CHAPTER 1

The screams sliced through her dreams like knives, jolting Lilith wide awake. Her chest heaved as sweat poured down her face. The same damn nightmare again - her mother's desperate cries, her brother's terrified screams, telling her to run faster, to get away from the bloodbath chasing them.

Lilith looked around at the crumbling shithole she called home. Peeling walls, hardly any furniture - this was her reality now. As an omega, the lowest of the low in the pack, she was treated like a mangy stray, kicked around, and abused by everyone.

With a grunt, she rolled out of the rickety bed, her bare feet hitting the cold, hard floor. Another day of backbreaking labor and getting her ass kicked was about to start, same as always.

Outside, the first rays of sunlight peeked over the horizon, bathing the castle grounds in a soft glow. In the gardens, Eve, the gamma's pampered princess daughter, was already fawning over her precious roses. Her delicate little fingers stroked the velvety petals as she grinned like an idiot.

Lilith watched from a distance, jealousy burning in her gut. Eve had it all - beauty, admiration, respect. As the alpha's lover, she was freaking royalty, basking in the affection the pack showered on her.

"Hey, you mangy mutt! Get your ass over here and get to work!" One of the other omegas' barking shattered Lilith's daze.

She flinched, shoulders hunched as she hurried to join the pack of omegas tasked with garden duty. Their sneers and mocking laughter trailed her every step, a constant reminder that she was lower than dirt.

Bending down to yank weeds, the thorns sliced into Lilith's fingers, drawing blood. She grits her teeth and powers through. Showing any weakness would just mean more kicks to the face.

The hours dragged on, the sun beating down without mercy. Lilith's back screamed in agony, her muscles felt like jelly, but she didn't dare stop for a second. The other mutts would be all over her in a heartbeat.

Finally, as night fell, the omegas got dumped for the day. Lilith's battered body dragged itself toward the shithole shack she called home, her empty stomach growling.

Then she saw them - a pack of her so-called peers gathered around, cruel grins on their ugly mugs. Lilith's heart sank. Here it came again. 

"Hey, criminal! Over here!" One of them jeered, holding up a bowl of rice and gruel.

Lilith froze, eyes locked on the food. She knew better than to resist or fight back. 

With a nasty cackle, the omega flung the whole mess right in Lilith's face. The rice and gruel splattered everywhere as the rest of the pack busted a gut laughing and hurling insults at the "pack criminal."

Lilith just stood there, head down, as the foul-smelling slop dripped off her. This was her punishment, her penance for the sins they said she committed.

When the taunts and laughter finally died down, Lilith retreated to her tiny shoebox of a room and closed the door. She slumped against the wall, body shaking with silent sobs. How much more of this could she take?

Her gaze fell on the faded family photo propped up - the last picture of her and her loved ones back when life was good. Her fingers traced over her smiling mother and brother, frozen forever in happier times. 

The memories came flooding back like a tidal wave. The metallic stench of blood, the terrified screams as they were ambushed by a rival pack of savages. Her father arrived with backup, but too late. Mom and brother were already dead meat.

Dad just couldn't handle it. He OD'd on hallucinogens, probably just to see their faces again even if just in his fucked up mind. And Lilith, the only one left alive, got labeled the cause of it all - the reason the pack lost their beta.

It was the height of war at that time, and without Beta, the pack suffered a great defeat, losing many members. Lilith was seen as the root cause of the deaths in the Beta family, and she was despised by the community, who vented their anger and blame on her. Therefore, the Alpha of the pack punished her, relegating her to the lowest rank of Omega.

Tears mixed with the drying gruel on her cheeks. She was just an innocent kid, but she took the full brunt of the pack's rage and grief. 

. 

Once night fell, Lilith slipped out of her shit-stain of a home, sticking to the shadows. The cool air caressed her face, a small break from the daily beat-down.

The looming trees looked like twisted, gnarled hands reaching for the starry sky. Lilith wove between them, savoring the peace.

Then she heard it - muffled giggles and the unmistakable sound of rustling leaves. She'd stumbled onto a pair of mates getting their freak on.

Face burning with embarrassment, Lilith turned and left.

Tomorrow she'd be eighteen, she hoped to sense her wolf, to encounter a mate who could offer her some protection.