Chapter 1 Glistening Emeralds

Alexandra

The very moment I felt my serving tray wobble on my hand, terror took over my body.

The sound of glass shattered against the wooden floor and pierced through the room. Water quickly began to flood my eyes, knowing my actions would quickly be met with consequences. I couldn't stop my body from jerking away when I felt Alpha Axton's rough fingertips slide across my brown ragged dress and squeeze my breast as I reached over to gather the last two plates off the long dining table.

My heart hammered in my chest when the room went deathly silent. I could feel every set of eyes sitting at the dining table during the Alpha's dinner glued onto me. They were watching intently and waiting to see what Alpha Axton's next move would be. I swallowed the lump in my throat and barred my neck in submission to Alpha Axton like a good omega before crouching down onto my knees to gather the sharp shards of glass.

“My apologies Alpha, I should have been more careful,” I muttered. It was my fault, the details didn't matter. They never mattered. He was my Alpha and I was nothing short of an omega in his pack.

I belonged to him. The worst part is, I knew it too.

An aggressive tug of my hair pulled me upright abruptly, his grip never ceasing. “Worthless omega,” he yelled with a bone chilling snarl. Pushing my face roughly against the dining table, I felt his other hand lift my dress. I could feel a gust of cold air brush against my skin, realizing that I was exposed for the entire room to bear witness. I shut my eyes tightly, bracing myself for what was to come.

The jingling of his belt rang into my ears and I couldn't stop the small whimper that escaped from my chest. My body shuttered from pain when the leather violently struck my backside. My skin burned from the lashing. I could hear the whip of his belt slice through the air as it struck me a second time, my entire body trembling from the impact.

Soft murmurs began to echo around me and I squeezed my eyes even tighter, the seconds to the next blow feeling like an eternity. But, the third blow never came. Instead, he released his hand from my hair and let my body fall to the floor.

“Lock her up. Get her out of my face now.” My heart thundered in my chest when my gaze landed on the two guards who began stalking towards me from the doorway. Their large hands tightly wrapped against my frail arms, pulling me into the hallway and down the staircase of the pack house.

It didn't make sense to fight back because I knew it would only lead to harsher punishments. It's not as if I could take on two enforcers anyways, they were much bigger and stronger than I was. And above all, they had a wolf.

The smell of scorched skin and rotting limp bodies became more potent as I was dragged into the dark and cold basement of the packhouse. I could taste the bitter bile slowly creeping up my throat from the gruesome scent. My body thumped harshly against the cold concrete when the guards mercilessly threw me inside the cell and disappeared down the row of iron cages, retrieving back to the staircase.

Not that I was surprised at how quickly they'd left, they often joked that one day one of the pack warriors would catch fleas from the scum that Alpha Axton kept down here.

I tried to call out, my small voice echoing against the concrete walls. The silence in the dungeon quickly became near deafening. Everything was still except my mind that wouldn't stop racing a thousand miles a minute. I could very well be forgotten and left to die down here like so many other prisoners had in the past. Why did I let him get to me? I should know better by now. He often found some sick and twisted pleasure in watching me suffer at his hands.

The events recoiled in my mind on a continuous circuit. I strived to be a good servant to Alpha Axton and not anger him but no matter how hard I tried, I still found myself being punished at his mercy.

I pulled my knees against my chest and shuffled my body into the corner of the cell frantically. Fear crept up my skin, I'd be lucky if I only received a punishment from Alpha Axton for embarrassing him in front of the other Alphas during an official Alpha reception. It was the most important event of the year. I was sure this time around, my mistakes would lead to my death.

Maybe death would be an escape to the horrors that I face everyday.

Alpha Axton referred to me as his biggest regret, he never bothered to conceal his hatred for me. Instead, he made sure that it was embedded into the deepest crevasses of my mind just how much he loathed my very existence. Alpha Axton saw himself as my savior for taking me in when his warriors found me roaming alone in the dark forest near the Shadow Pack borders as a pup. He never failed to remind me that if it wasn't for him, I would have been ravaged by rogues.

Life in Shadow Pack hadn't always been this spine chillingly cruel. I would have even considered it a blessing. It wasn’t until Alpha Axton's mate died from the birth of their first pup that I found my life was flipped upside down in the blink of an eye. Luna Fraya had been the closest thing to love that I had experienced since my pack was overtaken when I was eight years old.

My father was the Alpha of our pack which made me the rightful heir of Rolling Hills Pack. I can still hear my mother's screams plague my dreams every night when the Alpha from a neighboring pack ripped her throat out in one clean swipe. She was trying to protect me, they wanted me and instead they wiped out my pack when they realized the pack had hid me. I had managed to stay out of sight under a large tree log until nightfall then scurried into the forest, hopeless to find someone to help and revive my parents.

Luna Fraya was the bright shining light of Shadow Pack, she was a kind and loving soul, completely devoted to her pack. She was the perfect picture of what a Luna should be. Alpha Axton and Luna Fraya chose to take me in when I had no one left and for that, I was grateful. She was insistent that I attend the best schools and receive adequate training for my wolf. I hadn't realized it then but she had spent years grooming me to become heir of Shadow Pack since it was unlikely that they would have any children.

They had given up their dream to become pregnant after nearly a decade of trying, so it was pronounced a miracle by the Moon Goddess when Luna Fraya found out that she was expecting. The death of her and their unborn pup caused years of grief and anguish amongst the pack, especially for Alpha Axton. He blamed her love for me as to why she kept her dream alive of having their own pup, she so badly wanted to give me a sibling to grow up with like she had.

“A full packhouse filled with love and laughter for Alexandra,” that's what she said her only wish was when I would overhear the two of them arguing late in the night.

I too suffered tremendous agony and eventually when the pain became too much to bear, I slit my wrists and tried to take my own life. I was convinced that my very existence was why both my parents and Luna Fraya had died. Wherever I was, death always seemed to follow.

My life slowly began to crumble from the moment that I lost her. Alpha Axton became vicious, cruel and driven by anger. He immediately relocated me into the slave chambers beside the pack house, pulling me out of school and re-ranking me to the lowest title of omega. I was expected to serve the Alpha's every request.

I clenched onto the green emerald necklace that Luna Fraya had given me before she had died, claiming that it reminded her of me every time she looked into my eyes. It was the only thing that I had left in memory of her and if Alpha Axton found out about the necklace, I was sure it would be gone too.

There was no luxuries for the bottom of the pack.

My uncontrollable sobs eventually sent me into a deep slumber, only waking to the hard stomps of footsteps coming down the wooden staircase.

I shoved my most prized possession into the pocket of my ragged servant dress, careful not to reveal it to anyone. My breath caught in my throat when Alpha Axton stood in front of the cell that I was locked inside of. He flashed me a sinister smile. His gaze intently focused on me, all while he pushed the key into the lock.