Chapter one

Ariah's POV

The bell rang.

“Ugh! The bell always rings.” I exclaimed aloud in frustration.

Although I had lived almost every day of my life waking up to hear that particular sound or rather being woken up by the sound, I still hated it each time it sounded. I was on the top bunk of one of the dozen bunks in the room, or rather should I call it a large space with a rusty, old iron door that shielded us from the corridor. I haven’t always fancied living in the Pack’s orphanage but what other choice did I have?

I never did normal things, we at the orphanage only went to school for five hours and we were immediately called back by the head of the orphanage, who we refer to as the grumpy Miss Sheldon. She didn’t have a liking for me or most of the girls my age and she never bothered to hide it. She was a huge woman in her huge fifties, with giant breasts that never seemed to fit into any of her clothes. She looked like a man, she had a hard, square chin and brown bead like eyes that always scoured for the slightest mistakes amongst us.

“Now I'll make one thing clear to you little delinquents, you are all a product of the mercy of the moon goddess, okay? Most of you actually should have gone with your parents, but no, you decided to stay behind and burden me with the task of taking care of you.” She said almost every morning.

I became so used to that saying that I could recite it perfectly in my sleep, in her exact voice. I never really understood the class system of the Blue Moons pack, it was like we the orphans of the pack lived in a separate world from those in power. For one I had never set my eyes on the Alpha, his Beta, or his Gamma, rumors were that the Alpha didn’t have a mate yet and it always excited me whenever I heard the news.

Why? Because I always fantasized about a mate, a charming prince who could fall in love with me at first sight and take me out of the trenches of this dreadful orphanage the misfortune of my parent’s death had placed me in. I didn’t mind, if my destined mate was an Alpha or not, most times I said the same to the Moon goddess in my silent prayers.

“Oh dear moon goddess, I don’t mind, if he’s an Alpha werewolf or not, I just want a mate that would take me out of here.” That was my prayer every night since I turned thirteen, five years ago.

I was due to be eighteen the next day and I was genuinely excited and thrilled. The other girls in the room I occupied often gossiped about how one was destined to find her mate when she turned eighteen and I had been so eager to finally reach that age. I was going to be an adult, eligible to mate, no more bed bugs that tortured me each night on the creaky bunk, and no more Mrs. Sheldon.

The bell rang again and I threw the blanket off my body, as I was about to jump down, I heard a familiar voice, it was Nina. The girl that occupied the lower bunk, was a year older than I was and we had built a pretty solid friendship over the years.

“Hey, be careful how you swing those feet of yours, don’t get them into my mouth!” She warned and we laughed about it. 

Only the previous day I had mistakenly stuck my big toe into her mouth while coming down, she had spent almost all morning in the bathroom, brushing furiously and retching, meanwhile, I had spent half of the morning apologizing and assuring her I didn’t have smelly feet.

“That was a mistake yesterday, Nina,” I said as we walked into the bathroom.

“Oh my.” She exclaimed suddenly when we got into the bathroom and I ran the shower. “You’re not only mentally ready for your mate, you’re physically pumped too!”

Nina knew about my obsession with a mate, but she never shared it with anyone else.

I was confused by what she had just said, “What do you mean, Nina.”

“Look at your body, you’ve got a lovelier figure and bigger features than I’ve got, and you’re a year younger!” She exclaimed and I could read the bewilderment in her eyes.

I beamed with excitement and my cheeks blotched with red, I had never really noticed the sudden transformation in my body. From the lanky, skinny girl with a flat chest, I had developed breasts and a lush figure that Nina currently boasted about.

“I’d say, why haven’t you found your mate? You’ll be nineteen next week.” I asked.

“Well, I wouldn’t say I’m that desperate for one, you see-”

“What? You like being here?” I asked with a great deal of surprise, interrupting what she was saying.

“Now that’s not what I said, it’s just, you can’t find a mate here, in this part of the pack. We’re omegas and to find our mates we need to interact, you know. With Alphas and Betas of other packs or even ours.” She said, but I was still failing to see why she didn’t have a mate.

“So? You’ve been going to the Royal Packhouse to serve for almost a year now since you turned eighteen, what’s stopping you from finding your mate?” I asked.

“Well, I haven’t found my mate, nor have I felt the mate bond with anyone.” She replied with a shrug, she was genuinely unconcerned.

“What's the Royal Packhouse like?” I asked suddenly and I saw her grimace and shiver slightly.

“It’s not a place I’ll want to keep going to, there are so many cruel stories about it. Cruel, mean, unjust, it’s a dark and dangerous place if you ask me.” She replied and ran the shower over her.

“What do you mean?” I asked, my curiosity stirring up instantly.

“The Pack's prison, a scary dungeon underground the Packhouse, is filled with people who are there for unjustifiable reasons, the Alpha, Alpha James is cruel. It’s a scary place.” She replied again. “No more talk about this, we have to report to the courtyard in twenty minutes.”

Standing in the chill of the morning, others were shivering and their teeth clattered as the biting cold seethed through everyone, but I didn’t feel it. I was lost in deep thoughts and I couldn’t stop pondering on what Nina had said earlier. Even when Miss Sheldon’s deep, hoarse manly voice was ringing through the atmosphere, I paid no attention. If Nina was correct about what she had said, then what were my chances? I asked myself. I scoffed, she was probably exaggerating or even bluffing, why would the Alpha of the pack treat his people that way?

  “Ariah!” A harsh voice called and I was jolted out of my thoughts. “You’re daydreaming again while I’m talking right?” It was Miss Sheldon and before I could reply, she grabbed a handful of my pitch-black hair and dragged me forward ruthlessly. “Next time when I talk, you listen, you hear me, you insolent child?” She screamed, dragging my hair and not letting go despite my frantic screams.

It wasn’t the first time she had physically abused me, there was nothing we could do most of the time. As she let go of my hair, she smacked me across the face and I fell to the ground. My cheeks stung and I felt tears welling up in my eyes. My fists clenched so tightly, I felt like bolting up and punching her in the face, but I held myself with great difficulty.

I didn’t need to cause any trouble, after all when I turn eighteen, I’ll be out of this hell hole, with my mate by my side.