Chapter 1:- Shadows of Submission

Chapter 1: Shadows of Submission

The orders rained down on her like a cold, relentless storm, each command chipping away at her already brittle sense of self. Clean this. Move that. Fetch water for the warriors. The weight of their scorn hung in every syllable, like stones pressing on her back as she moved through the packhouse’s narrow, dimly lit corridors, burdened with the day’s tasks. She was nothing more than an omega—a servant, a shadow to be scorned and ignored.

But, to them, she was less than even the other omegas. The daughter of traitors. The lowest of the low.

As she trudged through the packhouse, her limbs ached from exhaustion. Her knees felt weak, her muscles worn and raw. Cassia forced herself to hold her head high, to show them that she could still endure, even if, deep down, she barely felt worthy of the air she breathed. Omega… The title echoed in her mind, a brand that burned deeper every time they hurled it at her like a curse.

You’re nothing but a useless omega, Cassia, she thought, the words biting, as if she were scolding herself. Nothing but a broken shadow.

"Don't listen to them," came a voice from deep within her. It was Lynx, her wolf, her only comfort. A steady, grounding presence that kept her sane when everything around her seemed like it was crumbling. "You’re more than they’ll ever know, Cassia. Just remember that."

But Lynx’s reassuring words felt like distant murmurs now, slipping through the cracks of her fraying resolve. Every day, it got harder to believe them. Every day, she felt weaker, more worn down by the weight of their disdain, the endless barrage of scorn and ridicule.

She was barely more than a shadow now—a ghost among the living. An omega without power, without hope.

Cassia was scrubbing the floors when she heard footsteps approaching, each one echoing like a drumbeat against her eardrums. She didn't need to look up to know who it was; the presence was unmistakable. Heavy, looming, and dark like a storm cloud ready to break. Rhett.

Her heart gave a painful twist as he stopped in front of her, his shadow falling over her like a cold shroud. She kept her gaze on the floor, her hands stilling for a fraction of a second before she forced them to keep scrubbing. Rhett would not tolerate her weakness—he had made that abundantly clear over the years.

But, to her dismay, another set of footsteps joined Rhett’s—a lighter, more playful rhythm. Ash.

Her head remained bowed, but she couldn’t stop herself from listening. Ash was Rhett’s younger brother, clever and sharp-tongued, a rare glimmer of brightness in her dim world. He was the only one who dared speak to her without scorn—though his kindness came in flashes, hints of pity in a world otherwise filled with contempt.

"Cassia!" Ash’s voice was loud, almost mocking, but there was a spark of warmth in it. "Doing the Alpha’s bidding, I see. Tough day?"

She gave a small, dry smile, her gaze still fixed on the ground. "Every day’s tough when you’re at the bottom of the food chain, Ash," she murmured, trying to keep her voice neutral, to make her suffering sound light, trivial.

But a small laugh escaped her lips, slipping out before she could hold it back. It was barely a sound, but it cut through the silence with a softness that startled even her.

Rhett’s gaze flicked over to her, sharp as a blade. The laughter died on her lips, her stomach twisting with unease as she felt his anger ripple through the air. He hated seeing her happy, she knew that. He hated seeing her find joy, even in the smallest things, especially if that joy came from Ash. There was something primal in his gaze—a possessive fury that unsettled her, even though he had rejected her long ago.

"Careful, Cassia," Lynx warned, her voice a soft growl in the back of Cassia’s mind. "He’s watching you. He’s looking for a reason."

Cassia’s hands stilled, the cold soapy water biting into her fingers as she dared to look up, meeting Rhett’s gaze with a quiet, defiant stare. Let him see, she thought. Let him see that he hasn’t broken me, not yet.

But the look in his eyes made her breath hitch—a cold, calculating glint, filled with the familiar scorn and something darker, a shadow that loomed between them. His lip curled in disdain, his gaze flicking over her as if she were nothing more than dirt beneath his feet.

“You dare laugh?” Rhett’s voice was a low growl, barely more than a whisper, but it carried a deadly weight that made her pulse quicken. "You find joy in this, Cassia? In this pathetic existence?"

Cassia swallowed hard, her heart pounding painfully in her chest as his words hit home, each one sinking deeper than the last. Her throat felt tight, her skin prickling with the weight of his disdain.

“I’m sorry, Alpha,” she murmured, lowering her gaze. She could feel Lynx stirring within her, a low growl rumbling from deep within her wolf’s chest, but she forced herself to remain still, to keep her defiance hidden beneath a mask of submission. She was too weak to fight back, too low in rank, too broken to ever hope for anything else.

She was an omega—nothing more, nothing less.

Rhett’s gaze lingered on her for a moment longer before he turned away, his expression hardening into a mask of indifference. "Remember your place," he said, his voice a cold, cutting whisper that left her heart aching with a pain she couldn’t name.

But Ash lingered, his gaze flicking to her with something close to pity, his usual smirk softened by a hint of sadness. He looked like he wanted to say something, to offer her a hand, but Rhett’s presence kept him silent, his lips pressed into a thin line as he followed his brother down the hallway.

Another day, she thought bitterly. Just another day of being nothing.

As the hours passed and the day bled into night, Cassia found herself alone in her small, cramped quarters at the edge of the packhouse, the weight of the day’s exhaustion pressing down on her. She sank onto the narrow cot, her head falling into her hands as memories of her parents flooded her mind—memories she had tried so hard to bury, but they clawed their way back with a vengeance, tearing at her with a ferocity she couldn’t escape.

She remembered the way the pack had looked at her parents, the whispers that had followed them, the accusations that had painted them as traitors. She had been so young then, so hopeful, so foolishly in love with the idea that one day she would find her mate, that he would see her, love her, protect her from this life of torment.

But that hope had been shattered the day Rhett had looked at her and turned away, his rejection a brutal reminder that she was nothing, that she would always be nothing.

"You are stronger than they know," Lynx whispered, her voice a soft, steady presence in the back of Cassia’s mind. "One day, we will show them. One day, they will regret ever treating you this way."

But Cassia could feel the doubt creeping in, the quiet whisper of hopelessness that had become her constant companion. She was weak, powerless, chained to this pack by a bond she couldn’t escape. She was an omega, the lowest of the low, and there was no place for her in this world—no future, no hope.

The memories swirled around her, dark and relentless, each one cutting deeper than the last. She remembered the way her father’s voice had cracked as he begged for mercy, the way her mother had looked at her with tear-filled eyes as the pack had dragged them away, condemning them to a fate worse than death.

And she remembered Rhett, his cold gaze cutting into her like a blade, his voice a quiet whisper that had left her heart shattered beyond repair.

“You’re nothing to me, Cassia,” he had said, his words a cruel reminder that she would always be an outsider, a shadow in a world that had no place for her.

And so, she sat there in the darkness, the weight of her pain pressing down on her like a vice, Lynx’s quiet presence the only thing keeping her sane as the world closed in around her.

But even as the darkness threatened to consume her, a quiet spark flickered in the depths of her heart—a small, defiant glimmer of hope that refused to be snuffed out, no matter how broken she felt.

One day, she vowed silently, her gaze hardening with a fierce determination. One day, I will break free from this. One day, I will show them all.

And with that thought, Cassia drifted into a restless sleep, her heart aching with a pain that only Lynx could understand, her dreams haunted by the shadows of her past and the quiet promise of revenge.