The kitchen must look exactly the way it had always been, good as new.

I never liked cleaning the kitchen. I never liked cleaning anything here so that I didn't mess up myself. Picking up behind grown a** people had to have been the worst thing that anyone experienced and I-Reina the Cursed-experience it every day and night.

You'd think these people would be house trained, given who and what they are. Wolves. That's what they are. Shifters who howl at the moon. Living, breathing, creatures of the Moon Goddess and I was one of them.

Well, I could be, if I had my wolf.

That was what separated me from the pack. I am wolfless. Cursed. Useless, at least in the eyes of my master. Reduced to a household maid straight out of a fairytale, waiting for my fairy godmother to come to rescue me. But there was no fairy godmother, no glass slipper, no charming prince to sweep me away. Only four walls and a roof, my dishrag in hand, and me scrubbing away every bit of dirt and grime this kitchen had to offer.

Because nobody lifted a finger to clean except for me, their little wolfless omega slave.

Or, in the case of Liam, the alpha's son, I am just a pet.

Liam's pet.

He and Olivia, his little sister, walked in as soon as I was done with the kitchen.

'Here we go' ... my mind prepared. I didn't even have to look over my shoulder to know it was them. "What is it?"

"What is it?" Liam repeated with arrogant scoff. "You've been in this kitchen for hours, Reina. What are you doing, cleaning with a toothbrush or what?"

I took a deep breath. I could set my watch to his foolishness if I wanted. His bullsh*t was like clockwork. "I always finish around this time. It's nothing new."

I can hear him attempting to find something to b*tch about, moving around the kitchen in hopes of spotting a flaw in my routine. Liam always tried his best to cause a scene. Given that I am on kitchen duty, the kitchen must be cleaned down to the very last nook and cranny.

The moment he spat on the floor and Olivia let loose another one of her infamous giggles, I knew the time had come for me to deal with him once again.

And I was ready like always.

"You missed a spot," he said. I turned to look down between us at his feet and the glistening wad of spit soiling the floor. He must've had a cold. The saliva was thick with mucus, taunting me to clean it up, begging me to kneel before Liam and remove his filth. I hated it.

I 'hated' him. "Seriously?"

He looked me dead in the eyes. "Seriously" You pompous little mama's boy, I thought. Liam was so stuck inside his own ego that he forgot what it meant to be what I call a finite piece of sh*t. No one was above anyone in my eyes. Everyone bleeds. Everyone dies.

Liam was the future of Alpha Ezra's pack.

Ezra's successor and his son. He was also a mateless prick who went out of his way to show me just how undesirable I was, though every day I look in the mirror, I see someone entirely different. Was it my looks that compelled him to be this way? Or maybe he couldn't have me. I picked up on his motives a bit in the past, with my friend Violet confirming that we both had an inkling of suspicion that Liam liked me.

Boys who pick on girls had an obsession that cloaked infatuation.

As cruel as Liam was to me, I doubted that infatuation was a tender one. He really had it out for me. Instigating every step of the way. Always a thorn in my side. He couldn't have me and sometimes that was the greatest victory. Yet, I could always feel his eyes on me when I walk away from him. I couldn't do that this time.

Dishrag in my hand, I dip down to clean it up immediately. I stood back up. Liam disapproved.

"Who told you to get up? Back on your knees until I tell you."

I look at him with a calmness hiding the genuine threat within. I assume he knows my hatred for the negative tension between us no stranger. Years of putting up with his sh*t ingrained that tacit knowledge of discontent and resentment. I refuse to bend knees for an entitled b*stard like him.

He extended his arms in a gesture of wait.

"Well? We're waiting? On your knees, b*tch."

I took a deep breath and turned my back on him. He wasn't going to get any more satisfaction out of me.

That hit a particular nerve in Liam.

"You know full well that it is not wise to turn your back on me, you half-blooded heathen!" Liam lays a hand on my shoulder and my thoughts escape me. His tight hold felt as if he owned me. This was far from the truth. Nothing else matters now. I had to remind him.

I feel like I'm beside myself at this point. I spin with an unseen quickness. My hand hit his throat in a second's breath of a swift heartbeat.

I could have sworn that I heard Olivia gasp then. Maybe it isn't her. Perhaps it is Liam, struggling for air. Yeah. It's him. Cocky face twisted from the strike to the front of his neck. The deathly sounds of one emerging from the deepest seas, fighting to fill air into their lungs.

Of course, that is the satisfying sound of Liam choking and convulsing before me. And I wasn't done.

I reach for his shirt. I tightly tug on it. I gave him no time to recover as I launched my knee into his firm stomach. Another yelp. Another gasp. He groans as he drops to his knees. And I slam my fist into his pompous face, hoping to smash every bit of his conceit from ever emerging like a stubborn cockroach ever again.

Wishful thinking.

He finally took that fall. Not so smug anymore as he hugged his gut, I thought, but he'll rise again, egotistic as ever and by all means vengeful.

His eyes of pain found mine. It felt good to see him in pain.

"You," he struggled to speak. "Reina ... you little-"

He is hurt for sure, pride and all. I stand there, above him, better than him. Better than them both. Olivia just stood there.

Stunned. No matter. I need to make sure that they both know that-wolf or not-I can take them on their best of days. I despise them. I hate them all. Every last one of them.

But it didn't matter how much hatred I had for their pack. They could care less and could care less about their cares. I expected Olivia to retaliate, however, she must have thought twice after seeing her brother fall.

Until Luna Stella, the alpha's mate, storms in. "The hell's going on in here?!"

I froze. Her voice squeezed my angry soul, taming it for the worst. Nothing good came of her presence when it came to dealing with me.

"She struck Liam," Olivia answered as she fell to Liam's side.

Of course, she'd take his side over my own. No one cared about who was right and who was wrong. The favored ruled among the less fortunate, and here I was, the less fortunate, facing off with Luna Stella witnessing the fury cooking in her eyes. Hot daggers pierced my spirit like a butter knife left on the fire for too long.

"How bold of you to strike my son," she said to me. Threatening eyes thinned like needles, "It's like you're a glutton for punishment"

I prefer that she stare me down into a pit of nothingness more than anything. Without any words, Stella went to the kitchen counter, took out the biggest wooden spoon that she could find, and before I knew it, my entire body spun into the counter behind me. The side of my face stung like pure hell.

"How does it feel?" she asked with scorn on her tongue. It was a question that needed no answer.

Especially when she knew where to hit me. I turned to give it my all, reaching for the spoon, but Luna Stella was quick. Too quick. How stupid for me to believe myself capable of confronting a malicious wench that wasn't mortal, to begin with. Still, she too can bleed and die. Killing her would be a pleasure. Killing them all would be ultimate bliss.

My cruel hatred heightened each time I felt such pain. A shame l couldn't turn that resentment into power, overcome the pack and flee. She made sure I hugged the cold floor just like Liam did when I dropped him with a two-piece that he'll never forget. Like all the times before.