Fate’s Curse, Hate’s Kiss

Chapter 1

Freya's POV

Everyone knows I'm not Alpha James’ biological daughter, and some just like to remind me of it daily.

At the tender age of eight, my father, Beta Owen, had been accused of treason and had vanished without a trace shortly after. Meanwhile, my mother, Elizabeth, had married Alpha James 3 weeks after my father's disappearance.

Out of love for my mother, Alpha James had accepted me as his stepdaughter, giving me the title of ‘Princess of the Silver Moon Pack’. Something most little girls could only dream of, but not me, I never did fit in and all the title seems to bring me is torment.

Before my mum and I came into the picture, Alpha James already had a son, Niall, with his late wife.

Niall is not just any boy, he's exceptionally handsome and strong and destined to be the Alpha of our pack. For some reason he hates me and it seems to be his life goal to make sure I know it. Nowhere is safe from him, we live in the same house and attend the same school.

The girls at school have noticed his hatred for me, and now they relentlessly use it as a way to impress him. He doesn't just turn a blind eye to their cruelty towards me, he actively mingles with any girl who torments me.

Just this morning Niall had thrown an arm around Georgia's shoulders and chatted with her all the way to her class after she had tripped me up in the hallway, leaving me to pick up my scattered artwork that I’d dropped when I'd hit the floor.

“That’s it, Princess, get on your knees for your future Alpha,” he’d snorted down at me as he stepped on some of my work.

He shouldn't have been on this side of the campus. He is two years my senior and attends the on-site college. I’m sure he only comes over to the junior side to taunt me.

I had picked up the self-portrait I'd been working on for my art assignment and sighed at the now dirty footprint stamped over my painted face. Well, at least it's more realistic now.

“Two more months,” I had told myself quietly.

We are two months from the end of the academic year, which means Niall’s time on campus will be over and I will move up to the college. I have hope that once he is out of the picture my peers will have no further need to impress him and ease up on me.

Now as I join the queue for my lunch in the cafeteria, I feel the tension in the room rise and the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Niall is here. As future Alpha, he can skip to the front of the line, but he doesn’t, he steps in front of me.

“How was your art class, little sister?” he asks with a smirk on his handsome face.

The blue of his eyes twinkle with amusement under the fluorescent lights, almost mesmerizing me. I quickly avert my gaze. Someone as mean as him has no right to look so damn good.

“Great, thanks. My teacher gave me a week's extension to repaint the work you accidentally ruined when you stood on it,” I huff, crossing my arms over my chest in a pathetic attempt at acting unbothered.

“That was very generous of her, otherwise it could have ruined your perfect grades and our dear Mother would be so disappointed in you,” he pouts his plump lips mockingly. “What class do you have next?”

“Combat training,” I sigh. There's no point trying to lie to him, he can find out my schedule anyway.

“Good luck with that,” he laughs before walking away to cut to the front of the line where his friends are.

Dread fills me, he was far too nice to me just now, which means he's planning something awful.

Once I have my lunch on my tray I find an empty seat in the far corner of the dining hall. A few students cast sympathetic glances at me but they don’t engage with me, too scared they will become a target just for talking to me. I don’t blame them. I wouldn't talk to me either.

I take a bite of my sandwich and as I begin to chew something hard hits the side of my head, causing me to bite down on my tongue, blood fills my mouth and I spit out the bloodied food onto my already ruined plate. My temper flares and I pick up the apple that had ricocheted off of my head and knocked over my glass of milk, ruining the rest of my lunch.

I get to my feet and scan the room in search of the culprit but most of the teens are laughing at me, it could have been any one of them. My eyes find Niall who watches me curiously, I raise my hand that is clutching the apple, so tempted to throw it at him, he sits a little straighter in his seat and narrows his eyes at me in anticipation as the room falls deathly silent. My bravado falters and I lower my hand.

“Thank you for the apple,” I smile, sitting down and wiping the blood that's trickled from the side of my mouth before taking a bite of the apple. Chatter and laughter resume and Niall gives me a small nod. Was that a nod of respect? I doubt it.

The rest of lunch is thankfully uneventful but my stomach rumbles as I walk to my dreaded combat training class. Half an apple is not enough sustenance for a growing wolf shifter lunch, especially when I have a physically demanding class next. Combat is not my strong point but in a society where strength dictates status, I'm determined to prove myself. Unfortunately, I inherited my mother's Omega bloodline, which means I'm inherently weaker. My strengths lie in academics, not fighting, but that doesn’t mean I won’t give it my all.

I hitch my bag up on my shoulder and take a steadying breath before I push open the locker room door, ready to face whatever is coming next. I take no more than four steps into the stale, sweat-scented room before I’m surrounded by a group of girls. Georgia smiles mockingly at me.

“On your knees for your future Luna,” she demands, gesturing to the floor. Here we go.

“Future Luna? I thought it was your best friend, Laura, that I saw sneaking out of Niall’s room last night,” I feign confusion. Georgia’s eyes flash angrily over my shoulder.

“Shut up, b***h, like anyone would believe the word of traitor's daughter,” Laura’s voice sneers from behind me as she yanks my head back by my ponytail. The action hurts but I keep my face neutral. I won't allow them the pleasure of seeing my pain.

“I said on your knees, Princess,” Georgia hisses, slapping my cheek. The sting of her blow has my cheek instantly heating and I know it's glowing red by the look of glee on Georgia’s face.

“I heard it was her w***e mother that brought her father's betrayal to the Alpha, that's why he married her,” another voice mocks and my ears begin to buzz as my blood pressure rises.

My mother loved my father, they were true mates, fated by the Moon Goddess herself. My mum would never have done that.

As I’m about to retort, someone kicks the back of my legs as Laura pulls me down by my hair until my knees drop painfully to the floor, all whilst they continue to hurl insults about me and my parents. Another slap lashes across my face and I finally snap.

Years of abuse erupting from me is a surge of strength I didn't know I possessed. I push to my feet and touch Georgia straight in her nose, hearing a satisfying crunch before she shrieks. Then all hell breaks loose. Punches rain down on me from all directions but I somehow match them blow for blow until our combat instructor is alerted to our brawl and has to unleash his Alpha power to command us all to submit.

“Principal’s office, NOW,” Mr Hill demands.