“Ana! Where the is my food?!” I woke up to screaming, and then was punch in the face. As I opened my eyes tears began to spill down my cheeks from the pain.

“I swear if you cry, I’ll hit you harder,” My brother Gi Tae threatened.

I nodded my head and wiped my face clear, afraid of getting more unjust punishment. Without hesitation he grabbed me by my hair and pulled me out my room then down the steps. My room wasn’t even an actual room; it was a closet in the pack house. As I struggled to get out of his tight grip, he threw me onto the kitchen table while grabbing a pot and beating me with it. While he was beating me I tried to think of what I did wrong this time, but the pain consuming my whole body, and the familiar sensation of bones breaking, muddled my thoughts.

Quietly, I groan under my breath, looking up at him in fear.

“This will teach you how to wake up and make breakfast,” He said angrily.

I stayed in the corner shaking, and shielding my face, trying to keep the burning tears from falling, knowing that if I cried it would only make him angrier, which would make him hit harder.

“Gi Tae stop. That’s enough!” My father yelled.

My brother gave me one last kick in the gut before leaving the kitchen. I got up slowly, my body aching; in a normal situation I would be able to heal quickly, but after years of beatings I have grown weaker.

“What would you like me to cook?” I asked my father, whom I wasn’t allowed to called dad, as I tried to calm my bloody nose.

“Waffles, eggs and lots of bacon,” My father responded flatly.

 “Yes Beta,” I bowed, blood pattering on the tile floor.

I quickly cleaned it up before anyone saw me bleeding, the consequence of my blood on the floor would be brutal, and I didn’t want any more pain today. Then I stuffed some napkins up my nose to stop the bleeding and began working on making breakfast. Soon wolves were piling into the kitchen, hungry and impatient. Even though I cooked the food for them, I wasn’t allowed to eat it, maybe their scraps, if I was lucky. Once everyone was served I slipped back upstairs to my closet of a room.

The only thing in there was a mattress and my ragged clothes. I laid down on my raggedy bed and looked up at the dark ceiling. With a sigh, my fingers felt around on the wall and turned the light on. My eyes fell on an old picture of me and the Alpha’s twin boys; Jonghyun and Jinki. 2 years ago, something shifted my life upside down. I went from being loved to being the most hated wolf in my entire pack.

Yanking me out of my thoughts I heard a scream from the other side of the door, “! Get out here now!” I slid off the mattress and opened it to find my cousin Naeun glaring at me.

“Get your ugly downstairs and help decorate for the party tomorrow,” She snapped.

“Yes Naeun,” I said without complaint.

She smirked at me while her brown eyes surveyed me up and down, “I feel sorry for your mate. He’d end up with someone so ugly and useless,” She smirked.

Feeling hurt by her words, I let my head fall as I walked into the living room of the pack house. There were other teenage wolves chatting and laughing as they helped put up the decorations.

Wolves that used to be my friends. 

As I walked into the living room all laughter started to die.

“Look, it’s the who killed Jinki,” I heard someone whisper.

I tried to ignore the comment but that suffocating feeling of shame was making my heart beat harder. As I walked through, I tripped over something and fell face first.

“Oops sorry. You’re not gonna kill me like you did to Jinki, are you?” Mina smirked.

I stood up silently and shuffled out the room. Embarrassment was no longer a burden. I’ve been beat like a dog for two years straight. You’ll learn how to hold your tongue in this type of environment. If I were to ever talk out of turn or talk at all, the Alpha would give them permission to inflict any form of torture that pleases them.

I began to blow up balloons and tape up streamers. Luckily, the Luna decided to cook dinner for everyone so I got a chance to slip away from everyone.

I went into my room and sat on the mattress, thinking about the old times when Jonghyun, Jinki and I were the coolest kids in the pack.  All that changed two years ago when the rogues attacked.

*flashback*

“Oppa, what happens if we’re not mates?” I asked Jinki as we walked along the lake side.

We’ve been doing this every night ever since we began dating and we were so sure that we were mates.

“Come on now, everyone agrees we’re mates, even Jonghyun,” He chuckled as he wrapped his arm around my waist.

I looked up into his brown eyes and saw nothing but love as he looked down into mine.

“I love you so much,” He whispered to me.

I blushed at his confession and planted a kiss on his cheek. Jinki gave me his dazzling smile and lent forward, kissing me softly on my lips. The sudden rustling of the bushes next to us made us pull apart. Jinki quickly got up from where he was sitting and turned toward the noise.

“Ana stay right here.” He warned me.

As he walked towards the bushes, a large brown wolf jumped out and tackled him to the ground. It snapped at his face as Jinki tried to shield himself.

There was nothing I could do. I couldn’t shift yet and neither could he.

As I ran over to try and help, another wolf came from the bushes and snarled at me.  I can feel the fear in my chest waiting to take over making me stand rooted to the ground. Then, a loud growl was heard, making me snap my head to the right only to watch as the wolf snapped Jinki’s neck.

“Oppa nooo!!” I screamed as I watched the wolf sink its canines deep into his neck.

I tried to push the wolf out my way but he snapped at me and pushed me away. Soon they both ran off into the forest. I finally managed to move my legs and ran towards Jinki. He was losing so much blood; I could see the color draining from his face. I looked him in the eyes and held him to my body as he brought a bloody hand up to my face and caressed my cheek, leaving the color red staining my face.

“I love you,” He whispered.

“I love you more,” I cried.

That night, I watched as Jinki’s life slip from his eyes and his body become motionless.

*flashback over*

The pack found me hours later still clutching his dead body. There was no one else around to blame and it couldn’t have been a rogue attack because it was inside the territory, so they say. Everyone pointed the finger at me. The Alpha and Luna blamed me for the death of their son and Jonghyun wouldn’t even look me in the eyes.

I knew then that our friendship was gone.

My parents basically disowned me and my brother began beating me every day for the murder of his best friend. As the pack pitied Jonghyun for his lost, they took their anger out on me.

I’m hoping whoever is truly my mate will take me away from all this pain and misery and let me live happily.