Living in the Shadow of My Sister

Nadia'S POV

A year. A whole year since I was dragged here, to this prison in the guise of a pack. Time lost all meaning in the endless cycle of torment and labor. The days blurred together, each one more unbearable than the last, each humiliation cutting deeper than the one before. My body was numb to the ache, but my soul—my spirit—was shredded beyond recognition.

Today was different, though. Today was Alpha Lucas's coming of age ceremony. His 18th birthday. The whole Lockheart Pack buzzed with excitement and anticipation. The great hall was being prepared for a feast, the tables set with dishes I had scrubbed clean until my fingers bled, and the floors polished so that they gleamed beneath the candlelight. I was given the same rags to wear, my frostbitten hands working tirelessly without a hint of compassion from anyone.

Lucas’s coming of age was meant to be a grand event. For most werewolves, the 18th birthday was the day their wolf awakened. But Lucas, like my sister Gloria, had already awakened his wolf early—a rare, powerful omen that only strengthened his arrogance. Today, though, was still special. Today was the day he would be bound to his mate, his destined one.

But everyone knew, including him, that it wouldn’t matter. Lucas had already decided his fated mate was dead—lost forever when Gloria took her last breath in front of me. He had made it clear to anyone who would listen that he had no interest in any other mate, that no one could replace her. And certainly not me.

I knew I should stay out of sight today, keep my head down and pray to the Moon Goddess that no one would notice me. But fate, it seemed, had other plans.

I was serving dishes when I felt it—a sudden, inexplicable pull. It was like a cord tugging at my very soul, commanding my attention, pulling me closer. My breath hitched in my throat, and I almost dropped the bowl in my hand. The air was filled with a scent, something raw and primal, like cedar and rain-soaked earth. It flooded my senses, making my heart race.

I stumbled back, my eyes wide, and I looked up, searching for the source. And then I saw him—Lucas. His head snapped up, his piercing eyes locking onto mine from across the hall. His face twisted in shock, then anger, and I realized with horror that he had felt it too.

'No,' I thought, my blood turning to ice. 'No, it can’t be.'

Lucas’s nostrils flared as he took a deep breath, catching the scent—my scent. His expression darkened, a storm brewing in his eyes. “You?” His voice was a low growl that carried across the room, filled with disbelief and rage. “My fated mate is you? Ridiculous!”

The room fell silent. Every pair of eyes turned to me, burning with a mixture of shock, confusion, and disgust. I felt my face burn under their gazes, humiliation searing into my skin. Tears stung my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. Not again. I’d cried enough for a lifetime.

“How dare you,” Lucas snarled, his voice trembling with fury. “How dare you share her face and now—now you think you could be my mate?”

He stormed over to me, his towering figure casting a long shadow that seemed to swallow me whole. “The Moon Goddess must be mistaken. Even if Gloria is dead, she’s the only one I’d ever acknowledge as my mate. Not you—a worthless, weak slave!”

I couldn’t breathe. My lungs felt like they were collapsing under the weight of his words, his hatred. I kept my head down, tears slipping onto my trembling hands, mixing with the dirt and grime. 'What did I ever do to deserve this?' I lost everything—my parents, my sister, my pack—and now I was losing even the last shreds of my dignity.

Lucas’s voice rose, echoing in the great hall, each word a knife digging into my flesh. “I will never accept a slave as my mate. Never.”

I was trembling, not from fear but from something that had been building inside me for so long—anger. I was tired. Tired of being stepped on, spat at, degraded. Tired of being nothing but a shadow of my sister. 'Why was I born to suffer this?'

I felt something stir inside me, a flicker of warmth in the deep cold that had settled in my bones. I raised my head, my vision blurring with tears, but there was a clarity in my heart that hadn’t been there before. I straightened my back, my posture shifting from submission to defiance.

Lucas sneered at the sight of me daring to meet his eyes. “Don’t even think about it. I will never accept—”

But I cut him off, my voice trembling but fierce. “And I, Nadia Ambersy, daughter of Alpha Victor Ambersy, reject you, Alpha Lucas Casimir of the Lockheart Pack, as my mate!”

A shocked gasp rippled through the crowd. Lucas’s eyes widened, the anger momentarily replaced by something like disbelief, and then fury.

“You dare—”

“Yes, I dare!” I shouted, my voice louder than it had ever been in this pack. “I’d rather die than be bound to you. I’d rather die than live another day in this hell you’ve created for me!”

There it was—the truth I’d been too afraid to speak. I wasn’t living; I was surviving, and barely at that. What did I have to lose? I’d lost it all already. I raised my chin higher, meeting Lucas’s furious gaze with all the strength I could muster. “I reject you, Lucas Casimir. May the Moon Goddess curse this bond and free me from this torment.”