~Neveah's Childhood~
A four year old Neveah hid behind the rose bush in the courtyard of the Eclipse palace, her little form trembling in terror.
The thorns on the roses cut into her skin as she stuffed herself between the tight rose bushes, each cut brought tears to little Neveah's eyes and she struggled to swallow down her cries of pain.
"Omega! Come out here right now!" Prince Alessio screamed, stomping his foot in annoyance as his eyes scanned the courtyard in search of little Neveah.
His friends surrounded him, their eyes gleaming with excitement, eager to see Prince Alessio put the bastard child in her place again.
Little Neveah shuddered in fear at the thought of enduring another round of Prince Alessio's beatings,
Prince Alessio was five years her senior and had long began to hone his supernatural abilities, in preparation for when the Creator would grant him his wolf.
He was the brightest star amongst the younger generation of the Eclipse Fang Pack, the pride of the Alpha King and the entire eclipse domain.
At the age of nine summers, he could already stand his ground in combat against some warrior wolves and the trackers sang praises of his keen and alert senses,
Prince Alessio's speed was even better than most warriors and his strength was also impressive, he had displayed every innate talent of a wolf shifter to the state of excellence and was considered a prodigy.
Whereas little Neveah herself had shown no signs of heightened abilities and since Neveah's mother was human, it was a general conclusion that little Neveah had inherited none of her father's genes.
It was a conclusion that delighted the wolf shifters of the Eclipse Fang Pack, perhaps little Neveah lacking talent somehow made it more acceptable to them that their beloved Alpha King had fathered an illegitimate child with a human woman.
"Come out now, you revolting bastard child!" Prince Alessio roared when Neveah still did not come out of her hiding place.
Neveah was grateful Prince Alessio was yet to be granted his wolf, if he had, he would have long already found Neveah's hiding spot.
Although his tracking ability and his sense of smell were incapable, he was still a child and after a hundred different unsuccessful attempts at hiding from him only to end up being beating even more severely for trying to hide,
Neveah had eventually figured out this hiding spot in the courtyard,
The sharp scent of the rose bushes and other flowery scent that filled the courtyard would make it difficult for Prince Alessio to track her with his keen sense of smell.
As painful as it was to be pierced by the thorns of the rose bush multiple times a day or sometimes for days at a stretch whenever she had to hide from Prince Alessio,
Neveah knew it was a much better option than enduring another one of Prince Alessio's beatings.
Prince Alessio was much stronger than any child had the right to be and whenever he beat her to the delight and mockery of his friends,
Neveah would spend the rest of the week in excruciating pain, her limbs twisted in odd angles and bruises marring every inch of her skin.
Since Neveah was a bastard child, loathed by all, she was not even allowed the services of the pack doctor when she was ill or in pain and so she would have to suffer through the agony alone,
That was until the Alpha Queen needed to administer her own round of torture, she would send someone to fetch Neveah from the pit of a room she had been given,
She would then order a warrior wolf to harshly set Neveah's twisted limbs back in place only for her to snap them once again.
The pain was something no human should have to bear, yet young Neveah was forced to endure this pain multiple times a week and the mere thought of another round of it terrified her.
Neveah swore she would never come out of this rose bush again, she swore it fervently like she had many times before,
But hunger and thirst always prevailed and forced Neveah out of her hiding place, right into the waiting hands of her tormenters.
"Come out this instant or you'll be sorry!" Prince Alessio threatened.
Neveah shook her head fervently, hugging her knees closer to her chest and rocking slowly to comfort herself and keep back the sobs threatening to tear out of her throat.
"Prince Alessio! The Queen wants you back to have lunch together in her quarters!" A voice Neveah recognized as belonging to her Governess called out to Prince Alessio.
"I can't right now! Tell my mother I'm busy! I need to find that bastard child and teach her a lesson!" Prince Alessio answered in a dismissive tone as he stormed through the courtyard, searching everywhere for Neveah.
However Neveah knew he would never search the rose bushes, he did not like to go near them because the thorns hurt his hands whenever he did.
This was precisely why this was the perfect hiding spot for Neveah, no one would expect she truly was hidden within a bush full of thorns.
"It's fine Prince Alessio, the stupid mongrel will starve wherever she is and then she will be out of her own will." Neveah's Governess appeased Prince Alessio in a fawning tone.
"But she touched my books!" Prince Alessio insisted in rage.
"They are of no use to her My Prince, she can barely write her own name, how would she know to read?" Neveah's Governess laughed mockingly.
Neveah's heart sank at the words of her own Governess, but she had long known even the Governess who had weaned her was loyal to the Alpha Queen and detested Neveah's existence.
"If it makes you feel any better, I will send the waste of space over to you the moment I see her, now come on over here, we shouldn't keep the queen waiting for too long." Neveah's Governess advised.
Neveah heard the footsteps departing as her Governess led Prince Alessio and his friends away and Neveah could finally release the breath she had been holding.
Again, Neveah had managed to escape Prince Alessio's fury, but Neveah wondered for just how long she could keep hiding till they caught her and then there would be no more places to hide.
It was exactly at this point that Neveah's stomach grumbled in hunger, she had not had anything to eat since the day before and it was already late noon.
And her Governess knew this, and so she had been certain that Neveah would be left with no choice but to come out one way or another.
'No...I can't come out, I won't come out.' Neveah vowed, hugging her knees even closer to her chest.