*FIFTEEN YEARS LATER*
(RHEA'S POV)
"You damned filthy human!" Came the loud screech before a slap which landed directly on my cheek.
Hori stood glowering over me as if she wished to do more than that.
And as if reading her mind, Hera throws the pail of hot milk at me. I yelped at the effect of the heat on my skin but some of it had dripped to the ground and so I stepped on it, slipped and ended up on my bottom.
My step sisters laughed heartily at my embarrassing fall while I bent my head down in shame as milk dripped from my hair down my clothes.
"Yes. This is how you should be treated everyday because you are nothing but a cursed lazy human." Hori said with her arms folded across her chest while
Her sister still sniggered behind her.
" I have only been in the kitchen for five minutes." I said trying my best to fight back tears.
But as I spoke, I knew that there was basically no use wasting my breath. It did not matter to my step sisters that I had woken up four hours before them doing home chores and yet they expected to get a full tray of breakfast within five minutes.
"And all you've done is nothing!" Hori went on saying with disgust in her eyes. "You are absolutely and completely useless!"
"I'm sorry." I said as I struggled successfully getting to my feet with my head still bent down.
"All you do is take up space and eat all our food. I wish you have never been born or I do wish that we could kick you out at night so the Kralins could feed on your disgusting human flesh." She went on wickedly as she walked towards me making me walk back slowly.
"I'm sorry. I'll start with breakfast now." I said hoping to get them going. But they laughed.
"If we let you be, then how will you learn?" They said and with that, they attacked me and started beating me up, kicking and hitting me harshly.
It's not a surprise. I'm used to it. I covered myself up the way I could protecting my late mother's necklace from getting cut? as they were kicking and punching and pulling my hair. Pain cursed through my body as I cried.
"Please." I begged.
"Get her hideous necklace." Hera hissed and with an evil glint in her eyes, her sister made to take it.
"She wolves!"
It was the voice of Lillith, my step mother. She made the twins freeze in their actions as they turned to their mother.
Shiver runs down my spine as Lillith fills the doorway. Her face, etched with the lines of five decades, is a near mirror image of the twins, my stepsisters. The same icy blonde hair, cut in a style both youthful and severe, frames sharp green eyes that glitter with a shared malice. Yet, on Lillith's face, the youthful defiance of the twins has curdled into something colder, a knowing cruelty honed by years of practice.
Despite the age difference, there's an unsettling resemblance that goes beyond their features. Their posture is the same, ramrod straight with a hint of predatory alertness. Even the way they purse their lips in disapproval seems eerily coordinated. It's like looking into a warped reflection of time, where youth and experience have twisted into the same poisonous form. It's like looking into a warped mirror, a glimpse of what my stepsisters might become under Lillith's cold tutelage, a future I desperately want to avoid.
Lillith stepped forward her expensive after dress trailing elegantly after her footsteps.
"I need my breakfast. So can you go back to beating her up after I've eaten?" She said maintaining her usual cold emotionless gaze with me. The twins glared at me angry that their boxing session was cut short while I was relieved.
"Yes Mama." They reluctantly responded in a chorus.
"We will finish with you later." Hera said giving my hair one final drag and then one heavy kick as she walked away with her mother and sister. I stayed crumpled in the ground for crying and then realizing that I was only going to make things worse. I quickly got to work.
This is the sad story of my life. My mother died shortly after giving birth to me, I never knew her. My father remarried Lillith three years later and she moved in with her daughters. Things were not so bad when Dad was alive but even that did not last long at all, My father, the then Beta of our pack was murdered alongside the Alpha when I was only five years old. My life practically became hell from then and it has been so since then.
I am a human just like my late mother and I think that was what birthed such vile hatred from them.
But in these hard years, I have learned to take care of myself as well as to plan for my future. I have my savings and soon, when it's safe enough for me to leave, I will leave this pack forever.
"Daydreaming like a bloody fool, are you?" Hori's voice interrupted my thoughts.
I looked to see her eyeing me in absolute disgust.
"It's all ready, I just want to bring the milk to a boil." I quickly said scared of receiving another beating. But Hori grunted and folded her arms.
"The Alpha's team is here to see you." She surprised me by saying.
I looked at her like she was speaking in a foreign language.
"Huh?" I stammered and she hissed angrily.
"Are you deaf? I said the Alpha's team is here to see you and you are pretending like you don't know." She said. "Anyway, mama said to make sure you change quickly and meet them in the study. We shall deal with you later."
I stood shocked. Before she left, she said. "Also, mama said to tell you that you know better than to say things you're not supposed to." And with a cackle, she was gone.
I know what that meant. No word about their treatment. I changed to decent clothes and went to the study still confused about what was going on. A part of me expected to see my step mother and sisters ready to pounce on me but truly the study was filled with Men dressed in black with a strong Aura surrounding them.
The Alpha's team truly was here.
"I- I've done nothing wrong I swear." I said in a shaky voice bringing their attention to me.
One of them stood up and walked towards me. He was lanky yet his dark eyes held some sharpness and strength to it.
"I'm Steele, the Beta of this pack ." He said.
I stepped back.
"Don't be scared." He advised and then he guided me to a seat which I sat on in fear then he nodded at the rest who now proceeded to leave us both in the room.
"Don't be afraid Rhea, I'm not here to hurt you." He said and there was something trusting about his voice.
"How do you know my name?"
"I'm a messenger from the Alpha. I have sensitive and urgent news for you." He said
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.
"Is this about my father?" I asked.
I felt like that was the only way I could be connected to the Alpha.
The Beta nodded. "Partly but it's mainly about you." He said. "Do you know what today is?."
I felt pain surge through my chest. How could I ever forget? The fifteen years anniversary of my father's death.
"I do." I said.
And then he broke in to praises of my father during his reign and how he hoped to uphold his legacy during his own time. Then he started to speak to me about a prophecy and plan by my father, the sorceress and the former Alpha. A plan which involved an arranged marriage with the former Alpha's son who is the present Alpha. Alpha Aztec.
Yes I know of the current situation of the Moon shadow pack. Creatures of dark magic were attacking us. The pack is in a state of darkness. But I also knew of the Alpha's nature. His womanizing and despicable behavior with all the she-wolves in the pack.
I would never fall prey to such stupidity!
"I'm sorry. With all due respect, I am not interested in whatever is going on here. I won't marry that womanizer." I said.
Steele looked up at me with shock in his eyes and I suddenly became cautious.
"My apologies." I said with my head bowed. How dare I insult the Alpha?
"My apologies." I repeated. " I'm sorry but I will not marry him. Or have anything to do with this plan or prophecy."
The Beta seemed surprised at my confidence but I did not waver.
"You want me to tell the Alpha this?" He challenged me.
"Yes, I won't take part in this arranged contract marriage. I do wish him the best." I said solidly.