Layla
…..
The sound of the door slamming open shattered the stillness of my sleep, and before I could react, I felt the icy sting of cold water splash over me. The shock of it sent my heart racing, and I gasped for breath, my body shivering as the freezing water dripped down my face and soaked into the thin fabric of my nightgown.
"Wake up, Layla," Felissa's voice rang out like a sharp blade, her words dripping with malicious delight. "Did you think you'd sleep in after last night's disgrace?"
I blinked rapidly, my vision blurry as the cold water dripped from my hair and stung my skin. The remnants of the humiliation I had suffered at the ball still lingered, but I was too exhausted to feel it in full. After the grand ball, I had been tasked with cleaning the entire hall. Every floor had to be scrubbed, every surface polished, all while my stepsister and stepbrother reveled in their positions, basking in the glory of their own superiority.
I barely managed two hours of sleep before the nightmare continued. I tried to sit up, my limbs sluggish and sore, but Felissa's cold laugh sent a chill straight through me.
"Get up," she ordered, her voice harsh, "and make yourself useful. You don't deserve a moment's rest. Do you think the pack cares about you? You can't even shift, let alone take a proper place in this pack."
My eyes stung with the sting of exhaustion and defeat, but I refused to let her see the tears that threatened to spill. I knew what she was doing—what she always did—her cruelty was relentless, an ever-present force in my life. The night had not been enough; Felissa was determined to drag me further into the dirt, to make sure I felt every ounce of her hatred.
I stood slowly, feeling the weight of my body drag me down. My stomach rumbled with hunger, but I hadn't eaten much since the night before. The maids in the house had already grown used to my position, giving me the hardest chores, assigning me the worst tasks. I was forced to work for scraps, for the chance to get enough money to buy medicine for my mother, who continued to wither away under the poison her father had given her. No one cared about her suffering, not even my father.
As I moved to the small window of the room, I glanced outside, the dull morning sky offering no comfort. The cold wind brushed against my skin, and I shivered again, not just from the water that had drenched me, but from the coldness that seemed to seep into my soul every time I thought of how much my life had changed.
I had spent my childhood in a small cottage with my family, trying to survive in the face of my father's abandonment. I had lived in love, in warmth, surrounded by my siblings—until they were taken from me, leaving me alone with my broken mother. Now, I was a servant in the house of Luna Catherine, living under her shadow, a constant reminder of my own powerlessness.
I knew the real reason I was forced to live here, under the cruel rule of my stepmother and stepsiblings. It wasn't because they loved me, it wasn't because they cared about my well-being. It was because Felissa wanted to make my life a living hell. She relished in the idea of making me suffer, crushing my spirit beneath the weight of her jealousy and spite.
"Felissa, please—" I began, but her sharp laugh cut me off.
"Oh, don't start with that nonsense," she sneered. "You don't deserve any sympathy, Layla. Look at you—weak, useless, and pathetic. You're nothing more than a burden to this pack. I'm doing you a favor by allowing you to even exist here."
I clenched my fists, the familiar sting of her words landing deep in my chest. But I said nothing. I had learned long ago that speaking out only made it worse. I didn't have the strength to argue anymore, not after everything I had already endured.
The thought of my mother's sickness twisted my insides. She was dying slowly, fading away under the weight of that curse, and there was nothing I could do. My father would never help her—he had already made it clear how little he cared about me, let alone my mother.
I moved toward the door, my mind already focused on the tasks ahead of me. Cleaning the hall, serving the pack, doing whatever it took to get enough money for the next round of medicine.
"Get a move on, Layla," Felissa snapped from behind me. "You've got no time to waste."
I nodded silently, my shoulders heavy with the burden of another day. As I stepped out into the hallway, I barely noticed the maids bustling around. Their pitying glances were no longer a surprise. They had seen it all—the cruelty, the torment, the broken girl who once dreamed of being something more.
But those dreams felt so far away now.
I had no wolf, no power. I was just a girl—a girl with no future in a house full of people who hated her.
But one day, I would leave this place. I didn't know how, and I didn't know when, but I would. I had to. For my mother, for my siblings, for myself.
But for now, I would endure. I would survive.
I had no other choice.
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