What broke my family
FLASHBACK
298 years back
Lucas’s POV
The ground was ice-cold and hard. My knees dug into it as I tried to breathe through the pain. I could feel the sting in my ribs, bruised or maybe cracked—I wasn’t sure anymore. My father stood a few feet away, arms crossed, looking at me like I was a stain on his boots. I was only fourteen, an unshifted Lycan stuck with a beast I can never control. It was two years before I could shift into my wolf under the full moon.
“Get up.” His voice was sharp, cutting through the winter air. “Do you think anyone will respect a leader who can’t even stand?”
I pressed my hands against the ground, the skin on my palms raw and bloody from earlier. My arms trembled, but I forced myself to push up. Quitting wasn’t an option.
“You’re too slow.” He kicked the back of my leg, and I crumpled again, face-first into the dirt. “Pathetic.”