After serving her adopted mother breakfast, Yusria worked late into the morning making breakfast for the rest of the pack.
The chore was deemed lowly and only fit for Omegas.
But as someone who had once lost the use of her right hand, Yusria enjoyed the task of chopping, cleaning, and stirring the pot, re-familiarizing herself with the use of her once abandoned hand.
"Sigh. After three years of cradling a stump, I had almost forgotten what the use of a right hand felt like."
"What was that?"
Selena's sharp voice cut through her reverie and snapped her back to the present.
Yusria slightly trembled before recalling she had been reborn. The influence the girl had on her did not fade even when she decided to emotionally distance herself from the Dimitri family.
Emotionally and mentally until she departed from the Setting Dawn Pack.
"Nothing. To...today is your...coming of age ceremony, right? I was thinking...about what to...wear." She stuttered.
"Haha...! Selena, your sister is such a joke! Do you really want her present for your coming of age ceremony?"
"Yeah, Selena. Having someone like her present in your ceremony would be akin to humiliating yourself. I don't understand why your parents still keep her around. I mean...they have you now."
Selena's two friends, Emma and Nancy looked her up and down with disgusted expressions on their faces. Yusria didn't blame them. She wore the same ripped gray blouse that she had been wearing for the last month.
Worn and fraying on the edges, her floor-length gray skirt dragged on the dusty ground. When combined with her loosely tied bun with a few strands framing the sides of her face and blood-smeared hands from the meat she'd been chopping, she looked anything but pleasant.
"Girls, enough! She is an embarrassment, yes, but she is still a Dimitri until my parents disown her. And you!"
Selena's eyes fell on her bloodied hands and she wrinkled her nose distastefully.
"The lowlife you are, what sort of good thing could you possibly think of? You have no sense of fashion and carry yourself around like a slave. Even if you're not blood-related, you should at least keep in mind that you use the Dimitri surname. Don't embarrass me at my coming of age ceremony."
"I...I'll try not to..." What else could she say?
It wasn't like she intentionally tried to embarrass them. With only two fabrics of clothes making up her entire wardrobe, Yusria could hardly be blamed for her shabby appearance.
Unfortunately, her adopted family seemed to fail to understand this simple fact. They continuously cursed at her for not looking presentable enough when they snatched her salary without giving her even a little bit of pocket money to buy new clothes.
With a cold snort, Selena threw a worn-out blue skirt in her face and turned on her heels. Her two minions scoffed disdainfully and followed on her heels, their hips swaying back and forth as they flung their brown and red hair over their shoulders.
Looking at the blue skirt in her hands, Yusria's eyes filled with tears.
At this time, things hadn't gone disgustingly ugly between her and her adopted sister yet. Yes, there were unpleasant moments when Selena humiliated her and publicly talked down to her like a slave.
But in the entire Dimitri Family, she was the only one who had ever given her attention and, though worn and ripped second-hands without a doubt, gave her a change of clothes.
This was also the reason why Yusria had loved her adopted sister so selflessly and blindly in her past life. Because in the Dimitri Family she was the only one that even bothered to give her a second glance.
Well...at least not until the appearance of the alpha's son.
"Yusria, hurry up and go to work! If I find your salary is even a penny short, see what I'll do to you!" Her adopted mother's roar resounded from inside the house.
"Yes, mother." She had yet to eat.
But Yusria wasn't stupid enough to point that out. She knew she would only get slapped and called an ungrateful wench for doing so.
17 years ago, Samuel Dimitri and Beatrice Vario, had found her bleeding and close to starving to death in the middle of the woods. Mated for more than 6 years and still without a child of their own, they took her in in the hopes of securing their Beta status which was passed down within the family.
Since she was still underage, they didn't know the nobility of her bloodline. But they were willing to take the risk to shut the mouths of the gossipy wolves.
However, right after they took Yusria in, Beatrice Vario became pregnant.
And from there, the intentional or unintentional neglect and abuse of the adopted daughter began. The fact that she couldn't shift on her eighteenth birthday didn't make her situation any better.
Three hours later, Yusria parked her busted, two-passenger car in the employee parking lot of the Moon Industries branch company.
Picking up her handbag, she ran a hand through her messy hair and exited the car.
"Oh look who's here! Our poor Yusria with her junk car!"
"Haha...! Ria the poor, when do you plan on changing that piece of junk of yours? You do realize how embarrassing it is to have you park with us in the employee parking lot, don't you? Spare us the humiliation and quit already!"
A sophisticated female with thick make-up and a tight black dress accompanied by another in an above-knee green suit descended from a pink Audi and blocked Yusria's path.
"Bridgette, Megan, move out of the way. I'm not in the mood for another of your morning dramas today." Cold and indifferent, Yusria's usual meek persona in the pack was completely gone when she faced the women.
"Hmph! Who do you think you are? Just because you are the alpha's secretary, do you think you have the ability to tell me what to do? Yusria Dimitri, I might not know what pack you belong to, but from your junk of a car and your shabby dressing, I can tell your status isn't high. My father is the Beta of Alpha Damon. In the future, I'll become his Luna. So you better not have any fantasies about him!"
Bridgette crossed her arms over her chest and scoffed with disdain, her brown eyes swirling with disgust and an unidentifiable emotion that eluded Yusria's comprehension.
"I'm Alpha Damon's secretary. I have no relationship with him aside from that of a professional one. As for fantasies...I prefer to keep my eyes open and my mind clear. Unattainable dreams aren't my cup of tea."
"Heh! At least you know your place. But it would be even better if you just hand in your resignation letter and disappear. Of course, if you're afraid of not being able to find another well-paying job, I can give you a recommendation letter to the branch in the East." Gently blowing on her newly manicured nails, Bridgette swept her eyes over the other and scornfully sneered.
"Bridgette, you're just wasting your breath. Mark my words. This leech won't leave our company until she traps Alpha Damon. As his secretary, she will likely seduce him sooner or later." A handsome-looking male in a brown suit and a buzz cut walked over to Bridgette's side and remarked, his infatuated gaze unrestrainedly roaming over her figure.
"That's right. Why would she settle for the salary of a secretary when she can become his Luna and command the entire Dark Moon Pack?" The other female, Megan, fueled from the side.
Yuesria's violet eyes flickered with a silver light that disappeared before the others could catch it. With a nonchalant expression on her face, she carelessly swung her bag over her shoulder and asked the fashionably dressed female in a bored tone. "Branch in the East? Do you mean the Eastern United Pack's headquarter's?"
"Yes. Why? Are you interested?" Bridgette pricked up.
"No, not really. But...sigh...I've always wanted to see how the packs in the east lived. How about you write that recommendation letter for me? If it's to my satisfaction, I'll hand in my resignation letter this evening itself."
"Seriously!? You will really hand in your resignation letter if I write a good recommendation for you?"
If she could get rid of Yusria, then wouldn't all her insecurities be settled?
"Give me until lunch break. I'll hand that recommendation to you no later than that. But you have to promise me that you will leave afterward. Promise me!"
"As long as the recommendation can guarantee me an immediate job, I promise I will leave." Yusria smirked.
"Good. You promised."
Without any further delay, Bridgette turned and hastily walked into the company, the clip of her high heels on the marble floor resounding in the building.
"Bridgette, are you going to believe her words? She could be playing you!" Megan raced after her and pulled on her arm, her face flushed red from anxiety and agitation.
Equally flustered, the male hurried after them. "Yes, Bridgette, that wretched wench could be lying. Are you going to allow yourself to be taken in by her words?"
"It doesn't matter if she's lying or not. Since she promised, I'm willing to take this chance. If she leaves after getting the recommendation, I'll no longer have to worry about anything. But if she refuses to leave even after that, then her facade will be crushed and I'll know how to deal with her."
Watching the three individuals' backs, a thoughtful expression appeared on Yusria's face.
It seems her gamble might just prove to be successful.