Ava kneeled on the floor of the training pit, the rain pelting her barely clothed body. Her entire body was shivering from the cold as blood trickled down her split lip into the mud beneath her hands. Her muscle screamed in pain as she tried to move, but she couldn't.
She heard the laughter echoing around her.
"Pathetic," Sharon sneered.
The beta's daughter towered over Ava with her arms crossed.
Her golden hair, wet from the rain, stuck to her face but still didn't take away from her beauty. "How can you consider yourself useful to this pack if you can't defend yourself? There should be a rank lower than omegas. You will fit right in there."
Ava stayed silent, responding would only earn her more beatings.
Sharon sighed, acting like she was disappointed and wasn't enjoying tormenting her.
"I suppose we will have to make do with the omega position for now until my father can think of something even lower for you. Something for pathetically weak and disposable wolfless things."
Ava thought back to what she had done to deserve this. All she did was try to train when the training pit was empty. She didn't have a wolf, but at least she could teach herself to fight, to protect herself.
This treatment was usual anyway; once she got beat up for coughing. One time, Luna Selene slapped her so hard her ears were ringing for hours just because she stopped to take a break and a cup of coffee.
She kicked Ava on the shoulder with the edge of her heel, sending her flying. The onlookers laughed even harder.
Ava clenched her fists in the mud she was both sitting in and covered with. Her rage was bottled inside as always. She couldn't retort; she couldn't fight back.
"Enough!"
A deep voice boomed through the laughter, and everywhere went silent, submitting under the authority of their Alpha. Leon, the alpha of the Crimson Pack, stood at the edge of the pit. His presence sent shivers down her spine.
A long time ago, she would have thought he was there to protect her, but she had learned painfully, in fact, that political alliances were stronger than being fated mates.
Yes, they had once been fated to be together by the Moon Goddess, but Leon had chosen the daughter of another pack to be his Luna.
Leon jumped into the pit. "Get up." He ordered her.
Ava could barely lift her head, but she struggled against the ache in her bones and muscles and obeyed. She stood to her feet, wobbling along the way.
As soon as she stumbled, Sharon slammed a fist into her ribs, causing a gush of air to escape her lips, knocking her back down to her knees. The pack resumed their laughter once more.
"If you cannot stand, you do not belong in the Crimson pack."
Ava wanted to scream, to cry, or even to throw one punch to wipe the stupid, smug look off Sharon's face. But if wishes were horses, right?
So, once more she swallowed the pain and got to her feet.
"I have never seen anyone so weak. I can't believe I once thought you could be my Luna."
Whenever he insulted her, his words caused her much more pain than Sharon's kicks and blows.
"I still don't know why Luna Selene keeps her around." Sharon said. "Get out of here, idiot!"
Ava stood for a couple more moments, letting herself feel the humiliation. She knew deep in her heart that one day she would make them regret everything they had done to her.
She turned on her heels, painfully limping away, the pack still cackling at her humiliation.
Ava headed towards the servant quarters to get herself cleaned up in the tiny little room they oh so graciously allowed her some privacy in. Every step she took was painful. When were they going to tire of hurting her so?
As she reached her door, she heard a familiar voice, which signified another fresh dose of torment.
"Ava, the Crimson pack's favorite punching bag," Jake drawled, stepping out from behind her. She looked up to the sky, silently praying for a break.
Jake, her stepbrother, leaned on the doorframe of her room. He was the opposite of Ava: strong, ambitious, popular, and talkative, or so Ava thought, as she would like nothing more than for everyone in that godforsaken pack to shut up.
"I don't have time for this. Get out of my way."
"I thought omegas had the innate ability to beg for everything. How about please?"
Ava ignored him and tried to step around him, but he blocked her path. "You should be nicer to me, Ava. I mean, without my mother, you would have been evicted from the pack a long time ago. She did convince Luna Selen you would make a decent maid."
"What do you want from me, Jake?"
"I just came to check on my older sister."
Ava gave a sarcastic chuckle. "You never considered me your sister."
"Correct. But I do care about you. Which is why I am here to give you a way out."
"Not interested."
"Come on, hear me out." He said and stepped closer to her. "You see, Luna Selene hasn't forgotten that you were once her husband's mate, and she is getting impatient with you. So, I figured I could help you out."
Ava crossed her arms, supporting her frame on the leg that hurt less. "And what is this help?"
"It's simple. Die."
Ava stared at him, wondering how he turned so evil. She had helped raise him after her father married his mother. She had taken care of him. What had she done to deserve this?
"Think about it," he continued.
"You would be at peace. No more enduring the humiliation and bonus; you won't have to see your fated mate be with another woman every night. Don't you get tired of listening to their passionate moans and cries at night?"
Ava tilted her head. "Tempting." She wasn't being sarcastic. She was seriously considering dying, as she had come to learn; there are worse fates than death.
"Do as I say or it will only get worse. I hear something is brewing and it will be disastrous for you." He finished and walked away.