I would have given everything to kill them.

Oh, how much I dreamed of seeing their horrible greedy smiles disfigure into tears. Their worst nightmares would come true, their pathetic pleas would fill the room, and it would be my hand the one that took their lives.

Slowly, mercilessly, and in the most painful way possible.

Luckily for those rats, I didn't have the strength to make my dream come true. Hell, I barely had the strength to complete the tasks they made me do.

A servant, that's what I was. The trash of the Crimson Fangs pack. A werewolf so thin and weak she couldn't even shift. Every day I woke up hoping that it would be the last day of my suffering, either by a saving hand or by death, it didn't matter as long as I could be free.

There was a time when I was known as the alpha's daughter. Or at least that's what they said. My mind did not have a single memory of my old life, not even the moment when my uncle murdered my father in front of a three-year-old me, remained.

"Out of my way, cockroach," said my cousin, Gregor, pushing me away.

Asshole.

The push made me fall to the ground next to the bucket of water. I gritted my teeth and swallowed the insult, I couldn't fight back if I wanted to survive. I tried it before but it only worsened my situation.

The rat prince was an idiot, but an idiot with power. Which made him the worst kind of person in the world, if he could even be considered a person. I'd say he was closer to resembling an animal. Even his dirty blond hair looked like rat hair.

My cousin's ugly face remained in my mind as I scrubbed the hallway floor. My fingertips and knees already hurt from cleaning so much, the worst thing was that the day had just begun. So many misfortunes could still happen. And when I say misfortunes I am referring especially to my other cousin.

While Gregor was the rat prince, his younger sister, Violet, was an evil doll. Beautiful on the outside but rotten on the inside.

That was a common trait in the members of my family, evil lived within all of us. Well, except for my father, and that didn't work out well for him in the end.

All of us were remorseless monsters. Me included. The only thing keeping me in check was my weak body. My uncle knew that and that was the reason why I barely saw any food.

Violet was the most flamboyant of us, every time she entered a room she raised her voice to let everyone know she was arriving. I liked it that way. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to calm down before she started her daily show.

"Where are you little Roselyn?"

My cousin's sweet voice took over the hallway. If she was looking for me that meant trouble.

I took a deep breath, then I clenched my teeth.

"There you are!" She exclaimed as her hazel eyes looked me up and down. "Ugh, look at you. Can't you be a little more careful? You have so much dirt on your face that I can't even see your freckles."

"I think it's better this way, she looks better when her ugly face is covered."

Fantastic, the circus was complete. Norman, Violet's mate, stood next to her. The strands of white hair that did not combine with the rest of his black hair fell across his face, covering his wicked smile.

"I've been cleaning all morning, how did you expect me to look?" I got up from the ground and pointed to the bucket of water.

"More presentable," she replied as if it were obvious. "You're embarrassing the family, even the dog looks better than you."

A flashlight attacked my eyes, followed by Norman's laughter.

"I don't think it's fair that only the two of us can have fun with this view. I will share the photo with the rest," he said.

"Do you need anything? I'm really busy right now," I told them in the calmest tone I could muster.

Violet walked up to me and held my face tightly. She turned my head to the side to get a better look at my right cheek.

"I see that the last bruise I gave you is disappearing, maybe I should give you a new one so you remember how to behave."

I swallowed my words.

I was not in the condition to fight back.

"Don't you have anything else to say? Well, It's better this way, quiet you look prettier." Violet looked at her mate. "Can you take a picture of us for me, honey? I think it's time I updated my social media."

"Of course, love."

Norman did as he was asked. My cousin's lap dog always followed her orders.

"My dad asked me to let you know that we have visitors for lunch. You have to be in charge of serving the table," Violet said, releasing me.

"Who is coming?" I asked.

"Council members, it's an important meal so don't ruin it. And I really meant it, make yourself presentable, at least pretend you want to live while you're in front of the council. Some of the old men are still fond of your father and we don't want any trouble." Violet held Norman's hand. "Come on, spending too much time with her ruins my good mood."

My mood was ruined, as destroyed as my red hair that refused to stay in the braid I made to hide the lack of cleanliness. It's not like I could expect much more from it when I was allowed to bathe once every three days.

Idiots. If they wanted me to look decent they should have arranged lunch when it was time for me to shower.

With a little prodding, I managed to convince the chief of staff to let me use the guest bathroom so I could at least wash my face and practice my expressions in the mirror.

That part of me that wanted to see the pack burn told me that I better present myself in a disorganized way, exposing my wounds and thus creating chaos.

It's not that I expected the council members to rebel against my uncle, they were too cowardly to do something like that. Otherwise they would have investigated the truth about my father instead of blindly following my uncle.

But it couldn't be denied that the story of the poor daughter of the previous alpha who was being abused by her family was enough to shake my uncle's government.

The time to say hello to the guest had come. I folded the bottom hem of the pants that my cousin gave me for the occasion before entering the dining room.

The alpha, Callius Comrar, looked away from the conversation to me. He was enjoying the situation, it didn't take a genius to realize how happy he was sitting at the head of the long table, with his ridiculous crown on his head.

I didn't even understand why he needed it. He was an alpha, not a king. Probably in his empty head the two things were the same. Or he did know the difference but he was trying to hide the fact that his white hair was starting to fall off.

Either way, he seemed ridiculous to me.

"We have to do something about them," said one of the elders.

Judging by the look of terror on his face, it must have been a big deal.

I knew better than to butt into the conversation. Servants are invisible, my mentor told me many years ago. Getting the food from the cart to the table and filling the glasses with wine, that was my only concern.

"They're just rogues, they're no match for us," Gregor said, looking at his father. "We are going to take care of them when they arrive."

"Don't be reckless, son," my uncle corrected him, motioning for me to fill his cup. "I'm surprised you don't know what those savages did considering that you spend most of your time on your cell phone."

I continued serving with my head down and my ears attentive.

"Your father is right, didn't you see the photos of the damage they did? Three packs have already been wiped out in the last month," said another of the guests.

"I bet they must be edited," my cousin insisted. "People like to exaggerate to gain views."

"This is different, their leader dismembers people as if he were hunting animals." The council member raised his glass.

I went over to refill it. I was three steps away and Violet stretched out her foot to make me fall. Classic action of my cousin, so much so that I saw it in time to avoid it.

What I wasn't expecting, however, was for Normal to imitate her.

I tripped over his foot and fell forward, spilling the contents of the bottle onto the man who still had his glass raised.

"Shit," he cursed and jumped to his feet. The rage written on his face told me I was in serious trouble.

"I'm so sorry," I tried to apologize before the situation got worse.

It was too late, I could see Gregor's shadow behind me.

"My apologies, Mr. Yvis, I'll take care of her," he said, squeezed my arm and lifted me off the ground.

His sweet, fake smile convinced the council member. I hated that smile. Because of it, Gregor was able to drag me out of the dining room.

Three seconds, that was all he waited after walking through the door before releasing my arm and pulling my hair instead.

Thanks to the Moon Goddess for the braid, otherwise it would have hurt twice as much while he dragged me to my room.

"Can't you do something right, cockroach?" He asked me, opening the wooden door with his free hand.

A cry of pain almost escaped me as Gregor threw me against my small bed. If it had been another bed perhaps the pain would have been milder but my mattress was almost non-existent.

I covered my head and face with my hands knowing what awaited me.

My cousin took off his belt. "I have to accept that I thank you for spilling the wine on the old creep, I was feeling very stressed today and this is going to help me release the tension."

With my eyes closed I waited for the first blow. The familiar burning took hold of my arms, and before the sudden shock disappeared, Gregor delivered a new one.

One after another the lashes came into contact with my arm, back, and legs.

I could no longer contain the tears that fell down my face. It didn't matter how many times I faced the same destiny it never stopped hurting, actually the weaker I was the more painful it got.

"Did you hear that?" he asked me, stopping the punishment.

At first I thought it was another one of his tricks until the room was filled with the sound of screaming.

The mansion was under attack. Perhaps it was my lucky day.

Gregor opened the door. A loud growl echoed through the hallway followed by clear footsteps.

Someone was approaching.

"Stay here, don't even think about running away," my cousin said.

I could barely understand his words, instead, my entire mind was invaded by a magnetic scent. It was a mixture of the ocean and burning wood, a combination that I would never have imagined but that managed to hypnotize me.

Mate

My wolf whispered in my head. Because I was physically weak, our conversations were not usual, so I was surprised to hear her voice.

Then I understood what she had whispered. Did I have a mate? Impossible, there had to be a mistake. I didn't want a mate, it would only bring more problems to my life.

Eternal love. That was bullshit. The only real thing was that one ends up chained to a person that could be a nightmare and no one would try to save you because of the sacred bond.

The scent became more intense.

A giant white wolf with eyes as red as the blood that covered its fur appeared in front of the door. He looked down at my cousin's hand that was still holding the belt and then looked away from him to me.

A new growl was directed towards Gregor. Before my cousin could react the wolf pounced on him and ripped his throat.

He didn't stop there, he continued striking blows with his claws on Gregor's chest who was no longer moving.

"I think he's more than dead now," I told him.

Mate

The voice inside me insisted. I continued to ignore her.

The wolf approached me, he took his time to smell my scent. I remained still for fear that he would react violently.

Once he was satisfied he walked away and shifted back to his human form.

Oh Goddess.

He was handsome. Hot, to be honest.

With his white hair shaved on the sides, a tattoo of a wolf on his neck, and another of skulls and daggers covering his right arm, he looked like the kind of man mothers told you to stay away from. The kind of man who brings trouble.

He crossed his arms over his chest and his defined muscles became even more noticeable.

"Stop wasting my time and start moving," he said.

"I'm not going to move," I replied.

"I'm not asking you. You're coming with me."