Chapter 1

_Serra's POV_

My husband is an old, ugly Beta with a sagging stomach, and small, mean eyes.

He is also the leader of the Red-Moon pack. My parents gave me to him on my twentieth birthday.

They didn't want me. I was fat, slow, and wolfless.

My two sisters, Iris and Willa, were slim, beautiful, and gifted with strong wolves.

My parents adored them. They showed them off to the whole pack like shiny trophies.

But me? They handed me over to David Thornek like trash they wanted to dump.

For five years, not a single member of my family came to see me.

Iris and Willa were probably out buying expensive dresses, while I was locked away in a dark room, used like a dirty rag every morning and night.

My room is tiny with no windows, no fresh air, and no light except for the brief seconds when the door opens.

David closed the door behind him, dropping the room back into darkness.

“Still laying there like a useless log, Serra?” He sneered, his foul breath hitting my face as he leaned over the bed.

“Five damn years I’ve been pumping my seed into you, and you can’t even give me one pup.”

I stayed silent. I learned long ago that speaking back only made his fists fly faster.

“Look at you,” He spat, grabbing a handful of my hair and yanking my head back.

I gritted my teeth, refusing to let out a sound.

“You're lazy, and your body is so filled with so much fat that my pup can't even grow inside you. You are an infertile, worthless Omega. My money was wasted on you.”

He shoved my head back against the pillow.

I didn't care about his insults. In fact, every single day for the last five years, I silently prayed to the Moon Goddess, thanking her for making me infertile.

I told myself that if I ever got pregnant with this monster’s child, I would jump off a cliff.

I would never bring a baby into this nightmare.

David grunted, did his business quickly, and got off me. He adjusted his pants in the dark.

“I am leaving for a three-day business trip in the city,” He said, his hand reaching for the doorknob.

“The guards will be at the main house. Don't bother screaming. Nobody can hear you from this side of the estate anyway.”

He stepped out, slammed the door shut, and turned the lock from the outside.

I lay in the dark, listening to his footsteps fade away down the hallway.

I waited until I heard the front door of the house shut, followed by the sound of his car engine starting and driving off into the distance.

He was gone.

I let out a slow, shaking breath and tried to sit up, but then nausea hit into my stomach.

My mouth filled with sour saliva as I dropped to my hands and knees. My stomach turned upside down, hot sweat forming across my forehead and the back of my neck.

This wasn't normal. I hadn't eaten anything since yesterday afternoon. My period was over two weeks late, but I had brushed it off because my cycle was always messy.

Terror flooded through my veins, freezing the blood in my heart.

No. No, no, no.

I pressed my hands against my stomach. It felt slightly warm, and strange.

I wasn't infertile, I… I was pregnant.

Panic made the room spin around me. I felt like the walls were collapsing inward, suffocating me.

A monster's child was growing inside my belly. David’s blood was inside me right now.

If he came back and found out, he would use this baby to tie me to him until I died.

“No,” I spat aloud. “I won't let this happen.”

I stood up. My knees were shaking, but rage filled my chest, burning away the fear.

I was not going to raise his child.

I was going to escape, run into the deep woods somewhere, and find a way to get rid of this pregnancy, even if it was the last thing I ever did.

I braced myself, slammed my shoulders into the door, more times than I could count until the door burst open.

Bright light hit my face, making my eyes sting with tears. I sprinted down the narrow corridor toward the back door.

David was right about one thing, the guards were all stationed at the front gates of the main house.

The back yard was empty.

I pushed the back door open, stepped out onto the grass, and felt the cool breeze hit my skin for the first time in five years.

I didn't waste a single second looking back. I sprinted straight toward the line of trees at the edge of the property.

My lungs felt like they were filled with glass every time I took a breath, and my heart pounded nonstop against my chest.

I kept running, putting as much distance between myself and that pack as possible.

My vision started to blur at the edges, as dark spots began dancing in front of my eyes.

My body was starving, battered, and exhausted from five years of living in hell.

When I suddenly tripped over a tree root, I hit the ground hard, rolling onto my side.

I tried to push myself up, but I was too tired to move a single muscle.

“Moon Goddess... just let me get away…please,” I prayed silently, but then, everything went black.

***

When my eyes fluttered open, the darkness was gone.

I was lying on an insanely soft bed. Sunlight poured into the room through a huge glass window, painting the walls in a golden glow.

I froze, my jaw dropping as I looked around.

This wasn't my small dark room, and definitely not David's house.

Before my racing mind could even comprehend where I was, the bedroom door opened.