Chapter 1 Outcast by Fate

Three more months in this prison of fur and fangs, and I could finally stop pretending I belonged here.

Senior year was almost over, and I couldn't wait to leave this shithole of a school behind. I'd endured nearly five years of torment in a place where being wolf-less made me the Pack's favorite punching bag. The Beta's daughter-no wolf. Just a disappointment in sneakers.

Most werewolves got their wolves at thirteen. I was nearly eighteen. Still nothing. No fur, no howling voice in my head, no transformation. Just me. Human. Shamefully so.

Being the freak of the Pack meant I was invisible, unless someone felt like throwing food at me or calling me a disgrace. And today was no exception.

I had just sat down with my lunch in the cafeteria when the crackle of the PA system interrupted my brief moment of peace.

"Katya Hartley, please report to the front office," the secretary's bored voice echoed through the room.

A wave of laughter rippled through the cafeteria like a damn stadium doing the wave. Someone lobbed a burger at my head. The patty missed, but the lettuce didn't. It stuck in my chocolate-brown hair, and the mayo oozed down my neck.

I sighed and peeled the slimy leaf from my hair with one hand while slinging my bag over my shoulder with the other. Classic Thomas. He had the aim of a drunk toddler but the enthusiasm of a chimp on Red Bull.

The hallway was quieter, and I moved quickly through the green corridors toward the front office-my temporary sanctuary. Mrs. Mason ruled that space with an iron glare and a no-bullshit attitude. No one dared mess with me there.

But just as the brown door came into view, Tabitha Blackwell and her goon squad materialized like a bad rash.

"Hey, freak," Tabitha purred, stepping in front of me. Her platinum-blonde hair was too perfect, her smile too venomous.

"What do you want, Tabitha?" I asked flatly. We used to be friends-back when I still believed my wolf was just taking its sweet time. That friendship died the moment the Pack realized I was broken.

She smirked. "Just came to say goodbye."

My stomach tightened. "Goodbye?"

Her blue eyes sparkled with cruel delight. "You haven't heard? Daddy dearest has officially banished you from the Pack. Thought I'd give you a send-off."

Bianca and Maril giggled like brainless hyenas. Beautiful hyenas. If not for their looks, no one would tolerate their stupidity.

A cold splash hit my face as Meril dumped her milkshake on my head. It seeped into the crocheted jumper my mother made me.

Then the door behind me opened.

"Tabitha Elizabeth Blackwell," my mother's voice snapped like a whip. "Is there a reason you're tormenting my daughter?"

Tabitha flinched. My mother's presence had that effect. Strong, respected, and terrifying when provoked. She was the Pack's only female warrior, and she carried that reputation like a blade.

Tabitha turned slowly, her bravado wilting under my mother's glare.

"It was an accident," she stammered.

My mother raised a brow. Then, calmly and without a word, she slapped Tabitha across the face. A crisp crack echoed through the hallway.

Gasps. Silence. Shock.

Tabitha staggered back, eyes wide, cheek blooming red.

"Mum!" I whispered, horrified.

"She had it coming," my mother muttered, then turned to me, her hands suddenly gentle. "Why do you let them treat you like this? You're better than all of them. Wolf or not."

I shook my head. They were wolves. I wasn't. Strength didn't matter when claws and fangs came into play.

"Come. We're leaving," she said briskly, turning toward the car park.

"What?" I followed her, dazed. "What's going on?"

Outside, a moving truck idled next to our car. My dad stood beside it, waiting.

"Hey, pumpkin," he greeted, hugging me. "Strawberry milkshake suits you, but maybe not as conditioner."

"What's happening?" I asked again, louder this time.

My parents exchanged a look.

"We're moving," my dad said finally.

"Because of what Tabitha said? Did the Alpha really banish me?" My voice wavered.

"Yes," my mother said softly. "But we're not sending you away. We're going with you."

"You're leaving the Pack?" I asked, stunned.

"I won't serve an Alpha who throws away my daughter," Dad said. "Beta or not, I'm done."

My mother squeezed my hand. "We're going to the Black Creek Pack. Alpha Ezra accepted us."

My stomach dropped. "Ezra? The one who wiped out the Blue Mountain Pack? That Ezra?"

"He's... not what you've heard," Mum said, a little too quickly.

"And does he know I have no wolf?" I asked, already guessing the answer.

More silence. More glances.

"It won't be a problem," Dad said. "Not if you can prove yourself useful."

So that's what I'd become-a bargaining chip. An omega with good training.

As we pulled away from the only home I'd ever known, one thought stayed lodged in my mind:

If Alpha Ezra found out I was wolf-less, would he finish what Alpha Jackson started?

I fell asleep on the drive, only waking when we stopped at a storage shed. The drive took five hours in total, and I was exhausted, with my back killing me. Dad loaded our stuff into the storage shed before two men approached us.