Chapter 1: Weakness
Ava kneeled on the floor of the training pit, rain pelting her barely clothed body. Her entire frame shuddered, caught between the chill of the storm and the warmth of her own blood trickling down her split lip into the mud beneath her trembling hands. She tried to move but her muscles collectively voted against it.
Laughter rang out around her, bouncing off the pit walls.
"Pathetic," Sharon sneered.
Ava would have rolled her eyes if she wasn't so busy trying to breathe.
The beta's daughter stood over her with the superiority of a deity surveying her lowly subjects. Wet golden strands of hair clung to her sculpted face but somehow managed to make her look pretty. Some people just had unfair genetics and Ava had drawn the short end of the stick in both beauty and social standing. Or so she thought.
Sharon sighed theatrically. "How can you consider yourself useful to this pack if you can't even defend yourself? There should be a rank lower than omega. You'd be perfect for it."
Ava considered responding but figured the only reward would be another round of being used as a human punching bag. She was already at full capacity for the day.
"I suppose we'll have to make do with the omega position for now," Sharon lamented. "Until my father can think of something even lower for you. Something more fitting for weak, disposable, wolfless things."
Ava clenched her jaw, focusing on the sting rather than the words. The pain grounded her, kept her from letting her rage bubble over. She had learned that lesson the hard way.
This was nothing new. She once got beaten for coughing too loudly. Another time, Luna Selene slapped her so hard her ears rang for hours because she dared to pause for a sip of coffee. Apparently, hydration was a privilege.
Before she could prepare for the next wave of abuse, Sharon delivered a swift kick to her shoulder, the heel of her boot digging into bone and sending Ava skidding across the mud like an abandoned rag doll. The crowd of onlookers cackled as if watching the comedic highlight of their night.