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Bloom’s POV

Cecily kicked me back and gestured to the omegas to come closer and continue the beating.

Even as they kept hitting me, I persisted and moved closer to Cecily to kiss her feet. From her face, it was clear that she loved seeing me in pain, and I was just a toy to her.

With a calculating look, she jumped away as I was about to get to her and kicked sand onto my face. The only thing I could do to end this harassment was to kiss her feet, but she was not allowing me to get close enough to her. She kept on dancing away before I got close.

All the while, the omegas continued their attack on me. The hot stones scorched my knees as I crawled on the ground. A hit landed on my belly, and I almost collapsed and threw up the contents in my tummy.

Huff! Struggling to breathe, I looked up in sadness to see a cruel smile on Cecily’s face. I was burning up, so I stopped long enough to catch my breath. The beating and kicking didn't stop, though.

Why did she enjoy hurting me so much? I questioned inwardly. Why did everyone around me hate me?

She frowned when she saw me looking and kicked me in the face without hesitation. I wasn’t new to this kind of treatment. “How dare you look at me like that?! Your father doesn’t even want you! Nobody wants you because you’re a nobody! A walking corpse, waiting to rot! You have no place here, not even with the omegas. We’re higher in rank than you’ll ever be!”

She kicked dust into my face again, causing another bout of sneezing and coughing.

“I wonder what will happen now, hmm?” The corner of Cecily’s lips lifted in a sneer. “If nobody wants you, not even your mate will!” She proclaimed. “I pity whoever that unfortunate person is because you will be a huge stain on his reputation,” She added, and the omegas laughed as though she said something funny.

I didn’t say anything, but I disagreed with her. The only thing keeping me going was the hope that my mate would rescue me from this torment. No matter what Cecily said, I didn’t believe my mate could resist the mate bond, as I’d seen how strong it could be. My father was an example.

I was weak and could barely move. I lifted my gaze and noticed Lydia standing in a corner. Her eyes portrayed pain at what she was witnessing.

The weather was gloomy. I was gloomy. My mate was my only hope. Even if nobody accepted me, my mate would, wouldn’t he?

I had been disappointed by the people closest to me. I didn’t want to experience it again. I’ve had my heart broken so many times since I was born. I couldn’t bear the thought of it happening again.

Laughter filled my ears, and my heart bled thinking of Cecily’s words. With the rejection I had faced, would my mate reject me too?

It was night when I finished doing the laundry. Everyone else had gone to bed. I looked up at the moon, wondering why the moon goddess put me in such a compromising position. Why did I have to be born in such a place as this?

My hands continued to scrub on the clothes, not stopping even when they felt numb. I felt a profound sense of sadness engulf my chest. I couldn’t even appreciate the glow of the moonlight casting upon my surroundings. It made me wonder if I was born to remain a lone wolf, even though it wasn’t by choice.

My father despised me. My mother left me the day I was born. It seemed like my existence brought nothing but pain to the lives of others. I felt like a plague because that was how people treated me. I was a burden to everyone around me. I had a voice but never expressed myself. My identity as the Alpha’s daughter didn’t come with any perks. As a loner, I searched for acceptance and found none. I yearned for a place to lay my head upon when I was wounded and found rocks. I didn’t fit in with anyone. I had no idea how to love or how to be loved. I grew up swimming in the pool of hatred and pain.

In the quiet company of the moon, I believed I would find the happiness I yearned for someday, even if reality seemed so far from it.

Every moment of the day, my thoughts kept me stuck. I couldn’t see beyond where I was present because this happened to be where I grew up. I grew up here. This was what I was familiar with, what I knew, hanging on to the clutches of the people that didn't love me. I had learned from a young age that I would never receive love and affection, no matter how much I yearned for it. Perhaps, it was the punishment of the goddess for taking my mother’s life.

I learned how to succumb to the wishes and desires of others without complaining. I learned how to suffer for the things that weren’t my fault and shoulder the burden of others on my shoulder like it was my lifeline.

And while the others related with each other like family, having smiles on their faces and gladness in their hearts, I had to think twice before approaching anyone because of the fact that everyone hated me. I dared not approach anybody because the consequences of having such audacity would be deadly.

My eyes remained on the moon hanging in the sky, glowing softly. The moon wasn’t lonely, was it? The isolation it suffered from the moment it came into existence was something it probably was used to. But then, the moon wasn’t all that isolated because it had the sun behind its back reflecting through it.

I related my life related to that of the moon. Even the sun rejected the moon sometimes, and there were times she refused to reflect. Perhaps the moon goddess was sad and decided to make others feel what she felt. She had favorites, and I wasn’t one of them.

I thought of only one person I could depend on and that was my mate. Since nobody else was coming to rescue me, I believed my mate would get me out of this predicament. And I would feel the happiness I never felt before. He would be there for me, to heal me and take all the pain I had gone through.

There was no peace for a single moment here. Even now, I feared anyone, especially Cecily, could come out and hurt me because I was taking too long to finish the laundry. How long was my life going to continue this way? How long would I continue with this cursed flow? Was my mate aware I was here, in desperate need of him? In need of long-lasting happiness?

When my mate set his eyes upon me, I wondered, would he accept me the way I was or turn away from me as everyone did?