Jasmine Pov
I moved into the forest hut today. They gave me one right across from where my parents gave their lives for me. Alpha John and Luna Leena were waiting there when I arrived. Luna Leena's smirk was all over her face. I could tell she was waiting for something. Most likely for me to break down. Alpha John had the same patient expression as if he too were waiting for something. They weren't gonna fucking get it.
I went to this clearing yesterday with Sabrina, Lori, and Adam. I cried and cried. The pack members hadn't even tried to clean up the bloodstains. I just left them there as a reminder. I made a promise to my parents in the clearing that I would never let any of them break me, no matter what. As I did, I felt the wind stir and wrap around me as a comfort. I smiled as I felt the ghost of their arms around me. I knew they would never leave me. I intend to keep that promise.
I smiled graciously at the Alpha and Luna and bowed as per our custom. I looked at the site with sad eyes before looking back at them.
"Thank you for allowing me to be closer to them," I told them with a small smile. I could feel another wind surrounding me, pulling me like a blanket. Maybe I was imagining things, but it helped a lot.
"This isn't a favor, little shit, It's a punishment. Do you not care that your parents were killed here" She sneers, putting her hand on her hip? I bite back the urge to tell her to shut the fuck up.
" I do care, Luna, I just feel that even though they are gone, their presence is still here. Alpha, if it is okay with you, I would like to make small sites in the clearing there as a way for me to pay my respect since I am not allowed to visit their graves", I told him. He narrows his eyes at me. Sabrina told them to tell me I was not allowed into the graveyard since I was now declared a runt of the pack. The graveyard grounds were for omegas or higher, but I was okay with that. Their bodies were there, but their souls were not. Their spirits are still with me, and I will cling to them as my life depends on it.
"Fine" is all he says before walking off, leaving me with the bitchy Luna. She puts her finger in my face.
" I don't know what your fucking game is, bitch, but you will be broken. I will take utter joy in seeing you defeated as I do. Maybe then I will have my revenge", she says before walking off, leaving me confused.
Revenge on what?
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After I was all moved in, I attempted to go to sleep. The hut was probably the smallest hut I had ever seen. It was small enough to fit one mattress and a small dresser inside. Outside was an outhouse I had to use that I also was instructed to keep clean each night. I could still smell a bit of mold, but I was getting used to the smell a bit fast, so after a while, it didn't bother me. The day after, I made my parent's memorial using some stones. I wrote their names on paper. Each day before it rained, I would put a bin over them to keep the water from getting my paper wet. Sabrina always kept me updated on the weather.
I had developed a daily routine from that moment. Each day, I would get up and get dressed. I was only allowed to wear white t-shirts and tan pants. I always kept my hair in a bun, per the rules. I went to the packhouse and cooked, cleaned, washed dishes, and came back to my hut. I would visit my parent's memorial, and after that, I trained with Sabrina. We never told anyone we were training together, minus her parents. Her father would join us now and then teach us some defensive moves he knew about. It didn't take long to master them, considering I am still just a human. The only downside to learning these defensive moves was being careful not to use them against anyone without risking getting thrown into the dungeons.
I still live with the fear of more rogues coming. If they decided to take the forest route, I would be the first to get killed. I'm sure that would be a relief to them. Now and then I would run into Darnell, who never stopped a minute to push me down or punch my face.
I cried at first, the first few times, but after a while, I had gotten used to his hits. Each time he saw me, he tried to hit harder and harder, and each time I took them. Eventually, he gave up hitting me and took to cutting me. When I wasn't looking, he would slice my arm a little, or my back, cutting up my white shirts. Sabrina's parents had to keep buying me white shirts. It always took forever to heal up, but they did. I was now accustomed to being cut, burned, slapped, or hit.
Luna Leena would join my brother sometimes, but they both would be really upset to see that I never cracked. I just kept going through my day as if nothing had ever happened. Luna Leena was trying to get some sort of revenge on me, and I had no idea what I had done. As far as I was concerned, I was a good child, and I can't remember what I did to make her dislike me so much. It nagged on me, but I knew better to ask. Lori has had to stitch me up so many times she has lost count. I am grateful to Lori and Adam as well as Sabrina. They are like my second family, and I couldn't ask for better in how they take care of me.
Oliver would ignore me for the most part. He was a mixed case. One day he will punch me. The next he would ignore me, glancing at me with pity, anger, and something else I can't seem to recall. Out of everyone, for some reason, his abuse seemed to hurt the most. Even his words, calling me a dirty slut, or whore, or pack trash since I'm the pack's runt. Even those words would hurt the most, but I still held my head high. I am a beta's daughter after all, no matter what my rank is now. The pack members have seen the main members treating me like trash, so they do the same thing. They find new ways to hurt me to please their Luna, my brother, or the young alpha.
Sometimes I can hear Oliver telling some of them to stop when he thinks I'm not listening, which confuses me. He hates me. Why would he say that?
Weeks turned to months. Months turned to years and my 17th birthday came today. Sabrina had already turned 18 and had found out she was mated to my brother. She walked right in there to his face in front of everyone and spoke
" I, Sabrina Delmay, Omega of the Red Valley Pack, reject you, Darnell White, Beta, as my mate for the cruelty you show towards my sister daily. I fucking refuse you and I will always fucking refuse you",
and she walked out, leaving him stunned with his hand clutching his heart as he fell to the ground, feeling the bond shatter. It spread through the Packhouse that had been rejected by her and, as usual, he decided to make me a target. He punched me until I was black and blue all over and I ended up slumped down on the kitchen floor. Everyone in the packhouse who watched laughed at my pain. Each day I went back to my hut. I considered setting the packhouse on fire, locking everyone from inside, but I never acted on it. Each time I even thought about it, I would feel my parent's cool blankets wrapped around me, making me forget those terrible thoughts.
I had even considered running away. I chose not to. I could never leave Sabrina, Lori, or Adam. I would never forgive myself if they were punished because I decided to make a poor choice, so I stayed. I had just come back home and was at my grave when I felt a sharp pain pierce through my body. Sabrina and Lori had come over with some food like they usually do and ran to me when they saw me on the ground clutching my stomach.
Lori, thinking I had gotten hurt again, was looking for the source of the problem but there wasn't one. At once, my head started pounding like someone was forcing their way through and I held my head, thrashing on the ground.
"Shit," Lori said through Sabrina
"What is it?" I heard Sabrina ask.
"Her wolf is breaking through, but with her injuries, she may not make it", Lori replies and bends back down to me. She starts talking but all I can think of are her words as I replay them over and over.
Her wolf is coming through
Her wolf is coming through
My wolf. My wolf is coming.
Son of a Bitch!