Khalshara's pov

Like other days, today is another day I'm treated like Cinderella. While my stepmother and her two daughters act like her evil stepsisters and stepmother. Just like every other day, my job is to do the house chores. Which includes the laundry of my stepsisters, stepmother, and my dad's, the Alpha King of the Shadow Moon Pack.

"Oh my goddess! Khalshara!" I heard the roaring sound of my elder sister, Matilda, as I cleaned up the dishes in the kitchen sink. I don't know what I did that made her yell so much, but I can definitely tell how angry she is by the echoes of her footsteps.

"Khalshara, look at what you've done!" Matilda, a brunette with brown eyes, finally presented herself in the kitchen with a black evening gown in hand. "Why did you ruin my dress?"

I rinsed my hand and turned to face her angry, boiling face. "Matilda, how did I ruin your dress? All I did was wash it immediately you asked me to."

The frown that formed on her face next showed how more angry she became. "Did you just ask me how you ruined my dress when the evidence is right here on the dress?" She replied, revealing a part of the dress that had a very big white stain on it.

"Oh, you mean that?" I asked, pointing at the huge stain. "It was already on the dress before I did the laundry. I wanted to ask you about it, but I decided it was none of my business since all I had to do was get it clean," I added nonchalantly.

My response was like an added fuel to her already boiling rage that made her yell, "Liar! You are such a liar, Khalshara. What do you mean by 'it was already there'? Are you trying to say the fault was from me and not from you?"

"Exactly!" I grinned at her. "If you had kept your precious dress well, such a thing wouldn't have happened. And you won't be here, throwing the blame at me!"

"You!" Matilda gritted her teeth angrily while I threw my glance in the opposite direction.

"Hmmph!"

This was not the first time she would be targeting me, and I'm sure this won't be the last either. Just like her, almost everyone in the Alpha's residence was fond of bullying me. And every time I stand up for myself, they punish me with hunger and more work.

"I see you have grown more wings," Matilda said, smirking devilishly at me. "It's obvious you have been fed too well for the past few days. That is why you have the energy and guts to talk back and behave stupidly before me," she added, still sending me a devilish grin.

"For this reason, I have decided it is high time you learn some manners since it seems we have been too lenient with you. So, as of today, you are..."

"...only allowed to eat at night and do all the house chores over and over again until I tell you to stop!" I cut Matilda off and finished her words for her. I was used to it already, so I knew what her exact words would be.

Matilda was taken aback. For a split seconds, she stood there, glaring at me before lashing out, "How dare you mimic me!"

 I raised a brow.

"Come on, Matilda. It's nothing new. You still said the exact same thing a few days ago," I responded, watching as she clentched and unclenched her fist. 

"Useless human!" She spat before storming out of the kitchen in anger.

"Useless human..." I mimic childishly while shaking my head in jest as she left.

A chuckle escaped from my lips as I watched her angry exit.

Still, her bully wasn't something I was happy about. I mean, who would be happy working as a maid in her father's house while her stepsisters treat her like crap?

However, I don't blame them. I blame death. I blame the cold gripping hands of death for making me live this way. 

I was ten when my mother died. After her death, all she left me was my father's address and some keepsake that would make him recognise me. "Your father is the Alpha King of the Shadow Moon Pack. Go find him and show him this bracelet; he would know who you are. And I'm he would take good care of you while I'm gone." My mother instructed before drawing her last breath. 

With how secretive we lived, I never knew I had a father until my mother fell ill. In fact, apart from the fact that my mother was human, I also knew very little about her. It was only until her unending illness that I knew I had a father. And that he was the Alpha King of the Shadow Moon Pack. She often mistook me for him and would always tell me how she couldn't wait for them to get married. Which meant she was kept in the dark and never knew my father already had a family.

After she died, I used up our last savings to make my way to the Shadow Moon Pack. When I got to the pack, I met my father and told him about my mother's death. Then I showed him the keepsake, and he immediately knew I was truly his child. Nonetheless, during my conversation with him, a woman stormed his study with her three children. That was when I knew my father had another family apart from my mother and I. The woman was none other than my father's fated mate, Luna Grace. Her three children were my elder brother, Zack, twin elder sister, Matilda, and twin elder sister, Linda. Which makes me, Khalshara, the last child of my father and third daughter from another mother.

Due to the anger of my father's mate, he decided to take me in as an omega whose job is to cater for the needs of his real family. "You will from today live as an omega of this pack. You are never to relate with anyone in the pack and must remain hidden all your life!" His harsh words that day continuously rang in my ears till date.

Luna Grace and her daughters, who saw me as a symbol of my father's infidelity towards them, made my life a living hell. My father, who saw me as an entity that destroyed his once-happy family, became indifferent towards me. My weak and human nature was also an added advantage to the hatred he felt towards me.

Thinking about it all made me feel a prickly, sharp pain in my heart. 'Mom, why did you leave me in the hands of these cruel people? If you were still here with me, I know you wouldn't let them all bully me like this,' I sobbed, finally letting my guard down in the empty kitchen.

'I miss you, mom...'

Memories of my mother's final words echoed again in my mind as more tears ran down my face. 'He would take good care of you while I'm gone.' 

If only she knew the true colour of the man she loved, she wouldn't have left me all alone in this cruel world. Let alone with him.

I was still wallowing in loneliness and pain when I heard a familiar voice call, "Khalshara!"