Unida Al DepredadorES

Chapter 1

A task that is anything but easy.

Lilian.

I wasn't always like this.

This gaunt, weak girl with sunken eyes. Those eyes were once vibrant, even my dark hair once shone; now it looked disheveled and dry like a worn-out mop.

I sighed inwardly as I surrendered to the mirror where I gazed at my miserable reflection. This was my life now, and I had made peace with it.

There was no great evil Alpha to appear and save me and destroy the lives of those who were destroying mine every day.

"Have you finished admiring your hideous face, Lorraine?" The Moon's tone of disgust and mockery filled my ears.

I looked up and saw the disdain in their eyes as they looked down on my bony figure with contempt.

"I'm sorry, Luna. I just wanted to let you know I've finished cleaning Cailan's room." I bowed my head as I spoke.

"Ah." She stopped abruptly on the stairs, looking impeccable in her simple gold satin dress that hugged her delicate figure. "Find something else and do it. It's not as if there isn't something else in this house to keep you busy. Don't be a useless lazybones and go to work!" she ordered, acid dripping from her tone, and thumped down the stairs.

I nodded slowly. I looked really tired and exhausted, and my stomach was growling from lack of food. I hadn't eaten since the night before as punishment for not washing Beta's clothes.

My knees could give way at any moment and I could collapse at any instant, but I kept walking.

"Lorraine, there you are." I heard a haughty voice behind me.

Beta Aidan.

"Yes, Beta." I bowed my head in submission; otherwise, I would be used and mistreated without anyone caring.

"Go to the lobby and mop the floor; it has to be sparkling clean before I come back. You can take Hailey with you," she said.

I bowed my head once more and ran as fast as I could to gather the supplies and head to my work area. Hailey came with me, and together, on our knees, we scrubbed in silence.

"Seal all pack borders! We are under attack!" My Alpha's deep voice echoed through the pack bond, and I felt every hair on my body stand on end.

For the first time in a long time, I was shaken by fear of the unknown. I endured all of this for a single goal in mind, and an attack on the pack would ruin everything. There was a hint of panic in the Alpha's voice, something that had never happened before.

"Something is very wrong, I have a horrible feeling," my friend Hailey said, her eyes filled with fear.

If Hailey said something was wrong, it meant something was really wrong. She was very perceptive.

"Alpha!" A sharp voice cut through my wandering thoughts as a blood-covered warrior from the pack staggered in and collapsed in the doorway. "Half our warriors are out of action," he managed to say between bloody coughs.

Whatever had happened outside had truly broken the spirit of the Commander of the Warriors of the Pack.

Alpha Blackthorn stood up from where he was sitting, not far from the floor we were scrubbing, his eyes burning emerald green with anger.

"Who dares to attack my pack? How many are there? How many are the renegades they cannot defeat?" His voice boomed against the warrior.

Tears welled in the corners of the warrior's eyes. Bitter tears, I noticed. I felt my heart sink into my stomach, dreading the next words that would come from his mouth.

"They're not renegades," her voice broke. "It's just one wolf. A demon! A monster!" She trembled with fear as more tears streamed from her eyes.

"Lilian!" I heard my Alpha's dark, husky voice call me, and my legs began to move on their own as I rushed towards where the Alpha stood.

I knelt with my head buried in the ground to listen to his orders as I always did; otherwise, his heavy legs would fall and crush my back.

"Since all my warriors are occupied, I will entrust you with an important mission. I even promise to free your family and forgive all their debts." He said coldly, and I knew that my life would be at stake with that request.

But thinking of my parents, my brothers and sisters coming home with me, I knew I would do everything in my power to make it happen, no matter how exhausted or hungry I was. This was my only chance to redeem my family, and I wasn't going to let it slip away.

"Y-yes, Alpha. I'll do anything." I struggled to breathe.

"I want you to protect my only son, Cailan, with your entire life. If something as small as a hair is missing from his head, I will massacre your family before your very eyes and burn them to ashes," his voice was very low and malevolent as he spoke.

I gasped inwardly at that bloody mental image. I swore on my life that I would never go that far, and that I would protect Cailan even if it meant dying.

"I promise Cailan will be safe when all this is over. I swear it on my life." I was trembling as those words left my mouth.

I could feel the tears beginning to well up in my eyes. I could do it! I had to be able to do it! Only then could I see their faces once more.

"Good." The Alpha exhaled before disappearing in a second.

The moment he left, I jumped up and ran to the corner of the room where Cailan was sleeping peacefully. We had to hide!

Careful not to wake him, I lifted him in my arms and shouted to Hailey, "The big oak tree! We have to hide there."

I cradled the child in my arms and fled the hall, leaping over the fallen warrior in his pool of blood.

"Not that way!" I heard the warrior shout with his last breath as I lunged in the direction of the great oak, and terror filled my stomach once more.

Already

It was too late to turn back…