"Guilty?"

Lupita still had the bitter smile on her face and Conan looked away.

"You shouldn't." Her voice was brittle. "I should be used to it by now."

Maybe it was all in her head. Silly her! She had no wolf so how would she possibly meet her mate?

But, didn't a voice in her head just introduce itself as Lycandra, her wolf? No! It was all her. Lupita felt she was hallucinating.

"I'm sor—" he paused. He snapped his eyelids shut. Apologizing might make him break down in tears and stop him from doing what he had in mind. He wanted to apologize again, stretch his hands once again and make Lupita stand on her feet again.

But, he would not. He had to do what his mind told him to. His wolf was against it but he won't listen to it.

"I, Conan Eric Greyback, Omega of the Night Meadow Pack reject you, Lupita, a slave as my mate."