ELISE’S POV.
I was asleep when the cold hit me.
For a moment, I couldn’t understand what was happening. My body jerked violently as freezing water soaked through my clothes, my skin, and my bones. I gasped sharply and sat up at once, coughing as droplets ran down my face and into my eyes and nose.
My breath came out shaky as I wiped my face with trembling hands. The water was so cold it felt like ice had been poured straight from winter itself.
When I finally managed to open my eyes fully, I saw her.
Luna Maryse, my father’s mate, stood above me with an empty bucket in her hand. Not a single trace of remorse was on her face. Only anger. Hot, burning anger, as if my very existence had offended her this early in the morning.
“Get your useless self out of that bed,” she said coldly.
I swallowed hard and slowly pushed myself upright. My clothes were completely soaked and clung tightly to my skin, making me shiver even more. I squeezed the water out of my shirt, hoping at least to feel a little less uncomfortable before she started shouting again.
Maryse did not move from her spot. She just watched me like I was something dirty she had stepped on.
Then she pointed at me sharply. “Look at the time.”
My eyes flicked toward the small cracked clock on the wall. It was just 4:51 a.m. Too early for anyone else in this house to be awake. But I already knew what she was going to say before she even opened her mouth.
“Do you think this is the time for a young girl like you to still be sleeping while others are working?” she continued, her voice rising. “Tell me, Elise, who exactly do you expect to make breakfast? Me? Or your father?”
I kept quiet.
Because the truth was, in this house, I was always the one expected to do everything. Cooking, cleaning, washing, serving. It did not matter if I was sick or tired or had barely slept. I was always the one responsible. I went to bed late every single night and woke up earlier than dawn itself.
And yet, her daughters, Tara and Clara, never touched a single chore. They slept until noon every day and still walked around like princesses when they finally woke up. But I was the only one punished for closing my eyes a little too long.
Maryse stepped closer. “You will get out there right now and prepare breakfast before everyone wakes up hungry. Do you understand me?”
I bit my tongue and forced myself to nod. “Of course, Mother.”
Anger flashed in her eyes as soon as the word left my mouth.
“What did you just call me?” she asked. “Do I look like your mother?”
I quickly shook my head. “No. I mean—I understand. I’ll go and change first. My clothes are wet, and it’s cold.”
My voice was soft, careful. I had learned long ago that speaking too strongly only made things worse for me.
I turned toward the corner where I kept my bag of clothes. My fingers had just touched the strap when suddenly a tight grip closed around my neck.
I gasped.
“Ah—!”
Maryse dragged me backward with shocking force. My feet stumbled against the floor as I tried to regain my balance, but she did not stop. Her hand was wrapped tightly around the back of my neck, pushing me out of the room like I weighed nothing.
“Do you think you are in a position to make decisions?” she hissed into my ear.
I tried to pull her hand away, but her grip only tightened. My neck burned as I struggled to loosen her hold.
“Maryse… please…” I managed to whisper, but my voice came out broken.
She ignored me completely and dragged me down the hallway, my feet scraping against the floor as I was pulled along.
“You are nothing,” she said bitterly. “Do you hear me? Nothing. Just a cursed child. A mistake.”
My chest tightened at her words, but I said nothing. I never did. Speaking back only made things worse.
“You killed your own mother,” she continued, her voice filled with poison. “She died giving birth to you. Your father lost his mate because of you. That is all you are, Elise. A curse in human form.”
My fists tightened at my sides as those words hit me like they always did.
I had heard them so many times that they should not have hurt anymore. But they still did. Every single time.
We reached the kitchen, and she finally shoved me forward. I stumbled but managed not to fall.
“Start preparing breakfast immediately,” she ordered. “If the pack house wakes up before this food is ready, be ready to face your father.”
I nodded again, even though my neck still burned from her grip.
Maryse stared at me for a long moment, as if trying to decide whether I deserved to be left breathing at all. Then she turned sharply and walked away, her heels echoing through the hallway.
But even after she left, her words did not. They stayed with me.
A curse.
A mistake.
A killer.
She wasn’t wrong. I was an alpha’s daughter who grew up as an omega and a pack slave because my own father despised me for killing his mate.
When I was just eight, my father married Maryse, the widow of his late beta, who already had two daughters and a son with her late mate. That was how my life moved from bad to worse.
I stood there in the middle of the kitchen, my wet clothes clinging to my skin, my neck still aching from her grip, and my heart feeling heavier than my body.
I slowly walked to the sink and turned on the tap, letting the water run over my hands.
This was my life.
Every morning.
Every day.
No one stopped it. No one cared.
But still, I took a deep breath and reached for the ingredients on the counter.
Because whether I was hurting or not, breakfast still had to be made.
And I had learned long ago that survival sometimes meant staying quiet, even when everything inside you wanted to scream.
The kitchen was already warm from the ovens, but it did little to chase away the cold that had settled deep into my bones. Every now and then, a shiver ran through my body no matter how hard I tried to ignore it.
I stood in front of the large stove, flipping pancakes onto a serving tray while trying not to rub my heavy eyes every few seconds.
I was exhausted.
After years of living like this, I was used to waking up before dawn and working until late at night, but some mornings were harder than others.
This morning was one of them.
“You should have changed your clothes.”
I sighed softly at the familiar voice in my head.
Mia.
My wolf had been awake ever since Maryse dragged us out of bed.
“And get my throat squeezed again?” I asked silently. “No, thank you.”
Mia huffed.
“One day, I am going to bite that woman’s head off.”
Despite everything, the comment almost made me smile.
I shook my head and reached for another bowl of batter.
The scent of pancakes, honey, and fresh fruit filled the kitchen as I worked.
Across from me were Anna and Lillian, who had walked in a while after I did. Anna was arranging slices of watermelon onto a platter while Lillian chopped apples beside her.
The two omegas were the closest thing I had to friends in this pack.
Not because they treated me like an Alpha’s daughter.
No one did.
They simply treated me like a person.
Sometimes that felt like an even greater gift.
Lillian glanced up from her cutting board.
“You look terrible.”
I nodded. “Good morning to you too.”
“I’m serious,” she said. “You look like you haven’t slept in days.”
Anna snorted.
“Knowing Luna Maryse, she probably hasn’t.”
I busied myself with the pancakes.
Neither of them needed an explanation.
Everyone in the pack house knew how Maryse and her children treated me.
Most people simply pretended not to notice.
The sound of a knife striking the cutting board filled the silence for a few moments before Anna suddenly spoke again.
“You know, I can’t believe he’s really going through with this.”
My hand froze.
The pancake I was about to flip nearly burned.
For a second, I stared at the stove without seeing it.
I already knew who she meant.
So did Mia.
The reaction from my wolf was immediate.
“Mate.”
The word echoed painfully through our bond.
I swallowed hard.
“Who?” I asked, just for the sake of asking.
Anna gave me a look.
“Elise.”
I lowered my eyes.
“Right.”
“I mean Alpha Derek,” Anna said anyway.
Lillian scoffed.
“Not Alpha Derek.”
Anna rolled her eyes.
“You know what I mean.”
“No,” Lillian replied. “He hasn’t been sworn in yet. He’s still just Derek.”
Anna waved a hand dismissively.
“Fine. Just Derek.”
The name alone was enough to make my chest tighten.
Derek. The incoming alpha of our neighboring pack, Blackveil Pack.
The man who had once promised me forever.
The man who had once looked me in the eye and said he didn’t care about status.
The man who had been chosen for me by the Moon Goddess herself.
My fated mate.
Or at least, he used to be before he rejected me.
Before he chose Tara for political benefit.
Mia whimpered softly.
A wounded, unhappy sound.
I felt it too.
No matter how much time passed, the rejection still hurt.
Not because I wanted him back.
At least that was what I told myself.
But because part of me still remembered the girl I had been before everything fell apart.
The girl who had believed him.
The girl who had believed someone had finally chosen her for once.
Anna’s voice pulled me back to the present.
“I heard he arrived late last night.”
Lillian nodded.
“Twenty-four solid hours before the engagement celebration tonight. Like, what’s chasing him, for Goddess’s sake?” She rolled her eyes.
“He’s probably excited.”
The words felt like a knife sliding quietly between my ribs.
Excited.
Of course he was.
Why wouldn’t he be?
He was about to gain everything he wanted.
Two packs. Two territories.
Power. Influence. More land.
The future Alpha of one pack becoming the future heir of another.
All because of a choice he made.
A choice that had destroyed me.
At first, Derek had claimed none of it mattered.
I remembered every word.
He had told me he didn’t care that I worked as a servant.
He had told me he didn’t care that my father ignored me.
He had told me we would face everything together. That I was the one for him.
For a while, I had actually believed him.
Then my father made him an offer.
I hadn’t been inside the room during their meeting, but I knew enough.
Everyone did.
If Derek left me and mated one of Maryse’s daughters instead, my father would officially name him heir to this pack.
If anything happened to my father, Derek would inherit everything.
The pack. The lands. The title. The power.
All he had to do was walk away from me.
And he did.
Without hesitation.
I wasn’t present when he accepted the offer.
But I knew the outcome.
Derek had walked into that discussion as my mate.
He walked out as Tara’s future husband.
The sound of approaching footsteps echoed through the hallway.
I blinked and realized the pack house was beginning to wake up.
Doors opened upstairs, and voices drifted through the corridors.
Servants hurried past outside the kitchen.
Breakfast needed to be finished soon.
I quickly returned my attention to the food.
“Can someone bring me the strawberries?” I asked.
Anna handed them over.
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