[Xanthea]

I left my apartment in the afternoon when the sun gently hid behind the mammatus clouds. I grew Forget-me-nots the whole year for my mother’s death anniversary. Picking some of the most vibrant flowers, I tied them in a blue ribbon.

I put on the best formal decent gown I had and set off for the graveyard. I got down from the bus a stop before my actual stop because the roads ahead were out of bounds for the public.

There was some inter-pack car drifting competition organised by Nikolai.

I knew I had to hurry before the event began, so I decided to walk to the graveyard since it wasn’t too far.

The road was the fastest way, but maybe I shouldn’t have taken the road.

***

I had walked a few metres ahead on the road when I heard the roaring of engines and several cars zoomed past me at a speed that made them look like mere glowing lights flying by.

One of those cars stopped at some distance and started driving in reverse. It was a brand new grey supra.

Lowering my gaze, I increased my pace.

“Want a lift, sis?” Nikolai put his elbow on the window, patting his car. He drove the car slowly, matching my pace. “You know, an omega shouldn’t be here at this hour. Alphas from all the packs will be here tonight. What if someone kidnaps you? Or does something worse?”

A shrill laughter came from the passenger seat.

“Come on, brother! They might just run their cars over her ugly face of hers. How could someone look at such an abomination and not want to crush it?” Nathalia sniggered, rolling the chewing gum across her mouth.

“Now. Now. Lia. Don’t be so harsh, or she’ll start crying again. Like good old days,” Nikolai stopped the car. They exchanged some glances, and Nathalia and Nikolai stepped out of the car.

Keeping my eyes low, I tensed up when they approached me. Clenching the forget-me-nots, I hid them in my gown’s fabric.

“How rude of you? Ever since you left the palace, you didn’t even come to visit us once. How ungrateful can a bitch get?” Nathalia hit my shoulder, and I stumbled back.

“Woah! Calm down. It’s been a while since we saw her. Go easy on her,” Nikolai’s gaze darkened as it ran over me. I dug my fingers into my flesh as I clenched my trembling fist. “Going on a date, sis?”

I shuddered as his aura thickened. The threat behind his words held me in a chokehold. Restlessness built in my chest as I instantly shook my head.

“Then where are you going with flowers in your hand and dressed so prettily? You might not be living with us anymore, but you are, unfortunately, linked with the royal family. And if you were to stain our reputation by acting like a slut then as you brother, it’d be my responsibility to put you in your place?” He growled, towering over me, and I cowered.

I pressed my lips together, and I shook my head.

“I-I was… going to visit my mother's grave. It’s her death anniversary t-today,” I stammered.

There was a sudden shift in his darkening aura.

“Oh! It is indeed your birthday today. Happy birthday, sis!”

I flinched when Nikolai reached out to touch my shoulder.

“Oh, come on. We’re family, sis. And until you were doing something that you shouldn’t be doing, I would never hurt you. Ok! As a birthday gift, let me give you a ride to the graveyard. These roads will turn scary soon. Cars will run wild here. I don’t want you to get hurt badly.”

Nikolai turned to Nathalia.

“Lia, you can join Karl in his car, right?”

Nathalia gave me a nasty smirk and nodded. “Of course.”

“Hop on, sis!” He opened the car door for me. “It’s our omega mother’s death anniversary. Let me correct my mistake and drop you safely to the graveyard. I know a shortcut. Come on! Get in! It’s a dangerous road ahead.”

Nathalia scoffed with a menacing smirk crossing her face. “I’ll keep a watch from behind.”

Another car stopped, and Nathalia got into it.

Nothing they had ever done to me had ever led to anything good for me. I had been an eyesore, proof of Alpha’s infidelity. So, luna had always done everything she could to keep reminding me how illegitimate, unwanted and burdensome I truly was. She had taken every chance to hurt me in all the ways she could.

Physically. Mentally. Emotionally.

And luna’s biggest weapons to inflict all that pain on me had been Nikolai and Nathalia.

“Get in, sis. Trust me, I am truly concerned about you,” Nikolai yelled as several cars zoomed right across the road. “Father will be upset if you get hurt or some random car hits you. Ever since you left the palace, we rarely meet. Let’s catch up.”

I should have run the other way, but several cars stopped by. Boys and girls took out their head out of the window, laughing and giggling.

Nikolai seized my hand in a bruising grip, and I yelped slightly.

“You don’t plan to embarrass me before those insects, do you?” He spoke through his gritted teeth. “Be my good doll like you’ve always been and get in while I am still being nice.” He hissed.

Blinking back the mist in my eyes, I entered his car.

The foreboding screamed at me to not enter his car, but he had left me no other option.

“Put on the seat belt,” Nikolai said with a dark smirk cutting through his face.

I fumbled with the seatbelt, but put it on. In a matter of a few seconds, I was tightly clutching on the seatbelt, trying my best not to crush the flowers. The car was racing at its extreme limit.

I looked at Nikolai, who seemed to be enjoying himself handling the steering wheel deftly, making his car drift on the road. The car turned in circles with the rest of the cars and there were moments almost every second that I thought the car was going to crash into the others.

Nikolai laughed. I shut my eyes tightly.

“Sis! Open your eyes! I am going through all this trouble for you! Enjoy!”

“Wooohooo~~~” Nathalia hooted, taking half her torso out of the car’s window that drifted into circles right behind Nikolai’s car. She shot fireworks into the sky and several other cars followed the suit.

Soon, enormous flags of several packs fluttered in the car as their cars flew by. The rear wheels of almost all those cars were hidden in the fog created by the drifting tires on the road.

“P-please slow down…” the words trembled out of my lips.

“What? I couldn’t hear you, sis! Say that louder!” Nikolai mused as raced the car towards a steep curve.

Covering my face with my hands, I shut my eyes tightly.

He drifted the cars along the curve, and I was pressed against the seat.

“Let me out!” I screamed, panting. “Please, let me out!”

Nikolai gave me a hostile side look as he sped, tearing against the winds.

“With pleasure, sis…” he smirked, unbuckling my seatbelt. The door opened on my side and before I could realise, he pushed me out of the speeding car.

My right hand and left leg crashed against the road before I rolled and skidded on the black road. A sharp pain numbed my body before I completely blacked out for a few seconds from the impact.

The road and cut through my skin like a blade until the world finally stopped spinning.

I laid on the road for I don’t know how long, but in the daze, I remember crawling towards the Forget-me-nots when Nathalia’s car zoomed inches away from my fingers, crushing the flowers.

Her laughter thinned as her car, and Nikolai’s car drifted in circles all around me. Now and then, Nikolai’s car would zoom right past me and I would try to avoid coming under the tires by rolling over.

“Please… stop…” I don’t know if my words left my lips or not. My body was shivering badly. “I am sorry. I am sorry…”

“You should be sorry!” Nathalia spat. “Sorry for being born! You should have died with your mother, bitch!”

“No Lia! Had she died, we wouldn’t have such a great toy to play with. Let’s play a little more. Let’s see how well my car’s brakes are. Stay where you are, sis! And pray the car doesn’t drift over you, ha-ha. I am going to do a small experiment! Everyone back off!” Nikolai roared, and all the cars circling around me emptied the road around me.

Nikolai reversed his car until he was almost out of my sight. Crawling to the Forget-me-nots, I picked them up and then put on my cracked glasses. I had to get out of that place.

The roar of the car’s engine haunted the road as the headlight flashed right into my eyes, blinding me.

Nikolai accelerated the car right towards me.

My hand clutching the flowers fell limply to my side. My heart gave a painful throb, and I knew what raced towards me was my death.

The car came closer and closer and—

Screech!

[Xanthea]

The engine gave out a majestic roar as an unknown car drifted right between me and Nikolai’s car. An ugly screech of the tires against the asphalt, left behind bold tire marks on the road. Then the car raced right at Nikolai’s car.

I gasped as my heart pounded horrifyingly at the sight.

Two other cars zoomed in, flanking Nikolai’s car from the rear.

The three cars trapping Nikolai’s car decelerated until all the four cars came to a stop. The rev of their engines rattled me to my bones.

The loud thunder cracked in the dark cloudy sky, snapping me out of my paralysis. I scrambled to my shaking legs. Limping, I tried to get away from all of them as far away as I could get.

Nathalia glared at me, but the crowd rushed towards the four cars. Using the other as a facade, I tore through the crowd.

I hadn’t even covered halfway to the graveyard when it started pouring down.

By the time I was in the graveyard, my body was struggling to breathe. The numbness made the pain stand out even more.

The cold of the rain caressed the pain throbbing in every inch of my body. As if through the rain, my mother was telling me to pull myself together and keep moving forward.

‘It is in times like this the conviction of one’s dreams is tested and it is the turning point in one’s life. What you decide at that moment either makes you or breaks you.’

My mother’s words came to me and I don’t know how, but I pulled myself to the hospital. For the first time in my life, I used the money Alpha had been sending to get myself treated as best as the hospital could offer.

The x-rays showed my ulna was broken and there was a hairline fracture in my wrist. It would take at least a week to heal with the best medication available. Alpha’s healed faster, but omegas had weaker healing abilities.

There was no miracle I could perform to heal my hand, so while I stayed in the hospital that night, I practised bubbling the circles with my left hand. During the exams we gave our answers by bubbling the one of four option bubbles which we believe to be the correct answer to the question.

After the night’s practice, I was able to bubble the circles.

The next morning, I left the hospital and took a taxi back home with my plastered hand. The doctors said I should stay in bed for at least a week for proper healing. But I convinced them to prescribe me some best painkillers to get me through the day.

I was working completely on painkillers. I just had to go through this day and the exam. After that, I could finally rest a little after four years of working tirelessly.

The exams would start in the afternoon. I reached the centre an hour before. The organisers of the exams asked about my hand and all I told them was I met with an accident.

It was a three-hour exam with all objective type questions. One out of the four options was right. One hour into the exams and I was struggling with my broken hand and left hand. Two hours and I was halfway through the questions. The effect of the painkiller was fading away. I solved questions through the pain.

The organiser entered my room and strolled to me. She leaned in and whispered.

“Please come with me outside,” she said.

“Out? But I still have one hour—”

“Please, just come out. You are not eligible to give this exam anymore.”

I froze at her words. At that moment, it felt like my entire world had come crashing down.

“W-what? But why? I filled everything—”

“Please, just come out with me. Don’t disturb the other candidates.”

I bit back my tears.

“I will. Please, just let me complete this exam. This really means everything to me. Please?”

“I am sorry, but we have direct orders from luna. His highness, the crown prince, is here to take you. We are extremely sorry, but there’s nothing we can do.”

My heart dropped as soon as I heard Nikolai was there.

“P-please…” I begged, gulping down the tightness building in my throat. “Just half an hour. I am begging you. Please…”

My heart thundered in my chest as if it would break all my ribs.

She gave me an apologetic look.

“What’s taking so long?” Nikolai stormed into the room.

Paralyzed, I widened my eyes. Tears welled up in my eyes and my mouth dried up. My stomach twisted and dropped with every step he took.

He stopped near my table and winced at the question paper and answer sheet. He smirked as he leaned on the table and whispered, “were you preparing to run away from the pack again, sis? You found a legal way this time, didn’t you?”

“Please. Please don’t take this away from me,” I gasped, as tears trailed down my frozen eyes. “Please. I’ll do everything you say, just let me… ah!”

He grabbed my upper arm and, with brute strength, pulled me to my feet.

“I am extremely sorry for disturbing you guys. As you can see, my sister is hurt and we are extremely worried about her wellbeing. That is why my mother asked me to get her back to the palace. My naïve sister doesn’t know what’s good for her and what’s not. I apologise for the disturbance she caused.”

I struggled to free myself from him when he yanked me closer, whispering against my ear, “stop! Or I will break every bone in your body.”

“Please. I am sorry. I promise I will do better.” Even though I knew it was useless, I tried to talk to him as he dragged me through the empty hallways of the college and threw me in his car.

I pressed my hand against the glass as he slammed the door on my face.

“Please, Nikolai! Please, just half an hour. Just give me half an hour. I promise I will come with you wherever you want.”

I wasn’t begging; I was desperate.

He got in the driver’s seat and I clutched his hand before he could start the car, “please Nikolai. Please, just once! I have never asked for anything. Just once, give me a little time. Let me complete my exams. Please.” I bowed in front of him.

“Breaking your hand wasn’t enough. Should have broken your legs as well. Ugh! But mother said not to hurt you today!” He hit the steering wheel.

Gritting his teeth, he grabbed my cheeks.

“Don’t you understand, sis? You are not even allowed to breathe if we don’t approve of it. You thought you could give this exam without us noticing?”

I yelped as he grabbed my hair. Pain throbbed through my head.

“Don’t you remember your promise? You said you would be my obedient doll. What’s with this defiance? I am already fucking frustrated. Don’t get on my nerves anymore. I came all the way here to pick you. You don’t appreciate it even a bit, do you?”

He left my hair with a jerk. I clenched my jaws, trying to remain as silent as I could.

Pinning me against my seat, he put the seatbelt across my chest and hands.

Nikolai started the car and drove it out of the college. I watched the college go farther and farther away from me and so did everything I was living for.

“I am warning you, if you tell anything about this broken hand to father, I will make it worse!”

“AHH!” I muffled my cry as he clenched my plastered hand.

“Now, sit like a good girl and no more crying. Although I love the way you look when you cry, you need to look the best tonight. A family dinner and there will be very important guests. So mother wants me to make sure you are in your best behaviour.”

[Xanthea]

The maids gingerly removed the plaster from my hand and wrapped it in fresh elastic bandages.

I sat in front of the ornate dressing table with shut eyes. I didn’t want to look at myself, not when Nikolai’s unsettling gaze scorched disgustingly over every inch of my body.

I wore a thin, white undergown that concealed nothing. It clung to my body, revealing far more than I was comfortable with.

A sick churn bubbled up in my stomach with apprehension when he approached the dressing table, ordering the maids to leave.

I clenched the gown over my knees into my fists. He placed his hand on my shoulder, the searing warmth of his palm sinking into my bare skin.

I tensed up, bringing my shoulders closer to my neck when he leaned closer to my ears.

“Now, wouldn’t you look prettier with this piece of cloth off you, my pretty doll?”

My fists trembled as he slipped the sleeve of the undergown down my shoulder.

He took a sharp breath with a chuckle, distancing himself from me.

“Look at you tremble, sis! What did you think I’d do? I am your half-brother. Come on! How disgusting can your thoughts get? I was just joking with you. Take these painkillers and be on your best behaviour, sis. I am not joking when I say these are important guests,” he said.

His hand slid over my fist.

“Take these painkillers. Trust me, I am only trying to help you. It might be a long night for you,” Nikolai forced open my fist and put the painkillers in my palm. “Here’s your water. I know you won’t be able to hold with your right hand. Let me help you drink.”

I stared at the pills in my palms. Shutting my eyes, I swallowed them, allowing Nikolai to help me drink the water.

“Good doll,” he said, running his thumb across my lips, wiping off the water. “If you were this obedient all the time, I wouldn’t have to go through all the trouble you force me through. The maids will now dress you up.”

He left and the maids soon entered the room when I finally looked at myself in the mirror…

The bridal veil ran down from my hair all the way to the floor across the gown. The one who looked back from the reflection was a pretty bride dressed in a lavish full sleeved, off-shoulder, revealing white wedding gown, just like a doll.

I guess that’s what I was always supposed to be. A doll for someone to dress up. A doll who had no mind of her own, the one who had no luxury to dream or think for herself. I was always supposed to listen to others and have no opinion of my own. That’s what omegas have always been.

I lowered my gaze.

I didn’t even want to look at the one standing in the mirror.

My stomach convoluted with foreboding and apprehension.

Why was I dressed like a bride?

What was going on?

What exactly was going to happen to me?

What did Nikolai mean when he said it would be a long night for me?

The door opened, and someone entered. From the sound of heels striking the marble, I knew it was my stepmother, Luna Meesa Virgo.

I held my gaze low as she took me in.

“She looks perfect. Bring her when I call,” she talked to the maids and left.

I had a powerful urge to ask her why I was wearing a wedding gown, but I knew it was better to let things unfold according to them than to question or fight them.

I slumped back on the white and golden couch.

My heart thumped louder with every ticking of the clock.

Hours later, something happened that had never happened before. Alpha Valdimir entered my room, and I instantly sprang to my feet. It felt like blood had drained off my body as he stood near me. But at the same time, I was a little hopeful about something.

I didn’t know what I hoped for from him, but it was all in vain.

In the twenty-three years of my life, this was the third time I was standing face to face with him. He was never cold to me or hostile like Luna Meesa, Nathalia and Nikolai. But he was never warm either.

He was my father, but we were complete strangers.

I bowed, keeping my gaze low.

He contemplated me for a while before he spoke.

“You are… getting married to the…” he gritted his jaws then continued. “… to the triplet Alphas of the Infernal pack tonight,” he said in his usual calm voice and a hint of hesitation.

My breaths had stalled in my chest as the meaning of his words sank in.

“I thought it was… important that you know and understand… the situation. The Alpha King has chosen our pack this year to make the offering to the demon lords. I had no choice, Thea. Nathalia is too young. The fate of our pack is… now in your hands. As your father, I don’t want this to happen to you—”

“Please leave,” my voice trembled as I turned away from him. Tears brimmed in my eyes.

“Thea…”

Pain knotted into my chest. Suffocation tightened into my throat as I forced those words from my lips.

“An alpha is offering an omega from his pack to the demon lords to protect his pack and his people. There’s nothing more to this situation, your highness. You could have sent your servant to relay the message like you always did. It’s not like you ever considered me as your daughter. And if by any odd chance you feel guilty, then think yourself forgiven, for I never expected anything from you.”

The bitterness mixed with fear and pain made me speak words that I never could have dared say to him otherwise. And I instantly regretting letting my inner thoughts come to life in front of him.

I don’t think he was there to say a sorry. Maybe he was there to warn me or tell me to behave myself.

He let out an exasperated sigh. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

Tears trailed down my eyes. Words clogged my throat and all I could do was shake my head.

“I am sorry, Thea. All of this happened so suddenly since yesterday, even I don’t understand how things led to this. It’s Alpha King’s order. So, I hope you understand the gravity of this situation.”

Of course, I knew what it meant to be offered to the Triplets. I knew how serious the situation was.

Now that I knew the reason for wearing the wedding gown, its fabric felt like molten silver on my skin.

I was being offered to the Triplet alphas.

There were three Pack Realms in this world — the Earthly Packs realm, the Celestial pack realm, and then the most dreaded pack ever, the Infernal pack realm.

The Celestial pack was known as the purest pack and was ruled by the Moon Goddess herself. It consisted of immortal werewolves, descendants of the angel, dragon, or god races. The Earthly packs relied heavily on the blessings of the Celestial pack, which was believed to be a pack hidden in the sky.

The Earthly packs realm consisted of the twelve werewolf packs inhabiting mortal werewolves. The Virgo pack, my pack, was one of the Earthly packs. Each pack was ruled by an alpha and the Alpha King ruled over all the twelve alphas. He was also known as the Alpha of the Alphas and he was responsible for maintaining peace with the Celestial pack and the Infernal pack.

The Infernal pack was infamously known as the pack of the underworld or hell, and it was ruled by the triplet alphas or the demon lords. The Infernal pack was also inhabited by the immortal werewolves, but they were all descendants of the evil, the demons, the curses, the banished and the ones who turned rogue.

No one knew why, but it started three years ago. Every year, the Alpha King chose an Earthly pack to make an offering to the Triplet alphas of the Infernal pack.

From what everyone believed, offering the demon lords a bride of royal blood every year was the only way to maintain peace between the Earthly packs and the Infernal pack.

No one knows what happens to the brides in the Infernal pack. But by the end of the one year time, all those brides from all the Earthly packs were found dead in the most gruesome way and hung outside the royal palaces if the packs they belonged to.

The triplet alphas took over those fallen packs and ever since, their inhabitants live at their mercy.

I gulped hard, trying to manage my breathlessness. But everything was turning dark in front of my eyes. I held my head. Nausea tore through my chest, cold fear rattling through my bones as I imagined myself meeting the same gruesome end.

Until today, three brides have been offered to them and no bride had survived those ruthless alphas. All of them were alpha blood. I was an omega. I wouldn’t survive a day—

“Thea!” Alpha held me before I slumped to the floor.

A cry escaped my lips when he held my broken hand.

I instantly withdrew my hand from him.

He tensed his brows. “Thea, are you hurt?”

I restlessly looked around the floor and shook my head.

He seized my hand, making me wince. He made me sit on the couch while he sat beside me. He lifted the sleeve of my broken hand. His furrow deepened when he saw the bandages wrapped around my arms.

“How did this happen?” He asked.

Nikolai’s warning rang in my head and my mouth turned drier than it already was.

“Alpha!” I heard Luna Meesa’s panic-stricken voice as she stormed into the room.

Catching her breath, her wide eyes fell on my hand and then at Alpha. Rage flashed in her eyes as she glared at me.

“Did you know she was hurt?” Alpha asked and Luna Meesa’s aura instantly shifted.

“She’s hurt?” she strutted towards me. “I didn’t know. Why didn’t you tell me you were hurt when I asked you before?”

“What happened, Thea?” Alpha turned to me.

My breaths sped up; tears streamed down my eyes.

Luna grabbed my shoulder. I supressed a wince.

“Yes, sweety. What happened? Tell your father, how did you get hurt?” Her tone was sweet to ears who didn’t know the threat lurking behind that sweetness.

Sniffling, I licked my dry lips and said.

“I-I… fell… from the stairs.”

“Oh my! That is I didn’t like the idea of her shifting to Freya’s house. She’s all alone there and you know she never shares anything with us. She doesn’t even consider us a family. Or else she would have told me,” Luna Meesa said.

There was a knock at the door and the royal doctor walked in. Luna Meesa glared at me and then at Alpha, looking as shocked as I was.

Alpha got up from the couch as the doctor examined me thoroughly.

He told father about my broken hand and sprained ankles.

“Father…” Nikolai entered the room.

“Is Alpha King here to take her?” Father asked, facing him.

Before offering the bride to the Triplet Alphas, the Alpha King collected the brides himself and then took her to his kingdom from where she was sent to the Infernal pack.

“No,” his stern voice hinted of fear. “They are here…” he panted anxiously. “The demon lords are here themselves.”

Blood froze in my veins. Doctor and Alpha blocked Nikolai from my vision. But I wished he said he was joking even when I knew he wasn’t.

“They sent a messenger. They’ll be here by midnight,” Nikolai said.

“Call an immediate meeting in the court,” Alpha said and Nikolai hurried out of the room. Turning towards Luna, Alpha said. “Get Nathalia ready for the offering. Thea can’t marry the Triplets in this condition.”