The Rogue Queen's Revenge

Elena's POV "Look at the pathetic little fool. She does not even have a wolf. She thinks she's all that, but she's nothing. She may be the Alpha's daughter, but even her own father hates her. Can you blame him? She's a cause of her mother's death." I hear Sophia, my stepsister, says. We also need school. We are not eighteen yet. Most of us are turning eighteen this year, and I know I will suffer the last days of school. I tried to walk past the school bullies as I held my head down and pulled the hoody over my head. And as I walk past him, someone trips me, and I know it is Stephen Howard. A fall, and my backpack hits me against the back of my head. As I try to get up, somebody kicks my legs from under me. I fall back again. It has been raining the last few days, and I'm full of mud. Everybody is laughing at me as my clothes are filthy. My brother Henry, who is supposed to become the new Alpha, walks away as he does not take part in the bullying but does not stand up for me. "That is enough. Why don't you all step away?" Maria, my only friend, says. I do not want it to step up for me because I do not want them to start bullying me as well, but she is a mighty warrior, unlike me, who does not have a wolf. Most of the walls in our pack have already gotten their wolf at the age of sixteen. There is only me that does not have one. Some others do not have their wolves yet, but mostly, it is the omegas, and many of them get their wolves at eighteen. Most of them wait to turn eighteen because they get their wolves and mates at the edge of eighteen. I do not have any hope of getting a mate. Nobody wants me because I am wolfless. I've long decided to run away from the pack when I was eighteen. "You should not stand up on me. I am fine. Luckily, school is over, and I can go home and get cleaned. I hope I can without my father or stepmother seeing me in this condition. They will start targeting you if you keep standing up for me." I say. "Ha, none of them can win me in a fight. Let's go to my house, and you can get cleaned there. I will borrow you some of my clothes." Maria laughs. "Thank you. But I'd better get home quickly. You know how my father gets if I do not start with my chores as soon as I get home. He's just looking for a reason to beat me up." I say as I walk the school gates. I have a lot of things to do and tomorrow is my birthday. The time I have stopped caring about being beaten up is long gone. I am used to it, and since I do not have a wolf, I do not have anyone or anything that can heal me. I walk back home, slip back into the house, and through the door in the kitchen. My little room with a little shower is there. I know I have to hurry to get to the kitchen. My father will be waiting for me. I have to cook, and I have to clean the kitchen. I like to eat on time. And if I am not on time, they will not be happy. My father is a very strict man, especially with me. He loves my brother and my stepsister. My stepsister is a few months older than me, and she already got her wolf. They are training with the Warriors, but I am not allowed to train since I am wolfless. I train in secret, but nobody knows it. I train with my uncle. He is my mother's brother, and he still believed that I should have a wolf and a very strong one at it. He believes that somebody is keeping my wolf from me, and he is expecting my stepmother since she is a half-witch. I do not know. I think the Moon Goddess has cursed me because I am the cause of my mother's death. She could have still been alive if she did not protect me against the other pack attacking us that night. I was pathetic. I couldn't fight. I panicked and curled up in a bundle, crying as I saw the wolves killing my mother. I'll never forget that day. I felt so helpless. I didn't want to have a wolf that could help me fight. I was still only fifteen years old. The following year, I would have finally gotten my wolf if I had a regular, average alpha child. My father and my brother could never forgive me for what happened that day because I had been training as a human. And if I had any backbone, I could have tried to fight off the other wolves. I was used to being everybody's princess. I was used to everybody protecting me from everything. My father and brother adored and treated me like a princess; my mother loved me. I would have done anything for me, but I did not deserve them, and I feel like the moon goddess is angry with me for her death. I get out of the shower and put on new clothing. I will have to wash my dirty clothes later because I do not have many clothes. It is winter, and the only warm clothes I have are those I got from Maria, my friend. I rush to the kitchen, and I start cooking. We have chefs who cannot help me in the Alpha's kitchen. They only cook for the pack. I start cleaning as I am cooking. Tomorrow, I am turning eighteen. I know there will not be a cake or any presents for me. Since my fifteenth birthday, nobody cared about me. I did not only lose my mother. I lost my whole family. My brother hardly talks to me, and my father treats me like a slave. "What are you cooking today?" My stepsister asks as she walks into the kitchen with my father. She's my father's princess now. Not me. I missed the days when I used to walk into the kitchen with him, and we would eat apple pie and talk about the day. I know it does not matter what I say. I am cooking. She will find fault with it. So I lie, I have learned by now. "I am cooking chicken with rice, baked potatoes, and green beans." I lie, knowing that it is something that she does not like. I know she likes pasta, and I am actually making pasta, but I won't tell her that. "Daddy tell her. I do not want chicken and all those other stuff. I want pasta. She better hurry up because I am hungry. I haven't eaten all day. This morning's breakfast was awful, and I couldn't get it down. It's all her fault that I did not eat this morning." Sofia lies because she has wolfed down her breakfast of bacon and eggs with toast. "Make pasta and hurry up. We are hungry." My father shouts. I feel my heart breaking as he does not even mention my name. "Yes, Sir. I will throw away the other food and cook you pasta." I say. Sophia grins and does not even look into the pots to see what I am making. She usually doesn't because she's only here to make my life more complicated than it is. I like cooking pasta because it does not take long to cook. I know she will find fault with everything I do. I put a lot of effort into the pasta dish as I know my brother and father will eat it, and I want them to enjoy it at least. They hate me, but I do not hate them. I still love them. They walk out of the kitchen without even greeting me, talking to each other like a father and a daughter. They do not even wait to see if I really throw out the dishes that I was making. I do not care. I keep telling myself that. "Something smells delicious in here! I wish we had to cook like you. But then again, our cook is much more beautiful than yours, and she has a wolf." I hear Steven Howard say. I know he came with my brother to the house again today. He usually hangs around my brother because he will one day be my brother's beta. He is one of the strongest warriors in our pack. "Let's go to my room until it's time to eat. I do not want to lose my appetite right now by looking into her face." My brother says. I know he's talking about me, which is killing me inside. He never talks to me directly. When he talks about me, he always talks about me in a way as if we are not family. I can not stop the tear that slides down my cheek. I quickly wipe it away before anyone can see it. I do not want them to see they are hurting me. I hardly cry anymore. I think I cried so much when my mother died that I have no tears left. I felt guilty, sad, and lonely as no one was talking to me or even cared about how I felt. My father and brother did not even allow me to attend her funeral. I'm not allowed to eat any of the food that I cook. If there are leftovers on the plates, I am allowed to eat them, but there are hardly any left, so I live off the scraps, and sometimes I steal some food from the pots and sneak it into my room. Nobody ever goes there. They do not realize that I steal some of the food. However, nothing is left some nights, not even in the pots. I sleep hungry those nights. Sometimes, I wish I was the one who died that night and not one mother. Live would have been easier for everybody. My father and my brother would have been happy. I know my brother and father are unhappy even if they have my stepmother and stepsister now. I know they still miss my mother as much as I miss her. She was a true Luna. She was stronger than my father, as she was the Alpha of this pack. My father got the second-chance mate, but Maryna Wilson will never be Alyssa, my mother. Nobody can truly take her place. I am not allowed to serve the food. The omegas must serve the food. I have already played it up and stolen some food tonight because I am hungry. I did not eat last night, and I did not eat this morning. The last time I ate was the night before yesterday. I have already sneaked it into my room and hidden it in case anybody goes in there, but nobody ever goes to my filthy little room in the corner of the house near the kitchen. It is very late when I get to my room as I have a lot of chores to do. I still have homework and quickly do it by candlelight as my room has no electricity or hot water. It is like when I at last get into my tiny little bed. I only have one blanket, and in the winter, I get cold. My stepsister is staying in my old room, and I miss my comfortable, warm bed, but I am too tired to think about it as I fall asleep. I have eaten my stolen food and sneak to the kitchen to clean the plate. I fall asleep only to be awakened by a nightmare of the night my mother died. I know I will not be able to sleep again, so I sit up in bed and look at the only photo I have of her. "I am so sorry, Mommy. I should have died in your stead. It was all my fault that you died." I say. I have no tears. I can only look at her lovely face and feel the hurt in my heart.