The Lycan King Human Mate

Daisy's POV::

"Hurry up, slave. You still have a lot to clean around here." Twenty-five years old, Anna, my step sister slurred as she poured wine on the white tiled floor I'd just scrubbed.

With a smirk on her face, she gave her friends a high five.

"I wonder what the Alpha would say if he finds you standing there instead of doing your job."

"I already scrubbed that floor, Anna," I mumbled, my hands getting numb from all the scrubbing I've been doing since morning.

She took a few steps closer. "What did you say?"

Silence. I knew what it would cost me if I said a word. So i did what I knew how to do best. Keep quiet.

"I'm sorry."

But Anna was already bored and needed to teach me my place. "Incase you have forgotten. Alpha Aaren is the only reason you're still alive, let alone live in the palace. Left to me, I'd let the guards eat you for dinner, you wench!" She grabbed a handful of my hair, yanking it backward so I could look her in the face.

"Why don't you talk back now, uh? Are you suddenly mute? Oh, your good for nothing mother didn't tell us you were born deaf," her friends giggled, and she smirked as if pleased with her jokes. "I forgot. She died before she could tell me. What a weak ass woman. Just like her daughter."

I couldn't control the tears that followed. Hot, painful tears that rolled down my cheeks as I was ridiculed.

It's not like I opted to be a slave but fate led me here. My parents had died in the great war, leading us to migrate to the city to hide when I was just two. Life hasn't been great since then. I was the youngest of all five children, the only child of my mother, while the other four belonged to Ma Sydney, my stepmother.

They were all the same. Treating me like I was a slave and reminding me often that my being in the palace was a privilege.

To make matters worse, I didn't have a wolf. Or at least I did and just didn't know how to transform. Either way, I was weak and alone. Today was my birthday and I'd be turnimg twenty two but who cares. Not my siblings who thought I was a waste since I haven't had a mate as well. I wasn't planning on celebrating it as well. I never did.

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you!" I turned around to see who was singing in a whisper. "Happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday to you!"

It was Lena, my only friend who was a slave in the palace as well. She was the only one who ever showed me kindness, and I reciprocated this act also any chance I get. Now, here she was holding a muffin with a tiny bone dug in it and wishing me a happy birthday.

"What is happy about today, Lena?" I sniffled and continued scrubbing.

Lena rushed over and dropped the muffin before me.

"Everything, Daisy. Everything. Sometimes, we have to create our own happiness in the midst of all our problems. It could be worse."