Scarlett Scott belongs to a world where werewolves are only able to recognise their destined mate only when they have shifted. But then, Scarlett is a wolf-less She-werewolf. But when Rush Rivera, her childhood crush and the Alpha King heir decided to choose her as his mate and future Luna, Scarlett was thrown into a dilemma as the Rogue Lycan Alpha claimed her as his mate. Scarlett is torn between her loyalty to Rush and her undeniable mate bond with the Rogue who had murdered her parents. With the heat season approaching, the Alpha King with a secret to protect and the Rogue Lycan Alpha on a vendetta he must get, Scarlett must decide where her loyalty lies and choose between love and vengeance.
Scarlett's POV
I took a look at the mess on the floor and knew instantly that I was dead. Not dead like physically dead, but still dead.
"What is that noise I just heard?" came the voice of the kitchen chief.
Before I could answer, she appeared at my back and shoved me away roughly to get a good look at the cause of the noise. She saw it and was too shocked by what she saw.
"What is the meaning of this? How did this happen?" she asked, anger slowly rising in her voice.
I stared at the mess on the floor and could not find any words to explain. Twark! She slapped me.
"Are you deaf or something? Did you not hear me asking a question?" the kitchen chief asked again, raising her hand to give me another slap if I still chose to remain silent.
"Ma'am, I don't know, it fell from my hands," I tried explaining while also shifting backward.
I was sent to bring down the pot of hot stew from the fire. The food was made specially for the Alpha and his Luna. I had succeeded in removing the pot of stew from the fire while using a kitchen towel to hold the hot handle. But luck was not on my side this morning because I still don't know how it happened, but one of my fingers shifted from the towel I was using to carry the pot and mistakenly touched the hot pot.
What happened was reflex action because my body reacted to the pain and the pot fell from my hands.
"It fell from your hand, you lazy, stupid, wolfless Omega!" she retorted.
"She is never good at anything. In fact, I don't think there is anything she can be good at," said Laura, the daughter of the kitchen chief.
Laura was my worst enemy and bully in the entire wolf pack. She and I used to be friends until we turned ten and she shifted to her wolf form while I could not shift. She was still a little bit nice to me until we both turned twelve, my parents were killed, and the whole village started seeing me as a bad omen. Gradually, she distanced herself from me and started joining the others in bullying me.
It still baffles me how someone I once called my close friend could turn her back on me and become one of my worst living nightmares.
"I guess her incapability is the reason why she is wolfless because which wolf would like to bond with someone like her," Rose, one of Laura's gang members, added.
I was so engrossed in my situation that I did not know when Rose entered. It's funny the way they treat me like trash because we are all Omegas, but I was considered an outcast because I have not been able to shift like the others in my community.
"You will be severely punished for this!" the kitchen chief said, and holding my ears, she dragged me outside the kitchen.
In my community, we had a special field called the field of punishment, and anyone brought into the field of punishment must come out with injuries as the punishments were usually very severe.
The Gammas were the ones in charge of the field of punishment and they were always ready to punish any offender brought there.
"What is her crime?" the gamma in charge asked the kitchen chief.
"She let the pot of stew that was made for the Alpha slip from her hands and it spilled on the floor," she answered.
'Oh no!' She made it sound like I deliberately did it. The worst crime anyone could commit in my community was to be negligent with anything that had to do with the Alpha, be it his instructions, personal belongings, or his food!
"It was not deliberate, please. It was a mistake," I tried to explain what really happened.
"Shut up!" came the harsh reply from the gamma in charge. "Your low life had the privilege to serve the Alpha and you messed it up. You must be punished!" he said with disgust on his face.
"Take her to the Whipping Pole and give her fifty strokes of the cane!" the head gamma ordered his followers.
"I'm sorry, it was a mistake. Please forgive me!" I shouted, pleading for mercy as they dragged me to the Whipping Pole.
"The only mistake here is you! You should never have been born, you wolfless trash!" the kitchen chief mocked as she watched my hands being tied to the pole.
I tried to prepare myself for the pain, but nothing could prepare me for what I experienced immediately when the cane landed on my back. I screamed in pain and agony, begging and pleading, but it seemed like the more I begged and pleaded, the more they increased the force of the cane. Each lash was more painful than the last.
I cried and shouted until I could no longer hear my voice. At a point, I stopped counting until they stopped, and when they were done, they released me, and I fell to the ground feeling very weak.
I thought my torture was over until I heard Laura speaking. "I don't think this punishment is enough. Let her be taken to the Stoning Pole," she wickedly suggested.
I raised my head to look at her with tears streaming down my face. I was so weak from the pain of being flogged, but I felt a strong force within me trying to come out, but it seemed as if something was preventing it from coming out.
"Please, please don't," I tried to beg, but my voice was barely above a whisper.
They dragged me to the Stoning Pole, not caring about the injuries on my back.
You may wonder why I am being treated this way, and I will tell you.
My name is Scarlett, and this is my story.
Grab your popcorn