~SURI~
The pack house is busy this morning as everyone runs about for Emily's birthday. I hurry toward the main building of the pack house to answer Luna Amelia's summons. My whole body still aches from all the chores I have been doing since yesterday for Emily's big birthday. All I want is to go to the river, swim, and have a long sleep.
Once in the Alpha quarters, I knock on Emily's door before nudging it open. Luna Amelia stands there with her fists on her waist, glaring at me as I enter. My heart skips when I see Emily's face wet with tears, her dress—the one I just brought from the laundry this morning—lying right beside her on the bed.
"Luna, you sent for me," I say calmly.
Luna Amelia walks up to me and gives me a dirty slap without saying a word. My cheek stings and tears well in my eyes. I clutch my cheek, staring at her in confusion.
"You ruined Em's dress?" she hisses.
My eyes dart to the dress on the bed, and at the weeping Emily, still in confusion. "No, I didn't," I say, forcing my voice to remain steady, not to show them any weakness.
She slaps me again and again before I can react.
"What do you mean you don't know? It is you who brought her dress from the laundry!" she yells and grabs a handful of my hair. "Admit it!" She shoves my head ruthlessly, and I whimper in pain. "Admit that you are jealous of her! Admit that you did this because you didn't get an elaborate birthday like hers and that you are worthless and weak!"
My anger begins to well, but I know better than to fight back. I have long learned to restrain myself; the Alpha, my father, will punish me if I touch or fight his Luna or his beloved daughter.
"I didn't do it," I maintain.
"Shut up!" Emily yells. "You are the only one who has entered my bedroom today." She rises from the bed and charges at me, hitting me.
I don't retaliate; instead, I dodge her hits with my hands. I know if I so much as raise a hand, Emily and her mother will lie to my father that I beat her up, and Daddy Dearest will run along with whatever they say. When her hits are getting out of hand, I grab Emily's hand to stop her blows, but that is when the door flings open and Emily immediately falls to the ground, clutching her cheek and beginning to sob loudly. Luna Amelia quickly rushes to her side and holds her.
"What is going on here?" Dad's deep voice asks as he steps into the room, his glare falling on me.
He always wants me to be at fault even when I'm not. I blink away my tears, trying to appear strong. He hates seeing me like that. Dad has hated me ever since I was born, for being the cause of my mom's death, but since I did not get my wolf on my eighteenth birthday, his hatred and disappointment in me have only increased. He calls me cursed, weak, or pathetic. All my life, I have tried to prove to him that I am not weak.
Emily wails harder as she rises and runs to hug him. "Daddy, it's Suri! She ripped my dress, and when mummy and I asked her why, she suddenly started to beat me."
"What? No!" I say, turning to my father. "That's not—"
But he cuts me off with a dirty slap that makes my head foggy and my ears ring. I bite my lower lip to keep from crying out. I glare at him as he glares back.
"How dare you?" he snarls.
I don't answer him as we glare at each other. Despite his glare, he looks troubled. Something else is bothering him, but I do not care anymore.
"Now, get out," he says curtly.
I bite back my retort and turn to leave. It is better to keep my head down than to provoke him further. His ill-treatment hurts me the most.
As I walk out of the door, I overhear my father saying to Amelia,
"There is a problem, dear. King Ragnar sent word that he and his cohort are coming to our pack tomorrow," my father announces with a little panic in his voice.
My body stiffens. King Ragnar is the formidable Lycan King. He is feared among the packs, and everyone knows his visit to any werewolf pack does not always turn out good.
Leaving the main house, I walk back to the remote part of the pack house where my father isolates me and keeps me hidden away from his court with the excuse that I'm too wild to handle pack matters. He has named Emily his heir, and she is the one he takes to court and trains to take over from him. Most people don't even know he has another daughter.
Once I get into my cramped room, I shut the door and allow my tears to finally pour.
***
I don't make it to Emily's birthday, but I know it's going on. I wonder how my father can go on with an elaborate birthday when a threat in the form of the Lycan King is coming to our pack. But I don't even care. After all, he would never accept my opinion.
The moon is high and bright in the sky as I make my way to the river. The river is a place where I find solace, away from the pack and everything going on.
I lunge into the water and submerge, staying under until my lungs burn. When I come up to the surface again, I'm shocked to see a man standing on one of the rocks surrounding the river area, looking directly at me.
My heart pounds frantically against my ribcage as fear grips me. He makes no move to leave or attack me, but his piercing gaze stays on me. I have not seen this man before, but he looks bigger and finer than any man I have ever seen.
I wonder if he is a rogue or an enemy. Whatever he is, I am not about to find out. Rogues and enemies easily penetrate packs on nights like this when everyone is distracted.
"Please," I say, knowing he is an enemy waiting for me to come out of the water so he can do whatever he wants with me. "Do not harm me. I promise I won't tell anyone what I saw."
Silence.
I know that by the size of his bulging arms, he could kill me with one snap. Better to be seen as weak than to die a careless death. Without a word, the man turns his broad back to me and walks a few distances away. I quickly swim to the bank, grab my dress, shrug it on without wasting time, and take to my heels.
Luckily, the big man does not chase me, and I do not stop running until I'm in the safety of my cramped room.
In my dreams that night, the big man features in it.