Chapter 4 When The Truth Spilled

Maya's POV

The bad dreams kept coming, replaying every moment of Kayla spiraling out of control, like one long, miserable film reel. She never went after Lauren. I was the one she hated. I was the easy target, and she knew better than to take on Lauren, she would lose. But me? I was smaller, weaker, and easier to overpower, especially with her little crew backing her up.

She made sure I suffered, but just enough to keep me useful. If she broke something, it was never my right arm. That way, I could still work. A rib here, a finger there, enough to keep the pack doctor busy for a year straight. She injured me seriously at least once a month.

Then Lauren caught on. She challenged Kayla to spar during training. Kayla didn't want to, but her pride wouldn't let her back down. She was nineteen then, desperate to prove herself worthy of being Luna, especially now that Damien had taken over as Alpha at twenty-one. Admitting she was afraid of a seventeen-year-old, not exactly Luna material.

Lauren didn't hold back. She broke Kayla's arm, the same one Kayla had broken on me, and cracked a rib, maybe even a few fingers. Every injury was deliberate. Meliza told me later that Lauren had bent down to whisper something to Kayla afterward, while Kayla lay there broken and humiliated. She warned her to stay away from me.

I wish I could say Kayla listened, but she just got smarter. Eventually, she did become Luna, Damien's best option, or so the pack believed. She had been in his bed for years, and that sealed it. Once she had the title, she used it to make my life hell, like it was her job.

She doubled my workload, made sure I never got a day off. I wasn't a wolf, and sometimes I got sick. Didn't matter. I still had to show up. Ten hours a day, seven days a week. I didn't complain. But I was fading. I couldn't even eat at the packhouse. I had to cook at home before work. Kayla worked me straight through dinner most nights. I would drag myself home, take a quick shower, and collapse into bed, just trying to survive. I did it for my sisters. I saw the worry in their eyes every day. I brushed it off, took the beatings, and endured the exhaustion. For a while, I managed. But the last year and a half? That's when things got worse.

Kayla couldn't give Damien an heir. He stayed silent for almost three years after claiming her. Then came the town hall. He stood in front of the pack and announced, "I'll be looking for a qualified pack member to bear my child. Someone who will provide an heir I can be proud of."

My stomach turned. I knew exactly what he meant the second his eyes locked on me. I wasn't the only one who noticed, Kayla looked ready to combust.

I didn't want him. I never have. Never will. He's arrogant, selfish, and everything I despise in a man. But he didn't say "she-wolf." He said "pack member." That was intentional. That was me. I made my decision right then, I was going to leave. Somehow, I would get us out.

I woke up from that nightmare, heart racing, drenched in sweat like I had just run for my life. That dream wasn't the worst I had ever had, but it was the turning point. The moment everything shifted.

I can handle hard work. I survived broken bones and never missed a shift. I took it as penance for the crime of being born. My mother, a witch. My father, a wolf. A union the pack believed never should have existed. There was no arguing with people who thought you shouldn't even be alive.

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FLASHBACK

I had been in the laundry room when it happened. The kitchen shared the back wall with the laundry area but had a separate entrance to keep the space clear. Damien's office sat on the opposite side. When kitchen staff argued, I could hear them through the vents, if the machines were off. But I had never heard anything from Damien's office. Not until that day.

My sisters and I were still grieving. Our parents had died just last month. They went out for their usual date night in town and never returned. The police told us the next morning that their car had been found in a ravine. They were holding hands when they were discovered, still in love, even in death.

Moving on felt impossible, but Damien made it necessary. He brought in a replacement Beta the very next day.

Trey had been to our pack many times before, usually flying in. Damien always picked him up from the airport. Together or apart, they drew attention. Damien had that classic Alpha look, dark brown hair, deep blue eyes, a strong jaw. Trey had brown hair, longer on top and shaved on the sides, with soft brown eyes that didn't match the cruelty behind them. Neither of them was kind.

They trained relentlessly, and their physiques proved it. Broad shoulders, hard abs, like they were carved from stone. Kayla's mark didn't slow Damien down one bit. He and Trey fed off each other's egos, and their body count.

It would have seemed like a coincidence if you didn't look too closely. But Trey arrived with everything he owned packed in a U-Haul driven by a friend, plus his own truck stuffed full. It should have been impossible to load and drive that far so fast. But I wasn't thinking clearly, we were still mourning.

And Damien forced us out of our home the same night we were told our parents were dead. He gave it to Trey the next day. Trey was thrilled. He was the second son of a Beta in his old pack, he would never have rank there. Now, at twenty-four, he was Damien's new Beta. His older brother got the position back home, and Trey saw this as his shot.

I shouldn't have been at the packhouse that night, it was after hours, but work had run late. I was finishing up, checking machines, cleaning lint traps when I heard them talking.

"You moved in?" Damien asked. "Yeah. Had help, so it was fast. They left about an hour ago. Thanks for the call, being Beta here is a huge step up. I hated knowing I would be nothing back home just because I was a second-born. You're lucky, man. Only child," Trey said.

I rolled my eyes and started to leave. Then Damien said something that stopped me cold. "I made the girls move out so you could move in. Thought having them closer would make things easier. Kayla's going out of town next weekend with her friends. I'm going to get Maya to agree to be with me while she's gone. Our kids will be beautiful."

Trey sounded surprised. "You've had a thing for her for six years. She doesn't want you, man. Let it go." I felt a flicker of relief, maybe Trey had a shred of decency. But Damien crushed it in an instant.

"I've already tasted most of the unmated she-wolves here. I'm done with the easy ones. I only want Maya. And I've gone too far to stop now. Getting rid of Beta Jace and his mate, that's done. And Trey, don't forget, it was your idea. Zach and I just made it happen. You're in this as much as we are. Don't back out now. If you don't help, we won't help you claim Meliza. I'm Alpha. I can command Lauren and her to accept you and Zach. Their parents got in the way. They wouldn't budge. So I removed them. I'm the Alpha. No one stops me."

Did I hear that right? He killed our parents. They planned it. All so they could force us into being their mates? My stomach lurched. I stumbled to the sink and threw up. Then I rinsed my mouth and went back to the vent. I needed to hear everything. We had to make a plan.

Because I will not let Damien control us. Not now. Not ever.