Chapter 1
Astria Salome was a cursed child... crystal eyes clear as water, fur as white as snow and an unusual half-moon birthmark sitting on her wolf's forehead. Her healing ability was way above par too. No wound of hers would last more than an hour on her body, no matter how bad it was.
Because of this, she was scorned since birth, hated and named a curse for an appearance she had no choice in and a strange healing aptitude that she didn't ask for.
But it didn't end there. Her life got even worse when her father, a corrupt werewolf council member, fled after being stripped of his title. At 15, she was alone, left with his debts that she could never pay off. Since then, his debtors and the people he scammed of their life savings had made several attacks on her life. It was only thanks to her healing ability that she was still alive.
Now in her twenties, she was the runt of a pack that sat in the middle of nowhere. Six weeks ago, the night of her twenty-first birthday, she manifested as an omega. And that day… marked the beginning of another hell, a curse where a demon claimed her body every night.
───
At the crack of dawn, Astria was greeted by ice cold water. She flew up with a jerk, only for surprise to transform into horror when she found herself face to face with Beta Hilde.
She knew what happened next was going to be brutal, just like yesterday, just like the weeks before.
Astria was scrambling off the bed in an instant, standing stark naked with her hands behind her back and her eyes on the floor. The cold water slid down her face and neck, spiraling across her bare chest.
Beta Hilde glared, a leather whip held tight in her grip. Behind her, the pack's three Elders watched in silence, hardened expressions on their faces.
Circling her, Hilde assessed her naked body from head to toe, a sharp spark of disgust when her gaze swept over the dried cum sticking to her thighs and the purple bruises across her flushed skin.
“Looks like the bastard did a number on you last night.” She hissed. Astria clenched her teeth as the whip ruthlessly cracked against her back, splitting the skin. She trembled, damp hair clinging to her as her face wrung in agony.
“You've worked hard.” Hilde's hand reeled back, the whip slicing through the air again. “Just not hard enough!” Slam. “The drought still persists!” Slam. “Famine is upon us!” Slam. “The gods aren't satisfied!” Slam. “Your sins have yet to be forgiven!” Slam. “Repent!” Slam. “REPENT!”
What felt like hours had passed before the beating finally stopped. Astria prayed for nightfall, only to be greeted by the blinding light from the sun that'd just risen.
As onlookers watched from afar, they dragged her from her crumbling shed by the arms, her legs scraping helplessly through the dust. The church doors opened to welcome her and then, at the foot of the goddess’ golden statue, she was forced to her knees and made to pray.
The double door slammed shut behind her, the room pitch black as she sat there against the cold concrete. Shackles were around her wrists and blood trickled slowly down her skin.
Apparently, the Elders received a holy decree, leading everyone to believe that the gods were angry. Not at them but at Astria, the cursed one who brought evil onto their lands. The evil they spoke of came in the form of a demon.
The famine, the drought, every hardship was deemed the demon's doing. And to break the curse, she was told to appease him with her body by night and the goddess with prayer by day.
Her 21st birthday was when everything began. Her first omega heat had overtaken her inside that cramped shed, her body scorching hot. Males were drawn to her by instincts they couldn't control… and somehow, she ended up attracting something else too, something wicked.
That night, her Alpha was ready to sell her to whoever was willing to pay, whether for a few pennies or a crate of liquor. But as a long line of men waited and a man twice her age stripped himself bare, the door was slammed off its hinges and the demon filled the doorway.
At first, there was blood, a brutal massacre that she barely even remembered...and then, there was only him and her.
───
It was dusk when the church doors opened again. By then, Astria's wounds had healed…just like Beta Hilde hoped. She was cleansed then tossed back into her cage, the door left wide open.
Astria laid flat against the bed…waiting. Here, everyday was a repeat of the day before. Repentance, prayer and now, sacrifice.
As soon as the moon rose in the sky, Astria Salome was clawing at her own skin. She writhed, gripping the damp sheets under her as fire spread over every inch of her body. It burned everywhere, leaving an ache for something sinful.
Her eyes swept to the door, nose catching a whiff of a scent that made her shiver in desperation. A familiar mark surfaced on the skin of her stomach, sitting around her belly button. She didn't know what it meant. She just knew it calmed the fire the moment it appeared.
On cue, the door creaked open wider and her heart hammered in her chest as dark red eyes stared back at her. He was here… the demon who took her body every night.
Suddenly, every other door was being bolted shut and every virgin woman grabbed onto their wooden stake as whispers spread in the dark.
No one here understood exactly what he was, but the pack feared those eyes. The elders called him a demon, others said he had come in search of a bride to bring back to whatever hell he crawled up from.
But the only truth she knew and could never tell… was that he was hers, her fated mate. If they ever found out, who knew what other horrors they would make her do.
"M-Mate..."
He shrugged off his cloak. Astria stared at him through a blur of tears, the scent of pine and wood tickling her nostrils. She crawled across the floor and he watched her intensely, eyes darkened by lust but still so strangely soft. He took her chin in a tight grip, the touch sending shockwaves to her core. "You've waited well, my little omega~"
Her body swelled with heat, trembling for friction. She was out of her mind, drowning in a sea of raw, uncontrollable desire. But she waited patiently against the floor, her cheek against his clothed erection and slick sliding down her hot thighs.
This man's existence was her undoing and also her… salvation. But how was she supposed to react when the following morning, she found herself waking up to a brutal but unsurprising betrayal by her pack?
Naked, chained and surrounded by darkness, she was being shipped off to become the wife of the kingdom's heir.