BROLN PACK
The next morning, Alora was awoken by her internal clock where her sleep timing had been registered.
She yawned and stretched lazily, got off the bed and gazed out the window. It was still dawn, and the air which coursed through the window was cool and refreshing.
Will her day be refreshing and cool?
"Hope the goddess shows me mercy today." She mumbled, then went ahead to freshen up before heading out for the day's task.
Chores in the royal house were the sole responsibility of the omegas, but they've abandoned all for her including the laborious ones.
Since, her chores included filling several mini tanks with water collected from a distant stream, she made many trips to the stream to complete the task which would have been effortless if at least two servants joined her.
If they were being directed by the Alpha or his mother, she couldn't tell, but was certain those omegas wouldn't be brave to abandon their obligations if there wasn't a directive from a higher authority.
It was in the afternoon, she finally filled up the tanks, then headed to the kitchen to wash the dishes she believed must have been littered on the kitchen floor.
Most times, she wondered if those hundreds of dishes were deliberately soiled just to punish her, as the number of dishes she washed everytime was a lot more than the expected number to be used.
On the work surface was her special wooden plate. She opened it and saw little amount of food in it.
Thank goddess!! They forgot to starve her.
She covered the plate, gently slid it to the end of the work surface where she felt it would be safer, headed to clean the staff chambers where she was welcomed with abuses and rebukes.
Finally, she completed her chores, dragged her tired body to the kitchen to eat the little left for her.
Her jaw dropped when she saw the plate and the food relishing a quiet time in the trash can.
Tears brimmed her eyes and she bit her lips like they were the culprits.
Every servant knew the plate was for her, so the food in the plate was undoubtedly hers.
Who was so vicious to deprive her of breakfast- turned lunch which was even too little to serve a child?
Who was so callous to starve her after all the demanding chores she accomplished?
It couldn't be a mistake, since there was no dullard in the royal house, except there was, maybe she wasn't aware, but aside that, it was a deliberate act.
Dejected, she dallied round the pack, her mind filled with imaginations of how beautiful her life would be if her wolf remembered her and how gruelling it would continue to be, if her wolf never arrived.
She spotted a hidden corner beside the pack's store room, sat down and reminisce on her past and present.
Her stomach became painful like her intestines were being slashed with a sharp blade.
The pain must have made her stomach expel metallic taste which diffused heavily to her mouth and she could only relieve the taste by constant release of spittle.
Did it help? She wished!! She shut her eyes, yawned tiredly and wished she could fall asleep to forget her hunger.
Otto was taking a stroll round the royal house when he saw a thin fellow sitting on the pavement of the store room and leaning on its wall.
The only names that hit his head were, an enemy! A thief! A rogue!
He took stealthy footsteps, his wolf at alert ready for an attack. But getting closer, he realized it was Alora.
"She's one of us, no rogue." His wolf, Aztec whispered, then retreated to its cage.
Surprise stole the air from his lungs and he gawked in catatonic stupor as she yawned repeatedly, rubbing her stomach.
He moved closer to notice her eyes were shut and her forehead crinkled, and he suppressed the sudden will to wake her just to take a thorough look.
She was too thin, her bones visible and her skin lacked vitality. Her eyes were sunken, her lips thin, and her face pale and haggard.
That wasn't the Alora he knew during their childhood whose father was a good friend to his.
The Alora himself and Floyd rambled the wild with. The same Alora who rode on their wolves.
She was a beauty to behold while growing up, and her smiles like flowers blooming in the field.
A jolly cutie she was, radiating her surrounding with her friendly demeanor, but when her wolf refused to appear, her beauty disappeared with the monstrous help of Flyod.
He had met her parents severally to take her back but they were obdurate.
He tapped her gently and her eyes flew opened.
The moment she saw Otto standing rigidly before her, she jerked up and wiped the drool she felt sliding down her jaw.
Her punishment day! She swayed slightly, fidgeting her dress.
"My beta. " Her voice was consumed by panic, the air became oppressive, suffocating her.
He could see how his presence made her tremble like a dying leaf.
"Alora, you don't have to be afraid in my presence, we are ranked same in this pack."
"No! My beta, we aren't, do not stain your identity with your utterances."
How could they be ranked the same? Impossible!
"I remember we all are from the beta lineage Alora."
Yeah, that's right, but---- "I'm wolf-less."
"A late bloomer Alora."
There he was, selling a fallacious belief to her just like Duanne.
She wagged her head in disagreement.
"Some wolves prefer to appear late, perhaps taking their time to beautify themselves." He closed in on her, and his warm gaze penetrated her skin.
"Your wolf might be beautiful and playful just like you. Who knows, it might have been playing and forgot the pretty Alora is waiting for it."
She glowed a little at the compliment.
"Just like the day you were playing in the wood and forgot mom was waiting for the herbs she sent you to gather."
She felt river bubble through her veins and flushed her face.
Good old days!
She locked her eyes which sparkled in excitement and humour on him. "You remembered?"
"How can I forget Alora, Aztec brought you home that day. Do you remember him?"
And it woke up. "You called me."
"Do you remember her Aztec?"
He felt it shut its eyes in thought.
"I brought her home one time, you like her but she isn't mate."
A thick layer of grief struck and broke its voice and it gloomily retreated.
A jolt of pleasure coursed through Alora and squeezed out a giggled from her.
She knew Aztec, that large dark creature, with red, burning eyes and long, trenchant claws. His wolf.
"I remember it. Thank you beta."
All the pangs that gripped her heart earlier were plucked off, all the gloom that surrounded her dispersed and replaced with a wave of euphoria
He recalled she was yawning and rubbing her stomach. "Have you eaten?"
She shook her head.
"Why?"
"Someone trashed my food." Her face writhe as though she was trying to hold back her tears.
His eyes widened in disbelief. How could one be so cruel?
"Remain here, I'll get you something to eat."
He hastened out and after a while returned with a pack of food and diced fruits.
"Go back to your room and eat."
She thanked him then hurried to her room.
She was about opening the food when her door was kicked and some sentinels with few omegas barged in.
She shifted farther into the bed as cold sweat hit her.
"That's it, she stole it." The girl Peony pointed at the food and fruits in her hands.
She looked at the food in her hand in horror. Stolen food?
The sentinels stared fixedly at the packs in her hands. That food was specially made for the royalties, the alpha, beta, luna and mother luna, how did she get hold of them?
"I didn't steal the food, it was given to me by the beta."
Her voice was shaking and scary thoughts like needles jabbed her skin.
Stealing was an unforgivable offence in the pack.
They laughed hysterically in ridicule.
"It's impossible for the beta to do as you said, thief!!"
Peony snatched the plates from her hands then gestured the guards to take her away.
Dread curled up in her spine and she gripped her saggy mattress tightly. "I didn't steal it."
Her tears began to pour like a waterfall and her body trembled.
"If you don't want the alpha to know, follow us to the mine and work."
One of the sentinels pulled her up roughly and dragged her out of the room.