Chapter One

Some words in this story/chapter may be hard to pronounce, though many I assure you are said like they are spelt, but thanks to some of the special characters used in Norse mythology and the Norwegian language, it may seem difficult. I will include legends at the beginning of chapters to help those who need it :)

For this chapter:

Wolfmåne (wulf-man-uh)

Managarmr (man-uh-garm-er)

~*~

"Serenia, are you done with the dishes yet? I need your help in the kitchen preparing the dinner dishes, hurry up!" Head chef Maria hollers from the other room, just barely heard over the constant running water splashing about in the sink and the bustling of people rushing back and forth behind her.

Wiping her sweat covered forehead, she quickly dunks another plate into the now murky water and scrubs vigorously until it's clean, dunking it once more in the next sink over and tossing it into the dish rack to dry. With her last plate done, she wipes her hands and face on her apron and runs off to the kitchen.

She is blasted in the face with a wave of hot air, auburn hair flying around her face and sticking to her skin.

"Finally, you wretched girl. What took you so damn long?" Maria cries and grabs a tight hold of Serenia's arm and yanks her roughly towards the counter. "Now, help me cut up these vegetables here and toss them into the pot."

Serenia does as she is instructed with no question or complaint. She has come to realize very quickly in the 17 years she has spent in this house, that it is the best way for her to survive and stay out of trouble. If she stays out of trouble, she stays away from harsh punishments like the whippings or outside confinement.

Absentmindedly grabbing the carrots in front of her, she notices a handful of them haven't been peeled properly, and she remembers specifically that the official wife of the Beta doesn't like vegetable skin and requires every piece to be peeled, whether it's served raw or boiled.

"Maria, these haven't been peeled properly," she tries to point out. Maria slaps her hand, causing her to drop the knife and carrot she was holding.

"I peeled these myself, are you saying I did a bad job? You think you can do better as head chef of this house?"

Serenia holds back a whimper as her hand starts to sting from the harsh slap.

"That isn't what I'm saying, I just know the official wife doesn't like-"

Maria slaps her swiftly across the cheek, causing her face to now sting worse than her hand, and starts shouting in her face.

"Ignorant child! You dare talk back to me now? You have really become bold with age. You will do as I say, or you will be brutally punished."

'What have I done to deserve a life like this? I have been born on the third daughter to the Beta wolf leader of the Raseri pack, the most feared, powerful, and wealthy pack there is known to our kind, yet I am reduced to this treatment day in and day out.'

Serenia has never been able to wrap her head around why she was born into such a futile role in life for the 17 years she has endured this treatment. Her mother suffers no less as the third wife of the Beta, therefore the lowest wife and given no rights or respect even though she has married a warrior only second to the Alpha of the pack.

Much like her daughter, she is subjected to serving the second and first wife, also known as the official wife, and their daughters. Sareena Hansen is the first daughter of the house, being 3 years older than Serenia and the future Luna of the pack, rumored to be the fated Luna their kind have been hunting centuries for. The second daughter born to the second wife, Selena Hansen is only a year older than Serenia but treats her like a child, bullying just because she can most of the time.

With Serenia as the third daughter, she is the lowest member of the family, one step above a servant and therefore treated very much like one.

Ignoring the badly peeled carrots, she continues chopping as instructed and waits for Maria to give her another task. Once all the dishes have been prepared and the kitchen staff have left to carry them out to the dining room, Serenia is left to clean up the mess that has been left behind.

"Well, better get to it," she mumbles to herself and throws another clean apron on, carrying the dirty dishes over to the sunk and draining it from the water she had previously used. Busying herself once again with washing, she nearly jumps out of her skin when the kitchen doors bang open, and Sareena comes stomping towards her.

Before Serenia can utter a word, Sareena slaps her hard across the face, proceeding to throw scraps of food on her afterwards.

"You've lived in this house for how many years under our father's love and care, yet you can't even do a simple task like peeling vegetables properly! You know my mother has been on a strict diet for her health and cannot eat food skins, yet you carelessly peeled the carrots and left so many with skin on them," she yells, throwing more boiled carrots onto Serenia, the food still steaming from the freshly boiled pot, searing the skin on her arms and legs where they touch.

"I wasn't the one who peeled the vegetables, sister," Serenia manages to whimper out, not bothering to try and lift herself from the ground and doing her best to ignore the burning hot pain in her arms, legs, and cheek.

It's the head chef Maria's turn to speak up, pushing her way through the crowd of servants that have gathered around to watch another show of the pathetic girl getting a beating again.

"You dare say that I have lied to my lady? I saw you peel them with my own eyes, I was the one who you asked you because you seemed keen on wanting to help around the kitchen and didn't feel washing the dishes was doing enough. I was merely trying to offer my help, and now you slander me in front of your superiors?"

Sareena and Serenia are both daughters of the Beta, which means they should both be held with the same status and respect. Yet the servants have always viewed Sareena as a divine being, one who could never do any harm and is always righteous in everything she does.

Whereas Serenia is nothing more than a whore's daughter. If these were ancient times, her mother would be considered a concubine and she would be nothing more than a concubine's daughter, a status that really is only one step above a servant's.

But this is the 21st century, and times should have changed. But the Raseri pack has always followed the ancient way of their Gods, Skoll and Hati, very closely. In the times of the Gods, when the werewolf species was free to run and roam the fields of Idavoll, the Ironwood Forest, and the species of the Managamr, the ancestors of the Raseri pack, were confined to their rightful place in the Niflheim realm, it wasn't absurd for a demi-god to take on one or more lover, producing as many children and heirs as they can.

Therefore, an Alpha can have as many wives and lover's as he wants, with only the first born son allowed to succeed as future Alpha when the time comes. Bust the Raseri have always had many enemies and continue to make more as the years go by. Many of their enemies believe if they take down the Alpha, the entire pack will fall, and often times target what they believe to be the Alpha's weakness – his children.

What many fail to realize is they are the last of his concerns. With the abundance of children, he can produce, there is no shortages of heir's and if a daughter can find a suitable mate, she may also inherit the right to deem her mate as the Alpha.

"Miss Maria, you asked me for help with cutting the vegetables, you clearly said you were the one who peeled them when I tried to point out there was still some skin left on some carrots." Serenia knows it is useless defending herself, but she can never help it, she can't stand being misunderstood and framed when she has done her best to follow instructions and not mess up.

This is clearly just another attempt at trying to get her banished from the house altogether once and for all. Sareena has never liked Serenia though she has never been given a reason why, Sareena has always been treated like a princess here and Serenia has never tried to overstep her own place, yet her older sister has always held a large amount of contempt for her.

"Nonsense, where is your proof? Did anyone else hear me say this?" Maria asks.

Serenia looks around at the familiar faces of the other kitchen staff that were present in the room, none of them speaking up or making eye contact with her.

She knows she has no choice but to admit defeat and allow herself to take the blame. The more she fights, the harsher her punishment may be.

"I apologize, sister, I was careless and didn't peel the vegetables properly. I'm willing to take any punishment you and Lady Hansen give me," she says and lets her head drop on the floor, acting as if she is bowing but taking the brief moment to suck in a sharp breath against the still stinging pain of her burned and blistered skin.

Sareena delivers one more slap across Serenia's face, watching as she tumbles to the floor like a feather blown over by the wind.

"Of course, you will. I just hope this punishment will finally teach you to learn your place and do a proper job next time, or you and your filthy mother will find yourselves hunting for scraps in the forest." Sareena turns on her heel with a disgusted look on her face.

"Toss her in the storage shed, she can stay there until sunrise tomorrow. Hopefully you will take the time to reflect on yourself and your mistakes, dear sister."

A night in the shed, that isn't such a bad punishment. Though it is the middle of winter and there are tons of holes in the wood, not making it the warmest when the temperature hits the lowest, but Serenia has spent enough time in the shed on nights like these to have learned to make her shoes and the arms of her sweater lined with fur secretly.

It doesn't keep the cold away entirely, but it does help when fighting against frostbite. Since Serenia still has yet to awaken her wolf, unlike every other pack member her age or older, her healing abilities are lacking, and her wounds sometimes take weeks to heal depending on the damage. If she gets frostbite bad enough, she may just lose a finger or toe.

As the servants are escorting her outside to the shed, she hears a series of hoots and hollers from the firepit, signalling that the hunting party has returned and no doubt with something good.

"Why do we have to be escorting this filth? I want to join everyone and check out the hunting party," one of the servant's mutters, not trying to keep her voice down from Serenia overhearing.

"It's my only chance to check out Rune Iversen, of course, I have to miss it again," another chimes in.

Serenia shudders at the mention of Rune Iversen, Alpha of the Raseri pack. Though he is the Alpha, he is only 7 years older than Serenia at 25 years young. His father died suddenly due to a mysterious sickness, but many rumor and speculate that Rune had something to do with it, wanting to take over as Alpha.

He has more wives than any of the alphas before him, racking up to about 5 at this point, but his official wife, the Luna of the pack Aurora Iversen, does a good job of reminding everyone that she is his one true mate, and the reigning Luna of the pack.

Unlike many of the other females in their pack, Serenia hasn't fallen for Rune's rugged good looks and charmingly fake persona. She can see right through to his filthy intentions and has done her best to steer clear of his line of sight, but over the years recently, has failed.

On more than one occasion he has come to her during pack gatherings and purposely drawn attention to her by trying to curry favor and flirt with her. Serenia has refused his advancements every time, not wanting to become a bigger target of abuse and terror from the many girls and wives he already has, but Rune has always taken her refusals as playing hard to get, and his interest towards her as only grown.

Now, every time she finds herself anywhere near him, he makes it his mission to seek her out and corner her, making a game out trying to see how much he can get her to squirm in discomfort under his unwanted advancements and cheesy flirting techniques. Serenia has to be careful when refusing him, being the Alpha of the pack, she can't overstep and insult him, or that will be the end of her, no questions asked.

So far, she has done quite good in avoiding becoming one of his many wives but has suffered some bullying from the other girls hoping to snag the position, rather enduring that abuse than the potential horrors she might face in the house of Alpha Rune.

"Come on, let's throw her in the shed and quickly run over there, we might be able to catch everyone before they leave."

The servants pick up the pace and toss Serenia inside the shed, the heavy sound of the lock falling into place sealing her fate for the night. Following the routines of past times before, she gathers the little amount of hay that has been put under the shelves to avoid anything leaking onto the ground and causing a sink hole.

She gathers as much as she can into the corner of the shed that has the least number of holes in the walls and huddles into it, flipping her hood up to provide as much cushion for her head as she can and leans against the wall and closes her eyes.

The best and quickest way to pass this time is to try and sleep through it.