"WAKE UP, YOU BRAT!"
A sharp voice snapped Alyssa awake, followed by the splash of icy water that knocked the breath out of her lungs.
She bolted upright, her vision blurry as she took in the kitchen. Then she glanced at the doorway.
Ingrid stood there, holding an empty pitcher, her face twisted in absolute disgust.
"Stepmother..." Alyssa stammered and scrambled to her feet, her voice tight with panic. "F–forgive me. I was just... I only closed my eyes for a second."
"Get on with your work before I fetch the whip!" Ingrid snarled viciously. "Slack off one more time and you won’t see a scrap of food for a week!"
She turned on her heel and stormed away, the kitchen door slamming shut with a crack that vibrated through the floorboards.
Alyssa looked down at the bucket of filthy water beside her. She had been up since dawn, splitting wood, carrying water, and doing the other chores her stepfamily refused to touch.
In her sheer exhaustion, she had dozed off.
Shaking her head to clear the drowsiness, she dropped back to her knees and forced her aching fingers back into the cold water.
But she didn’t even get five minutes of peace.
The door banged open again. Her stepsister, Melinda, barged into the kitchen, holding a heavy silver tray piled high with used plates and discarded cutlery.
Alyssa stopped her scrubbing and frowned at the fresh tracks of mud she brought in.
"Melinda, please," she complained. "I just finished scrubbing that spot."
"Then you’d better get back to work. That’s what you’re here for, isn’t it?"
She dumped the tray into the wash sink with a deafening clatter. A fork bounced out, splattering cold porridge onto Alyssa’s face.
Alyssa clenched her jaw so hard her teeth ached, swallowing down the bitter, snarky retort that rose in her throat.
She lowered her head, scrubbing harder, trying to erase the muddy footprints before they could harden.
"Honestly, you should be thanking us," Melinda continued, leaning back against the counter and inspecting her manicured nails. "You still have a roof over your head. If it weren’t for my mother’s charity, you’d be begging on the streets like the stray you are."
The brush stopped, and a hot flash of rage ignited in Alyssa’s chest. She raised her head, her blue eyes flashing with a dangerous light.
"This is my father’s house," she grounded out, her voice trembling. "He built it. If there is anyone who belongs on the street, Melinda, it’s you."
The slap was instantaneous.
The force of it snapped her head violently to the side. For a second, the kitchen went black. Then a burning sting bloomed across her left cheek.
"That’s what you get for speaking out of turn," Melinda whispered, her voice dripping with smug satisfaction. "You think you’re special? You are nothing, Alyssa. No wolf. No mate. Just a miserable, broken little orphan."
Turning away, she deliberately kicked the bucket, sending the filthy water rushing across the floor, completely ruining hours of Alyssa’s agonizing labor.
The kitchen door clicked shut behind her.
Alyssa sat in the mess, staring at the spreading water in absolute silence. Hot tears burned the backs of her eyes, thick and suffocating.
Her hands shook so violently she dropped the brush. Every instinct in her body screamed to get up, grab a kitchen knife, and tear after Melinda.
But the cold reality settled over her like a shroud. If she fought back, she would only be digging her own grave.
Hours later, just as dusk was falling, she finished her chores.
She rushed into the kitchen, her hands trembling as she lifted the lids of the pots, searching for food. But they were scraped clean.
They hadn’t even left her a crust of bread.
Sighing tiredly, she dragged her exhausted body up the narrow, creaking stairs to the attic where she slept.
She peeled off the damp, foul-smelling dress and took a bath, then changed into the only clean garment she had left, a faded, threadbare dress that barely covered the scars on her arms.
Some of the scars were old, some were jagged, angry red lines from Ingrid’s recent whipping.
As she tied a sash around her waist, she thought of her boyfriend, Fabian, and a small spark of warmth bloomed in her chest.
They were supposed to meet at his place in a few minutes. Maybe he would have something for her to eat. More than that, he would have open arms.
Fabian was the light in the suffocating darkness of her life, the only person in the entire pack who looked at her like she mattered.
He had promised her, over and over, that when he found his fated mate, he would reject the bond. He would choose her.
And she had believed him. Wholeheartedly.
With a sudden burst of excitement masking her hunger, she snuck out the back door.
She took the narrow path that cut deep through the forest, her feet moving automatically through the shadows toward his cottage.
The front door was unlocked when she got there. She slipped inside, the cozy warmth of the sitting room washing over her. It was empty.
But as she opened her mouth to call his name, a sound caught her attention. A soft, breathless giggle, followed by a low, throaty groan.
Then, a voice cut through the quiet house, sharp and clear.
"Oh god, yes... Fabian. Harder!"
Alyssa’s entire world tilted. NO!, she thought. Fabian wouldn’t cheat on me.
Driven by a sickening urge, she raced down the hallway, each step getting heavier as she neared the bedroom.
She didn’t knock. She just pushed the door open.
And the world ended.
The room smelled of sweat and cum. Fabian had Melinda bent over the edge of the mattress, his hands gripping her hips tightly from behind, driving into her with a rhythmic, heavy thud.
Melinda’s eyes were closed, her head thrown back, an ecstatic smile on her lips.
They were so consumed by each other that neither of them heard the door open.
Alyssa stood frozen in the doorway. Two years of promises and shared kisses beneath the stars, shattered completely by the sight before her.
The nausea rose fast and hot in her throat.
"FABIAN!" she screamed, the sound tearing from her throat, raw and broken.
Fabian’s head snapped up. His face went instantly pale, eyes going wide with sheer panic.
He pulled away from Melinda so fast he nearly tripped, grabbing a robe to shield his naked body.
"What the fuck, Alyssa!" he yelled, his voice cracking with a mix of shock and defensive anger. "What the hell are you doing here?"
Melinda didn’t even feel guilty. She just rolled over onto her side, a smug smile spreading across her face, and pulled the bedsheets up to her chest.
Alyssa couldn’t breathe. The air in the room felt toxic.
"Why?" she choked out, her voice trembling so violently it was barely recognizable. "Why would you do this to me?"
"Look, it’s not what it looks like," Fabian muttered, refusing to meet her eyes. "I wanted to tell you. I was going to."
The sheer exhaustion of the day combined with the crushing weight of the betrayal made Alyssa’s knees weak. She had to lean against the doorframe to keep from collapsing.
"How long?" she whispered, her voice cracking. "Fabian, look at me. How long has this been going on?"
Before he could speak, Melinda cut in smugly. "More than a year, sweetie. Fabian and I are fated mates."
The words felt like a physical blow to the chest. Alyssa staggered backward a step, crushed and completely broken.
"Did you honestly think he would choose a wolfless nobody over a true mate bond?" Melinda mocked, sitting up fully, her eyes gleaming with malice. "Did you really think he’d reject me for you? You were a fool to believe a word he said."
Alyssa ignored her, her tear-filled eyes searching Fabian’s face, begging for a denial.
"Fabian... please."
But Fabian didn’t look at her with love. When he finally raised his eyes, they were cold, distant, and filled with a quiet, ugly disdain.
"Mel is right," he said quietly, crossing his arms. "There was no way I could reject our bond for you."
"Why didn’t you just tell me?" Alyssa whispered, the heartbreak tearing her chest open. "Why let me fall for you?"
"Because it was funny," Melinda laughed.
She slid out of the bed, wrapped the sheet around herself, and walked right up to Alyssa.
"I told him not to tell you. It felt so good watching you with that pathetic, hopeful look on your face, knowing that I held the power to completely destroy you whenever I wanted. You didn’t think I’d let you keep him, did you? I’m going to make sure you have nothing, Alyssa. This is just the beginning."
She grinned, a vicious, feral baring of teeth, and shoved Alyssa hard in the chest.
Alyssa stumbled back into the hallway, and the bedroom door slammed shut in her face.
Blinded by a torrent of hot, scalding tears, she fled.
She ran out of the cottage, ignoring the branches that whipped against her face and tore at her skin.
Melinda’s laughter and Fabian’s cold cruelty echoed in her head, a deafening loop that drowned out the sounds of the forest.
She had trusted him blindly. She had given him her heart, her innocence, and he had handed them to her abuser to be crushed.
It hurt so bad, and she wanted it to stop. She wanted to burn it out of her veins, even if it was just for a single night.
Wiping the tears from her face with a trembling hand, she made her way to the pack’s main town.
By the time she reached the outskirts, night had completely taken over.
She stood across the street from a massive, brick building. Bright, neon lights bled out into the foggy air, and the deep, heavy thud of electronic bass vibrated through the pavement beneath her thin shoes.
The sign above the building glowed in sharp, jagged letters.
IRIDIAN.
The pack’s underground club. A place of lawlessness, of raw danger, where rogues, dominant wolves, and desperate she-wolves mingled in the dark.
Shifters came here to lose their minds, and it was definitely not a place for a wolfless girl with a broken heart.
But Alyssa was past caring. She took a deep breath, her eyes hardening through the tears. She didn’t care about the danger anymore.
She walked toward the doors, ready to lose herself in the dark.