Poor Luna: My Cruel Alpha

AVA

"You ungrateful slave!" Alpha Benjamin howled at me, hitting my bare back with his black, sharp knout.

A thousand ice needle pricks hit my skin as the blade stuck shut against my spine. This time, Alpha Benjamin struck me with the bullwhip at the side of my waist. I tilted my head and slumped my back, biting my upper lip to keep from screaming.

"Is this what you call a meal, huh?" He yelled at me, tossing the serving dish I had just prepared for the pack's dinner. "You've just burned the meat, you dumb Omega! Have you any idea how much those things cost?" Alpha Benjamin seized my chin, forcing me to face his grim, spiteful expression.

"I'm sorry, Alpha. It won't happen again," I said quietly, my voice breaking into an audible creak.

He drew out an airy breath, scoffing at me. Holding a tight grip on his knout, he austerely warned, "Of course, I'll make sure it won't happen again! You've already caused a lot of trouble in my pack, Ava! And for the rest of your fucking life, you will pay for all the crimes you've done to me!"

Alpha Benjamin beat me again, flogging his bullwhip on my back, arms, and legs. My body shook as the stinging pain in my posterior became unbearable.

My name is Ava Carter. I'm a pack member of the Crystal Blue Pack, or, more specifically, an omega slave of the pack. Heck. I wasn't even sure if I could call myself part of the Crystal Blue Pack, which tortures its members to satisfy their malign gratification.

"You're the curse in the pack! It's all your fault, bitch! You've ruined everything!" he shouts, his eyes longing to slay me.

Alpha Benjamin didn't use his bullwhip on me. Instead, he hit me in the face with his fist, which threw me onto the slightly damp kitchen floor.

"Please, stop! I promise I won't do it again, Alpha!" I begged him as he continuously hit my face and kicked my limbs. The bones in my arms broke under his relentless attack as he treated me like a worthless sack.

I was Alpha Benjamin's punching bag. Worse yet, I wasn't even his only human speedbag. Any time some high-ranking members were in a fury, they would use me as their body bag to take their aggression out.

Having to spend every day with people you foolishly thought would help ease your pain was mental torture. Each day I had to live in the pack house was another day of suffering.

It never got better. And I'd already given up hope of it happening.

And just like now, Alpha Benjamin's punishment grew intolerably severe. He continued to pound and beat my body with whatever he could get his hands on. Goddess! I even wondered how I had overcome the beatings every day. But I had to endure it.

If I had let death take its toll on me, I would probably be dead by now.

"Alpha, please stop! It hurts so much!" I cried at him, raising my quivering arms.

"And just as it should be, slave! This is for all the damnation you've inflicted on my family!" He grabbed a section of my hair and yanked me back before slamming my body into the wall.

I couldn't take the pain any longer and let out a piercing scream. As the excruciating pain cramped my muscles, I felt my body collapse, hearing a whack from my distended arm on the ground. A loud smacking sound reverberated on the kitchen floor as the shattered tiles fell from the wall.

"You will not leave this room until you've compensated for every meal you've wasted away, Ava!" he growled in his Alpha's voice. "I'm warning you, right now, slave! If you don't fix this mess, you know what will happen next."

He slapped my bruised cheeks before leaving me alone in the kitchen. "I need the pack's dinner by nine, Ava! Don't make me wait!"

Despite my best efforts, I was still too weak to stand, so I crawled to the counter and used it as a foothold. As though nothing had happened, I resumed my pack duty and continued cooking for the pack members.

There was no one else in the kitchen to help me cook. It wasn't because I was a loner or refused anyone's help.

On second thought, though, maybe I was a loner. Yet, it wasn't by choice, in my defence.

Because I was the weak one, everyone took advantage of me. I was the lowest-ranking member of the Crystal Blue Pack. I wasn't always frail, though, at first. But as time passed and the beatings of Alpha Benjamin and the pack members became more severe, I lost communication with my wolf.

Her name was Shiela.

I'd gotten her the night I'd turned sixteen. She was there for me in the first few months. After she became furious with me for allowing the members of Crystal Blue to beat me to death, she vanished without a trace.

I could still recall our last conversation before she left me. The agony of realizing it would be my last time with her was as fresh as if I were experiencing it again.

"You never stood up for yourself, Ava! How can you let them hurt you like that?" Shiela argued. "Why don't you fight back?"

I shook my head. "I can't, Shiela! You know why! I owe Alpha Benjamin and the Crystal Blue Pack!"

"But it's not right anymore, Ava! Their beatings have already gotten out of hand! Why can't you see that?!"

"I have, Shiela! Don't you think I know that? Every time they hurt me, all I can do is keep my mouth shut and endure it!"

"So why don't you defend yourself?" Shiela growled.

My patience ran out, making me burst out, "It's because of her, okay?"

Following that incident, Shiela never contacted me again. I tried to communicate with her in my mind, but she abruptly left without saying goodbye. After she abandoned me, I became wolfless. I had no wolf to protect me whenever someone beat me up on a whim.

There was nothing I could do but rely on myself to protect myself from the Crystal Blue Pack's brutality.

But there was a time when I felt at least a little bit of comfort.

As soon as I was old enough to understand, the ones who adopted me told me that my parents had abandoned me in a basket on the edge of the pack's territory. The border patrol found me and took me back to the pack house.

It was Luna Caroline who raised me like her own child. Before having me, she had one son. She had gotten pregnant after a year. Unfortunately, Luna Caroline lost the child. The Alpha took her to a healer from a distant pack and informed her that her miscarriage affected her ability to conceive any more children.

That might have been one of the factors that convinced her to take me in.

Back then, living with Alpha Benjamin, Luna Caroline, and their son Caleb made me very happy. It was Luna Caroline who gave me their last name, Carter. She loved me like a mother and treated me like a part of their family—the Carters.

They were loving, kind, and gracious to every member.

The Alpha's family always prioritized the Crystal Blue Pack members. Everyone was given the same respect. But, like my joy, that brief period of peace did not last long. When I turned six, Luna Caroline passed away, and along with her was my joy.

In the wake of her death, Alpha Benjamin and the Crystal Blue Pack blamed me for killing her. Until now, her face still remained in my mind. Memories of her lifeless body and blank, frozen expression plagued me every night.

"Stay here, Ava! Don't go out until I say so, okay?" Luna Caroline instructed me as she hid me in the secret passage of the packhouse.

"Don't leave me, mama!" I cried out, afraid of the bad wolves who were hurting us.

She leaned toward me and kissed my forehead. "I'll be back, honey. I promise."

Before I could speak, Luna Caroline transformed into her wolf and stormed out of the tunnel. The croaking and hissing noise grew louder as I stood in the hidden passageway beneath the shaded walkway. I couldn't bear to be in the tunnel alone, so I fled to track Luna Caroline down.

"Mama! Mama! Where are you?" I burst into tears, running back to the packhouse.

I saw Luna Caroline fighting two black wolves with her white wolf. Wanting to get close to her, I shouted her name, catching her attention.

She turned to me as she transformed into her human form, carrying me away from the fight. "Oh, dear! I told you to stay there! What are you doing here? It's dangerous for you to be out here!"

"I don't want to stay there anymore, Mama! It's scary! There are many evil monsters inside." I bawled out of tears as I hugged her.

Luna Caroline held me close and calmly whispered, "They won't hurt you, baby. Mama is here to protect you."

I was initially reluctant, but a carnivorous wolf stopped us when we headed back to the doorway of the secret passage.

Alarmed, she pushed me to the corridor where the entryway to the tunnel was located. "Go back to the tunnel, Ava!"

I was about to return inside when the wolf suddenly rushed toward her. Turning back in Luna Caroline's direction, I rushed to her side, yelling, "Mama! The monster!"

A second was all it took for one of the rogue wolves to rush at her and sink his teeth into her neck.

I could only watch in bafflement as the life in her once bright eyes slowly left her face. As I ran to her motionless body, I screeched in anguish. The rogue wolves ran away when she hit the floor with a thud, blood gushing from her neck.

"Mama! I'm sorry! Please come back." I sobbed as I embraced her blood-covered body with my small hands. "I'll listen to you, promise."

"Ava..." That was the last word I'd heard before her eyes froze shut.

I couldn't blame them. They were right. I killed Luna Caroline. It was my fault that we lost her. She died because of me. And carrying that burden painstakingly every day was killing me.

To my shame, it all went downhill for me after a warrior present at the time told Alpha Benjamin what had happened. As though it had happened yesterday, I could still see the rage in his eyes when he knew I'd brought Luna to her demise. Because I had stolen his mate, I was held responsible for what had happened.

From that point on, he became distant and cold. After Luna Caroline passed away, he became very vengeful and beat me over the smallest things, like when I forgot to clean a room in the house. As my punishment for Luna's death, I had to clean the entire pack house with at least fifty pack members and cook for them.

But even with all the work they'd thrown at me, I never once whined because I knew I deserved their cruel treatment.

After all, I was Alpha Benjamin's constant reminder of Luna Caroline's death. If I had just listened to her, the Crystal Blue Pack's Luna and the woman I once called Mom would still be alive.

I would still have my mother, and the pack wouldn't treat me with indifference. Yet I knew I couldn't bring back the past. All I could do was pay for the sins I'd caused.

And no matter how long it would take, I'd have to live with the guilt of my actions until they forgave me.

***