The Black Alder Series (Books 1-3)

It’s been 3 years since I’ve been taken out of the dungeon. During that time, I was beaten and abused by what seemed like my whole pack. I’ve lost tons of weight and am now very thin. Anytime anyone mentions me, I’m referred to as the girl who took off her father’s head. Some people avoid me, which makes my job a bit easier. I am so lucky to have snow because the beatings have been getting so frequent. Even Jen has joined in now. All those years of friendship are just gone. She knew better than anyone how much I loved my father, but I believe Lynx’s influence on her may make her see things his way. I’ve gotten used to the occasional hits and slaps until they stopped getting a reaction out of me. People would hit me; I would get back up each time. They seemed to stop since I wasn’t crying about it anymore. The hitting stopped randomly a few months ago, and now I just get the occasional angry glances I am used to. I haven’t used it, though. I am more focused on the fact that my 18th birthday is tomorrow and it falls on a lunar eclipse, which is supposed to be extremely rare. No one knows I have a wolf since I have never shifted. This leads me to believe they hated me anyway, because only an idiot would believe my mother when she says I shifted, and I was only 14 at the time. Yes, they are all idiots. All of their wolves are weak. I’m smiling at my wolf, Snow. She seems extra happy about this birthday, but I don’t understand why. You will see, my love. I’m surprised you haven’t figured it out yet. While I’m pondering what she just said, I get a loud mind link telling all the staff to come to the kitchens. I met up with my friend Serene while we made our way there. We became friends easily, and it wasn’t long before she told me she was half-witch and therefore had the gift of foresight for both the future and the past. It turns out the whole wait staff knew about her power, but they kept it well hidden due to witches being banned on our turf. She would be killed on the spot. She shared her power of foresight and took all the wait staff back to that horrible day. After they saw what happened, all I received were looks of pity. Some even cried, being close to my dad. They all treated me with the utmost respect. I suspect they are the reason I am not being beaten as much anymore, trying to keep me out of everyone’s way and giving me fewer jobs. I am grateful. We all reached the kitchen and put our hands behind our backs, keeping our heads down, acknowledging Alpha Ned, his son David, and new Luna, my bitch of a NOT mother, sitting at the table. Alpha Ned just summoned us all. “Alpha,” we all say in unison. He gets straight to business. “As you all know,” he states, “the lunar eclipse will be approaching us tomorrow night. As such, we will be hosting King Roland of South Carolina. I expect each of you to be on your best behavior and out of sight if not needed. Speak only when being spoken to; they are all higher than you.” No, the hell they are not, I hear Snow say. I had to bite my lip to suppress a smile.

and I expect each of you to be on your best behavior. He links up with someone and looks directly at me before dismissing everyone. I was turning around to go when I heard “Elena Stay.” The staff gave me all their sympathetic looks before continuing to walk. He is now looking at me with a smirk, the same as my bitch mother’s. Typical of her. She probably found a way to seduce him since he no longer had a girlfriend. Luna died giving birth to David. “I hear you have a birthday tomorrow,” he says. “Yes, Alpha,” I replied. “You will be 18? Do you know what that means?” “Yes, Alpha, I may end up meeting my mate.” “We have a tradition in this pack that requires you to be broken in by your superiors before then,” he says with his eyes smiling too. I intuitively knew what he meant. According to this pack, virginity means nothing here. All of the unmated males will end up fucking all of the females who will turn 18 the next day and meet their mate, just to signify that they will always belong to the pack first. It was something my dad vowed to never let happen to me. Although my will is almost broken, thinking of my dad gives me a bit of strength. “Like hell, you will. I will kill any man who ever dares try to touch me in any way, no matter the status.” I could feel Snow ready to come out, and I tried to keep her down. However, her aura is pulsing from me, and it makes the alpha stand up quickly, and my mother is bowing her head but puts it back up quickly as if I didn’t just see her submit to me. “Is that so?” he says, looking a little afraid but trying not to show it. “Yes, it is so,” I told him without breaking eye contact. He studies me for a minute, then puts up his sadistic smile. “Okay then, you’re dismissed.” I turned around and headed back to headquarters.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

Wait, he didn’t yell at me for talking back, and was that fear I saw in his eyes? He just let me go so easily, and I don’t like it. Snow doesn’t like it either. After informing everyone on the wait staff of what had happened, they shook their heads, and we all went back to work. Towards the end of the night, we had almost finished prepping most of the stuff we’re going to cook tomorrow. We all say goodnight to each other and head to bed, knowing the kind of day we are going to have to face. After I washed up and put on my nightclothes, I went up to my room, only to find a note had been left. It reads, BE PREPARED. I’ve been getting threatening notes all year, so just like the rest, I toss them in the trash. I realize it’s 11. 59. I smile and close my eyes just as midnight hits and my birthday begins. I wake up in the middle of the night with a feeling that something is wrong. My wolf is restless too. She feels something. Just as I am about to get up, I see a shadow move, and someone grabs me from behind, putting a bag over my head so I can’t see. I’m thrashing and kicking, even growling, which made some people stumble back as they didn’t expect me to have my wolf. I hear voices that sound like my mom telling my captors to inject me with wolfsbane, which is toxic to wolves. I feel a needle in my neck, as someone else does. I can hear my wolf telling me to stay strong, as I am feeling her slip away from me. Somehow, I was able to get the bag off my face, and I’m surrounded by my mom, Lynx, David, Jen, and the Alpha. They all started kicking me and punching me. David took a bat and started hitting my shoulder. I heard a pop! I knew my shoulder was broken. Alpha took me downstairs, and I saw the whole pack down there with weapons of their own. All except the maids. They were all looking at me with horror, but I knew there was nothing they could do. In the crowd, I saw Marcus, but he seemed to be crying. “This little bitch is having her birthday. Let’s give her the best gift we can pack,” the Alpha says. I curl up in a ball, afraid that all of the males will attempt to rape me now that I can’t fight back, but that wasn’t the case. The next thing I knew, the whole pack, minus Marcus, and the maids were all taking turns beating on me and yelling at me. Somehow, even though my nose is broken, the smell of roses fills my nose, and it is so heavenly. It’s the smell of the mate bond. I see Marcus and mouth “mate.” I know it’s coming from him, but he continues to stand there, watching them beat me and crying. I’m his mate. Why isn’t he helping me? He turns and walks away. My heart is giving away, and the last thing I see is a shining light as my vision blurs and I fade out.