The orphan from the Moonvalley's Manes

The shrill wind that blows through the open bedroom window of the double-storey Moorish dwelling pushes the girl's long, copper-red hair over her narrow face. However, she doesn't even feel it; she is barely aware of the cold that penetrates her clothes and makes her body shiver slightly.

Through her tears, she also doesn't notice the red edge of the sun far beyond the dark hills. At this moment, she is only aware of the deep, bottomless sadness that runs through her mind.

She just knows it's all over and that nothing she does or says will change it.

She'll just have to accept it - and try never to think about the things that have happened.

But how does one forget something that has been a part of your existence for more than twenty-three years?

Stella shuddered noticeably and swallowed hard at the tears rising in her throat.

Barely three weeks ago, she would never have dreamed that her guardian father would no longer be here today and that she would finally have to leave Bacdrane before the end of the week.

The sun slips away behind the misty hills and its soft light touches the high treetops for the last time. There are cumulus clouds in the west, and it looks like they can expect a cold, unpleasant winter night.

She touches the velvet curtain material with her fingers and wonders for the umpteenth time why her father never told her about his debt. If he had only mentioned it to her, then she would have been able to prepare herself for it.

The first she heard about it, however, was when beta Vaughn came to read the will to her this afternoon.

Accordingly, all of omega Ayden's possessions must be sold to pay off his debts to alpha Duncan. She still remembers how pale and tense beta Vaughn was, as he sat across from her on the couch. It must have been a difficult task for him, because he and her father had been close friends for years.

Only after it was all over, did beta Vaughn call her aside and say encouragingly, "I know it's been hard for you Stella, but your father did everything he could, as an omega to fulfil his obligations. Please remember that your car, personal belongings, or gifts you got from your father are not affected by this. He made a complete list of it, and you can take it with you."

She was still too stunned to listen properly and just said dully: "But why must the house and all dads' other belongings be sold? It doesn't mean he is totally worthless because he was an omega."

"Eight months ago, your father offered his house and other assets as security to get a loan from Alpha Duncan. I tried to persuade him from not doing it, but he was convinced that he would be able to pay it back."

Stella turned her face away.

"He worked for more than thirty years to be able to do everything possible for the rejected half-blood orphaned pups. How could one expect him to just leave them to the mercy of the rogues, after their families rejected them."

Beta Vaughn nodded.

"These may sound like heartless words to you Stella, but your father tried the impossible. I'm just sorry that you now have to bear the consequences."

She made a light hand gesture.

"It doesn't matter; I just feel sad that everything has to end in such a way. Dad didn't deserve it!"

Stella was half startled by the impassioned sound of her voice and she was aware that some of the other pack members who were there for her father's funeral were staring at her curiously.

This made her realize for the first time that some of them did not like her and she secretly felt happy that she had not inherited anything from her father.

But she couldn't care less what they thought. She certainly wasn't going to let them upset her either.

At that moment she only longed for her chosen mate, Ivan; wished he was with her with his cheerful, bubbly nature to encourage her. He would have understood how she felt that she was not upset about the inheritance, but about the humiliating circumstances under which it happened.

Ivan doesn't care that she didn't shift yet. She herself is still not sure if she is a wolf, a half-breed or human. All the others shift at eighteen. She was only two years old when Den Mother Tashia found her on the mountains and brought her to omega Ayden.

But Ivan wasn't there, and she had to go through this ordeal alone!