Chapter 1: The Girl Who Would Not Break
My name is Lorraine Anderson.
Once, that name meant something. Once, my family was respected. My father, Gabriel Anderson, was Beta of the ShadowFang Pack, my mother his fierce and loyal mate, was a respected Nurse in the Alpha’s infirmary. We had honor. We had strength. We had a good reputation.
But five years ago, this Pack that my parents gave there all for betrayed them.
Lies turned my father from a trusted Beta into a traitor that worked with rogues to kill the last Alpha. My mother was branded a conspirator. I was young but I understood that my parents had been framed.
I remember the blood. I remember the screams. I remember hiding in the cellar, my tiny hands pressed over my ears, waiting for them to come for me next.
But they didn’t kill me, they should have.
Instead, they let me live, to suffer, to serve, to be remminded every day that I am nothing but the daughter of traitors. A stain on their pack. I became their slave, their punching bag, their entertainment when they were feeling particularly cruel.
And today was no different.
It was a simple mistake. A stupid one.
I was supposed to clean the dining hall after breakfast. Scrub the floors, clear the tables, make myself invisible. That was the rule; stay unseen, stay silent, stay useful. But my hands were stiff from the cold, and I was moving too slow. When I reached for a tray, my fingers fumbled, and a single plate slipped.
Just one plate.
It hit the floor with a sharp crack, barely a sound in the large hall, but to the pack members lounging nearby, it was as if I had shattered sacred glass.