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Violet's pov

The sting of Mira's sharp nails raking down my arms still lingered as I scrubbed the floor. My back ached and my stomach growled at itself in hunger but I dared not stop. Not until she left. 

"Aww. poor, pathetic Violet. 21 years old and still no wolf? You're more useless than a human." Mira giggled with her friends.

Those words hit so close to home. Why wouldn't they? They were right.

I bowed my head lower, hoping she would get bored and leave me alone. But no, she was far from done. 

Mira suddenly pressed her boot against my fingers, grinding them into the cold stone floor. 

I winced in pain, my right hand throbbing under her boot.

"Oops," she giggled. "Does that hurt?"

I bit my lips so hard I tasted copper.

The other maids in the hall gasped but said nothing. They never did. Everytime Mira tormented me, they would just watch, too afraid to intervene.

"Huh? Doesn't it hurt?" Mira tilted her head closer to mine, pressing her boot harder further. 

I swallowed the whimper about to spill out of my lips. The pain stung like hell but I told myself I'd never give her the satisfaction of hearing me cry out.

"Ugh!" She gave up and removed her boot. 

A relieved gasp left my lips as I drew my hand to my chest. My hand was red and bruised from her boot.

I massaged my hand shooting Mira a glare while she rambled to her friends with her usual insults. 

"Violet's such a waste of space," she scoffed. "I still don't know why my father keeps her. He should've put her down years ago." 

My eyes widened. 

Put me down? 

How cruel could she be?

Her friends giggled along with her even though I could see the looks on their faces. They were also terrified of Mira. Who wouldn't? She was the daughter of the Alpha King?

Mira shrugged her shoulders. "I'm so bored. What should we do, ladies?" 

A red head among the group smirked. "I heard the warriors are training in the courtyard. Let's go cheer them on."

"You're right. Watching a group of sexy men fight is better than looking at a scrawny slave." Mira nodded her assent. 

"Let's go, girls." She skipped away but not without leaving behind a punishment for me. She knocked the bucket I used in scrubbing the floor, spilling murky water all over the clean floor.

"See ya later, loser." Her giggle echoed in the distance as she left with her friends.

The remaining maids didn't say a word. They all stared at me as I bent over to soak up the drenched floor with my cleaning rag, none of them offering to help me. They wouldn't dare. Mira told them never to.

As I scrubbed the floor, something inside me cracked. 

I couldn't like this anymore. 

I wouldn't.

So that night, after fetching dinner for the family and washing the dishes, I packed my bags and ran.

I had waited until the moon hung high in the sky, 

Until the guards slacked in their posts, 

And then, I slipped away like I was never there. 

When I realized I was out of sight, I broke into a sprint. 

I didn't know where I was running to but I knew I had to get away. 

The cold air burned my lungs as I ran through the dense forest and it hurt more when I inhaled. Thorned twigs tore at my skin and I bled against the rough earth. But I kept on running.

In the middle of my journey, my legs began to shake and my breath came in ragged gasps. 

I suddenly wished I hadn't left the pack. 

I stopped dead in my tracks when a foul smell hit my nostrils.

"What is that?" I clamped my hand over my nose when the smell became unbearable.

It was the stench of rot. 

I looked around me and couldn't find the source of the smell.

My mind screamed at me to run and I rose to my feet. But before I could move a muscle, my body locked up.

A twig snapped and crunched under unfamiliar footsteps.

I wasn't alone.