CHAPTER 1
Anna's POV
I've just taken off my clothes, standing alone in the bathroom with only my underwear on, when the door suddenly bursts open with a loud crash. I spin around in panic, clutching my chest. My heart does a violent flip when I see him.
Beta Chris.
His face is hard like stone, his eyes wild with rage. Before I can react, before I can even scream, he snarls, "Bitch," and charges at me.
I scramble for the towel hanging beside the shower, but he's faster. He slaps it out of my hand with such force that the fabric flutters uselessly to the floor. His hand is around my throat in an instant, strong and merciless, squeezing the life out of me.
"How dare you try to seduce Alpha Dylan," he growls, his voice sharp as a blade. "You're just my maid. Why don't you know your place?"
I claw at his hands, panic rising like bile in my throat. My vision blurs as my eyes sting with tears. His grip tightens—then suddenly, he hurls me against the tiled wall. I crash to the floor with a painful thud, a scream ripping from my lungs.
But he's not done.
He storms toward me, grabs me by the neck again, and lifts me up like a rag doll. My feet barely touch the ground. His face twists into something monstrous….and his fist trembles in the air.
"What were you doing at Alpha Dylan's party last night?" he snarls. "Did you think I wouldn't find out?"
Terror knots in my stomach. I gasp for air, the tears falling freely now. My voice comes out in a broken stammer. "C-Caroline… Miss Caroline took me there… to help her run—"
"Liar!" he roars and punches me hard across the face.
White stars explode behind my eyes. The pain is blinding, a sharp burst that knocks the breath from my lungs. I collapse to the floor, tasting blood, gasping, broken.
Then I hear her voice.
"I told you she'd try to lie her way out of it."
I look up through my tears and pain. Caroline stands in the doorway, a wicked smirk twisting her lips. She strides into the bathroom.
"You should have seen what this bitch was wearing last night," she says with a scoff. "She dressed like a slut."
She's lying. She's lying through her teeth, but I know Beta Chris won't see through it. He never does.
I force myself onto my knees, every movement screaming with pain. I wipe my tears and try again. "Please… sir… you have to believe me… I only went because Caroline—"
My words die when his boot slams into my stomach.
I gasp and fall, curling in on myself. He doesn't stop. Another kick lands, and then another. I scream and beg, but he keeps going. The blows come faster, crueler. Nine kicks. Ten.
At some point, I stop trying to defend myself. My arms fall to my sides. I don't have the strength to fight. My body is limp, broken. My mind drifts to a dark place where pain doesn't reach.
Death. Maybe death would be better than this. Better than the hell I call life.
He hates me. I don't know why. Even though I'm his mate, he's never treated me as such. I'm not a partner. I'm not a lover. I'm a maid. A servant. A slave.
I cook, clean, and do everything for him, and still he looks at me with nothing but contempt. I blame no one but my parents for this cursed existence. It's their fault. They sold me to Beta Chris like I was nothing. A transaction. A burden they got rid of.
They were poor, lowly omegas. Wretched. Pathetic. My father could've been an alpha, or at least a beta, but no—he had to be an omega. And I'm paying the price.
Beta Chris moves again. I brace myself for another blow, but instead, he crouches beside me. He grabs my bra and growls, "Slut. Is this what you wore to seduce the Alpha? Let me see what you've got."
"No… please…" I cry, but he's already trying to rip it off.
I clutch it desperately, but he's stronger.
"You slut. Did he fuck you?" he spits, gripping my breast harshly. I scream. The pain is unbearable.
"Strip her completely," Caroline hisses. "I don't know why you haven't rejected her already. She's wolfless, dumb, and it's not like she'll ever compare to me."
"I'm sorry," I sob, my voice cracking. "Please forgive me."
But instead of mercy, I get another slap across the face. My bra is ripped off, then my underwear. I'm left lying there, naked on the cold floor, bleeding, shivering, humiliated.
They laugh.
"Oh gods, she's so ugly," Caroline sneers, pointing and laughing. "Her breasts don't look like a virgin's to me. Chris, you should give her to one of your men. Let them confirm it."
Beta Chris smirks. That smirk terrifies me. He's actually considering it. No. No. Please, no.
I've endured everything in this house—beatings, insults, endless cruelty—but no one has sexually assaulted me. If that line is crossed… I don't know if I'll survive it.
I use one arm to cover my chest, the other to shield between my legs. My whole body shakes. "Please… don't do this."
"What are you covering, slut?" he growls, and then I see his foot coming. It slams into the side of my head. I see black. My world spins.
When I come to, he's dragging me by the hair.
"You think I don't know you've been sleeping with other men? Still pretending you're a virgin?" he spits, dragging me across the floor. My skin burns as it scrapes against the tiles.
I open my mouth to beg, but I can't speak. My mouth is dry. My voice is gone.
He throws me outside like I'm nothing, like a bag of trash. I land hard on the dirt.
"You're going to spend the night out here. No food. No water. Not that you'll survive the night anyway," he says coldly, then slams the door shut behind him.
I don't move. I can't.
I lie there naked, bleeding, broken. Every inch of me trembles. My body is battered, my face bleeding, and my heart—it feels crushed beyond recognition.
And then I hear her again.
Caroline.
She walks toward me slowly. "Did you really think someone like you could win over the Alpha?" she says, crouching beside me.
"I don't even know who the Alpha is," I whisper hoarsely. "I've never seen him."
She grabs my jaw and squeezes it so tight I wince. "Liar," she says, her eyes burning with hate. "I saw the way he looked at you last night."
I want to scream. I want to tell her I didn't even know the party she took me to last night was Alpha Dylan's. I didn't try to seduce anyone. All I did was run errands for her. That's all.
Then Caroline leans in closer and whispers, "I finally understand why Chris never rejected you. And I have something for you."
Before I can ask what she means, she slaps something cold onto my forehead.
A talisman.
Instantly, my body goes stiff. A jolt of energy rips through me like lightning. I can't move. I can't breathe. I can't even cry.
No… no, this can't be…
The dead man's talisman.
It's real. It's not just a myth.
It paralyzes even the strongest creatures. Even dragons.
Why? Why would they use this on me? I have nowhere to run. I'm helpless already.
Caroline leans closer, her voice low and cruel. "Tonight is the Full Moon Blood Night. Do you know what that means?"
Every hair on my body rises.
No.
No, it can't be.
She can't be telling the truth.
She must be lying.
But the way she smiles—it's like she's savoring my fear.
Tonight… the Full Moon Blood Night… the night of sacrifice…
The night men kill their mates to become alphas.
They offer their blood, their souls, to Goddess Ivanka, the Moon Goddess' sister.
This is why he never rejected me.
Because I was his sacrifice.
He planned this all along.
Caroline reads my thoughts like a book. "You're thinking this is treason, right?" she says, laughing darkly. "But you'll be dead before you can tell anyone."
A drop hits my thigh.
Blood.
No… the blood moon has begun.
Caroline jumps up, smiling. "It's here. I'm so glad you're finally leaving our lives."
She turns toward the door, but it opens before she reaches it. Beta Chris steps out.
"Come, dear," he says, wrapping an arm around her. "You don't want to get sacrificed with that slut."
They kiss.
Then they leave.
They don't even look back.
The door slams shut.
And I'm alone.
Alone and paralyzed beneath the blood-red sky.
I try to move, to cry, to scream. Nothing works. The talisman holds me like iron chains.
This is how I die?
After everything?
But then, the ground shakes. A deafening blast echoes in the distance. The air feels heavy. My body burns, as if flames lick at my skin. I cry out silently.
Then I see her.
A figure emerges from the shadows.
I can't see her face.
But I feel her presence.
Goddess Ivanka.
My end is here.