Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Txälina

When my mother was still alive, she taught me a lot of things, how to make a good breeder, how to please males. But what she never taught me was how to quell the rage burning in my chest. How to stave the sting of weilding a dagger when a male Werewolf flared the anger inside me.

Right now, the sight of my brother, Kaluen, hardened the fury boiling inside my chest, and it took a palpable effort to subdue it.

"What are you doing?" Kaluen demanded. His breath was fetid with alcohol.

"What does it look like?" I asked, trying not to infuse anger into my voice. "I'm tidying your room, brother."

Kaluen pried the broom from my hand, viscous fury smeared on his face.

"I still see dirt on the floor," he said drily, clearly unimpressed.

Then perhaps your sight needs some purgation, I bit out the words in my mind and muttered instead, "It's clean."

"You don't clean it to my satisfaction," he uttered, his drawn brows narrowing slightly.

His glare was hard, like he was trying to grope for something worth punishing in me.

I should've drunk wine before coming here. Wine squelches the relentless thoughts in my head. It makes me less keen to jab him. But females in this pack are prohibited from speaking. We are groomed to serve the males. To endure the throbbing pain.

We have been bred to see them as gods, their tyrannical behavior silencing us with fear. They tend to us like slaves, breeders. The scalding reality of it burned far deep than hot coal.

Kaluen is no different from the other men. He sees me as nothing but an object. His slave. The detestation smeared on his face always encroaches my mind with sadness and resentment.

He was taken from my mother at birth. It's the law in Säli pack: any male born must be separated at birth to prevent a bond.

But it wasn't always like this.

Many years ago, women ruled Säli pack. They warred in battles and carried the voice of Säli. We were the next beings hither to the moon goddess, Säli. The men were not as strong compared to the women, albeit, we still loved them and bore their offsprings. But something morphed inside them.

They wanted power, and it festered, permeating. With the help of other male packs, they soared, turning against us. Overnight, we became slaves. We became breeders.

Since the age of ten, Kaluen was trained at the camp by warriors. They fed him with lies, carving them into his bones. They honed his mind to view women as slaves. They taught him to resent his family.

I loathed him. I despised every part of him. But he's stronger than me. With his werewolf strength, he could defeat me easily.

Säli women no longer own our wolves. Mine was eviscerated from me during my first shift. And every full moon, when my wolf attempts to resurge, they render me wolfless through a series of dark rituals, forcing lethal concoctions down my throat.

Some Säli females never shift at all because the moon doesn't bless us. Not anymore.

"Maybe it's that pretty face giving you ideas. A scar would fix everything," he said dourly, sauntering back to his bed.

There, lying on his bed, are three females he calls his pets. They pleasured him in every way they can. They're forbidden to speak unless spoken to. Forbidden to breathe the same air he breathes.

"You're boring me," he said to the red-haired female, with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Get out."

"My Lord?" she sheepishly smiled, tracing her fingers along his taut muscles.

He caught her wrist, jostling her away.

"All of you, get out. I'm done with you."

She bowed her head and slunk out of the room, the others trailing behind her.

I turned to leave, when his voice halted me.

"Not you," he spoke.

I turned around.

My eyes trailed along the lines of his face. He was beautiful in every way, and i had a fleet satisfaction that i looked different from me. Unlike his ebon skin, i had light brown golden skin, tight curls, full lips. Dark freckles dots dusted the upper part of my cheeks. Golden eyes, the feature that identified us as Säli members, glowed like fire smoldering in a lamp.

"What's with the frown?" he snarled. "Is this how you choose to remunerate me after everything I did for you?"

At his words, the annoyance on my face melted into a taut smile. Just what he was groping for.

"You do—"

"There are slaves out there, sleeping in alleys and praying to the goddess to offer them a grand life like yours. Yet you sulk like a brat?"

He was entirely wrong. Who would wish for a life like mine? There was no passing day that my body didn't ache with agonizing pain. Without the sound of a whip slicing into my skin.

My fists clenched, nails digging into my palms.

"Return to your room. We'll meet tonight."

"Tonight?" I asked.

"Yes," he said, rising from the bed, his voice deceptively calm. "Beta Mätxin is paying us a visit."

I almost flinched at the mention of that name. Anger careened through my muscles, my blood, twisting my face.

He's a ruthless Beta, vicious and egomaniacal. His tyrannical power as the Alpha's brother made him treat women even worse than Kaluen.

Kaluen admires him. They've been thick as blood, best friends for many years. When Mätxin looks at me, he regards me as his. Kaluen sees it, and he lets it happen. Because in Mätxin's eyes, Kaluen sees power, someone he can gain from.

"Again?" The word unfurled from my mouth.

Kaluen sent me an admonishing glare, and I bit my tongue.

"You'll have dinner with us," he said, and I forced my head to nod. "Wear something nice. Something to impress him."

I gazed at him.

"Bow," he commanded.

I obliged and bowed.

"Soon," he muttered, playing with his braids between his fingers, "you'll regard me as Alpha."

Then he turned his back on me, dismissing me.

Kaluen's obsession on ascending to the rank of Alpha started when he forged a friendship with Mätxin.