Valerie began feeling uncomfortable just as she lay down to sleep. She didn't know what was wrong and was afraid of going to the hospital as the doctors there were the same as everyone else in the pack.
At most, they would give a few painkillers and let her return no matter what problem she had. Sometimes going to the hospital would only make things worse instead of getting better.
Over the years, she had learned to endure pain beyond human imagination and had long gotten used to it.
However, today she was feeling completely different. It was not the pain of an old injury acting up or the new wounds that had been inflicted on her by some pack member aching.
It wasn't the feeling of a normal illness setting in. In fact, she couldn't explain what she was feeling at all, but it was too uncomfortable.
She thought that if she went to sleep, when she woke up in the morning, everything would be all better.
That was how it has been for the last eight years in the pack. She hadn't learned much, but she had certainly learned how to endure pain and humiliation better than anyone else.
Her room at the back of the building was dark and damp and it didn't have any supply of electricity like the rest of the pack house.
She usually lit some leftover candles she managed to sneak in while cleaning dinner tables that had hosted romantic dinners or almost burned out ones thrown in the trash by the pack members whenever there was a power outage.
Over the years, she had even learned to use the melted wax to make new candles for herself, otherwise she would live in darkness, just like her life, and her existence.
She blew out the candle burning with an amber flame beside her worn out mattress on the damp floor.
'Tonight would be no different. I have to endure the discomfort'. Valerie thought to herself as she closed her eyes and curled herself in a fetal position for whatever bit of security it gave her and started to count sheep to force herself to sleep.
The only problem was, no matter how many sheep she counted, she couldn't fall asleep.
The discomfort in her body was getting worse by the minute and for some unknown reason, her wolf, who had accompanied her during the tough times, was silent today.
"Lizzie." She called out to her wolf, but only silence echoed in her mind where she would usually get a response.
"Lizzie, are you okay?" She called out again in worry.
This was the first time she hadn't received a reply from her wolf since she was thirteen.
Unlike other werewolves who awakened their wolves at the age of sixteen, hers had awakened at thirteen.
She remembered the burning pain in her body and the tearing feeling of her bones changing and taking shape on her first shift.
She had no one to guide her or comfort her.
She had shifted alone in her dark room with only silence and a musky smell as her companions.
She hadn't even seen what color her wolf was in the darkness before she shifted back into her human form almost immediately after.
She had thought that if her alpha and pack members found out that she was so talented and had awakened her wolf so early, they would see her in a new light and stop the bullying and the torture.
However, Lizzie stopped her before that thought could even completely form in her head.
That was the first time she had heard her wolf's voice. It sounded sweet and childish, but it was real and it wasn't scolding her or humiliating her.
However, it was warning her.
"Valerie, you should never, ever let anyone know about my existence, otherwise you and I would face the same fate as your father." That one statement had made Valerie's blood turn colder than ice.
Valerie found her thoughts wandering to many years ago when she was just ten years old.
All thoughts of falling asleep forgotten due to the worry of her silent wolf.
She knew that she couldn't tell anyone about her wolf, not even Karl, but she thought that Lizzie's disappearance might have something to do with the discomfort she was feeling.
Also, remembering that she had to wake up early at four to prepare breakfast for everyone, she thought that if she woke up feeling worse than she did at that moment instead of better, then she would be in a whole lot of trouble because she wouldn't be able to fulfill her duties.
That would earn her a visit to the dungeon and a round of torture.
She finally decided against going to sleep and decided to go ask Karl for help.
Maybe he would know what was wrong with her and give her a solution that wouldn't result in her facing her punishment.
Anyway, all she had to do was make sure she didn't mention Lizzie.
She thought that Karl was quite knowledgeable since he had taught her most of the things she knew.
He was her only friend in the whole pack and the person closest to her heart.
Having come to a decision, Valerie didn't linger in bed any longer and got up.
She picked the only warm and dark cloak she owned from the floor in the corner of the room and put it on.
The cloak had been washed so many times it couldn't be called thick anymore.
The fur on it had shed so much it was literally non-existent.
But she had long since learned to be content with what she had, even if it was a cloak picked from the trash can of a guest who had visited the pack years ago.
That was how she had gotten the cloak. The only decent piece of clothing she owned.
The dark color would allow her to blend into the darkness of the night and prevent anyone from discovering her wandering around at night.
If she was discovered, she might be accused of stealing something again.
With that thought, Valerie climbed out the small window of her dark room and blended into the darkness.
Luckily for her, everyone thought she was a nuisance and was arranged to live in a storage room at the back of the pack house so that her residence could be forgotten whenever convenient.
That had made it easy for her to sneak in and out of her room at night without anyone ever finding out.
She very rarely sneaked around anyway as she was indeed too afraid of being caught.
Today was different, however, as she had to see Karl.
Because she had to run errands for practically everyone in the pack whenever anyone needed something dirty or tiring done, she knew every inch of the pack grounds better than the alpha.
She knew where every blade of grass grew and where every cricket hide.
This way, she was able to make her way to Karl's room on the other side of the pack house without alerting a single soul.
She had visited Karl's room both during the day and at night several times. When she came in during the day, it was always in the pretext of helping him clean up.
That was the only time they got to be alone peacefully without anyone else making life difficult for her.
However, during the times she sneaked in at night, she had to climb through the window because she was afraid of being found out and accused of immoral behavior or being a thief.
Today, she followed the same tradition and went to the back of his room, ready to climb through the window.
She was very quiet with her movements as light as a feather, not daring to make a sound before she entered the room.
She moved quietly and gracefully to the bottom of the window and prepared to scale it when she heard voices inside the room.
It was the voices of two men. Voices of people she knew all too well.
So, she stopped and decided to wait for the visitor to leave before she could climb up.
But she soon wished she never came that night.