Chapter 1 : Day in the Life

*Alice's POV*

"Look at you, ugly bitch! Show us what you are!"

I sighed as I put down the bucket of dirty greasy water, watching Olivia charging towards me. Had she not learned enough to leave me alone?

"How may I help you, Princess Olivia?" I greeted her as politely as I could. It was a joke. She and I were both the Alpha King's daughter, yet, she was a princess, but I was treated like the lowest maid.

"Ugly bitch! How dare you look at me? "

While Olivia approached, I found there was a tiny wound on her forehead. She just ended today's training, probably with the new royal teacher.

She was wretched in every sense of the word. When she suffered, all hell broke loose and there was no doubt that she definitely was looking to make me suffer too. That was how it was here: I was no one and my life meant nothing.

"Bitch! Didn't you hear me?!"

Before I could respond, she slapped me hard across the face, sending me rolling down the stairs. My body felt like I had been obliterated, and every bone in my body seemed misaligned.

The loud noise made everyone else in the banquet hall look over. But they were used to it, and only Olivia's suitors whistled.

As the first daughter of the Alpha King, I should be taken good care of and respected by everyone in the royal palace. However, things couldn't be more opposite. I was seen as a disgrace to the royal family, all because I was born without a wolf. Therefore, even the lowest servant in the palace would torture me.

Most shifters experienced their first transformation when they turned 18. Unfortunately, I couldn't. As far as I knew, my mother was a human doctor who was brought to the palace by the Alpha King. If she hadn't rescued Alpha King in the forest back then, perhaps our fates could have been changed. She was dead because of me. If I wasn't born, maybe she'd still be alive.

Olivia walked down the staircase and swayed over to me. She was looking down at me with pure and unfiltered hatred. She opened her mouth to speak when a young man approached her, and placed his hand on her arm.

"Dear, don't hurt your hand. She is just a low maid who doesn't deserve your attention. You need to deal with the wound on your head. Simon put you through a lot today and you deserve some rest."

He must've been a young Alpha from one of the other packs. The new teacher's strictness has made many people feel pity toward Olivia, especially the Alpha sons of other packs, who only continued to fuel the fire of her ever-burning narcissism.

Olivia pulled her arm away and sneered with pride, glaring down on me. As I tried to stand, she used her foot to push me back down.

"You've got it all wrong, Sir Ryland. She's not just a lowly servant. Let me introduce her to you. She is my dear sister, Alice."

I grunted and struggled to lift myself from under her step, but Olivia simply smiled at the pain she was causing on me, with her heel pressing into my chest. Then, she released her hold, causing me to gasp.

"Be thankful this was the worst you got," she sneered before lifting the hem of her beautiful dress and stepping aside.

She wasn't done. Olivia was never going to be tired of humiliating me in front of everyone, especially when there were newcomers.

I heard the strangers' gasps. When I finally found my footing and they saw my face, they were shocked.

"My sister is beautiful, isn't she?" Olivia said as she grabbed my chin tightly in her hand.

"Yes…no, no! I mean she is horrid. She's no match for you at all. How can she be your sister? That's an insult to you."

The men flattered Ovilia, but their eyes were on me, secretly.

Olivia glared at them, making some of them laugh awkwardly.

"My sister is a beauty," she continued. "However, she is a disgrace to our royal family." Olivia jerked my jaw away like she was throwing away something dirty and made me fall back to the ground.

Then she did what I feared was coming all along. I heard her announce the famous truth, disdainfully.

"My sister, Alice, was born a shifter without a wolf," she said loudly, smirking as she did.

The questions flooded in, all at once.

"Why doesn't she have a wolf? Can't she shift?"

The guys looked at me unscrupulously, as if they wanted to see through me—use me for their own sick and twisted desires. A beautiful weak girl in a crowd was like a piece of fresh meat in a pack of hungry wolves.

"I don't know why my dear sister can't shift," Olivia stated, putting a little "pity" behind her tone. "Perhaps, she is hiding her wolf. Do you want to see her shift?"

She knew I wasn't born with a wolf, but that didn't stop her. I was merely nothing but a joke.

The young Alpha's cheered and then walked toward us. Their footsteps shook the stairs slightly as they started to crowd around us.

"Why isn't she in training if she's a shifter? Is she so strong that she doesn't need training? Oh! Maybe she's like Mr. Simon! Haaaaa!"

Their laughter was deafening and almost toppled the roof with how loud it roared.

"Who knows?" Olivia smiled. "Mr. Simon can fight us without shifting. Maybe my sister is also gifted?"

I stood, frozen, and tried to tune out their taunts. I tried to focus on something—anything—knowing the rage would soon force me to shift. But it was too late.

"Ahh!"

A huge pain pierced through my palm. I trembled and tried desperately to pull my hand away, but Olivia mercilessly grabbed it roughly, squeezing to cause more discomfort.

Tears welled up uncontrollably in the corners of my eyes, and I struggled harder.

"I'm helping you shift. Alice, shift right now!" Olivia demanded

She then pulled me close and whispered in my ear with her sweet and soft voice.

"Don't you want to fight back?" Olivia sneered. "Who do you think you are? Mr. Simon? I'm warning you, just because he can defeat us without shifting, doesn't mean a lowly Omega like you can do it as well, you whore!"

I didn't answer her. My gaze moved and I saw the bucket I had set at the edge of the staircase starting to lose its balance from the cheers and people pressing into it.

If only it would go a little bit further…maybe…

"Olivia, your sister can't shift. It's too hard for her. You should let her go," one of the young Alphas said.

"Oh? Alice, do you want to leave? I can let you go if you beg me. I know you are good at begging for mercy," Olivia taunted.

I knew what she wanted to see and now it was the time.

"Princess Olivia. " My voice was weak, broken, and barely anything but a whisper. I threw my head up, my face covered in tears as I bit at the corners of my lips.

This was her favorite look to see on my face. No matter how many times I showed such an expression, she would be fooled.

"What do you say?" She moved closer to me unconsciously, trying to hear what I was saying.

She wanted to hear me throw in the towel eagerly, waiting with bated breath for her moment to shine. Our father, The Alpha King, valued her as much as he valued me. As an Alpha, her abilities were less than outstanding, especially in combat. Other than her terrible personality, it was another reason she repeatedly humiliated me: to prove herself.

She sneered at me. I was tired of playing this game.

It was time for it to end.

Three…two…one.

"I said," I whispered. "Take care."

"Ahhhh!" Olivia screamed and jumped.

The bucket finally fell and splashed as it rolled down the steps, covering her entire dress in hot, scalding water. Although it didn't burn her face, the oil stain certainly made Olivia uncomfortable.

"It burns!" she screamed. "I can't feel anything! It burns!"

The young Alpha's rushed to Olivia, all trying to help her clean herself.

This was my moment. I didn't waste any more time and slipped out of the banquet hall before anyone noticed me.

When I stopped to check my body, I found that my hand was swollen and I also had a scrape on my back.

I cursed under my breath. It was an injury, but less than what I'd experienced in the past.

This kind of torture happened every day. In the beginning, I was badly injured and almost died several times, but as I got older, I learned to prepare for these scenarios, and protect myself as best as I can.

My acting skills became more proficient, and I was able to get hurt less by playing to the vanity of those around me. It was a skill that had saved me several times, and one that I had come to cherish.

In the werewolf palace, I was a nobody; weaker than the weakest Omega, and no different from a human being. Everyone ignored me, despised me, and harassed me. In the eyes of other shifters, I was not accepted and blessed by their Moon Goddess. Despite my lineage, I was worthless and just another long-forgotten mistake.

After a life of torment, I learned to not care and focus my goal on one day leaving this place, in search of a new life.

The only one who cared about me and protected me was Joan. She was the cook in the palace, a human woman who applied to work in the werewolf palace 18 years ago. No one knew where she was from, but she had a special connection to my birth mother.

When I entered the kitchen, my heart warmed at the sight of her.

"Dear, why did it take so long for you to get the bucket? Anything happened?" Joan asked me worriedly.

I hid my hand behind my back—she didn't need to see this.

"Nothing happened. I just fell, and had to clean up the mess. It was nothing."

It didn't calm her. Joan grabbed my shoulder anxiously and looked at me nervously.

"Are you hurt?"

"No. The bucket is broken, but I'm okay."

I tried to force a smile to deter her, but she only stared at me for a little longer. I could tell she didn't fully believe me, but she had learn to let it go too.

To her, I was her entire world, and to me, she was mine. Which is also why I tried my best to hide my dark side from her. She was a kind human woman, and they were wolves. The last thing I wanted was for her to be caught up in my life.

She sighed. "Okay. If the bucket broke, I'll go buy a new one tomorrow. But, you should go to bed now. There's a reason they call it 'beauty sleep'."

She turned me around and pushed me out the door, only I had a glimpse of the mountain of dirty disks and forks in the sank.

Whoever this royal teacher was, he must've been good at his job. He had attracted several young Alphas to the area, ready to train and increase their abilities—and, in turn, caused me and Joan a whole lot more work than usual.

"No. It's you who should have a rest. I am young, so I can work longer." I said, shaking my head.

She pulled me into a loving and tender hug, and I let my body relax into it. I felt safe. secure. And that was hard to come by here.

I hugged her back, and whispered, "If only I were your daughter. I want to be a human, Joan."

"You already are, Alice. And you are my daughter, whatever you are." She let go and stood back, admiring me. "I can't believe how much you've grown up. You looked so small when I first saw you," she said, her eyes softening.

Coaxing Joan away in a coquettish way, I smiled.

"Now go. You've been working hard, let me take care of this."

Joan smiled and kissed my cheek goodnight. She knew better than to argue with me. When I set my mind to something, I was determined to get it.

Once she retreated, I wrapped my swollen hands in a tarp. It would subside quickly, but I until then, I didn't want it to get wet.

I rolled up my sleeves and began to wash up, and by the time I finished, it was close to midnight. I wiped my hands on my apron to dry them but stopped when a tingling sensation trailed up my arms from my fingertips.

Oh, no. Not now. Please, not now. I rushed to my room and slammed the door behind me, almost instantly falling onto the floor.