Chapter One

JENNY’S POV

The sun was harsh and it burnt my skin as I did my chore, walking to and fro to carry the boxes that I and three other maids were assigned to offload from a truck in the palace but the guards that supervised us had umbrellas over their heads to protect themselves from the sun.

I walked back to the truck to carry another one of the boxes when one of the maids who was beside me sneered before she began to talk to herself with anger on her face.

“I wonder why these boxes have to be taken from here so urgently. The sun is hot and it’s burning us but they have umbrellas while we don’t and we are the ones doing the work” she said and it sounded like she was speaking to me but I didn’t reply as I carried a box and walked away.

I was about to walk into the storeroom to drop the box when I heard someone wail out in pain and when I looked back to see what was happening, it was the same girl who was muttering to herself angrily just minutes ago. She was on her knees and was coughing out blood as a gash that wasn’t on her face before was bleeding and the guards that stood by the car still whipped her hard with the canes in their hands. I froze with the box in my hand as II watched them whip her nonstop until her already worn out dress tore at the back and she was coughing out blood too. I felt bad for her but I also knew that I couldn’t do anything to help her. We were all slaves in this pack and honestly, we didn’t even own our lives. The tyrant alpha of this pack did.

I was still watching and feeling bad for the girl when suddenly, I got slapped on the face and when I looked to see who did it, it was the guard that was keeping watch by the door of the storeroom. She was glaring at me and I knew that if I looked at her for too long, I was going to get punished so I quickly lowered my gaze while the impact of her hand on my face made my cheek sting badly in pain.

“You’d better move on before I make them do what they are doing to you too” she warned and I quickly nodded while bowing to her too.

“I’m sorry I got distracted. It won’t happen again” I quickly apologized to her with tears brimming behind my lids before I made my way into the storeroom and dropped the box in my hand along with the rest that we had brought in previously.

I quickly got rid of the tears in my eyes by cleaning my face then I sniffed before I rushed out of the storeroom while the other maids put the remaining boxes in the storeroom. Suddenly, all the guards stood at attention and bowed their heads while I wondered what was happening so I looked up to check and it was the alpha that was passing by. I had never seen him before ever since I was brought to the palace to be a slave but I could tell he was the one from how expensive he dressed.

I was still looking at him, forgetting I was supposed to bow my head too when he turned to my direction and our eyes met at that moment. He eyed me from my head to toe with disgust and what looked like shock in his eyes before he looked away and my heart couldn’t stop thundering in fear.

So I quickly bent my head before any guard would catch me looking at the alpha and when the alpha was gone, everyone returned to what they were doing. The female guard locked the door to the storeroom since we were done and the guards that were whipping the girl who was muttering to herself walked away, leaving her with her bleeding back and torn dress on the floor.

I rushed toward her to help and she was too weak to even move but I was grateful that at least she was breathing which meant she was still alive despite how hard they hit her.

The other maids that joined to pack the boxes came over to help me move her and together, we carried her back to the shabby maids quarters where we slept and ate.

There, we did our best to treat her with the little remedy we could find and soon she was asleep, making me hope that she would be strong enough to resume work the next day so she wouldn't receive additional punishment from the matron in charge of looking over the maids.

It was time for dinner and we all lined up to take what we ate every single night, a plate of tasteless soup and a little piece of bread bun that was too hard to chew or swallow but we had no choice but to eat it because starving wasn’t an option for us.

I was done eating and cleaning my plate when I realized that it was actually my birthday and I just clocked twenty one.

“Talk about the worst birthday” I muttered to myself as I made my way to the river behind the maids quarters to have a bath and I sighed in relief as I dipped myself in the cold water and felt it against my skin. All the body ache from all the work I did for the day suddenly vanished and I felt better. Still in the water, I began to remember the last happy birthday that I had and it was when I clocked seventeen. I was still with my parents and older brother and we were a happy family until my brother got killed in a war that my pack waged against another pack. Then my father had a stroke and was like that for a year before he also died and my mum didn’t take it all too well so she also followed suit four months later after having a heart attack and I was left alone.

My parents had debts and there was no way to pay so I was taken as a slave and that was when the whole hardship began. I tried to take my life twice when I couldn’t take it anymore but something always held me back and then I would have this absurd imagination that one day, I was going to be free from being a slave and I would be able to leave the life that I always dreamed of… the life that my family dreamed off for me before they died but it seemed impossible and I doubted if it was ever going to happen.

I finished having my bath and I returned to the shore to dry my body before I wore my only night dress that I brought along with me then I washed my maid uniform and hung it on the branch of a tree for it to dry. I wasn't feeling sleepy yet so I decided to stay back for a while and enjoy the soft breeze that swayed past me, to and fro in the air until they would ring the bell for lights out and it would be time for me to go to bed.

I was still there when I began to imagine how I would possibly escape if I had the chance and I smiled to myself sadly as I had an idea of dressing like a man to get my way out of the pack and run for my life but I was scared to even try it because if I got caught, I was going to be killed by the alpha himself.

Another idea popped into my head and this time, it was pretending to be pregnant while I would have a mask over my face but I doubted if that was even going to be convincing enough to let the guards let me pass the pack’s gate and I knew that it was going to be better to dress like a man than to pretend to be pregnant. I knew I was going to be caught immediately if I did the lather.

Still deep in thoughts, I suddenly realized that I was now an omega since I had clocked twenty one and I got excited for the first time that day. I was now stronger compared to how I was before and even though I still had a long way to go, I was better than before.

In excitement, I let my claws out to see and they were longer and stronger than they were the last time I checked. I grinned to myself as I stared at them and it felt exhilarating to know I was making progress in my growth as a werewolf on my own. Suddenly, sadness took over the joy I  felt seconds ago and it was because I knew that no matter how hard I tried to prove myself worthy of doing something better than just being a maid, I was only going to be seen as a slave by everyone around me. That was the stigma of being a slave in such a pack clinging onto me and it was going to be that way forever if I didn’t figure out a way to get out of this pack and start a new life.

Sighing defeatedly, I returned my claws and my hands were normal again. The bell to signal the time for lights out began to ring and I knew it was my cue to return to the maids quarters immediately. I reached for my uniform that hung still on the branch and it was already dry so I folded it and began to make my way back to the quarters building.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps behind me as the leaves rustled loudly and I stopped walking at once. I looked back and there was no one, the night was pitch black so it was difficult to see anything or make out any movement but my werewolf could sense that I was being followed, only that I didn’t know why but I knew I had to run to safety quickly.

So I hastened my pace and soon, I was running at the fastest that I could go, hoping that I would get to the maids quarter safely and in one piece… but it seemed fate had other plans for me that fateful night because I wasn’t lucky. I blindly fell over twig and just as I stood up to continue moving, a bag was used to cover my face from behind so I began to struggle with all of my might to set myself free from whoever it was that was trying to kidnap me but they were stronger, my hands and legs were suddenly seized and tied up so I decided to scream for help but shockingly, my voice was gone and I could tell that a spell was cast on the bag that was over my face to prevent me from screaming while they took me.

I began to feel dizzy but I fought hard and struggled at my best not to fall asleep. Only that I couldn’t fight against the spell for so long. Even though I was still struggling with them as they tied my legs, I gave in soon enough and passed out after I was hit hard across the face by an unknown person when I would not stop struggling but before my whole consciousness slipped away from me, I felt them carry my body and they began to move. Only that I didn’t know where they were going. I silently prayed and hoped that my dead parents and brother would protect me from whatever that was going to happen to me but a part of me also doubted if I was going to be saved.