Picture of Evangeline Marie Wisteria on top.

"Wake up you filthy mutt and make yourself useful for once! I want breakfast to be ready and served immediately. The whole pack is waiting for you. I cannot believe we did not get rid of you when we had the chance a long time ago, you are purely a waste of space in this pack and nothing else." A loud voice that I knew well growled out, jolting me awake, pulling me straight out of my dreamless and unrestful sleep.

I did not have to open my eyes to know who it was. I felt my body ache and protest as I stiffly got up from the worn-out mattress that I called my bed. I heard my shoulder bone cracked as it attempted to release the knot from sleeping in such a tight curled up position. Instantly, I winced at the small noise. With the lingering pain that pulsated throughout my body from last night's beatings, and the painful memory still fresh in my mind, my whole body instinctively froze and braced itself for a second beating. "What are you doing just standing there? Not only you are useless but you are also illiterate. Hurry the hell up mutt." He snarled menacingly. I hobbled towards my sink located in the corner of my minuscule living space. I glanced down at the floor the whole time, purposely avoiding eye contact with my older brother, Alec.

His rough hand suddenly jerked out and he grabbed my wrist. I whimpered at the tightness of his grip. Alec pulled me back violently before I could reach the sink. Another whimper involuntarily escaped my lips as I felt his grip tighten. "I did not hear a "yes sir" you disrespectful mutt. How dare you treat your Beta this way. Learn some respect or else." Shaking in fear and pain, I stuttered out a meek "yes sir" and then braced myself for the impact as he abruptly raised his hand. Alec slapped me hard, making me lose balance and fall over. I laid helpless on the dirty floor, in shock, and in pain. The dizziness made my head pound. "Speak up next time you incompetent idiot. Now, get up and get ready. If breakfast is not ready by eight, you are going to get the worse beating of your life. I will make sure that you are unable to walk for the next week. Am I understood?" he hollered, as he exited my small living space.

"Understood," I whispered before I carefully got up, my world still spinning. I reached up and touched my cheek tenderly. I winced at the contact, retracting quickly my hand. There is definitely going to be a bruise there tomorrow. Another one for the collection."Evangeline...it hurts to see you go through this. I am so sorry that I am not able to heal you...I'm just too weak..." My wolf, Winter whimper, her voice meek, filled with pain and faded as she struggled to speak. I can not remember when was the last time we had a proper meal. They fed me enough just so that I don't die, merely scraps and pieces of leftover food that they did not want or was too rotten for them to eat. The lack of nutrition made both my wolf and I extremely weak and undernourished. It affected especially Winter as she was the beasty side of me. Without food, she is powerless, unable to heal us, or fight. "I understand Winter...It's okay, I can take the pain. You need to rest as much as possible and regain energy. I'll try to get food into our system soon." I told her, trying desperately to sound confident.

I had planned to run away from this pack one day, even if that meant that I was going to become a rogue. I wanted to set out to find my mate and find my happily ever after. Therefore, I needed Winter to be in the best shape possible. I was willing to spare her from all the pain that comes from the abuse and beatings and give her all of my strength. It was a sacrifice I was full-on willing to make, it's our only chance and hope of escaping."Hopefully, that day will come soon Evangeline. We will finally be able to live well and freely. Maybe share this life with a mate if we find him. Oh, Evangeline, he will enter our life and be a beacon of light in our dark world." Winter expressed with a tint of unbridled and pure happiness in her tone. Mate, that one word alone made me feel giddy. When a werewolf turns sixteen, they will be able to find their mate by their scent. When I was little, before tucking me away for the night, my mom would always tell me the story of how she met my dad, her eyes always sparkled with happiness whenever she did. I hope I will find a mate that will love me and treat me right. An escape and a new beginning.

I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard an all too familiar voice yell out, "Omega, you better hurry up and get breakfast on this table immediately. My patience is running out." Alpha Xavier Maxwell Alister, is a powerful, ruthless, and merciless Alpha. Out of everyone in the pack, he abuses me the most. Not wanting another painful beating, I rushed and did my morning routine before heading downstairs. I made my way to the spacious pack kitchen and started to make a typical American style breakfast and soon, all the food was ready to be served. I brought out the plates to the awaiting pack members in the dining room. Once everyone was served individually, I left to clean up the kitchen and do the dishes."Evangeline, we need to eat something soon. We can't continue to live like this. Please human, we need to eat if we want to survive a little longer." Winter whimpered."I know Winter...maybe they will be kind enough to leave some leftovers today...if not, then I will find scraps for us to eat," I responded, and as if on cue, my stomach grumbled loudly. Once the kitchen was spotless, I waited for the Alpha to call me to complete my duty of clearing the table once everyone was done eating.

"Omega, we are done eating. Come at once, make yourself useful and clean up this mess mutt!" Alpha Xavier hollered. I walked quickly into the dining room and hurriedly stacked the dirty plates and sorted the utensils, before taking them back to the kitchen. No one helped and not a single word of gratitude was spoken from the whole pack. I also noticed that they ate all of the food, leaving no leftovers for me. I sigh quietly and guess this meant that I would have to go all day without food again. "I am sorry Winter...we have to bear the hunger a little longer." I proceeded to do the dishes, making sure that each plate was spotless as one speck unwashed could earn me a beating. Once I was finished, I looked at the time and cursed under my breath. I was going to be late for school if I don't leave right away. We, werewolves go to a special werewolf only school, humans are forbidden to attend. Of course, me being an omega meant that I was bullied a lot in school, especially by Xavier and Alec. It was mandatory to go to school until you reach the age of sixteen, and the consequences of not attending are harsh. A werewolf without an education gets kicked out of the pack and is forced to become a rogue, a full wolf, a rank lower even than an omega. Nobody wants that.

I slipped on my worn-out Uggs boots, grabbed my plain white backpack filled with completed homework and school books, and began the long walk to North Wood Academy. Suddenly, as I was walking, I felt raw eggs being thrown at me, one painfully hitting the nape of my neck and another landed on the side of my head. Xavier and Alec howled with peals of laughter as they watched egg yolk run down my face and clothes before driving off. I sighed and kept walking. When I finally reached the school, I heard the first bell ring and immediately I knew that I was going to be late. I didn't even bother going to my locker, and just went straight to the nurse's office to get a late note. Nurse Lucie is the only person that actually cares about me, she is always there for me when I need her, even if she can not do much because of her rank, she is the only person that listens and helps me in whatever ways she can. I am grateful to have a person like that still present in my life. Nurse Lucie wrote me a note, to excuse my lateness, without inquiring anything, though she did kindly say that I should go wash up before going to class. That's what I liked most about her, she never forces you to talk or explain. She slipped a cereal bar into my hand and patted my hand once before returning to her work. I thanked her, smiling gratefully and slipped out of the office, heading towards the bathroom to try to get as much of the egg yolk off my clothes, hair, and face.

While I was walking towards my first class, I munched on a cereal bar that Nurse Lucie gave me. She knew that I had little to nothing to eat back at the packhouse so, every morning, she would give me something to eat whether that be a cereal bar or banana. I heard Winter sigh with happiness, savoring the taste. We were both happy to have some food finally enter our system. When I walked into the classroom, the teacher dismissed me after she read the note. I ignored the glares of my peers and took my usual seat towards the back of the classroom, by the window, zoning out completely from reality as soon as my butt hit the seat.

The morning passed by in a flash and before I knew it, it was lunchtime. I don't have any money to pay for a hot school lunch so I usually spent lunchtime daydreaming, leaning against my favorite tree located in the furthest corner of the school courtyard. Today was no different, I was peacefully listening to my own thoughts when suddenly an apple core flew out of nowhere and hit me square on the head. "Oww..." I mumbled as I rubbed the sore spot. I heard laughers and instantly knew that it was my usual tormentors: Xavier, Alec, Jonah, and Hamilton. "Aww...did I hurt the pathetic little omega?" Xavier asked mockingly, looking down at me with a smirk on his face. I did not dare to look up. "Answer your Alpha, omega." I kept my lips sealed. Xavier slapped me hard, I winced as the pain spread throughout my left cheek but, I did not dare to make a sound. "What is wrong omega? Wolf's got your tongue? Geez, on top of that, you stink of rotten egg you dirty mutt! You are nothing but a waste of space, be gone already." Xavier continued to insult and hit me. Kick, slap, kick, slap and repeat. The other three guys laughed while they watched. It might have been my imagination, but I caught a glint of guilt and sadness in my brother's eyes before it vanished as fast as it appeared.

Finally, the bell rung, indicating that it was the end of the lunch break as well as the end of my beating. I was literally saved by the bell. Xavier stopped mid-kick, "This is not over omega, just wait until we get back to the packhouse." He sneered before they all left. The pain was agonizing. My wolf wanted to help and heal me but, I told her to save her energy. "I'll be okay Winter, I am used to it, you need to save up as much energy as possible," I told her. "You don't have to be in this alone Evangeline, I am your wolf. You are part of me as much as I am of you," she replied. I smiled at our close bond, "I know."

I did not feel like finishing my afternoon classes, as I only had two classes left and my grades for both of those classes were excellent. I decided to head back to the packhouse early, thus, I headed outside and started the excruciatingly long journey of walking home. Wincing at every step, I finally stopped to rest, trying hard to catch my breath which proved to be difficult as I think Xavier might have broken a few ribs."Evangeline? Maybe if we get home before everyone else, we could sneak in some food so that I can have enough energy to spare to be able to heal you." Winter proposed, sounding worried about my current state. I thought about it for a minute before answering,"Let's do it, Winter. To be honest with you, I can not take the pain much longer. We just have to make sure that no one is home so we don't get caught."

When I finally reached the packhouse, I quietly opened the door and looked around warily, making sure that no one was home yet. I let out a big sigh of relief when I realized that I was alone. I sneaked into the kitchen pantry and took out a loaf of bread, a jar of Nutella, and some chocolate chip cookies."This should be enough, it should give us enough energy for a while right?" I questioned my wolf."No Evangeline, we need to take advantage of this situation. Cook something easy. I think you have enough time to before the pack members comes back." was Winter's response. I obeyed her, realizing that she was right. I quickly scanned the fridge and pantry and took out all the ingredients needed to make spaghetti with marinara sauce.

After I took in the first mouthful of spaghetti, I could not help but moan at the taste. It has been way too long since I have had a proper meal. Winter was savoring the taste as well, her howls filled with pleasure echoed in my head. I felt mine and Winter's gradually energy return as our stomach filled up. Winter also spared some of her energy to heal me, I watched as my bruises fade, the fresh cuts that littered throughout my body close up and disappear, and felt my ribs mending back together. All of my old scars healed as well thanks to Winter's werewolf healing powers."Thank you so much, Winter. I feel better." I told her, gratefully as my physical pain vanished completely."You are very welcome Evangeline. It was the least I could do for you, my human." She answered with a smile in her voice. I finished my serving of the spaghetti with marinara sauce and put away the leftover into a container to store in my room for later. I felt too full to eat anymore probably because my stomach was not used to the amount of food I already ate today.

I looked at the clock, the arrows indicated that it was seven o'clock meaning that the pack members should arrive shortly home from work and school. I hastily got started on dinner, making Mac and Cheese, a pack's favorite and my personal favorite dish. I had just finished up stirring the cheese into the pasta when I heard the front door open and the sounds of loud laughter and chatters, as well as multiples sets of footsteps, entering. I quickly set the table and waited for everyone to settle in the dining room before beginning to serve them. After dinner, I did all of my chores which includes washing the dishes, cleaning the kitchen floor till I saw my reflection, vacuuming, and dusting the dining room, cinema room, and living room, activating all of the security alarms and locking all the doors of the packhouse. At last, I was done for the day. I made my way up to the attic and fell onto the creaking and rusted mattress on the floor, falling asleep for once in a long time with a full and satisfied stomach.