The Imperial Wolf

Kate POV

I begin my day, as usual, cleaning this disgusting house as my idiot father tries to figure out how to get money to go to the Moon River Pack casino. He is pacing, sweating like a drug addict, and watching the window. He owes money again; I can tell by his fear; I can smell it on him. There is nothing left for him to sell for gambling money. He takes a beer out of the almost empty refrigerator and walks into the living room. He sits on the floor because the sofa is gone, sold for beer and gambling money.

“There is no food for breakfast, dad,” I say to him as he walks away from me.

He ignores me as usual; he doesn’t want me here. I should leave and never come back. I turn twenty-one next week. I need to leave and never look back. I have no idea where I would go. There has to be somewhere for me. My father is an outcast. His pack turned on him years ago when my mother died. When the pack cast him out, it left me alone with no one to turn to after her death. I am all alone with a father who doesn’t want me and barely has cared for me over the years.

A big black truck pulls fast into the driveway. I hear screaming coming from outside. I see two of the Alpha’s henchmen from the moon river pack getting out of the big black truck. My father throws down his beer and rushes out of the house to meet the Alpha’s henchmen. He must owe the Alpha and the casino a lot of money if the henchmen are here. What the hell have you done, dad? They will kill you if you do not stop gambling.

“We need the money Thomas,” Jackson screams at my father.

I watch from the dirty living room window, terrified the Alpha’s henchmen will kill my father this time. They grab my father by the shirt and throw him to the ground hard. He is no match for the henchmen; they are solid wolves, and my father is weak from years of drinking.

“I will have it, I cannot pay right now, but I will have it soon. Tell the Alpha I will pay him next week,” my father cowers as the henchmen stand over him, kicking and spitting on him.

“We need the money or your life. It would help if you didn’t place bets you cannot cover. Why don’t you try staying out of the casino, old man,” Jackson continues to scream at my father.

My mother is dead. It is only my father and me now, not that he has ever been a caregiver to me; he lives in the werewolf casino, placing bets he knows he cannot cover later. The henchmen have often come to our home to beat or scare him into paying somehow. My father has given them every possession we own over time. There is nothing left for him to bargain with for this time. He will die today.

The henchmen begin hitting my father with a cane. He screams out in pain. “You got to give us something, Thomas. We cannot return to the Alpha empty-handed, or we can take him your head? What is it going to be, old man?” Jackson screams as he kicks my father.

My father lies on the ground, bleeding. I am too afraid to go outside to help him. I begin to scream. I do not want to watch him die. The henchmen look into the window and see me standing there watching them beat my father.

“Go get her,” Jackson says to Theo. Theo obeys his order. He enters our dirty, almost empty home and pulls me out the front door. “You are coming with me,” Theo says.

I kick and scream as he pulls me out of the house. I do not want to die at the hands of the henchmen because of my father’s gambling problems. “Leave me alone,” I scream as I try to break free from him.

“Well, it looks like you have one last thing left of value here, Thomas, the Alpha can sell her to a whore house, or she can be his slave,” Jackson says as Theo brings me out of the house.

My father looks at Jackson. “You can have her for my debt and twenty thousand dollars,” my father says to Jackson.

“What! Are you going to sell me? Are you fucking crazy?” I scream at him.

Theo holds me as I spit on my father. I kick and scream, trying to get away from Theo, but he is much stronger than I am. “Please, let me go,” I beg Theo.

“You know I can’t,” Theo says to me.

I begin to sob; I am angry. “Please let me go!” I scream. Jackson hits me in the face. My face aches from the pain. I look to Theo.

“Please,” I say softly to Theo.

I know he cannot let me go; Jackson would kill him if he allowed me to escape. “Take her; she is of no use to me. She is worthless,” my father says.

“Your debt is covered, and I will credit the casino five thousand dollars for you to gamble away and not a penny more,” Jackson says.

My father nods his head in agreement—that bastard.

My father walks away as Jackson and Theo drag me to their truck.

“I will kill you,” I scream at my father.

“Shut up, or I will shut you up,” Jackson screams at me.

I sit quietly in the truck.

“What are we going to do with her?” Theo asks Jackson.

Jackson looks at me and smiles.

“How old are you?” Jackson asks.

“I am twenty-one,” I answer.

“It is not up to us; she belongs to the Alpha now; he can do with her as he sees fit,” Jackson answers.

“It doesn’t seem right,” Theo says.

“Well, the old bastard owes money; she is the only thing of value he has. Do you want to go back and tell the Alpha that we could not collect the debt, or do you want to take her to him?” Jackson asks Theo.

“Don’t I have a say?” I ask Jackson.

“No, you don’t. Now, shut up,” Jackson says.

Jackson drives the three of us to the Alpha’s house. I have not been around a pack since my mother died. When my pack disowned my father, they disowned me. It is so unfair. I lost my mother and my pack because my father is an idiot, and now he has sold me to the Alpha to cover his stupid gambling debt. I hate him.

We pull into the Alpha’s house. It is a large cabin. Many wolves are hanging around watching as Jackson pulls into the driveway. I can tell Theo is not happy about this, but there is nothing he can do to help me. Jackson pulls me out of the truck. I fall to the ground and hit my head. He pulls me to my feet.

“Stay on your feet,” Jackson says. He grabs my arm and drags me across the yard. He continues pulling me into the house. He pushes me into the front door. I fall again, this time landing at the Alpha’s feet.

“What the hell is this?” Alpha asks Jackson. Alpha looks me over as I kneel at his feet, crying.

“Thomas didn’t have any money, but he has a daughter,” Jackson says as he kicks me.

“What the hell am I supposed to do with her?” Alpha asks Jackson.

Jackson laughs. “Hell, I can think of plenty of things you could do with her,” Jackson says.

“I have a wife, you idiot. I guess she can clean or something until his debt is paid,” Alpha says.

I look up at Alpha. I am terrified of him. “What is your name, little one?” Alpha asks me, brushing my hair away from my tear-soaked face.

“Kate, my name is Kate, sir,” I answer him meekly.

“Well, Kate, you belong to us now,” Alpha says.

“Yes, sir,” I say to Alpha, still sobbing.

“Take her to the Omega house; she can serve us from there,” Alpha says.

Theo helps me to my feet. He walks me out of the house by the arm. “Get in the truck. I will drive you to the Omega house,” Theo says.

“What is an Omega?” I ask him as I get into the big black truck.

“It is the lowest member of the pack. Three women and two men live there, John, Trip, Karen, Angela, Cassie, and now you. They are all about your age. Do you not know anything about how a pack works?” Theo says.

“No, we were cast out of the pack when my mother died. I have not been around the pack since then. I was only six when she died,” I say.

“You have been living as a Rouge since you were six?” Theo asks.

“What is a Rogue?” I ask.

“Your father is a rogue; it is a wolf without a pack. Why was he cast out?” Theo asks.

“I do not know. I only know that it has something to do with my mother. He said a little bit about it when he was drunk, but he never told me everything, sorry,” I say.

Theo drives me to the Omega house. The house is on the outskirts of the rest of the pack’s homes. Theo pulls into the older home where the Omegas live. The house is a small log cabin with a big front porch. There is a small garden and a tire swing in a tree. A young blonde woman comes out to see what is going on and why Theo is there this time of day. She walks to the truck and places her hand on the window.

“Hey, Theo, what’s up? What did we do now?” She asks.

“Hey Angie, this is Kate; she will stay with you guys for a while,” Theo says.

“Hi Kate,” Angie says.

I get out of the truck and walk around to the side where Angie is standing. Angie and Theo talk, but I do not pay attention; my mind is going a thousand places right now, and I have no idea what will happen to me. I wonder if I can escape this. Maybe I can wait until night and run, but where would I go.

“You will be fine here, I promise,” Theo says.

Theo leaves me with Angie. I am scared, nervous, and afraid. My emotions get the best of me when I realize I have begun to cry. “Hey, there is nothing to be afraid of here. We have a lot of fun out here,” Angie says.

“I am sorry. It has been a strange day for me,” I say to her.

“What did you do to get busted down to Omega?” Angie asks.

“My father sold me to the Alpha to cover a debt he owed to the casino,” I say.

“Well, that son of a bitch. I bet you could use a beer,” Angie says.

“I have never had a beer,” I say.

“Well, you are tonight. Come on, and I will introduce you to the other misfits,” Angie says.

We step onto the porch the others rush out to see what Theo wants. “Aww, he dropped off another one of us, so what the hell did you do to end up down here with us?” a young blonde man asks me.

“Let’s not go there. This blonde idiot with a big mouth is John, that is Trip walking up from the back, that is Karen over there at the well getting water, and Cassie is… where the hell is Cassie,” Angie says, looking around.

“She is out for a run,” John says.

“Well, you can meet Cassie at dinner. Let’s get you inside and get you settled,” Angie says.